Showing posts with label sightseeing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sightseeing. Show all posts

A quick trip to Dollywood!

Friday, December 15, 2017


We decided to take a mini-vacation and booked a stay at Best Western in Kodak, TN. While there, we spent an afternoon/evening at Dollywood where we saw one show and took some photos. We had thought about staying for the parade at 8:15 that night, but it was WAY too cold. LOL!

On our leisurely drive up, after dropping the pups off for two fun days at doggy camp, we decided to try a new spot for lunch. After being misdirected by our outdated GPS in Jeremiah Jeep (aka JJ), we found Wendall's Diner in Harriman.

The decor is straight out of the 80's - fun memorabilia abounds!



The menu offers a wide selection and there were lunch specials.



Stu opted for a Reuben with onion rings and I got a steak hoagie with fries. Both meals were excellent but next time, we will split the onion rings and pass on the fries. BIG servings!



We got into Dollywood about 3:45 ET (we always forget we lose an hour when traveling east on these short trips). The next show was starting just after 4, so we found a good seat. The show was "It's a Wonderful Life" and we enjoyed it. I snapped a few photos with my iPhone, not the best, but best I could do.





When we came out, the sky featured a blushing sunset, setting off the beautiful light displays.



I snapped several photos of the lights as the evening darkened...









We wandered the park, sat for a bit to enjoy some holiday music and ended the evening with our favorite meal - sausages smothered with sweet onions & peppers. Yum!





A fun day, albeit a cold one. A warm hotel room awaited us. We look forward to visiting again when spring comes!

[Click any photo for a larger image and feel free to look at the entire album on SmugMug.]

Ciao for now!

Another visit - from & to...

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Last Sunday our friends from Philadelphia, TN (formerly of MD) came for an overnight visit. We always love to see them and never fail to enjoy ourselves. Even though it was cold and damp (we had some very light snow flurries), Monday warmed up and the sun came out from behind the clouds.

So, we opted to head off to the Muddy Pond Mennonite community to introduce them to what we discovered a couple weeks earlier with our friends who are buying our property here in TN.

They fell in love with the rockers at Muddy Pond General Store but they also discovered something we missed on our other visit - a whole upstairs filled with goodies!











Including more differently styled rockers...




From there we continued on The Country Porch for a little more shopping (I just had to get more of the relish which is very much like my grandmother's picalilli relish from my childhood) and some lunch.



Loved this sign...


A great day and one I know we will soon repeat...

Ciao for now!

Fantastic couple of days!

Monday, October 23, 2017

We've been busy the last couple of days. Last weekend I escorted some friends out to our property to stay for a few days. We met them years ago but hadn't run into them again. They got wind of our property for sale and after a fair amount of research wanted to see it and visit the area.

Stu got home on Tuesday, we got caught up on things on Wednesday (like laundry...LOL). Thursday, Stu took some folks from PA out to see the property and he got to meet and chat with the first folks. When done, he visited with our neighbors.

Thursday afternoon we had our friends over for a late lunch/early dinner. A simple meal, burgers - potato salad - chips. They brought several bottles of wine. One from their home area as a gift, and several others from local wineries they had visited this week. While we are more beer people, they managed to find some we both liked. By the time the evening was done, three bottles of wine were done as well.

Friday morning Murphy went to his second vet appointment. He had gained weight to 25.5# - WOW! He now weighs more than Cooper did at the same age. But he is definitely finer boned and has the more almond eyes of the Collie as well as the longer nose. Cooper wins in paw size with his bear paws.

We had made plans to meet our friends that afternoon to visit the local Mennonite community, Muddy Pond, just down the street from us. What a great afternoon. We visited several stores, bought a few things (some delicious cinnamon raisin bread that became French Toast this morning, cinnamon buns that were yummy and a sweet pepper relish that is very reminiscent of my grandmother's picalilli relish from growing up in New England). We had a wonderful lunch at The Country Porch. Here are a few photos - there are more in our SmugMug album.

These two signs welcomed up on our first stop at the Muddy Pond Variety Store.





Inside and out, there was, as the name told us, a wide variety of items. We all loved roaming the store.









Outside, I had to snap a couple of flower photos.




From there we continued on to the Muddy Pond General Store. They had a nice deli, a lot of baked goods, but we all fell in love with the rocking chairs.







From there we browsed the neighboring leather shop (there are three, we only visited one this time around).



Getting hungry we moved up the road to The Country Porch where we had lunch. Delicious sandwiches, free WiFi, too. A wide variety of items for sale. This is where we got the items I mentioned above. They had tables and chairs outside and we sat there for a bit after rescuing our friends' pup who decided to vacate their vehicle unexpectedly.









We came back to the house and chatted some more - and the big news - they are purchasing our property. Well, we broke the wine back out and enjoyed a couple more hours of getting to know each other better.

Saturday was another day of perfect weather and we took a nice motorcycle ride up to Jamestown for breakfast at the West End Diner. From there we headed home, we were expecting overnight company and I wanted to clean up the house a bit. We had another enjoyable evening getting caught up on her latest news and all crashed early. Sunday morning Stu made French Toast with the cinnamon raisin bread we had bought - thick slices of heaven! We will be getting more for sure.

So all in all, a great week! Good thing we got out and enjoyed the weather - this is what is headed our way. Eeek! Stu is going to winterize the RV in the next couple of days out of necessity.



Ciao for now!

Post Cruise Update - Part I

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Sorry for the lack of posting...it's been cRaZy!!! I'll try to give you a synopsis and a few photos from the last five weeks. Oh, there will be more than one post. This is part one. LOL!

Other than cramped seats, our flight to Los Angeles was uneventful. Stu's old partner and our good friend, Bill Metcalf, picked us up and we headed to his and his wife, Dotty's, beautiful home in the Palm Springs area. They are both avid golfers, so this is the perfect spot for their retirement. Here are a few shots...









We did a little sightseeing while there. First was a day trip up into the hills - breathtaking!







Then a trip up into the mountains on the tramway. We stayed until the last tram down and got to see the city lights. It was as wonderful as everyone told us it would be.













Lots more photos of our visit with Bill & Dotty here - two cameras, so not all photos are in order. Hope you enjoy!

PS. You can see ALL our trip photos HERE.

Ciao for now!