Tag Archives: Dollywood

Travel Updates: Dollywood’s Newest Adventure and Baggage Help In Rome

DOLLYWOOD’S NEWEST ADVENTURE If you didn’t make it out to Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park this summer you may want to start planning your trip for next year. By then construction on a new $5 million raft ride equipped with water guns to soak targets, other riders and bystanders will be complete. If you like thrill rides and are working your way up the skilled marksman ladder then the River Battle ride is one you won’t want to miss. It sends eight passengers on rafts down a 500-foot channel lined with more than 100 targets. You can take aim at … Continue reading →

Dollywood is For the Birds (Among Other Things)

While Murphy enjoyed Doggywood during our recent Smoky Mountain Getaway, Wayne and I enjoyed Dollywood. And we truly enjoyed it. Especially me, because at every turn I discovered this was no ordinary amusement park. In addition to the exciting rides, craftsman exhibits, and great food, there was also an emphasis on animal conservation. Eagle Mountain Sanctuary As far as birds go, Dolly is definitely for them. In particular the bald eagle. I’m not sure exactly how many eagles call the 30,000 square foot aviary known as Eagle Mountain Sanctuary home, but what a nice one they have! (And apparently it’s … Continue reading →

Murphy’s Gatlinburg Getaway Part I: The Holiday Inn and Doggywood

I’m so glad I took the time to plan Murphy’s Smoky Mountain getaway. We were pretty much prepared for what to expect while traveling with a dog in the Smoky Mountains, but we also lucked out a little too. Everywhere we took him held surprises! Our Accommodations: The Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort I decided to book us into the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort instead of renting a cabin. For one thing the price was more affordable, but also we didn’t have to worry about driving back and forth from a cabin into town. We could walk to Gatlinburg’s main thoroughfare … Continue reading →

Planning Murphy’s Smoky Mountain Getaway

Photo by Don Wang Not counting the family Christmas road trip all of us –even Mr. Meow–took back in 2005 to Denver, the week we spent looking for houses in March of 2005 when we were moving from Jacksonville to Nashville, or last Labor Day weekend when we made a quick trip down to Jacksonville for a couple of days, we haven’t gotten away for a true vacation to somewhere we’ve never been since we went to Charleston in 2003. Well, we’re finally going to take a few days and head up to Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains. A neighbor … Continue reading →

Dolly Delivers

Country singing sensation Dolly Parton has done a lot for her Smokey Mountains hometown. Years ago she opened her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near Gatlinburg. Money generated by park visitors helps boost the local economy, and townspeople say they have Dolly to thank. Now, residents have another reason to appreciate their hometown sweetheart. Parton recently announced she plans to honor the country doctor who delivered her by pledging $500,000 to a $90 million hospital and cancer center in her hometown. “I have wonderful, wonderful memories of Dr. (Robert F.) Thomas,” Parton told guests at a dinner hosted … Continue reading →