Impromptu Mini-Vacation

Last week, Darryl and I decided we needed a family getaway...as soon as possible. We decided to take Amelia to Dollywood and Dollywood's Splash Country so that our girl could have a blast.

We drove to Gatlinburg on Friday, checked in to our hotel, and strolled the tourist-packed streets. I had to make a stop at this place:

When I was a wee youngster and my family went to Gatlinburg, we always stopped here for fudge and divinity. Theirs is the best. Anyway, I picked up some peanut butter fudge and some milk chocolate fudge; I like to mix them together. :-)

Okay, enough about fudge.

So then we went to Bubba Gump's for dinner. We weren't really dying to go there, but it was close and didn't have much of a wait. I wasn't very impressed with Bubba Gump's.

Then we went back to the hotel and swam in the pool, and Amelia enjoyed sliding down the waterslide with Daddy:
Saturday we went to Dollywood. I know this might come as a shock to you, but it was HOT. (Later, it rained and cooled everything off just a bit.) I was very surprised by how uncrowded it was. We didn't really have to wait in any lines. Of course, we hung out in the kids' section most of the time, but we didn't have any waits in the restaurants or anywhere else. Here are just a few shots of the fun:




One thing that Amelia really enjoyed--that I couldn't take a photo of--was the children's theater productions. Because of the heat, and later the rain, we enjoyed the air-conditioning while we watched the stories The Little Engine that Could and Llama Llama Red Pajama come to life on stage. Amelia didn't really react very much, but her eyes were GLUED to the stage. On the way back to the hotel, she kept saying, "Wanna see Blue Engine TV again." (There was a TV over the stage the featured little guest appearances by Dolly herself. Seriously...can you look at Dolly Parton and not smile? It's impossible.)

Before I move on, let me also say that Dollywood really is a wonderful theme park. It is extremely clean and well-kept, and it is probably the only theme park I've been to where the food is really delicious. A good bit of it is country cooking, and it doesn't disappoint.

On Sunday--Father's Day--we went to Splash Country. Then we realized why Dollywood wasn't crowded...apparently everybody was at Splash Country. It was packed. PACKED. And after spending a day at Splash Country, I must pose this question:

Are Darryl and I the only two adults on this earth who do not have tattoos?

Anyway, Amelia loved this park as well because she loves anything that has to do with water. We again enjoyed seeing her have fun, but there were just too many people there.

(I didn't take any pics at Splash Country because I didn't want to risk damaging my camera.)

That evening, we went to dinner at a place called The Apple Barn in Pigeon Forge. We had eaten there three years ago and really liked it. We had a good dinner, then strolled around a bit outside. Here's a sweet daddy-daughter pic:
It was a good weekend, and the time away was just what we needed.