All of the mapping programs recommended a southern drive to Charleston through Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Since we had taken that route a few years ago on our way to Savannah and since the northern route only added about 45 minutes to the total drive, we decided to take I-40 to I-26. I was also eager to travel this path since I am much more familiar with the roads through Tennessee.
After a morning of church, we set out on our adventure with the plan to drive as far as we could before stopping for the night. In my mind, I hoped to make it to Pigeon Forge since I wanted to show Mom and Dad a bit of the city as well and measure their interest in visiting there in the future. Little did I know that they would love the area and plan to return before this vacation was over.
When we finally arrived in Charleston, I found it a very difficult city to navigate. All of the waterways and bridges made travel confusing and difficult to quickly correct. After a few days, I began to get a better sense of the lay of the land and wasn't quite as dependent on my GPS -- always a good feeling!
Everyone always asks me what we actually DO when we go to these new cities. The top priority is always the same: REST! We allow lots of time to lounge in the hotel, reading or catching up on sleep, but we also find the leisurely pace gives us a lot more energy to get out and explore. This year we visited lots of interesting places. Some of my personal favorites were the historic downtown houses and parks, Market Street, the South Carolina Aquarium, and Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.
This eagle was the first thing we saw upon entering the Aquarium. I loved being able to get this close to the animal and seeing things in such detail. While the facility was smaller than I expected on the whole, I was quite impressed with the quality of the exhibits and was pleasantly surprised to find that I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
It wouldn't be appropriate to talk about our vacation without at least mentioning the food. Charleston has some amazing eateries and we sampled what we could! Our personal favorite was located directly on the harbor and was called California Dreaming. Specializing in steaks and fresh seafood, this restaurant combined amazing food with a beautiful view. During lunch, Dad even spotted a couple of dolphins playing in the waters of the Atlantic inlet while enjoying his Oyster Po-Boy sandwich.
Pigeon Forge was an unexpected addition to the trip and a fun adventure for everyone. We took in two shows: The Smokey Mountain Opry and The Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Theater. I'm happy to report that I survived both shows and didn't slit my wrists while attending! I actually found both shows fairly entertaining, but I would only revisit the Opry by choice.
A trip to Pigeon Forge wouldn't be complete without visiting Dollywood. My parents wanted to check out the shows, so I planned the easiest way to see the most shows in the shortest amount of time. What I didn't think through was that the first show was all the way at the back of the park. By the time I got them both back there, I knew this was going to be a short day, but we didn't head back to the hotel for five hours! When I finally got them back, I went downstairs for a few minutes. Coming back in the room, I heard Dad napping in the bedroom and found Mom here:
I suppose this was when I feared that I had "broken Mom" and had to send emails to my siblings! (The rhythmic puffs that you hear are coming from the left side of Mom's mouth! I had never seen her sleep like this and was cracking up while making the video.) I have to admit I was a little relieved that they were so tired because I was exhausted too. It was after these power naps that they told me they were ready for a second round of shows that evening. Phew!
I don't think any trip through this area of the country would be complete without a visit to Smokey Mountain National Park. We spent our first morning on vacation driving through the area and taking lots of photos while looking at the beauty of God's creation. This is a trip I won't soon forget even though I'm already looking forward to beginning the planning for next year's outing.
No comments:
Post a Comment