Dollywood

Yesterday morning Susan and I drove through Gatlinburg, which is located between Pigeon Forge and Great Smoky Mountains NP. Jennifer stayed in the hotel and worked on finishing her newest book. The other times we have driven through the area we took the bypass. Gatlinburg is similar to Pigeon Forge, with lots of restaurants, hotels, shops, and tourist attractions, but smaller and narrower. 

From Gatlinburg we took the bypass back to Pigeon Forge, then continued north to Sevierville to check out the outlet mall there. For lunch we returned to the Hard Rock Cafe, which we had visited in June of 2022. In the afternoon we did some more shopping in Pigeon Forge. 

This morning, while Jenn continued finishing her book, Susan and I visited Dollywood. I have been wanting to explore this park for a while, and was disappointed Jenn couldn’t go too. The park was about to start its Fall Festival, so was decorated with Jack O’Lanterns throughout the park. 

We got there right at opening, and headed up the left side of the park. Waits for rides were real low all day, and the weather was great. I rode the Mystery Mine and Big Bear Mountain Coasters, then we watched the bird show. In the afternoon we rode the train. 

The train goes up the left side of the park to the top then heads back down the same way. It takes 20 minutes. There were some decent views of the park and the surrounding area, although in a few places I wished they had removed some trees and other places I wished they would add more to cover up backstage areas. It also went by the area where they are building there newest attraction. 

After the train we walked through a museum about Dolly Parton’s life, then headed out. Beside the train, there weren’t any other rides that Susan could ride, and I didn’t want to make her walk back up the hill to wait while I rode another coaster. The one I really wanted to try, Blazing Fury, was down for the day. Dollywood is a nice park, but you really need to like coasters and flat rides to really enjoy it. 

Texas to Tennessee

Yesterday morning we left the Dallas area and, after a stop at the Buc-ee’s in Royce City, headed east on I-30 to Arkansas. There was a lot of construction on both I-30 and I-635, which we used to get around Dallas.

In the afternoon we stopped at the William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home NHS in Hope Arkansas. This is a fairly small national park site, consisting of the house the President grew up in and an adjacent home that was converted into a visitor center. We watched a film where he and others reminisced about his childhood, then we took a tour of the house. It took about an hour to see everything, after which we continued up to Little Rock, where we got on I-40 east.

In the evening we made it to Memphis, where we stopped at the Bass Pro Pyramid. It was pretty cool inside, with a large store and a hotel, and an elevator up to the observation deck, which has a bar and a restaurant in addition to balconies that have a great view of the Mississippi River and downtown Memphis. We stayed the night nearby. 

This morning we continued on I-40 to Nashville, where we stopped to see the Parthenon in Centennial Park. Susan and I had stopped here before in 2016, but arrived too late to go inside. A recreation of the structure from ancient Athens, it was originally built for an exposition in 1897, then rebuilt as a permanent structure in the 1920’s. 

The original Parthenon contained a giant statue of Athena, and one was added to Nashville’s version in 1990. The building also contains an art museum, and lots of information on the construction of the building and the statue. In the afternoon we continued east, stopping at Buc-ee’s in Crossville and Sevierville. We arrived in Pigeon Forge this evening.

GW Bush Presidential Library

Yesterday morning, while Jenn and Susan signed and sold books, I headed into Dallas to visit the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. Located on the campus of Southern Methodist University, the Bush Center wasn’t as impressive as the Nixon or Reagan Library, and it was a little more expensive, since I had to spend almost $11 for parking. 

Still, I enjoyed reviewing President Bush’s life and presidency and seeing a recreation of his Oval Office and a Texas Rose Garden. I also enjoyed a presentation about the President’s situation room. I spent a little over two hours in the museum; I skimmed several exhibits because, unlike the terms of Nixon and Reagan, the details of Bush’s terms are still pretty fresh in my memory. 

When I got back I wandered around the resort a bit more, then helped Jenn and Susan pack up at the end of the book signing.

This morning we checked out the water park at the resort. It was pretty small, with just one slide, a mid sized lazy river, and a kids area. Still it was nice for a few hours. In the afternoon we went to the Gaylord Mills and looked in some stores. 

For dinner we met some friends of Jenn at a BBQ restaurant. It was good but pretty expensive. 

Gaylord Texan

This weekend Jennifer is an attending author at a romance book convention at the Gaylord Texan resort in Grapevine Texas, which is near the Dallas Fort Worth airport. 

We loaded up my truck and a trailer and left Wednesday morning. Following stops in Tallahassee for Sonny’s BBQ, at Buc-ee’s in Alabama and east of Dallas, and a night in Ruston Louisiana, we arrived yesterday afternoon.

We unloaded the trailer and while Susan checked us in and Jenn set up her booth, I dropped off the trailer. Like the Gaylord Palms in Florida, this one has a large atrium, and our room looked into it. 

This morning, while Jennifer and Susan signed and sold books, I checked out downtown Grapevine and the nearby Grapevine Mills, a large indoor mall.

In the afternoon I spent some time at the pool and exploring the resort, then met the girls for dinner at the Gaylord’s Italian restaurant. Like the Gaylord in Florida, there are several nice restaurants on site.

Halloween in August

In the middle of August, Disney put up Halloween decorations at Magic Kingdom and began holding Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Parties. I wanted to go into the park to watch the new parade, but between work, cleaning up after the last book convention, and getting ready for the next, Susan and Jenn were too busy. Plus Jenn was trying to finish her latest book. 

 

This weekend, Universal started holding their Halloween Horror Nights at the Studio park. Like last year, Bryan and some of his friends bought passes so they could go often, including last night. 

Universal constructs themed haunted houses and scare zones in unused or underused areas of the park. This year houses included ones themed to the video game and show Fallout, and the movie Five Nights at Freddy’s. They also have themed food and drink offerings, and Halloween themed shows.

Gaylord Palms

This weekend Jennifer and Susan did a romance convention at the Gaylord Palms, a big resort near WDW. We had visited it back in December for their ICE! event. The convention started Thursday night with an author mixer and finished last night. I helped set up and take down. 

Our room overlooked the large atrium in the middle of the resort. There’s a light show each night; this time it was themed to the DC Superheroes. All the Gaylords featured DC Superheroes this summer. We wanted to go to the Gaylord’s mini-water park this morning, but a thunderstorm came in right as we were heading for it.

The author signing area was held in part of the big exhibit hall on the first floor of the conference center. Yesterday afternoon, while Jenn and Susan signed and sold books, I walked around trying to get various authors to sign their copies of the anthology they did for the convention. 

I had to go back and forth from the resort a couple times a day to check on the dogs, and one trip I stopped to take photos of the work west of Magic Kingdom. Parts of the Floridian Way realignment is starting to look like a road.

WDW Transportation Party

Last week I attended the annual Transportation cast appreciation party. This year it was held at the Contemporary Resort Convention Center, and the theme was Disney villains. Cast members from buses, monorails, the skyliner, parking, and watercraft attended. Disney provided a nice lunch and a gift, plus there were some characters on hand and information about various Disney benefits and programs.

On my way home I took some photos of the construction west of Magic Kingdom. In addition to widening and realigning Floridian Way, Disney is also working on a new entrance to the Polynesian Resort.

Crews also continue to prepare the area behind Frontierland for the villain’s land expansion.

Last night Jennifer attended the Annual Passholder night at Universal Studios with a friend.

They rode some coasters, checked out the shops, and watched the light show over the lake.