Dixie Stampede

Whoa! At 7:15 p.m., we saddled up and headed for the Dixie Stampede show. We got there early enough to see the horses in their outdoors stalls. The horses were beautiful. We waited for the previous show to conclude before we were allowed to enter the building.

There was a pre-show with a country band playing and singing. When it was time, we were escorted to our seats. Our seats happened to be right outside the entertainment ring. The audience was divided into the North and the South and during the performance there would be challenges to win battles and eventually the South would win the war. Our side just happened to be located in the South.

The lights were lowered and out came the entertainment…a women on two horses would jump through a ring of fire. Then there were more horses and riders acts. After that, the theme of the show seemed to be the beginning of the West. The entertainers, dressed as Indians made their appearance. This would be my favorite part, where one person was dressed as an eagle, coming out of the ceiling and swinging and swooping around the ring. It was so cool and professionally done that it really looked like an Eagle flying about the arena.

Throughout the show, we were served our dinner without cutlery. The food started with soup served in individual ramequins, half a chicken, a slice of pork loin, a half of a potato, an ear of corn, and dessert.

The story line continued with the pioneers traveling West, women and men on horses doing a dance and then a group of Southern Belles dressed in beautiful ball gowns, singing. When their dresses lit up, my little granddaughter was in awe of the ‘princesses.’ and having their clothes light up. The end of the show was a patriotic ending of we are all Americans united together, with a tape of Dolly Parton singing “Color Me American,” recorded specifically for the Dixie Stampede.

By the time the show ended, everyone was satisfied and tired, but not too tired to pose with one of the cowboys and cowgirls. All in all this was definitely an entertaining show. I would recommend it to visitors to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

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.