Roller Coasters and Southern Charm.. Journey to Dollywood
Day 1:
The Dollywood trip check-in was a success, after taking a glamorous photo the group took a road trip to Sevierville, TN!
The drive was filled with laughter, music, and snacks, and many fond memories were made. Once we safely arrived in Sevierville at our amazing castle-esqe Airbnb, the group headed to sleep for the night in anticipation of the fun times ahead
Day 2:
It was an early morning for many campers as they rose and enjoyed their breakfast of muffins, Pop-Tarts, and breakfast sandwiches. After eating, they prepared for some fun at the pool and hot tub, where they played water volleyball, swam, and relaxed.
The travel staff began prepping for lunch as the water activities wound down. The menu featured brats, burgers, and bacon-wrapped jalapeños on the grill, with sides of potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, and a variety of chips. Everyone gathered on the deck patio, overlooking the Smoky Mountains, to enjoy their meal.
After filling up, campers spent the afternoon playing in the arcade room, watching movies, hiking, and relaxing in anticipation of the big dinner and show.
Everyone put on their best outfit for an evening at Dolly Partons stampede! Upon arrival, the campers met the beautiful horses and sipped on fruity drinks in a boot mug. Once seated on the south side of the arena the 4-course meal started to be served. There was potato soup, biscuits, a whole chicken, potatoes, and pulled pork, dessert was a delicious apple turnover.
During the meal the show started, dozens of talented horseback riders performed feats such as jumping through a flaming ring and racing. The south and north sides competed in challenges in the end the south side (our side) won! After the wonderful show, the group visited the gift shop and found lovely items to buy. We headed back to the castle Airbnb for the night.
Day 3:
Who’s ready for Dollywood? This here travel group’s rarin’ to go! At the crack of dawn, just like the pioneers, the campers woke up eager for a day packed with fun. We all enjoyed a breakfast classic: bacon, eggs, and toast. Once we finished, we donned our matching shirts, grabbed our cowboy hats, and saddled up our metal steeds for the journey ahead.
Upon arrival at the Dollywood theme park, the group headed in seeking thrills. The park was beautiful it was filled with tons of flowers and butterflies. We saw a replica of Dolly Parton’s childhood home, ate BBQ-themed food, shopped till we dropped, watched a live performance of Dolly’s life, and went on roller coasters!
The campers loved Dollywood so much, that we will be going back again tomorrow. For dinner, we left the park and drove to Five Oaks Farm Kitchen which served delicious southern meals. After the meal, we went shopping at an outlet mall with tons of shops everyone’s favorite was the Disney shop.
On our final day in the charming castle, we were ready to make the most of it!
The travel group savored a Southern classic breakfast: biscuits and sausage gravy with eggs cooked in various styles. Once we finished, we prepared for our second round at Dollywood.The travel group split up to explore different parts of the parks that they hadn’t seen yesterday.
Exploring every corner of the park, Dan, Jamie, and Ro competed fiercely for a prize. However, Ro’s exceptional water gun skills led to victory, earning a Mario plushie. Serena and Jill rode the swinging canoe, feeling the adrenaline rush. Emmie, Shanna, and Emily rode on the barnstormer they hooped and hollered the whole ride. The rest of the gang sat to watch a live musical performance by a country music band.
Naturally, everyone also did some more shopping around the park and enjoyed the famous cinnamon bread and some ice cream. After a wonderful day we said goodbye to the one of a kind theme park Dollywood and headed off to the next adventure. Stopping at the biggest Buc-ees in the USA the group was amazed by all the big & clean bathrooms, colorful merchandise, fresh fudge, fountain drinks galore, Texas style BBQ offerings, and more. Once done we picked up pizza along the drive to eat at the castle. After dinner some campers went for a quick dip in the hot tub and others got a head start on packing. Tomorrow we have an early day which will be spent roadtrippin’ back to Iowa!
🦋People say all good things come to an end, I say all things must come to a new beginning -Dolly Parton🦋
Final Day:
Before the sun woke up, the campers were up and excited for the roadtrip back to Iowa!
After a filling breakfast the group said goodbye to the Castle Airbnb and started the journey home. Along the way we listened to music, enjoyed snacks, and talked about dollywood and future trips. For lunch we had sandwiches from Buc-ees and for our last meal of the trip we stopped at Steak n’ Shake. Upon arriving at camp early everyone said their goodbyes after a wonderful trip spent together.
Dollyism: (Witty and wise words of advice given by the iconic Dolly Parton.)
“I make a point to appreciate all the little things in my life. I go out and smell the air after a good, hard rain. These small actions help remind me that there are so many great, glorious pieces of good in the world.” -Dolly Parton 🦋✨
