Dollywood

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(Carson Springs Baptist Conference Center)

Can you believe it~~same day, and another entry! It's because I forgot to publish the one the other day!


We made an afternoon trip to Dollywood. It is all we thought it would be~~it's like an overview of living in the country. There's one section that is a country fair, with the carnival and rides and eats. There's another section that's country music~~blue grass as well as gospel. It also has stores to buy instruments as well as music and clothing. And a museum for country singers. There's another section that has a craft fair/flea market theme. When I say section, I mean part tucked into the mountain! There's a lot of walking, and it's uphill and downhill. We didn't have enough time there, and really should have waited until we were more comfortable with the culture. It's supposed to represent Dolly's life in these mountains, and that's why each different theme spot is tucked back into the mountain. Lots of uphill/downhill walking!

I am adding this part only because I know I'd be curious: tickets to get in were $35 each, and it was $8 to park our car. Now they had a good deal if you wanted to upgrade your tickets which would allow you to come back several times, but we didn't do it. We probably should have, and we did discuss it, but we figured there's so many other things to do and see. They have concerts that are included in that price, but there are always crowds, so there's a lot of standing and waiting. Gary and Sharon upgraded and they've been back several times. (they also got here several days before we did.) It was a fun place, and someplace you have to visit if you're in this area. (there are lots of those places!)

A surprising thing about Dollywood is that they're only open until 6pm. In the summer they stay open till 7, but off-season it's just 6! And they're closed on Tuesday and Thursday! What strange hours! They're preparing for Christmas, and everything is covered in lights, which brings up the thought: if you close at 6, when do you turn on the lights??????

Last week Bob and I found a little restaurant along a highway that advertised bluegrass music, so we went back Friday night....It was Mexican, of all things!!! We listened for a while, but we couldn't stay, so we shared it with the rest of the group, and Saturday night eight of us went. Great food, and fun music~~I wouldn't want a cd of it, but it was really fun to listen to! We also learned about "brown bagging." The place didn't have a liquor license, but they did have a brown bag license, which means you can bring your own beer. (and some peoples' brown bags were coolers with beer on ice! Nobody cared, though!) Legally they couldn't bring in moonshine or wine or hard liquor (seriously, that's the order the waitress put them in when she was explaining it to us!) but she said if it came in a beer bottle, she wasn't tasting it! That particular place charged any brown bagger $1.99, and no one seemed to mind! What a strange place this is!!!

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Photos

Dollywood
There were mums everrywhere, but they're already getting ready for Winterfest--which begins November 5!

Not like our bus!
Dolly's bus was $250,000 new, 15 years ago. (They retired it after 600,000 miles.) Her new bus cost $2.7 million....what could they do to a vehicle to make it worth that much??????

Price: $3655.
There is a shop at Dollywood that makes wooden wagons, tools and furniture. You can buy it there, or order something. We didn't.

This roller coaster traveled up to
70 mph, and it had several loops that traveled through the trees. Fun to look at, but not at all tempting. Bob didn't even want to go on this one.

Is it just me,
or does this look like a heap of old lumber? Bob did go on this one!

Maybe this is in case
you went on the roller coaster and got sick! We didn't try this either, but you have to admire the plumbing!