I've got a few other things going on that I want to write about; so it's time to finish up with our Great Smoky Mountains getaway #2 for 2014.
Let's pick things up with what we did the evening of the day we hiked to Laurel Falls. That was the night we went to the Wood Grill Buffet. Just across the street from the restaurant was an attraction we visited on our last visit, The Hollywood Wax Museum.
Although I included plenty of pictures of the inside of that building in posts back in June and some of the facade, I didn't get a good shot of the King Kong display on the outside. (the one I used in my June post was one I found on their website) This time I got several pretty good shots.
Our entertainment for the evening of Friday September 18 was at a theater right next to the wax museum.
As part of the amenities we received with our condo rental was a "buy one get one" deal for tickets to the "Country Tonite" show.
This is a well produced, critically acclaimed, very popular show which is a staple of the Pigeon Forge entertainment scene. In it's advertisements it mentions that it's been voted "Best Show In The Smokies" repeatedly for more than a decade.
The show features a troupe of talented performers presenting a mixture of country music including current and classic hits and gospel songs.
There is also some comic relief provided by the show's comedian, Chan Mullinax, in the character called "Bubba The Redneck Ranger." His funniest segments were when he dressed in drag. He sang a song called "Cletus Took The Reel"; a parody of a popular Carrie Underwood song. He also, in drag, ran his fingers through the hair of an unsuspecting gentleman from the audience who was brought up on stage to be serenaded with the song "Grandpa Tell Me About The Good Old Days."
Each musical number is, for some reason, accompanied by some type of dance or choreography. Although the dancers were pretty talented, at times, it was a bit of a distraction. I wish they would have had some songs where the performers just sang on stage by themselves.
Of course, there were not dancers during the gospel portion of the show. Out of the gospel songs they did, I had two favorites: a Bill Gathier song, Your First Day in Heaven; and one of, if not the best, performance of "The Lighthouse" I've ever heard.
The main vocalist on that performance was a piano player named Terry Weeks. A very talented veteran gospel and country performer with a lot of talent. He sang the lead on "The Lighthouse" and did a very good job on the Charlie Rich song, "Behind Closed Doors."
Another talented member of the band was the harmonica player, Mike Caldwell. Not only was he a fantastic harmonica player but he was so enthusiastic, animated, and funny during the show. You could tell he loved what he was doing.
One of the show's pair of youth performers, Colin Chandler played a mean fiddle, as he was featured during the performance of "The Devil Went Down To Georgia."
The show was entertaining and has wide appeal; especially if you are a country music fan. It is also a clean safe family friendly show and fun for all ages. However the Thursday night in September we were there it was mostly an older crowd mostly brought in by tour buses.
The show does feature a Christian performer giving a short personal testimony and a patriotic tribute to both the flag and the veterans of the US military. But these elements are common in shows in the area. After all the Smokies are in the heart of the Bible belt.
In addition to the large auditorium, the theater has a souvenir shop. It had your typical selection of merchandise but didn't offer anything special. There is a wing of the theater that features a display of some of the on-stage wardrobes of some well known and lesser known country performers from the past.
Also there's a counter service snack bar that offers everything from coffee and candy to hot dogs and ice cream. And you were allowed to take your refreshments into the theater.
Based on our experience, if you're looking for a night out while visiting Pigeon Forge, "Country Tonite" would be a good choice.
Not recommended, however, is a novelty attraction that's a few miles off the Pigeon Forge parkway along Wears Valley Road. It's an attraction that Paula discovered while searching for things to do online. The name of the place says it all: Goats On The Roof.
This picture, from their website, pretty much shows what the main building looks like. While the shot below, which I found on Pintrest, shows the main attraction: the goats.
We liked the idea of this place. But it turns out that it's really your typical Smoky Mountains attraction except with farm animals who live on the 2nd floor as it's "hook."
The crafted wood furniture in front of the general store was the first thing that got our attention. The gem "mining" opportunity across from the store was of no interests at all. We'd done that on our first trip to the Smokies back in 2001. No need to do it again.
We went inside the general store which had the usual take home food products in jars (jams, jellies, pickled veggies, honey ect.), novelty products, toys, Smoky Mountain souvenirs and,of course fudge.
There was a snack bar where you could get a burger or hot dog as well as a drink or some ice cream.
All this was fine and pleasant. But what turned us off at this attraction was the employees. They were not the least bit friendly or helpful.
After we walked around the first floor of the general store we weren't sure how we got up to the 2nd floor to the goats and if or how we could feed them.
We asked one of the employees about it. He rather curtly in the fewest amount of words possible told us that we could go upstairs and look at them through the window.
I also asked him about the construction going on in the back of the store. "It's a roller coaster" was his answer. We'll any idiot could see that. I was expecting a bit more detail.
This encounter with the employee put a negative spin on the entire experience for us. We left without anything but a ground level view of the goats on the roof.
On the Saturday afternoon of our trip, we took our one and only excursion into Gatlinburg. But our visit wasn't to do what we did when we were there in June, walk up and down the main street. On this day we decided to do "cruise the loop".
At stoplight #3 on route 441 (which is the "main street" that goes through Gatlinburg) you make a sharp left onto route 321, the east parkway. If you drive 3 miles on that road you come to Glades Road on the left.
This road takes you along what's known at the "Arts & Crafts Loop" of Gatlinburg. You'll find all kinds of small craft shops and cafes. I can't name all the types of artisans that you'll find there but there is quite a few. They are spaced out in clusters, I guess you could call them mini-malls and they're all along the "loop".
On our visit we stopped by a couple of these during our visit. While we were there found the Cabin Cafe, that I've already mentioned in Part 1 of this series.
We also found a very unique item that we bought for our son, Michael for Christmas. I think he will really like it. We also got some Christmas gifts for my daughters-in-law.
Paula did most of the shopping. I spent a lot of time sitting outside the shops on the benches I've come to call "Hubby Hangouts." These are the benches, rocking chairs or any place else outside shopping areas where you can sit and wait for someone. They are all over the place in the Smokies. Now I know anyone can sit in these places but judging from my observations; it's mostly men "waiting on a woman". That's the reason I have now dubbed them "Husband Hangouts."
During one of my "hubby hangout" experiences while Paula was in a small shop in the Old Mill area, I decided to record a Great Smoky Mountains edition of "My Point of Vue." I've posted it on my You Tube channel. FYI, the camera work is a little shaky but I was walking around quickly using a cane and trying to avoid traffic while crossing a very busy intersection. Here's the link. My Point Of Vue: The Old Mill Edition
Although we did a lot of shopping one thing we did purposely did not buy during our time in the Smokies was fudge. I say "purposely" because when you go to the Smokies you can't swing a dead cat (sorry cat lover's that's just one of my favorite phrases) without seeing a place to purchase fudge.
Now eating fudge in and of itself is not a big deal; if you eat it with moderation. But you see that's my problem. Every time I go somewhere on vacation and buy fudge I binge. It's as if the purchase of fudge is the initial step in a personal game of "how fast can I eat this?"
When we take advantage of the special offers most places offer when buying fudge (buy 3 slices get a 4th free or something as enticing or economically convincing as that) I quickly find myself out of control when it comes to eating it.
Instead of eating a bit of it while on vacation and then taking it home and eating over the course of a week or longer, I finish it before we leave.
So on not wanting to feel bad because I've consumed too much sugar, I made a vow to Paula before we left home that during this vacation we would not be buying fudge at all.
Now we did have some sweets and enjoyed ice cream but the steady stream sugar delivered through fudge was not part of the equation. I am proud of our accomplishment.
Now I've covered nearly all the things we did during our GSM getaway including and extensive post about the most memorable event, our hike to Laurel Falls.
But I've saved my 2nd favorite thing for last in this series. It's one of the places we went in June for the first time and liked it so much we went back. This time we added a couple of first time experiences and a repeat activity that made our 2nd visit to "The Island" even better.
The main difference between the first time we went to The Island resort area and on this trip was the time of day. This time we went late afternoon/early evening.
The first of our two new experiences involved our evening meal. We had dinner in Margaritaville.
The Pigeon Forge edition of Jimmy Buffet's restaurant empire opened shortly after our visit last June. We had decided back then that the next time we were in the Smokies we would eat there. It was a unique first time experience.
I could tell from looking at it from the outside that it was a very busy place. There was a patio area in the back of the restaurant where we could see and hear a band entertaining guests. There was also a bunch of customers waiting near the front door.
We initially were told that we would have to wait about 20 minutes for a table but it was probably less than 10. The atmosphere in the place was loud, busy and festive. At times it seemed to me more like a night club than a restaurant.
As we were being led to our table on the upper level I could see and hear there was a lot going on. The music, the noise from the Tiki bar (also on the upper level) and the celebratory sounds of a couple of birthday parties from the lower level made up a cacophony that was almost a bit overwhelming.
We were seated in the back right hand corner of the upper level. In this picture that I took just as we were leaving you can see the table where we sat. It's located just above the nose of the plane and it's far wing.
Here are some pictures of the restaurant I took from our table.
I knew even before we got our menus that the prices for the food would be rather expensive. It was just that kind of place in a resort area.
Paula ordered the Crispy Coconut Shrimp entree with sweet potato fries and cilantro coleslaw. I got buttermilk fried chicken breasts with mashed potatoes, green beans, and the most delicious chicken gravy I've ever had.
I was right we spent the most on dinner there than at any other meal during the trip. But I must also add that you got quite a bit of food for the price. We both took some home with us and got another meal out of it.
Back in 2010 when we went to Universal Studios in Orlando, I saw the Margaritaville restaurant along that area's City Walk. I was curious about eating there then but never got the chance. Now that I've been there I'm pretty sure it will be a "once and done". It's just too busy and loud a place for me. Let me give you a bit of an example.
It's not very long but this video I shot as we were leaving the place gives you an idea about the atmosphere. It's from my You Tube channel as well. Margaritaville Restaurant.
As we left the restaurant after dinner we discovered that the sun had gone down and dusk was settling in. The Wheel, the large Ferris wheel that I rode during our first trip to The Island back in June, was putting on a light show. Here's a video that in retrospect was shot from a rather bad place. Too many people, including my wife, walked in front of me. But still I love the light show.
As soon as we started walking around The Island resort area we noticed some changes. There were a lot more shops open, a few more restaurants and entertainment venues.
But the first place we went was to the arcade. Paula wanted to play a game she discovered back in June. She loves Harpoon Lagoon because she's good at it. This time she played quite a bit. She may have a look of concentration on her face in this picture but believe me she's having fun.
Now here's proof at how good she is at this game. One of the highest scoring captures in this game is the spearing of a jellyfish. Watch as my wife works diligently to score a valuable catch. Here's another video link:
Paula Gets The Jellyfish
My wife played Harpoon Lagoon so well that we earned over 1200 tickets; enough to get a prize nice enough to give to Aria as a gift this Christmas.
We walked around the area and saw some interesting things. In a very interesting spin on the whole Jimmy Buffet influence at the resort we saw a guy allowing tourists to hold a couple of parrots while getting their picture taken and then selling them the picture.
We saw a cart selling items promoting Paula Dean and her restaurant that's opening at The Island sometime this coming winter. We got a cute t-shirt for Aria there.
But the coolest thing of the entire night was the Fountain show outside the soon-to-open Margaritaville Island Hotel.
I mentioned the fountains in my June 23, 2014 post and put up a picture of them taken from above while I was riding The Wheel.
This time they were a lot more exciting. At night the fountain is lit with multicolored lights. Here's a link to a short video I shot showing what it looks like. With the illuminated Ferris wheel in the background it's pretty cool.
The Island Fountain At Night
Starting at 9 o'clock, every half hour, the fountain does a choreographed "dance" to any of 12 different songs. With close to 90 vertical nozzles all moving in coordination to the music it's quite a show.
I recorded a couple of the shows. Here's the links to the videos on my You Tube channel. The first song is a standard sung by Rod Stewart. It was shot from the end of the pool looking at the fountain vertically.
Fountain Show: That Old Black Magic
This 2nd Fountain show video was shot from a horizontal view of the fountains. The song is a Van Halen classic from the 80s. Fountain Show: Jump
Those are pretty cool aren't they? Unfortunately, I didn't record the best show that we saw. The fountain's interpretation of "The Devil Went Down To Georgia." We only saw the show two times but that song was amazing.
I'm going to finish up this section on our night at The Island with a few of my favorite still shots I took that night. This first one is the best pic of Paula and me from the entire trip. Others are shots of The Wheel (which for some reason I am obsessed with) lit up and a unique shot of the fountain.
That's the story of our September 2014 Great Smoky Mountains Getaway.
We had a great time. Although we only went into the vacation with the purpose of just a few days of R&R for Paula, it turned out to have a "honeymoon" feel to it.
The Smoky Mountains resort area has now established itself as our "go to" vacation spot. With that said there are a couple of roles that the area may play in our future.
We may just return to the Smokies for a 3rd time this year this December to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary. But those are plan to be determined.
Also on the radar is the possibility of meeting my sisters and their families there for a vacation together one year soon.
During this September visit, it was once again impressed on me that a podcast based on the Great Smoky Mountains vacation area has potential to be a success. I have to do some research to see if it's something I would be able to do. I'm not going to go into details in this post but I may write more about it later.
I know this has been yet another long post about our vacation. But I felt I had to share this trip with all my blog readers. It was the best trip of the year so far. Hope you enjoyed reading about it.
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