Gift Show In The Smokies & Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort

Last week was a bit of a whirlwind. I worked on Monday and then on Tuesday I left with two of my coworkers and headed to Gatlinburg TN for the annual gift show. It is actually two shows in three cities, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville. All of those are very close to one another. We go to the shows every year to shop for souvenirs for our gift shops. It is so tiring. It is three days of shopping for things that may or may not be of interest to you personally. Also the vendors can get quite aggressive jumping in front of you to show you their products. It is a lot of sensory overload with hundreds of booths set up with so many different types of displays. As always I feel like we get a good selection and variety of products for the coming year. It is a fun trip but after three days we are always glad to get back home. I will give you an idea of some of the different vendors that were of interest to us.

There are lots of food vendors and lots of samples that is definitely a perk to the show. This particular booth had corn flake chewy candy and it was so yummy. Often it is the different unexpected things that people are looking for when they are traveling.

I thought this booth was very interesting. This was a flower farm. They dried their flowers and made postcards, photos and larger pictures. The flowers were beautiful and I love the concept of using the dried flowers. I am not sure if this is something that would work for us. The price point was pretty high.

One thing that we always look for is rocks and different types of stones. People expect to see that when they visit a cave. I thought this Rose Quartz was beautiful.

O.K. I don’t know if this is popular where you live but here it is. Freeze Dried Candy. I am not a fan of it myself but all of the kids at work absolutely love it. I think we saw more of this at the show than anything else.

More Freeze Dried Candy

Aren’t these hearts adorable I loved them and actually wanted every single one of them. I love hearts!!!!

Lots of plush animals. We sell some of the smaller plush but the larger animals are not great sellers for us. I love all of them look at this adorable lamb.

These small punchkins are something I think will be a good seller for us. They are so cute.

We bought several of these water bottles which are also a hot seller right now. I can’t wait to get them in because I am going to buy the “Great Women of Science” bottle.

We also have a Sweet Shop on the property and we sell Ice Cream, Candy, Fudge and Drinks. I think these mugs will do very well there.

And more rocks. I love to look at all the different types.

Just to give you an idea of all the different vendors. This was taken at the Gatlinburg show. We were upstairs looking down into the ballroom.

One of the perks of the show is that we get to eat at a lot of really fun places. The first night of the show we ate at Little Tokyo Hibachi Grill & Sushi in Pigeon Forge. It is a very unassuming looking restaurant with only a few grills and a few tables. We got there really early and at first I wasn’t too sure about the place. We were seated at one of the grills quickly, as I said it was early, and we were joined by a few of our other cave buddies. About fifteen minutes after being seated I stepped back to the front part of the restaurant to take a phone call and it was packed with a line out the door. The wait time was approximately one hour at that time. After we had our food cooked, and served right in front of us, I could see why the wait to get in was so long. The food was amazing. I got chicken and shrimp and I think it was the best I have ever had. I will definitely return with my husband. He would love it.

The next day we ate at Cookie Dough Monster. This place has some of the best burgers you will ever eat. I was a little confused about the burgers, which I had heard people rave about, and the edible cookie dough. What was the connection. Obviously there is no connection. They just happen to sell the best burgers and the best edible cookie dough. Oh and milkshakes too.

There are about sixteen different types of burgers, Betty White, The Island, Mac Daddy, Bleu Bae and BBQ Bacon and Bacon Bomber are just a few of the burgers that are offered. I got the BBQ Bacon and it was delish. Just a little messy.

We also tried some of the edible cookie dough. I have had some of the cookie dough in other places and I never found it too appetizing. This edible cookie dough was delicious. We got, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut, Brownie Bite, and Heath Caramel.

But I have to say the highlight of the trip was being able to visit Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort. It is located in Pigeon Forge. Every year several of the vendors sponsor a dinner for some of the different groups attending the show. On Wednesday night we were treated to a wonderful dinner with our cave friends from several different caves. The resort is so beautiful. They have it decorated for Christmas, inside and out. If you are interested in a stay here just visit www.dollywood.com and click on the resort. I will warn you it is pricey. We didn’t actually stay here we were just here for dinner.

We arrived just before dark so we had a chance to look around outside.

The dinner was very nice and delicious. We shared different things we had found at the show and got some good ideas from others that were there. And we also got a very nice swag bag.

Enjoying the lights with my swag bag.

The last day we were in Gatlinburg and we ate at Jason Aldean’s Rooftop Bar and Restaurant. The food was pretty good but the view from the second floor was great!!! We had a seat overlooking the strip and then a beautiful view of the mountainside. Lots of fall colors still going on here. Oh and a real “Big Green Tractor” inside the bar.

Look at this fall color still hanging on. Of course this is the smokies and the temps here are cooler than in the valley where we are.

We got home late Thursday night and it was back to our regular work on Friday. Over the weekend I worked on these knitted yarn ball ornaments. I will show you more about those in a later post. But I will tell you I am loving making them.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Wordless Wednesday 10-18-23 Flowers from Scandinavia

I hope you enjoyed all the flowers as much as I did.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Visiting Anakeesta in Gatlinburg TN

A couple of weeks ago my sisters and I took our annual Sister Trip to Gatlinburg Tennessee. I touched on some of this in a previous post if you missed it check it out here. We finally got to visit Anakeesta.

What is Anakeesta? Anakeesta is located in the heart of Gatlinburg Tennessee. It is a mountaintop adventure. How do you get to the top of the mountain to experience this adventure? Well let me explain:

First you must get to the top of the mountain. You can ride a chairlift, chondola, or ride a bus up a crazy winding mountain. The sisters and I chose to ride the little pods, the chondola. They felt somewhat safer or maybe I should say comfier than the chairs. Also if you did plummet down the mountain at least in the chondola you would be covered with a bit of metal.

Once you get to the top of the mountain you will find gift shops, restaurants, chairs where you can sit and enjoy the beautiful views, a treetop Skywalk with over 880 feet of connected bridges hanging 50-60 feet in the air. You may also want to zipline, ride the Rail Runner mountain coaster, or for an add on you can experience Astra Lumina. Astra Lumina is an illuminated encounter of lighting projection and sound. It will feel as if the stars are falling from the sky, regenerating and returning to the sky above. It is very beautiful. This is an add on to the normal priced ticket. I will have to say there is a lot of things for kids to do here but even if you are not taking children you will still enjoy it.

Look at this wild cabbage. It’s beautiful. I love all the colors.

Entrance to the Treetop Skywalk. The Skywalk is made up of 14 suspension bridges spanning 880 feet hanging from 50-60′ in the air.

This sign explains the mystery of why the mountains are called the Smoky Mountains. You may have to zoom in to read it.

AnaVista Tower. The views are breathtaking. (Anakeesta Photo)

After getting back down the mountain we stopped at the Daiquiri Shack and had a nice Bahama Mama.

If you ever find yourself in Gatlinburg Tennessee don’t forget to check out beautiful Anakeesta in the Smoky Mountains. You should allow a few hours to experience this beautiful adventure. Check out the Anakeesta website here:

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

Have You Ever Spent The Night In A Treehouse?

A couple of weeks ago when I was in Chattanooga our group visited Ruby Falls. Ruby Falls is a 145 foot waterfall inside Lookout Mountain. It is the tallest and deepest underground waterfall open to the public. You can read more about it on the Ruby Falls Website here. If you missed my post about Chattanooga and the few days I was there check it out here. Chattanooga Visit

Something very unique and innovative that Ruby Falls has added to their wonderful experience is the opportunity to stay in one of their new Treehouses. This is not a totally new concept in our area. It is one of the first times I was able to actually view them and go inside. They’re adorable!!!

Each of the treehouses are modernly furnished. The ones at Ruby Falls were decorated like you wouldn’t believe. Each one had some type of record player, yes I said record player with records and one of them even had a very old phonograph player with very old records.

Look at this hammock on the deck. It looked so peaceful it just made me want to take a nap under the trees.

I can just imagine sitting on this little porch and having coffee while I look out over the city of Chattanooga.

Some of the houses had a bedroom downstairs and the living area with a couch and desk upstairs. And some were just the opposite with the bedroom upstairs.

The treehouses are filled with windows offering you a view in every direction. The trees around are beautiful but can you imagine snow or rain gently falling while you are nestled in the treehouse, reading a good book. I can.

The stairs leading to the second level of the treehouse are a little steep but definitely doable.

Each treehouse had an outdoor sitting area, a fire pit and at least one hammock. The leaves on the trees were gently blowing and it was just like paradise.

This one had an outside tub with a privacy curtain and also an outdoor shower.

So peaceful!!

Once you get to the parking area for the treehouses you can look down on the tower at Ruby Falls and Chattanooga. Isn’t this a beautiful view?

This is the pathway leading to the cabins. It is lit so if you are out at night you would have no problem finding the path.

You can actually drive to an upper parking area and load your things in one of these little wagons to take to the treehouse.

The treehouse experience is not a cheap one. It is different. It is definitely an experience that you will never forget. A boutique treehouse retreat is what will be waiting for you. Check out the Ruby Falls website and then click Treehouses for lots of photos and availability.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!