Yall have mountains in England?

the next day i head down to the smokey mountain visitors center to get some books as gifts for family members before heading to Dollywood. Dollywood is a theme park in Pigeon Forge which was 2 other parks before it became its current namesake in 1986. its relavtley small as a park and has few rides, however it is one of the finest parks ive ever been to, clean with freindly staff and insainley good food. Areas include blacksmiths and glassblowers plying thier trade along side classic theme park rides. ironically in the 8 hours i was thier i went on a total of 4 rides, that said quite a few times. even thiough the park was packed i didnt wait more than 15-20 miniutes for any ride (with the exception of Mystery Mine) so here is a quick run down of the rides & things i did go on.

Chaseing Rainbows,

Dolly Parton Museum, memrobillia, costumes etc.

Blazing Fury,

small dark ride ending with a drop into water, kinda fun.

Thunderhead

woodern rollercoaster, which will scramble your insides, rough but oh so good.

Tennesse Tornado

3 looping steel coaster, excellent.

Mystey Mine

new coaster, pyro, props, vertical drops. this ride is excellent, though the themeing is a little ropey outside.

following the day at dollywood. i hum ans haw, before buying a ticket to the Dixie Stampede. the Stampede is a dinner show (one of many in PF) which has been running for 21 years, considering the Florida one had closed, i kinda thought this would be only chance for a while i would have to go see the show. i luck out on a ticket for the nearly sold out show and get front row on face on to the arena. the food was excellent (soup, potato, ham, a whole chicken, corn, pudding) and the stunt riders were faultless, the show started at 830 and i was out of there by 1030, well worth the money. the preshow was kinda neat as well, it featured a band of musicians all of them talented in thier own right, but the banjo player stole the show, specifically when he played the banjo behind his head, while spinning round in circles.

i head over to walmart to find some jeans before i sort my bags out, finally crawling into bed at 2am.

Tuesdays Pictures

not many for today,

Hes Worried you are Going to go out and Party European Style

i left the hotel early with the intention of getting to Cades Cove, a small area of the smoky mountains, where some of the first settlers to the region made their homes. in all honesty it was a big crap, a big field in the middle of the mountains. the drive to Cades Cove was more interesting. after this i make the journey over the mountain on the Newfound Gap Pass which had been closed the night before. a few inches of snow on the ground and icicles hanging from the rocks at higher elevations made my dream of visiting the Smokeys during the winter true. I arrive in Cherokee and head to the Indian History Museum, a small museum detailing the different tribes of Indians in the area and then their encounter with outsiders. following this i head back over the mountain to Severville (north of Pigeon Forge.) to Bass Pro to look for a new sweatshirt after seeing no bears in the daylight, i stop at a bear pit to see 4 obese lethargic brown bears being pelted with apple by little kids.  on the drive up to the store i listen to talk radio and a relations doctor who uttered the above phrase. after no luck finding a sweatshirt at the Shop i head back into the mountains to Gatlingburg. Gatlingburg is like Pigeon Forge a small town which relies heavily on tourists. I wander round for a bit heading into the Car Museum and Ripleys Odditortium. Ripleys is Ripleys the same the world over, the car museum used to have the prefix name Barris, as its mostly his stuff. Herbie, Ecto 1, Kit, Jurassic Park are all here, but the icing on the cake for me was the Dragula from the Munsters (a coffin dragster capable of 70mph!) after wandering round for a bit longer i head back to the hotel to rest. 

Mondays Pictures

You can have the snow.

first off, apologies for not writing the last few days, its been a case of long days (leaving the hotel at 8am-ish returning around 10-11pm) and not being awake enough to write anything.

anyway, Monday

i get out of the hotel in the morning with the intention of heading to Rock City on Lookout Mountain, a tourist attraction i first heard about in the book American Gods. Supposedly on a clear day you can see 5 different states, but today not only is it thick fog, its FREAKIN SNOWING!!!! after jumping up and down in the car park for a while like a 5 year old i go to the waffle house across the street for breakfast. by the time I'm out (15 minutes) its stopped snowing and the sky has cleared. i head to lookout mountain. 

Lookout mountain is a area of Chattanooga which is a high steep rocky outcrop, it was the site of a major battle in the civil war (viewpoint) and is home to Ruby Falls, Rock City and an incline railway. Rock  City was set up as a visitor attraction in 1932 by a rich family working out a pathway in their garden. its a mixture of caverns bridges and viewpoints, a proper old school visitor attraction and it rocks (pun intended). for decades they used to pay farmers to paint "see rock city" on their barn walls and roofs, and although they have ceased doing this, you can buy birdhouses painted with the slogan in the gift shop. 

Originally i had intended to see Ruby Falls as well on the mountain, however every person i spoke to in Tennessee when i mentioned Ruby Falls said to skip it and go to the aquarium instead. I take their advice and go, and it is very neat, 2 separate buildings (salt and fresh water) featuring turtles, snakes, gators as well as sharks, stingrays etc. The Aquarium was the catalyst in the rejuvenation of the riverfront in Chattanooga, paid for entirely by wealthy citizens and local businesses, no state or government money paid for the place. 

Following the aquarium, i swung by the old train station, now a hotel the station features on of the original trains that the song Chattanooga Choo Choo sung about. following this i make a move to the 64 to Cherokee stopping off at a shopping center on the way to pick up a copy of Spiral (adam greens new film). i drive out to Cherokee, through valley gouges and mountain passageways, arriving in Cherokee around 6. after a brief break, I drive onto the Newfound gap road to find its been closed because of ice. fuck, a 2 hour detour. a drive though Cherokee more than planned (past the Indian casino and santaland theme park) i make it around the mountains and into a completely deserted Gatlingburg, through to an equally dead Pigeon Forge i reach the hotel around 10. I grab some food at the local IHOP and crash out. 

Sundays Photos

what on earth are you doing here?

Still feeling rough from the night before, (and now sworn off fish again for another few years,) the main purpose of today was getting to Chattanooga. its a 5 hour drive if you take the interstate, but where is the fun in that? instead i took the old highways the 64, 50 and then interstate 24. the other plus with this route is to visit a small distillery where they make the good stuff, JD. i leave Memphis at around 830 and get to the distillery about 2ish. the tour was brilliant, very interesting, and the tour guide (Billy) was a complete character. one of the best images of the day, was driving into lynchburg. as situated on the hills around the town is the barrel houses. From the distillery it was another 2 hours to Chattanooga (where i am now.) I head to cracker barrel for food and get a huge meal for less than a mcdonalds meal and a apple pie back home. 2 cokes, meatloaf, ham, chicken and dumplings, green beans, biscuits, macaroni cheese and has browns, $11!! considering the stupid prices ive been paying in Memphis, this is great, the food wasn't all that hot, but i didn't care it was tasty and just what i needed.