Windy City, Smoky Mountains ~ Day 10 - Ripley’s Aquarium and more

[wickesy]

Thanks to a combination of waking up to torrential rain and pure laziness neither of us were up until 9:00 this morning. By 9:45 there was no sign of the rain stopping and so we decided to go out and do all the indoor things we wanted to do and see how things went from there.

First stop was Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg. We had a good look round there and I got loads of photos.

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This is one of the better aquariums we have been to and definitely worth a visit if you are ever in the area. We left the aquarium around 11:45 and made our way over to the Dinosaur Walk Museum in Pigeon Forge. Although it had still been raining when we left the aquarium by the time we got to Pigeon Forge it had stopped and it stayed dry for the rest of the day.

Especially for Snowy-girls DDs here’s loads of photos of the dinosaur museum

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Next stop on the itinerary was the Apple Barn between Pigeon Forge and Sevierville where we had a wander round and bought some cinnamon apple crisps, caramel apple crisps, a fridge magnet and a half gallon of apple cider.

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From there we went back to the Incredible Christmas Place where we bought some tree decorations, a snowman statue and some Yankee Candles to burn at Christmas. We then went down the road to the Christmas outlet where we bought a Smoky Mountains tree decoration that we had seen when we were there the other day.

This is one we bought at Dollywood that I missed the other day

We then drove back to Gatlinburg and made our way round the Arts and Community trail stopping off at various shops along the way. The trail is an eight mile loop of local artists and craftsmen who have shops selling the stuff they make.

After driving around the trail we parked up back at the aquarium and Dad bought a wooden carving he had seen in a shop earlier in the week.

We then went along to a restaurant called Shoney’s for something to eat. In Shoney’s you can either order off the menu and help yourself to the salad, soup and vegetable buffet or go for their nightly hot buffet, which is what we did. We started off with a plate of salad each then battered shrimp, prawns and battered cod and finished off with hot fudge cake for me and fudge sundae for Dad. The whole lot, including tip came to $40 which we didn’t think was bad.

After eating we went across the road to the kitchen shop where we got some onion blossom and horseradish dip, raspberry honey and mustard dip and chocolate and peanut butter dip. By now it was still only 7:00 and so I decided to go round the Roaring Fork Nature trail which is a one-way road that leads through the forest and criss-crosses a mountain stream. There are various places to stop off at along the way but we decided to go through non-stop tonight and come back again before we left.

The trail comes out near to the cabin so we were back by 8:00 where we relaxed as usual and were in bed for 10:00. Plans for tomorrow were to go to Cades Cove, another auto tour.

Day 11

 

[Pegasus928]

Wow - what a full and fantastic day that was. There was more dinosaurs there than in T-Rex

Thanks for taking the time to put so many pics up - I know how time consuming it can be and it really is appreciated.

 

[tennisfan]

Another busy but great day. Loving the photos

 

[suzycute]

Sounds like you had a another really interesting day - love your photos from the aquarium!

 

[Chilly]

Some great photos.

 

[Snowy-girls]

Great day .Pics are fab-i love Iguana's,the jellyfish pics are very good .
The girls said thank you very much for the dinosaur pictures-they loved looking at them.
You have a Disney reference-the 'Roaring Forks Nature Trial', Wilderness Lodge has a counter service called Roaring Forks-will that do .x.

 

[wickesy]

You have a Disney reference-the 'Roaring Forks Nature Trial', Wilderness Lodge has a counter service called Roaring Forks-will that do .x.

Perfect, thanks Michelle.

 

[irongirlof12]

i love the sea turtle!

however, I have to take issue with you ...I now have another 'holiday destination' to add to my ever growing list of places to go visit.

 

[wickesy]

however, I have to take issue with you ...I now have another 'holiday destination' to add to my ever growing list of places to go visit.

Ooops, sorry Andrea Make sure you put it near the top of the list though, you won't regret it.

 

[SusanEllen]

You have a Disney reference-the 'Roaring Forks Nature Trial', Wilderness Lodge has a counter service called Roaring Forks-will that do .x.

You beat me to it, Michelle! I thought of Roaring Forks, too, but I'm a couple of days behind you reading David's report. Good job.

 

[Lizzybear]

Another fab day... I like all the Christmas decs you bought and my mouth is watering at all the food, did any of it make it back to the UK?! I didn't know Ripley's had an aquarium, looks really interesting If you're ever in Monterey, CA, the aquarium there is amazing... Some of the enclosures are actually in the ocean itself.

 

[wickesy]

All of the dips came back with us, so did the jerky, crisps from the Apple Barn and a big bag of Cheetos - so just a bit.

 

[arieljasmine]

A great day filled with lots of rainy day activities. I especially loved the iguana picture as I think they are gorgeous.

Do I remember correctly that you went back to the Christmas shop so you could claim a free gift? I am just ever-so-nosy and wondered what you got! Also do I get extra points for observation in remembering this?! Loved your decorations, especially the snowman. And what Yankee candles did you get? I love the Christmas Eve one, mmm.

Laur's xx

 

[wickesy]

Do I remember correctly that you went back to the Christmas shop so you could claim a free gift? I am just ever-so-nosy and wondered what you got! Also do I get extra points for observation in remembering this?! Loved your decorations, especially the snowman. And what Yankee candles did you get? I love the Christmas Eve one, mmm.

Laur's xx

Well remembered Laur's, you can have a gold star. We did get the free gift, which turned out to be a gold coloured snowflake about 6 inches across. I didn't bother taking a photo of it because it isn't much to look at, but you can't complain at the price.

We got small jars of Christmas Cookie and Silver Bells and I decided I was going to get some 'stinky candles' for my bedroom so, after a lot of jar lid sniffing , I got a Pomegranate Cider and a Dune Grass.

 

[arieljasmine]

Well remembered Laur's, you can have a gold star. We did get the free gift, which turned out to be a gold coloured snowflake about 6 inches across. I didn't bother taking a photo of it because it isn't much to look at, but you can't complain at the price.

We got small jars of Christmas Cookie and Silver Bells and I decided I was going to get some 'stinky candles' for my bedroom so, after a lot of jar lid sniffing , I got a Pomegranate Cider and a Dune Grass.

Thank you for satisying my curiosity, it sounds nice

Ooo, your candles sound lovely - I could especially fancy the Christmas Cookie - one for my shopping list, I think.

Laur's xx