GATLINBURG - 2nd HONEYMOON

We drove to Galinburg on Saturday, July 24th. Got to the resort before check-in so we all went to the pool and enjoyed the mountain air.

There was a Magiquest in Gatlinburg, so the kids had another day of wizardry and spells.





When we were at Myrtle Beach, we told Emily and Andrew that "tourist things" could wait until Gatlinburg, where we had no ocean.

SO - next on the list was the Titanic Museum. At first I was disappointed when I learned that these weren't the people who had done the exploration and recovery diving. The artifacts were from survivors, families of those lost, and general debris found floating at the time of the wreck.

BUT - when I got inside and saw all of the information they had gathered, I really enjoyed it. Emily and Andrew really got into it also. They gave us each a ticket so that we entered as one of the passengers. Then we could go through the museum and see what happened to each of "us". The differences in the classes and what happened to them was particularly poignant.






We purchased tickets for "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". Again I went as a skeptic. I had seen the show on Broadway with the original cast and Carol had the CD with Donnie Osmond. So I really wasn't expecting what we saw and heard. Almost all of the performers sang better than on the CD. It really is a wonderful show. Lots of glitz and incredible talent.

The tickets were "two-fors" and for the second show, we picked "Magic Beyond Belief". And again, a great choice. We were all amazed. And got "up close and personal with the performers, human and animal.





The BIG promise to the kids was that we would go back to Dollywood. We had a wonderful time on our first trip in April of 2009 and everyone was looking forward to returning. AND a big bonus for me was that my grandson and son, Tyler and Adam could join us because Adam had moved to Knoxville. We had way too much fun to waste time taking pictures, but I had to post these -





Adam, Tyler and I went to Dollywood Splash Country for a fun and exhausting day. It was cut short by rain and this old man was thankful. When is somebody going to build a water slide with an elevator ?



Thank you Lindsay for meeting me in Bristol with Tyler. Thank you Adam for joining us - and for the wonderful lunch at Cheddar's.

Thank you God, for all my Blessings. My "old family" and my "new family". I never thought I'd be this happy again.

STILL AT THE BEACH

After a week of surf, the kids were bored.

WTF ?

Which I understand to mean, "Why the Face?"

Anyway, I put my foot down and said, "Hell, NO" to a waterpark. We're at the ocean for crying out loud. But we did get away from the Beach for several days.

The kids loved "Magiquest". Which is an indoor role playing game. Lots of quests, adventures and generally good times. It's at Broadway at the Beach.

We also went to Huntington Beach State Park and hiked the dunes. The causeway to the beach splits what was once a single body of water. But now one side is saltwater and the other side is fresh.

Here's the saltwater side





And on the coast of South Carolina, where there is fresh water, there are alligators !



We only saw one, but it was fun watching him - not moving.

Emily took this picture




And Andrew took this one



and this one



We also visited Atalaya



Atalaya was an incredible house built by the Huntington family of NY. Across the highway they built Brookgreen Gardens. But we had to save that for a future trip.

We did get a couple more days of beach time in before heading back to Salem.

That's our timeshare building in the background.







Back to Broadway at the Beach, where we had lunch at Johnny Rocket's. Where you can get GREAT burgers and fries, REAL milkshakes and listen to 1950's and 1960's music.

AND JUST GET SILLY - well, at least for those of us who still remember how















Then we headed home for 10 days or so to rest before returning to Gatlinburg, TN.

Which was the last planned trip of the summer. We were supposed to be saving for our trip to London after all.