Visiting the Harvest Festival at Dollywood

Last month, me, my mom, and my sister decided to take a trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. At the beginning of September my sister had gotten back from living in Germany for the past year, and she was in between waiting to get into her new apartment so she decided to come down to visit. She wanted to take a trip so we discussed a few ideas before deciding on Pigeon Forge. She had visited the area a couple of summers ago and liked it so much she recommended it to me and my parents, and we visited last year. 

For some reason me and my mom thought it was farther away than it actually was but it's only about a 2 1/2 hour drive. (Longer right now because a large section of I-40 is closed due to Hurricane Helene. But we visited before that happened.)

Anyways, my sister had started checking out Dollywood and decided she wanted to go so we did that! There was a pretty good discount going on so we were able to take advantage of that. We went on a Thursday (Sept 12 to be exact.) and it was not very busy at all. There was very few people there which made it very nice.

We arrived shortly after the park opened and started to wander through the park. We really enjoyed seeing all of the fall decorations! All of the pumpkin decorations were so fun and cute!

We stopped off for a loaf of their famous cinnamon bread with a side of apple butter then sat at a table and enjoyed it. We then continued on our way, enjoying exploring the park and the fun decorations. My sister was excited about the roller coasters, so she would ride on those while me and my mom waited for her. Being that there was so few people there my sister was able to go on a roller coaster and then get right back on again! I think the longest she waited was maybe one or two ride rotations before she could go again. My sister's favorite roller coasters were the Big Bear Mountain and the Wild Eagle. I think she rode each of those 3 or 4 times!

Once my sister decided she had had enough of the roller coasters it was about time for lunch, so we stopped at Red's Drive In. They had several restaurants but we just wanted something quick and the restaurants didn't really serve food we were interested in (mostly Southern cooking.). But Red's was good. We got burgers and fries which weren't too bad. Prices weren't too bad either for an amusement park.

After lunch it had started sprinkling, so it was the perfect time to visit the Dolly Parton Experience, which was an interactive experience that walked you through her career. Also in the park was Dolly's tour bus and a replica of her childhood home. There was also plenty of shops to walk through which we did as well.

We arrived at the park at about 10am and left around 4pm, so we spent a good chunk of the day there. We enjoyed the park. We definitely picked the perfect time to visit, I would not want to go during the summer! One lady we talked to while we were there said that it is absolutely insane during the summertime! So I'm glad we were able to visit when we did!

Have you ever been to Dollywood? Or do you like visiting amusement parks?

Recent Purchases 16

1. Fit & Flare Crepe Midi Dress in Black Floral, Dark Mauve, Black Jack and Dark Green: So I initially purchased this dress in just the black floral, but once I received the order and tried it on, I liked it so much I ordered it in all of the colors! I've never done that before, but I just really like this dress! It fits so well and looks so nice! It's just the right length and sleeve length, the material feels very nice, not too heavy but not too thin. And it has pockets! I did end up returning the Dark Mauve, I just didn't care for the color on me. But otherwise I am very happy with this dress! It has definitely become my favorite dress!

2. Chiffon Skirt | Printed in Navy: I really like this skirt! I saw it at Uniqlo and was disappointed they didn't have it in store in my size, but luckily I was able to order it online! The online images don't do it justice. It's very pretty and flowy and feels like very nice quality. I know I will get a lot of use out of it!

3. Lace Sweater in Green: I ordered this from Uniqlo as well. It's not something I would typically order, which I guess is why I like it, as it's different than something I would typically buy. But I liked the color and thought it would be fun to wear. 

4. Button-Down Flannel Tunic in Gray Plaid and Burgundy Plaid: I ended up returning these. I like the look of flannels on other people but I just didn't like how they looked on me. 

5. Vince Camuto Ladies' Hooded Full-Zip Jacket in Tan: I picked this up while at Costco recently because I needed a nicer jacket. I really only have a rain jacket and a winter coat, so I needed something nicer to wear if I'm wearing a dress or nicer clothes. This was very reasonably priced and is very nice quality for the price. I haven't gotten a chance to wear it yet as it's been too warm, but I know it will get a lot of use out of it this winter.

Have you purchased any new clothes lately?

Laurel Falls Hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

While in Tennessee last year, we went on the Laurel Falls hike in Smoky Mountains National Park. It's a very popular trail and we had a hard time finding parking. We drove up and down the road a ways and almost left before eventually finding someone just pulling out from a a small lot down the road. 

Roundtrip the hike is 2.6 miles and is described on the NPS website as moderate in difficulty, but we found it to be more on the easy side of moderate. We saw several preschool-elementary school aged kids on the hike and they seemed fine. Although there are some steep drop-offs, so you definitely wouldn't want to take kids who weren't familiar with hiking or who are rowdy on this hike!

Anyways, it was a nice hike. The weather was nice and while there was a fair amount of people on the hike, it wasn't too busy.

After the hike we drove up to an overlook at the Tennessee and North Carolina border and saw part of the Appalachian trail.

Have you ever been to Great Smoky Mountains National Park?