It's A Small World ~ Pre Trip Report

[disneydusted]

Ok I have decided you are the queen of planning! I love all of your ideas and surprises that you have lined up! The cabin is beautiful, I think everyone wil love it! You guys sure know how to pack in full days with so much fun, definately my kind of vacation!
I am in the same boat with my sister that you are with yours... we are from the same family but have very different ideas of fun... oh well, makes life what it is!
Keep telling us everything, you are a great informer!!

 

[manntra]

Mmm hmmm you really are the queen of planning! The cabin is beautiful, you could hardly call it a cabin! My father's friend lives about an hour from Dollywood and he has a season pass . He has been asking us to go for years....there are a lot of great things to eat there...I have seen a show on the Travel Channel with all of their great rides and yummy food! Can't wait to see your pictures! Anytime my father was passing thru the Tennessee area he would always bring me back this spicy seasoned flour to make fried green tomatoes with and country ham. YUM! Have a great time and hopefully you will have some more updates before I leave (the day before you )

 

[BellaSwan]

Thanks glad you are enjoying my Disney trippie, I will probably post another day tomorrow as I'm at work in a bit but sadly its nearly the end. I'm just glad I have another report to keep me going else I don't know what I would do

Oh that is so cool you live near that area... are the mountains as beautiful as they look? I can't think of many questions right now but am sure I will think of some. One thing I don't understand so much you may be able to clear up for me though. I know Pigeon Forge is a 'dry' town, so they don't sell alcohol, but is it ok for people to drink it in their own homes or accommodation. And I have read that Gatlinburg is not dry and sells alcohol but I read somewhere else that Seveir county is all dry and as far I can understand from the map Gatlinburg is in Sevier country. And Walmart in Seveirville (sorry for the spelling), do they sell alcohol? Sorry were not alcoholics or anything it's just quite a new concept to us and we don't want to do anything wrong.. and my parents like a nice beer in the evening too.

Oh actually I have thought of a few more things... we have read about the auto routes you can do through the mountains, have you ever done any and is there any you particularly recommend? We have read that some go to Cherokee in NC, is this far to get too as we would love to go to another state, even if its only briefly to say we've been there. We also plan to do a little walking but then my Mum is scared about the bears, have you ever encountered any bears and is it safe to walk around?

Thanks, bet you wish you never asked now

Ariel,

No I don't mind I like to help

I don't think you are alcoholics, your on vacation and there is nothing wrong with that

I am pretty sure that you can now buy beer at Wal-Mart, if I am not mistaken I think that we did last time we were there, I know that they started serving it in some restaurants in Pigeon Forge. However as far as mixed drinks and liquor I still don't think that they will serve those types of drinks. I am pretty sure that all Wal-Mart sells is beer.

In Gatlinburg most of the places sell pretty much any kind of alcoholic beverages, DH and I have gotten mixed drinks at the Hard Rock there. There is also a liquor store, on the left coming in to Gatlinburg from Pigeon Forge; it is right beside of a gas station at one of the first red lights. I'm sorry I can't remember exactly which one.

I have never done any of the auto routes through the mountains; I have been to Cherokee though. It takes about an hour and a half to get to the Casino.

I have never encountered a bear there. They are there but they tend to stay away from where most people would be. If you stick to the trails and stuff like that you all should be fine. We have never had a problem with them.

Your cabin is beautiful. Last time DH and I went we rented a cabin and I loved it.

Hope this was at least a little helpful. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[ariel2007]

GIRRRRRLLLLL, you know how to plan !!!

that cabin looks fabulous!!

Thanks, I love the look of the cabin, I just hope it lives up to the pictures.

I'll be going through the Smokey Mountains Labor Day weekend. Thanks for all your info you are posting here. Remember at Dollywood, a lot of Dolly's kinfolk work there.

Tell your mom not to be worried about the bears, they are more afraid of you and they are only looking for food.

Edit: I can't read the yellow.

I didn't realize until after we booked it that we would be there over labor day, does this make places really busy?

What do you mean by Dolly's kinfolk?

Hey sister, I'm having a hard time reading your yellow printing. Your cabin is magnificent!! It's BEAUTIFUL!!! Cant't believe the view you have. gorgeous! You have great plans made and it sounds like you'll have a great time.

it is hard to read the yellow, but if you drag your cursor over it to highlight it, you can read it perfectly. thats what i do

Ok I have decided you are the queen of planning! I love all of your ideas and surprises that you have lined up! The cabin is beautiful, I think everyone wil love it! You guys sure know how to pack in full days with so much fun, definately my kind of vacation!
I am in the same boat with my sister that you are with yours... we are from the same family but have very different ideas of fun... oh well, makes life what it is!
Keep telling us everything, you are a great informer!!

Thanks guys, I did look at a lot of cabins to get to this one, I just hope it turns out to be the right one. Part of what sold it was the bedrooms, a lot of them had one nice bedroom and the rest weren't as good whereas this one they all seem really nice so we won't have to fight over them

Mmm hmmm you really are the queen of planning! The cabin is beautiful, you could hardly call it a cabin! My father's friend lives about an hour from Dollywood and he has a season pass . He has been asking us to go for years....there are a lot of great things to eat there...I have seen a show on the Travel Channel with all of their great rides and yummy food! Can't wait to see your pictures! Anytime my father was passing thru the Tennessee area he would always bring me back this spicy seasoned flour to make fried green tomatoes with and country ham. YUM! Have a great time and hopefully you will have some more updates before I leave (the day before you )

You should definitely go to Dollywood. I will give you lots of details and pictures when we get back. I should have another update up soon... I hope you have a brilliant holiday too.

Oh and fried green tomatoes... that sounds weird but surprisingly yummy

 

[ariel2007]

Ariel,

No I don't mind I like to help

I don't think you are alcoholics, your on vacation and there is nothing wrong with that

I am pretty sure that you can now buy beer at Wal-Mart, if I am not mistaken I think that we did last time we were there, I know that they started serving it in some restaurants in Pigeon Forge. However as far as mixed drinks and liquor I still don't think that they will serve those types of drinks. I am pretty sure that all Wal-Mart sells is beer.

In Gatlinburg most of the places sell pretty much any kind of alcoholic beverages, DH and I have gotten mixed drinks at the Hard Rock there. There is also a liquor store, on the left coming in to Gatlinburg from Pigeon Forge; it is right beside of a gas station at one of the first red lights. I'm sorry I can't remember exactly which one.

I have never done any of the auto routes through the mountains; I have been to Cherokee though. It takes about an hour and a half to get to the Casino.

I have never encountered a bear there. They are there but they tend to stay away from where most people would be. If you stick to the trails and stuff like that you all should be fine. We have never had a problem with them.

Your cabin is beautiful. Last time DH and I went we rented a cabin and I loved it.

Hope this was at least a little helpful. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks for all the information, it really is very helpful. I searched for ages on the internet about the drink situation and couldn't find anything, so it really does help. I definitely want to go to Hard Rock and try a cocktail... or 2

Would you say Cherokee is worth a visit, is there much there?

Thanks for all the information, its much appreciated

 

[manntra]

Yes fried green tomatoes are VERY good. Well, they are fried so of course they are. Very American!! I remember seeing on the Dollywood show on the Travel Channel about a potato that was kind of peeled on a corkscrew if that makes any sense and then right into the fryer for a few seconds, then topped with cheese, bacon and maybe some kind of ranch sauce. Looked sooo good!

P.S. Bella Swan...shouldn't you be Bella Cullen now? ha-ha....Just started reading new book last night!

 

[disneydusted]

Ariel... we will have to teach you to speak like a southerner! Kinfolks are family... I have a lot of kinfolk from the south, mostly from North Carolina and they have very rich accents, a true pleasure to listen to them!
You should try ham and red-eye gravy, grits and sweet tea (not necessarily all together!) And the fried green tomatoes! My grandmother would make all of that sort of thing! Pretty good stuff! Not that I would eat it all that often, but a fun change We'd also make homemade icecream in the summer, taking turns sitting on the old crank bucket (when I was really little!!) ...

 

[ariel2007]

Yes fried green tomatoes are VERY good. Well, they are fried so of course they are. Very American!! I remember seeing on the Dollywood show on the Travel Channel about a potato that was kind of peeled on a corkscrew if that makes any sense and then right into the fryer for a few seconds, then topped with cheese, bacon and maybe some kind of ranch sauce. Looked sooo good!

P.S. Bella Swan...shouldn't you be Bella Cullen now? ha-ha....Just started reading new book last night!

Yum they both sound good, especially the potato thing. Can you get the fried green tomatoes anywhere? It sounds like something my Mum would really like

Ariel... we will have to teach you to speak like a southerner! Kinfolks are family... I have a lot of kinfolk from the south, mostly from North Carolina and they have very rich accents, a true pleasure to listen to them!
You should try ham and red-eye gravy, grits and sweet tea (not necessarily all together!) And the fried green tomatoes! My grandmother would make all of that sort of thing! Pretty good stuff! Not that I would eat it all that often, but a fun change We'd also make homemade icecream in the summer, taking turns sitting on the old crank bucket (when I was really little!!) ...

Ah, I understand. I had read a post about on here somewhere and someone had written about not making fun of the Southern accent as it can be really rich and hard for others to understand. Well when I was making the reservation for the cabin I had to call the company and got all worried I wouldn't understand them... but it turned out she was easier to understand than half the accents in my country . I do really like the Southern accent, I can't wait to hear more of it

The food you mentioned all sounds like proper home cooked food, which I love. The only thing is I am pretty fussy about meat and therefore I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to ordering in restaurants. I love the sound of some of the things I have read off The Old Mill and the Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant menus... like the meatloaf, chicken pot pie and the pot roast, but don't know if I'm brave enough. I've got to say though the Southern food all sounds really good to me, I think I made a good choice of where to go

 

[ariel2007]

Birthday Plans and Surprises

Mum's Birthday

Well as you know this trip is primarily to celebrate my Mum's 50th birthday. Now when we were going to New York I spent ages researching for all the things we could do to make Mum's birthday extra special and memorable. I had finally made a plan for the day which I was pretty happy with and then we decide not to go... typical. The trouble is there is so many amazing shows, high class restaurants and memorable attractions in New York to pick from, the task of trying to match it in a place I know very little about was going to be a hard quest.

I asked Mum if there was anything she specifically wanted to do on her birthday and she kept replying with the same answer "Oh I'm not sure". So I asked her if she wanted us to make it a surprise and she said yes.

So I looked at the options. Dollywood was out as it is closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays and her birthday is typically a Tuesday. I couldn't find any restaurants which stood out either so asked what she thought about doing Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede which she thought was a great idea. We had already decided we were going to do it and when we went to watch it in Florida a few years ago it was so much fun, great food and a great show so it seemed a perfect choice. So I booked us tickets in the preferred section and also pre-ordered us all a souvenir cup.

So the evening was sorted, now for the rest of the day. Now Mum loves walking and goes out nearly everyday. She also loves beautiful scenery so the most obvious choice seemed to be to go into the mountains. Mum and Nick are slightly worried about the bears in the area so we will do one of the auto routes and then get out and walk when everyone feels comfortable. We also plan to take a big picnic, I have heard that Walmart do big subs as well as the usual crisps and cakes and soda.

So we had the day sorted and the evening but we still seemed to be missing the "Wow" factor, something she could look back on and think "On my 50th I did.... and it was amazing", something she couldn't do everyday. As soon as I first started looking at Pigeon Forge I saw helicopter tours advertised, they started at just $10 and I thought it would be an awesome place to go in one. I didn't tell Mum about it so we could maybe do it as a surprise and eventually I decided, with Dad and Nick's approval, that we would do a flight on her birthday. Now booking this is slightly risky, you see Mum is terrified of heights, which was the reason that up until our 2005 trip to WDW we had only flown abroad with her once, every other trip was made by ferry. However, when we initially started discussing New York I said I wanted to do a helicopter tour which Nick, Dad and Sophie agreed too. However Mum was adamant she didn't want to do it but we asked her if she would mind the rest of us doing it. She then began to say that maybe she would do i if she didn't have to think about it first, so we said we might book it as a surprise, which she seemed happy with. However every time we discussed the trip she would always mention about doing the helicopter tour and even looked into booking it. So for this reason I decided to book it, and she doesn't know about it so she doesn't have to stress about it and we all believe she will enjoy it lots.

So after we decided to do the flight, and after several emails to find a company whose helicopters would accommodate the 5 of us, we had to decide which tour to do. There were quite a few different ones, ranging from a 4-5 minute introductory flight and 10 minute flights over Pigeon Forge or the mountains to 30 minute 'see-it-all' flights. After discussing money matters and the fact that Dad would have to raise the money for him, Mum and Sophie without Mum knowing, which could be hard, we decided on one of the 10 minute rides. But then changed our minds again and decided on the Gatlinburg ride, an 18 minute flight, flying 40 miles over the local towns and into the edge of the Smokies. We all thought this flight sounded great and would give us chance to see a bit more, I managed to persuade Dad by offering to pay for Mum, so I hope she enjoys it... else I'm blaming him .

So that was the day pretty much decided, apart from a few small details. Firstly there was breakfast, which we decided would probably be best to have at the cabin. If its a nice morning we can have it on the balcony looking out over the mountains, and having it in the cabin will mean less rushing too.
And then there is the evening. Dixie Stampede starts quite early at 6pm so we will probably be home again by 9pm, which is still relatively early. So I decided to get some decorations, and we will get some drinks and snacks from Walmart and have ourselves a mini little party.

Now whether the day actually pans out as we have planned we will have to wait and see, I just hope its the perfect day for Mum as she really deserves it .


Southern Belle Lunch Cruise

For easter I gave Mum, Dad, Kate and Sophie some American themed gifts bags which contained New York pens and key rings, some American chocolate and a voucher (homemade, in case for some reason we couldn't do it) for a New York City Night Cruise.

Well obviously we aren't going to New York (good job they were homemade and not the real deal ) so I was trying to think of something I could do for them instead. Then I saw the Southern Belle lunch cruises and thought this would be a nice surprise.

Heres a bit about the cruise:
Take a great Chattanooga cruise along the scenic Tennessee River while enjoying one of our fabulous dinner cruises, daily lunch cruises or daytime sightseeing cruise. This is a vacations experience you won’t want to miss!
The daily Lunch Cruise features our "Deluxe Deli Buffet" with a delicious assortment of deli meats, cheeses, breads, condiments, ranch style beans, coleslaw, potato salad, potato chips, chocolate chip cookies and Chattanooga's moon pies (upon request) and soft drinks, iced tea and coffee!


A few other little surprises

* They don't know what hotel we are staying in in Chattanooga, they are expecting something along the lines of a Travelodge in an out-of-town location. We have also upgraded the room package to include late check out, wine and chocolates/fruit/cheese on arrival, breakfast.

* They are expecting a small cabin not the beautiful cabin we have booked.

* Rock City - they know we are stopping in Chattanooga again on the way back to Atlanta but do not know where we are visiting. From the pictures and descriptions I have seen of Rock City I am sure they will all love it, especially Mum.

So thats all the surprises I have for now but I'm sure there will be more along the way

Coming Up: Present Time

 

[retiredkid]

things are shaping up nicely........ all those surprises!! goodonya!!!

 

[BellaSwan]

Thanks for all the information, it really is very helpful. I searched for ages on the internet about the drink situation and couldn't find anything, so it really does help. I definitely want to go to Hard Rock and try a cocktail... or 2

Would you say Cherokee is worth a visit, is there much there?

Thanks for all the information, its much appreciated

The casino was nice but that was all that we did when we were down there. We didn't do any reservation tours or anything. I personally am not all that intrested in going back. To me it wouldn't be worth taking at least 1/2 a day. But that is just my humble opion.

I think that doing Dixie Stampeed for your mom's b-day is a great idea. I love it!

 

[BellaSwan]

Yes fried green tomatoes are VERY good. Well, they are fried so of course they are. Very American!! I remember seeing on the Dollywood show on the Travel Channel about a potato that was kind of peeled on a corkscrew if that makes any sense and then right into the fryer for a few seconds, then topped with cheese, bacon and maybe some kind of ranch sauce. Looked sooo good!

P.S. Bella Swan...shouldn't you be Bella Cullen now? ha-ha....Just started reading new book last night!

Fried green tomatoes are awesome and those corkscrew fries are really good too! I just had dinner and I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

LOL You know I didn't even think about it, I think I will see if it is available now that you mention it. I would much rather be a Cullen Hope you are liking the book so far, it is different than the others and I wasn't sure how I felt about it when I first finished it, but then I decided I really liked it.

 

[ariel2007]

Since you guys are all being so helpful and some of you seem to know quite a bit about the area could someone please tell me if they know anywhere that sells nice cakes, preferably birthday cakes? Obviously not knowing the area it is hard to plan for something like this so every bit of information does really help.

Thanks guys

 

[LukenDC]

I really enjoyed your trip report and the pre-trip report as well. Thank you for sharing so many of your photos with us!

 

[ariel2007]

I really enjoyed your trip report and the pre-trip report as well. Thank you for sharing so many of your photos with us!

Thanks for joining me and for your nice comments

 

[BellaSwan]

I have never used a cake service there, but I did an online search and found Smoky Mountain Cakes, it is in Gatlinburg. The e-mail address that I found is steve@sayitwithacake.net and they had a phone listed (865) 277-6105. Here is their website: http://www.smokymountaincakes.com/

I have never used them but the pics on their website looked nice.

 

[KathyTX]

I'm going to move this from the Community Board to the Pre-Trips board where it's on-topic.

 

[ariel2007]

Where have all my friends gone?

 

[retiredkid]

I'm hanging in here!!!

 

[BellaSwan]

I'm still here too!