Day 3 Of Our Thelma And Lewis Vacation

Today we slept in a bit. After getting up we had breakfast in our hotel and then went out and about. We had no real plans other than being to our cabin rental office by 3PM. We started our day off by going to an new entertainment area in Pigeon Forge called The Island. The Island is still a growing area and has many empty store fronts. They do have a few stores that are open and it appears that they are hoping for many more to open this Spring and Summer. They have a large ferris wheel that Veronica and I are planning on going on both during the day and night in a day or two. This ferris wheel has a million LED lights that are computer controlled to do all kinds of designs and colors. After spending some time at The Island, Veronica and I went to a quilt store and bought us a couple of large quilts for use as a bedspread. Next was going to the Spring Rod Run.....owners bring their restored/antique/muscle cars to be displayed in various parking lots along the parkway in Pigeon Forge. They had some great looking vehicles in for the Rod Run. After walking around some of the strip malls we went and got some lunch. By the time we were done eating our late lunch it was time to head for the cabin rental office. On our way to our cabin we did a quick grocery shopping. We finally ended up in our cabin and settled in for the night. We have a hot tub on the screened in porch and i will be taking the opportunity to make use of it to help rehab my finger and knee...both of which I fairly recently had surgery on.
Below are some photos from our day visiting The Island and the Spring Rod Run:

2014 Pigeon Forge Spring Rod Run

Now this was a really cool vehicle. They were selling T-shirts out of the back end of it

This vehicle was in the parking lot of The Island

Our Vacation Begins

Friday Veronica and I got up early and hit the road to begin our short vacation. On that first day we got as far Burlington, NC. We did a little shopping in the area before ending up in Hillsborough, NC at a hotel for the night. We got up early on Saturday morning and headed out so that we could arrive at our final destination at a decent time. And what might that destination be? For our shorter vacation this year we decided to rent a cabin in the mountainous area around Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg.  On our way and close to our final destination, Veronica and I stopped at the Bush's Bean Museum and General Store. The last time Veronica and i had been in this area, the ground had just been broke for these buildings. This was around 5 years ago. We spent some time in both the museum and general store before heading into the Pigeon Forge area.  We arrived in the area around noon. Because our cabin was not reserved starting until the next day, Sunday, we had reservations to stay at a local hotel in Pigeon Forge. We had a few hours until we could check in so we decided to do a little shopping. When it was time to check in, we went to our room and started setting up shop for the night only to find that the free wi-fi was not able to reach us on the 6th floor, where our room was. So we packed everything up and moved down to a new room on the 3rd floor, where we still had problems getting an internet connection. Following a suggestion by Veronica to the hotels "IT" person to reset the  modem, we finally obtained a decent internet connection.  After getting set up in our new hotel room we went out and had some dinner and drove around to look at some of the sights that Sevierville and Pigeon Forge had to offer. We then went back to the hotel and turned in for the night.
Below are some photos from us on the road and from the Busch's Baked Bean Museum and General Store:

Here come the Smoky Mountains

We went through a section of road that was maybe 2-3 miles long and we saw these numbered signs. Never figured out what they were for. They weren't far enough apart to designate 1/10th of a mile

Some of the interesting architecture that we saw while driving the roads of Tennessee  

The Bush's Baked Beans plant

A couple of more photos of the Bush's baked beans plant

In the Bush's Baked Beans General Store and Museum

They had a scale that you could stand oin and it would estimate your weight in beans...this was mine. I was bloated that day!

When pigs fly

In the General Store they sold every style of beans that the Bush's brand makes and sells. They also sold Bush's brand T-shirts in a Bush's brand baked bean can of various styles which was kind of cool 

 Below are photos of Veronica and I with our buddy "Duke" the spokesdog of the Bush's Bean brand

Below are some of the sights in the Pigeoin Forge/Sevierville area

Below is part of the Wax Museum that is in the area

Wonders of Flight balloon ride 

People stand in this circular cage during the ride

 They have a large Titanic Museum in the area