Anakeesta ~

We only had two days in Gatlinburg, so we were limited on what we could see and do.  We went to Anakeesta which is considered a theme park, though not the kind of theme park I would normally think of.  To get to Anakeesta you rode on a chondola, which I would just call a ski lift chair.  The ride takes you up 600' to the summit of Anakeesta Mountain.  

At the top there are a few restaurants and of course the requisite gift shops.  

We climbed 84 steps to the top of AnaVista Tower, Gatlinburg's highest point, with beautiful 360* vistas of the surrounding area.

Treetop Skywalk is the longest tree-based skywalk in North America with 880' of spectacular bridges suspended 50' - 60' in the air.

We even took the lift back up in the evening to walk the Skywalk at dusk.

The flowers were spectacular!

Anakeesta also has a single-rail mountain coaster, the first of its kind in the US.  You fly down the mountain on this single rail track with 1600 feet of downhill twists and turns at speeds up to 25 mph.  You control the speed as you descend.  I must say, it was great fun 😁  DSO opted not to ride because of his back issues and it was probably wise he decided to pass.  Not me, but the picture gives you an idea of what the coaster looked like.

I was going to share a bit about the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, but this post has taken far too long and I am hoping to pull a few loops.

Thanks so much for stopping by 
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

(Ripley's) Believe It or Not ~

Passing through Pigeon Forge on the way to Gatlinburg, we saw the Titanic attraction and then I saw this and it just made me chuckle!

Now Pigeon Forge is an absolute zoo.  Tourist attraction after tourist attraction.  Horrendous traffic.  I pity the people who live there.  Getting from point A to point B must be a daily nightmare.  I thought Gatlinburg was going to be the same, but it was a little more subdued.

The Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies has been voted the best U.S. aquarium and I must say it was pretty awesome.

Jellyfish totally mesmerize me.  I could watch them for hours.

I believe these were the lionfish.

There are some very strange . . . and ugly . . . creatures in the ocean.

My iPhone and PC are not playing nice today so I will share a bit more in my next post.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Always the Procrastinator ~

Typical me.  We are leaving early tomorrow morning for a quick trip to Gatlinburg, TN, an 8+ hour drive from home.  Have I packed?  Heck no!  Am I thinking about it?  I've done yard work, run some errands, started on the laundry.  Maybe now I can think about it 😁  I do have my wool chosen for the hooking project I will work on while on the road.  Easy peasy hooking.  Similar to this but I sure did agonize over my color choices.  Hopefully I will be happy with the wools I am taking.

I finished the binding of Scaredy Cat.  I have whipped with wool strips once or twice before, but have never color coordinated the strips to the hooking.  I am happy how it turned out, but not my favorite way to bind.  OK.  Binding.  NOTHING is my favorite way.  In case anyone is wondering, I used 8.5 wool strips.  (I have taken countless pictures in different lighting and just cannot capture the correct green color.  ARGH!)

The color in this picture is pretty accurate.

Thanks so much for stopping.  Will be back upon my return.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren