Fall Visitors to Tennessee

This past week we had the pleasure of having more visitors as some of Lisa's family came to Tennessee. Lisa's parents came in a day earlier than her brother's family. Bev and Rick were the first to see the view from the cabin we rented in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Lisa's brother Rick, his wife Tanya, and their daughter Katya, came in on Saturday. On the way from the cabin to the airport to pick them up we drove through Wear's Valley. We stopped to see the chainsaw carvings. Alonso had some great pieces and even created a special bear upon request for Bev.

After we picked up everyone from the airport, some of the group went to the Tennessee Volunteers football game against Memphis. Others went to a bead store, the Cupcakery, and off to the cabin. Tennessee won handily and Rick's car survived parking in the car wash!

On Sunday we began our day by going through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and Cade's Cove. Most of the leaves have changed colors and fallen but there is still a lot to see and great views. Hallelujah!

After going through the Smokies, we headed into Pigeon Forge for Dollywood! Dollywood just re-opened all decked out for Christmas. Everyone had a different favorite activity in Dollywood. Whether it was the rides, the shops, the train, eagles, corn dogs, lights, or mining for gems, we all had a great time!

On Monday we headed into Gatlinburg and ate breakfast in Tennessee's first pancake house. The food was great. Once we were done eating we headed off to one of the many mini golf courses in the area. It was a fun course and leaves were falling all around us. I won easily. (Actually I tied with Lisa but she cheated, just ask Katya.)

Our evening activity on Monday was the Dixie Stampede. They were doing their Christmas show. This was excellent! The food was great and the show was amazing. They presented a live nativity with all of the barnyard animals and the wisemen on live camels. It was very moving. The rest of the show was great too. Lisa and I plan to go back and will probably make it a yearly tradition.

It began to rain Monday night because of the remnants of Hurricane Ida. It rained and rained and rained. We braved the weather and drove to Chattanooga to ride the river boat and see the fall colors. It seems every time Lisa and I go to the riverboat it rains. It didn't matter too much though because we still had a great time in the cold and the wet. Chattanooga is about a week behind Knoxville in its fall so the colors were still out and very pretty.

On the way from Chattanooga, we went through the Smokies again. It was nice to see it with all of the rain. However, the rain did prevent us from getting a good shot of everyone at the mandatory picture spot. Here are Bev and Rick.

Tanya, Katya, and Rick.

Most of the rain had stopped by Wednesday. We headed into Pigeon Forge to see the Wonderworks museum. The museum building is actually upside down. Luckily there is an inverter when you go into the museum to even you out for the exhibits.

This exhibit is called "Gum Blondes" and it is made entirely out of chewing gum. The artist made the different shades by chewing different colored pieces together. There were a lot of fun things to do in the museum. We were even able to prove scientifically that Katya has more brain power than Tanya!

On Wednesday afternoon we headed back into Gatlinburg to the Aquarium of the Smokies. It was Veteran's Day so there were a lot of flags out. You can also see how high the river is because of all of the rain yesterday.

The aquarium is always one of my favorite thins to do and it was fun to share the experience with others. It was also fun to see some great fish faces!

Wednesday night was the last night so we decided to find somewhere "southern" to eat. We sure succeeded! Huck Finn's Catfish is about as southern as you can get. You get All You Can Eat "Vittles." On the table we had catfish, fried green tomatoes, gator tail, cole slaw, frog legs, hush puppies, fried chicken, and a lot of other great stuff. When we got back to the cabin we had Moon Pies for dessert. Truly a Southern meal and a great last meal for everyone in Tennessee!

We always enjoy visitors. We have been lucky enough now to have 11 people out to visit us since we moved to Tennessee. Hopefully that number keeps growing! We appreciate you being willing to make us your vacation and using your time and money to see us. We hope you had fun seeing how we spend our free time in Tennessee! Thanks again!