Guess who’s back from her trip and has lots of travels to share? Me. I am back! SO, ’tis (or ’twas) the time of the year when we head back from Florida up to the coldness of Canada. And I say coldness because we don’t usually head back up in April-definitely not before Easter, but guess what? So anyway, my dad wanted to go to New York at first, but they still wore masks there and my family already had Covid, and masks don’t really work anymore… So we headed to Tennessee instead!

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge at the Smokies on April 15th, and it was our second time to stay at the resort. I LOVE the water park, because they’ve got a surf simulator where you can test your skillzzzz. I made my parents come up with me to the water slides, and I may or may not’ve sent my mother down backwards. Mwahahaha!

The next morning we went to Gatlinburg! it was only 14 miles (22.53km).
Click Gatlinburg for the complete list of things to do and accommodations in Gatlinburg! Gatlinburg really reminds me of Orlando with the Ripley’s Believe it Or Not, Wonderworks, mini theme parks, and dinner shows. I love how Tennessee is in the Smoky Mountains because they are so pretty! To get a better view we went up in the chairlift to the Gatlinburg Suspension Bridge! Y’all better not be afraid of heights, or bridges, because if you want to go to Gatlinburg, you gotta go to the Skybridge! The chairlift goes 1,800 ft above sea level, and the Skybridge is the longest pedestrian cable bridge in North America! It is almost 700ft long, and there’s a nice little glass floor part in the very middle. I’m sitting on it on the picture below 😀

Fear the rainbow crocsssssss!

It is nice to spend time at the top, and there’s a café where you can have a quick bite. You can also go for a hike if you have time. We only spent an hour at the top, and we took pictures then we headed down and drove to Pigeon Forge to watch a show.

Have you ever been to a dinner show? Y’know, the one where they fight each other with pots and pans and jump from horses while you eat? Yeah, well that’s what I got to see! I loved the time we went to Hatfield and McCoy dinner show, the food was all you can eat, the fried chicken, the vegetable soup, the mashed potatoes, and the corn were SO GOOD! Hatfield and McCoy is about a real-life decade long feud of two American families in 1880s, and it was a comedy show so it was really funny! This was all three years though, this time we went to Dolly Parton’s Stampede! It’s a dinner show about American History told by riders, and the songs played were sung by Dolly Parton, a country music legend. There were horses jumping into rings of fire, people coming out of the ceiling in glowing costumes, and a little bit of acrobatic stunts! They gave me vegetable soup, a whole chicken, corn, and a potato for the main meal, then apple turnovers for dessert. I added the links below in case you want to watch the show also. 🙂

Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Feud and Dolly Parton’s Stampede

After our tummies were full, we headed back to the lodge for some swimming! My parents love the hot tub to relax, but I hit the waterslides instead! I totally dominated the Flo Rider (that’s the surf simulator that I was talking about) by falling off my board and throwing my shoes at children. (just kidding!). I attempted a few rolls, and I think I did pretty good for my first try… The next day was Easter so we attended a local church, and we stayed at the resort to take it easy.

We woke up the next morning to… pouring rain! And it was day we were about to go to Dollywood! Yayyy! So basically Dollywood is Ms. Dolly Parton’s amusement park nestled within the Smokies. I absolutely LOVE how the roller coasters are built on the mountains! It makes for some pretty fun drops and heights! The coasters were all so unique, unlike anything I’ve ever been to before, and I loved it! My favorite was the Lightning Rod, a coaster that’s theme is old hot rod cars, and the track was sooo narrow, like there was nothing on either side! Another really cool thing is that it was wooden, and wooden coasters are usually rickety and a little slow, but this one was SUPER fast and smooth! As you can probably tell, I really enjoyed the coasters at Dollywood!

Another ride that my mom enjoyed (because she is afraid of heights and the slightest shake makes her dizzy. Haha, sorry mom I’m throwing ya under the bus here-or maybe I should say the tracks?) is the Dollywood Express! So, there’s a 110 ton cold-fired steam engine train at Dollywood that takes you all throughout the park! I think the driver was having fun blasting the horn throughout the ride. Then we went for cinnamon bread at the Grist Mill, and we got extra icing too, because it’s essential. We stayed until five o’ clock. My dad and I rode every coaster we could. Overall, I’d say my trip to Dollywood was super fun and exciting! I love going on roller coasters for the first time because you never know what you’re going to get!

The next day we prepared ourselves for a very long drive back to Canada 1,310.22 miles, (2, 108.6 km) and around twenty hours. Yes, that’s loooong!

That’s all I have for today! I hoped you enjoyed this post, and I also hope that you get to experience Dollywood in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg if you haven’t already!

Byeeeee!