Dollywood

To be honest, when I was asked to go on this trip, I didn’t have any idea what Dollywood was all about. I knew who Dolly Parton was because I used to listen to her music. But I didn’t know that Dollywood was a big amusement park. So to say that this was on my Bucket List would be a lie. I did know that I wanted to go to see the Smoky Mountains, be with my son and his family and to just enjoy myself.

Dollywood is a huge amusement park. It is definitely bigger than Kennywood. It is unbelievably clean, and the people who work there are the friendliest people that I have ever encountered. They dripped with good old Southern hospitality.

We entered the park early. As the day wore on, it was hot and humid but everyone just consumed tons of water and enjoyed the rides, despite the lines. Oddly there were no water fountains. After buying my fifth bottle of water, I wished that I had owned the bottle water franchise that was used at the park.

Like all parks – you pay one price to ride all day long. And as usual there were long lines to wait to ride. There were long lines to eat. The walk around the park was a never ending one.

When my legs were just about ready to surrender, we stopped and rode an actual train around the area and through the Smoky Mountains. It was a beautiful engine, in pristine condition. The train ran on coal. I haven’t ridden on a real train since I was a kid, traveling back and forth from Cleveland, Ohio, to Utica, New York. The best part was that my family never rode on a train and that was a real experience for them. The grown-ups and the kids loved the ride.

After the train ride, everyone else rode more rides, while I and the other grandmother sat and watched the entertainment. I ended up watching one band perform and sing, three different times. I guess you could say that I became a bonafide, official groupie.

The evening ended with a fire work display. By the time we pulled out of the parking lot, my two grandchildren were fast asleep. Everyone was tired but in the end we had accomplished our mission and the day would go down as a memorable one.