On Saturday we hiked to Spruce Flats Falls. This gem of a waterfall can be found in the Tremont area of the park. You drive to the Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont and the trailhead is near the parking lot. We've been hiking for three years and never heard of this waterfall until this year! You won't find it on any of the trail maps. It's written about in just a few of the hiking books. It was once written up in Southern Living as one of the best kept secrets in the Smokies. I'm not sure why it has been kept such a secret because it is one of the most spectacular waterfalls I've seen so far in the Smokies. The trail to the falls is only a mile long, quite rugged with lots of rocks and roots, but doable for the average hiker.
After our hike, we headed to Metcalf Bottoms for our customary picnic. Food tastes really good after hiking a rugged trail!
After our hike we went home to rest and clean up. On Saturday night we headed to the Smokies game. Now we have been to a lot of Smokies games but we added a new twist to this outing. Calhoun's has a new eating area (Calhoun's at the Yard) behind left field for private parties. A couple of times a season they open it up to the general public so we bought a table. We enjoyed a buffet of grilled chicken, pulled pork barbecue, hotdogs, spinach dip with chips, coleslaw, baked beans, and chocolate chip cookies. Yum! Then we watched the Smokies destroy Jackson, 13-1! A good time was had by all.
On Sunday, we headed to Dollywood. We have season passes so we go two or three times a year, but this trip was special because Dolly was in town! She was here to perform four benefit concerts for her Imagination Library. As season pass holders, we were fortunate enough to get tickets for this event. I don't know what I expected, but I was very impressed with her concert. She sang all her old classics plus a few new songs. She told great stories about her humble upbringing. She was full of sass and class and a load of talent. She played nine different instruments (3 guitars, banjo, dulcimer, recorder, harmonica, piano, and Autoharp!) She sang with and without accompaniment. She joked! She flirted! She testified! It lasted an hour and a half and we were all sorry when it was over. She is (still) the real deal.
My favorite song: Little Sparrow (gave me chills)
My favorite story: How she came to write Jolene (her husband Carl was flirting with a girl named Jolene down at the bank. She told him to quit spending so much time at the bank since they didn't have that much money. She wrote the song, got a hit, made a lot of money and now she spends more time at the bank than Carl or Jolene!)
My favorite joke: Her grandfather's concern about her look (Grandpa was a Pentecostal preacher and he was concerned with Dolly's rhinestones, make-up and big puffy hair. He said: " Dolly, you look like a streetwalker! Don't you want to go to heaven?" She replied: " Well, of course I do Grandpa, but do I have to look like Hell to get there?"
It was such a fun enjoyable experience. She ended the show with her signature song, "I Will Always Love You". We will always love her, too. We appreciate the job opportunities she provides for the people of Sevier County (Dollywood, Splash Country, Dixie Stampede, The Dreammore Resort, and now Lumberjack Feud). And we admire what she does with the Imagination Library (over 60 million books to 750,000 children, over 1600 communities in U.S., Canada, Australia, and expanding). She is quite a remarkable lady who remembers where she came from and is making a difference in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment