Going on vacation with a holiday involved was a first for me. We went to Gatlinburg during Easter weekend, so my mom and I were trying to figure out everything we would need to bring to make an Easter dinner. Our list was stressing us out, but then Smoky Mountain Adventures offered us tickets to their show on Easter, so our stress level went way down. Without dinner, we only had to plan for the kids Easter baskets, and it was mostly stuffing the eggs with candy. I'm a low key mom that's done with getting them toys and trinkets that are just going to break in an hour and end up in the trash.
So after the kids had their Easter candy overload, we made breakfast at the condo and just watched TV, read, and played (the kids) until it was time to head down the mountain to go to the show. When we first arrived, it was still daylight outside, so you couldn't see the lights on the buildings, but the whole exterior of the building is lit up with lights. We noticed it when we were eating dinner the previous night in Gatlinburg and it was a nice touch and eye catching.
When you first enter, the employees want to take your picture, and this time, they actually turned out really well, as you can tell from the slideshow, it's rare for my family to take decent pictures with all the kids looking. Upon entering, there is a waiting area with several different sections. We didn't arrive early enough to take advantage of all of the different activities, but they had checkers, a magical makeover area (where children can be transformed into a Princess or another character), a bar, and a gift shop. There were plenty of people mingling and talking to each other, which is the main point of the waiting areas, so people can talk and get to know one another.
Upon entering the arena, we were seated in a row and asked to scoot all the way down to the end. Our waitress asked us whether we wanted coke, water, or tea. The show didn't officially start until everyone had their food and had started eating, so that you could have time to eat before hand so you can focus more of your attention to the show rather than eating. There was a pre-show entertainment of two clowns that were doing skits and including the audience members. It was pretty funny. At one point in the middle of the show, they asked me to participate by shaking a tamborine when the clown directed me to. There were four of us standing in the aisles and he would point to each one of us to play and it got crazy and silly at the end, what you'd expect from clowns.
Here is one of the skits with the clowns and an audience member. They were sitting in chairs, shooting play guns acting like they're shooting for geese, and then one falls from the sky and they make the participant try to resuscitate the goose by doing cpr, it was hilarious.
The portions of food were huge, they provided vegetable creamy soup, a fried chicken breast, biscuit, ham, sweet potato souffle, and macaroni and cheese. For the amount of food they had to prepare all at once, it was delicious food. Everything was still hot and cooked correctly. I'm not a huge fan of sweet potato souffle, but this one wasn't overly sweet and had the sweet potato flavor coming through.
The show itself resembled a circus with singing and dancing mixed in. There was a "ringmaster", acrobats, clowns, and jugglers. The show was vibrant, colorful, and a very entertaining night. My kids were laughing the whole time, and it even kept the interest of my two year old, which is very hard to do. The premise of the show is that a small town in the mountains is getting ready for a celebration, and all the acts follow this theme.
Overall, this was a much better alternative to bringing our whole kitchen to make Easter dinner, and amazed my whole family. Way to go Dolly.
For More Information, visit Dolly's Smoky Adventures here
Alas, Monday was time to leave and go back home, so we headed down the mountain and towards home. On the way home, we stopped at Goats on the Roof in Tiger, Georgia. If you happen to be going to the mountains, or Tallulah Gorge State Park, then it's worth stopping at, but not just to go by itself. There are goats that have bridges to get to the roof where there is grass for them to graze on. In the store, they sell boiled peanuts, gift shop items, and local honeys and jams. In the cafe area, they have ice cream and hot dogs and hamburgers. We bought the ice cream which was similar to Cold Stone where you have a base flavor and then you do add-ons. We did a base of vanilla with cherries and brownies. Unlike Cold Stone however, they use liquid nitrogen to make the ice cream, so every batch is fresh. I'd never seen the process before, so it was interesting. We took pictures, ate ice cream and boiled peanuts and were on our way again. Goats on the Roof had an option to feed the goats. They had a bicycle that took a cup of food up to the goats that were grazing on the roof. We decided to skip that part of the experience. Overall, our trip was a success and we didn't have too many meltdowns, which is an achievement these days.
Tickets were provided to my family for this review, but all the opinions are my own.
