Summer Road Trip: Day Two

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee:  Today we continued our trek to the mountains of Tennessee as we checked-out of our hotel in Atlanta and hit the road for our four hour trip to Tennessee.  This section of the trip would cross two more states off our list as we passed through North Carolina on the way to Tennessee.

This section of the drive was one of the most scenic I have been on.  Just a short drive north of Atlanta and we were in the mountains where amazing view were to be seen around every corner.

Our drive was delayed a bit as we made two pit stops along the way.  The first of which was at Tallulah Gorge.  It was here where high-wire artist Karl Wallenda crossed the gorge on a tightrope.  Our second stop was the town of Cherokee where we took a brief walk along the river to stretch our legs and take some pictures.

Then it was back on the road and into the Great Smoky Mountains.  This was by far the best drive I have ever been on.  I have never been that high and there was so much to see.  Beyond every corner was a stunning mountain view.  I can't wait to spend a day here later in the trip.

After reaching Newfound Gap, the decent down the mountain proved to be an adventure too.  My wife, a native Floridian, had never done mountain driving.  The steep grade proved to a be a bit of a challenge that she quickly overcame.  But we did learn a valuable lesson, the importance of the low gears, a feature not needed on the flat roadways of the Sunshine State.

Once we left the park, we got a quick glimpse of the next leg of our trip, Gatlinburg, before continuing on to Pigeon Forge.  After a quick refueling stop, we arrived at our resort, Dollywood's DreamMore Resort.

We checked into our hotel and was given a room that overlooked the pool and the mountains.  But we didn't stay long as we headed to the park to start enjoying Dollywood.  The hotel provided complimentary transportation to the park and after a quick drive and my mom almost flipping her wheelchair, we were at the front gate to the park.

In the park we quickly got to work riding a few rides.  The first one we went on was Blazing Fury.  The indoor coaster features a story line in which a mountain town is set ablaze and the heroic measures to try and save the town.  It was a fun ride but not exactly the thrill we were looking for so we ventured off to the Mystery Mine.

The Mystery Mine would turn out to be my favorite ride of the day. During our research for the trip, we watched the POV ride videos for all the coasters within the park.  But the video did nothing to prepare you for the wild experience within the Mystery Mine.  More importantly, the 90 degree vertical lifts up the shafts.  It was a great thrill further enhanced by the darkness.

After the thrilling ride, we headed over to Craftsman Village where we watched the Wings of America Birds of Prey show.  The show spotlighted many birds of prey including a Peregrine Falcon, Great Horned Owl and many more.

A long day so far resulted in some very hungry group so we hit up Aunt Granny's buffet to recharge our energy.  The southern style buffet featured a lot of food for a decent price, something I was not expecting to see at a theme park.   The buffet featured a salad bar, southern comfort foods, a taco bar and a dessert bar featuring ice cream.

With full stomachs, we continued our exploration of the park and headed for a trip around the park on the Dollywood Express.  The Dollywood Express is a 5-mile excursion around the park on a steam train.

Following our train ride, we decided to make our way towards the exit, it was approaching park closing and we wanted to beat the rush to the trolley.  The park was pretty full and with our late start we didn't get much done before the park closed.

We took the trolley back to the hotel where we went swimming before turning in for the night.

Tomorrow's adventure takes us back to Dollywood for the second day of theme park fun and later to our final leg of the trip, Gatlinburg.

Be sure to check back for more stories and pictures from our Summer Road Trip.


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