Tennessee Summer Vacation PART THREE // THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS Day 4
We woke up on Thursday ready to experience everything we could in one day. We were leaving early the next morning to head down to Knoxville and finish our trip with good friends from college.
The plan was to start our day at The Sinks, a popular roadside stop with water rushing over giant boulders and accumulating into crystal clear pools. We headed out but got a little lost on our way.
However, sometimes when you get lost you find treasure, which is just what happened when we found ourselves in Daisy Town. I have never been to this area of the Smokies nor have I ever even heard of it. Referred to as the Elkmont Ghost Town Daisy Village was created as a part of a vacation club called the Appalachian Club back in the early 1900’s.
We would have gotten out and explored more, but to be completely honest, we were a little bit spooked to begin with, and when a park ranger started slowly following our car, that sealed the deal.
The park apparently has plans to restore 17 of the homes in the Daisy Town section of the vacation club, although it was unclear where they where in that process.
After getting back on track we quickly found the Sinks and went out to explore a little.
After taking it all in we got back in the car headed towards Krispy Kreme for some breakfast.
However, we couldn’t get there without first stopping to take a photo of this stunning hidden waterfall off the side of the road. If you can’t tell by now, I think that the Smokies are absolutely magical, How about you?
Theres something truly wrong with our kids, but neither one of them really likes Krispy Kreme. I know - right?!?! It truly boggles the mind, but we decided to give it one more try and see what they thought.
The kids once again disappointed us with their highly questionable doughnut preferences. Luckily, it just meant more for Jordan and I, oh who are we joking Jordan ate 4… LOL!
Now, whats something you really wouldn’t want to do after eating multiple doughnuts? I don’t know, get into a swimsuit, run a marathon, ride a rollercoaster? Hmmmm… Poor planning on our parts. We finished up and headed straight to Dollywood.
Dollywood is THE first theme park in the country to become totally autism friendly. You can read more here, or check out their accessibility page on their website here. Theres even an actual link on the page for a social story which can be extremely effective in helping children and adults with autism process an experience that they are about to have. They can learn what to expect before the visit which can help alleviate anxiety and fears. Once in the park theres a ride accessibility ticket wherein you don’t have to wait for any lines, and an actual calming room where overstimulated individuals can take a break.
Now, everyone loves Dolly Parton, and I’m no exception. In fact, we love her so much we even named our dog after her, but more to come on that later. However, when I learned about this and all the other good she does for the community and the state of Tennessee as a whole I was truly blown away.
Much like Splash Country, the park is absolutely beautiful. Built into the hills of the Smokies, with live music and kitschy little signs posted all throughout the park you feel like you’re in a different world. Dolly even thought enough to equip the park with an operating church, this is after all the Bible Belt.
No surprise, Holden was SUPER excited from the get go. Rollercoasters and thrill rides are his THING, so Isla gamely rolled with the punches when we had to stop to let him get on a ride that there was no WAY she was gonna get on, before we all rode our first rollercoaster.
I think he rode this one three times before we could finally pull him away.
Holden’s been on lots of rollercoasters and has so far loved them all. This was his first rollercoaster with loops and no surprise, he LOVED it!
For most of the rides Holden got frustrated if we (Jordan) didn’t take him directly back on as soon as the ride ended. Isla was a different story…. She literally tried to escape this ride and run down the exit right before this photo was taken!
Spoiler Alert - She liked it after she tried it ;)
Luckily she still had a great time trying the rides she was comfortable on and exploring the park.
Holden and Jordan rode every single rollercoaster at least once. The last ride was the Lightning Rod. We hadn’t done much research but figured out quickly after Jordan and Holden rode that this was a pretty burly rollercoaster.
Do a quick search on “scariest wooden rollercoasters” and this one is consistently ranked. After the ride had finished Holden looked at Jordan with tears in his eyes and pointed that he wanted to leave. As soon as the bars were raised he marched over to his stroller and sat down. I guess there would be no repeat for that one.
Jordan said that all the passengers were amazed that Holden had rode. I was so proud of my brave little boy, although I’m not sure whether he’ll want to ride it again next time or not.
We left Dollywood with both our hearts and bellies full. Did I mention the food was great too?
We only had a couple more adventures left in our mountain vacation, and at nearly 6,650 feet we felt like Clingman’s Dome would be a good way to cap off our trip.
To reach the summit you park in the lot and make a half mile hike up a paved trail to the top. It doesn't seem like much, but it’s pretty steep and after a week of a lot of physical activity, and a long day I think our girl had finally had enough.
She stayed pretty far behind us all of the hike and took quite a few breaks at the benches provided.
The views at the top are breathtaking making this attraction an absolute MUST-DO when in the Smokies.
Isla finally caught up with the rest of the family on the way back down.
On the way back to Pigeon Forge for dinner we were treated to our best bear sighting of the trip.
I got out to take a photo, but quickly came to my senses and jumped back in the car. These pictures were taken safely from the passenger seat of the car.
Apparently these folks weren’t as sensible…
After a somewhat light dinner (once again, the mountain area isn’t exactly the most health conscious place in Tennessee), we headed to our final spot - The Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster.
The whole family loved this one!
After an amazing week we were all exhausted and happy. Holden could barely make it through Goodnight Moon.
These are memories that I know we will cherish forever. Isla is still talking about our amazing week in the mountains.
Thanks to the Great Smoky Mountains for your beautiful scenery, kind and generous people and southern hospitality - there is no doubt that we’ll see y’all soon!