mtavenger55 Posted July 24, 2016 Posted July 24, 2016 (edited) Good afternoon everyone! This past week, my wife & I headed to Tennessee for our summer vacation 2016. The main reason why we went down was for a convention in Nashville she was attending. I couldn't get the entire week off from work, so I left the next day & being a roller coaster enthusiast I thought of driving down myself (she flew down) & checking out Dollywood since it's been 10 years since my last visit. Also who doesn't want a go on the World's first launched wooden coaster? Sadly that didn't happen, but I still had a great time. On to the TR! After about 11.5 hours on the road. That's 620 miles SOLO! My starting miles before I left New Jersey. My hotel! Nice & simple. I stayed in room 112. Time for the main event! First credit of the trip, Mystery Mine! My 316th! I waited 10 years for this since it was built the year after my visit! Yeah buddy! This was all the hype back in the day. Still fun, but got rough needs some love. Maybe a re-track in the future? Another pic. My first B&M wing coaster was awesome! Credit 317! Fire Chaser Express was fun. Also credit 318! Lightning Rod was... Sadly closed. It tested about 3 times but did not open. All the more reason to come back with the family in a few years! This really came in handy my first day. I don't remember this being so intense! I always thought this had a cool ride logo! Oh yeah I'm a sign fan! Wild Eagle's. Fire Chaser Express. Next to Wild Eagle. Oh I did ride this just because! I did take a lunch break. Who doesn't want Southern cooking! BBQ pulled pork sandwich & it was delicious! More sights from the park! From the main entrance. Directions to attractions are always helpful! I never understood why this was the only way out? Lol. I headed back to the hotel around 7pm. Still got to "see" fire works lol. Not a bad day! Thanks for reading part 1. Y'All come back now ya hear! The train was relaxing! Edited July 28, 2016 by mtavenger55
PKI Jizzman Posted July 25, 2016 Posted July 25, 2016 Great report! Look forward to reading more. How did you like Mystery Mine and Eagle?
mtavenger55 Posted July 25, 2016 Author Posted July 25, 2016 Great report! Look forward to reading more. How did you like Mystery Mine and Eagle? Thanks! Loved them both. Went on each 3x in the 2 days I visited. I would have to say (until I ride Lighting Rod) that Wild Eagle was my favorite coaster there. Got on both sides too
mtavenger55 Posted July 25, 2016 Author Posted July 25, 2016 On to Part 2: The next day I was hopeful in that Lightning Rod would open. Before I got to the park I got up early & went to the South's Largest Christmas Store: The Incredible Christmas Place. Really cool (no matter what time of the year lol). After that I got to the park as soon as it opened & decided to get at least 1 lap out of the way on one of my favorites, Wild Eagle. Then I made my way to LR & wait. I waited for about an hour before deciding to give a popular desert there a try. I went back to LR for about 45 minutes or so with no luck. At around noon I decided to ride Mystery Mine one more time. After a 45 minute wait I headed back down to wait again. I knew I had no chance when I saw all of the LR crew leaving. Defeated I left the park & headed to Nashville where I spent the remainder of my trip. On to the TR: Christmas in July! The main entrance. The entire place is completely decorated! One of the many awesome decorations! First up Wild Eagle! I ended my Dollywood adventure where it began! Random park pic. I got a kick out of this lol. Maybe next time I'll get on LR. There's supposed to be something tasty in there... & it was! Wow. Thanks for reading. Join me next time for Nashville!
mtavenger55 Posted July 26, 2016 Author Posted July 26, 2016 Great report thus far! Enjoy. Thank you kindly!
mtavenger55 Posted July 27, 2016 Author Posted July 27, 2016 Part 3: Nashville Thanks for continuing to read my TR! On Thursday after my half day at Dollywood I made the roughly 4 hour or so drive to Nashville where my wife was. The first night I didn't really do much, just explore the Gaylord Opry Hotel we were staying at. Impressive hotel, but for how expensive it was I was disappointed to learn that our room didn't have a fridge or microwave like my $50 a night motel in Pigeon Forge. Plus all of the food places in there made Six Flags prices look like your favorite fast food chain prices lol. On Friday we went to the strip & did the Country Music Hall of Fame as well as shop for souvenirs & eat delicious deep south BBQ. On to the TR: Some pics of the hotel. Very impressive decorations. Who doesn't like waterfalls!? Down Town Nashville! The Country Music Hall of Fame! Wall of records. Forget what set that is from, just thought it looked cool lol. If I remember this was Elvis's car! Random props. This should be in Dollywood lol. T-Swift in the house? She had an entire section lol. Ok time for some food. These were literally the best ribs I've ever eaten! I'm a Rangers fan, but still cool seeing other sports complexes. The Titans stadium. I prefer J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, JETS! Some more pics from Broadway. More randomness. This candy store was huge! Nashville is a really cool city. If you're ever in the area I recommend checking it out! I'm not the biggest country music fan, but still had a great time. Join me next time for the final installment of my Full Tennessee experience!
ratdogg68 Posted July 27, 2016 Posted July 27, 2016 Great report, I miss Nashville. I lived there for 7 years, worked at Opryland the last 3 years it was open.
SFOGdude25 Posted July 27, 2016 Posted July 27, 2016 My hometown! Glad you enjoyed yourself here! I think more and more people are realizing how great of a city Nashville is as there's quite a lot of fun stuff to do here! Just in the past 5 or so years the population has grown SO much (I can tell because traffic is getting bad here LOL).
mtavenger55 Posted July 27, 2016 Author Posted July 27, 2016 Great report, I miss Nashville. I lived there for 7 years, worked at Opryland the last 3 years it was open. That's awesome! My wife even suggested we move there now lol. ^Yeah I knew going there would be fun. Some people's significant others were upset for not going because they didn't think there was anything for them to do. After they saw all of the fun everyone had via social media apart from the convention they're wishing they came! I thought those pedal party buses we saw all over the city were an awesome idea. Hopefully they make they're way to Philly soon! Should've taken a pic. Thanks for reading guys
ElvisLuv Posted July 27, 2016 Posted July 27, 2016 Full Tennessee Experience? Glad you had a good time in HALF the state
mtavenger55 Posted July 27, 2016 Author Posted July 27, 2016 ^I named it that because I think I hit most of the state's major tourist attractions. You'll see my Jack Daniels update later. Between Pigeon Forge, Nashville, & Jack I think I did a lot.
larrygator Posted July 27, 2016 Posted July 27, 2016 I interviewed for a job in Nashville and loved the city, seems like a great place to live. However, Memphis is much edgier and has such great food. But in the end, it is all still Tennessee. Great you enjoyed the trip.
coasterdude5 Posted July 27, 2016 Posted July 27, 2016 Nice trip report! I just moved from Memphis to Nashville last year and can confirm the two cities are incredibly different. Memphis is much grittier and very much a blue-collar town. Nashville is a bit more urban and has a lot more construction, traffic, transplants, etc. But if you ever have the chance, I highly recommend the drive to Memphis. If you think that "barbecue" at Dollywood was good, I think you'll like what's cooking in Memphis. Unfortunately, the cities do share one thing in common: they both lost their parks. RIP Libertyland and Opryland USA.
mtavenger55 Posted July 28, 2016 Author Posted July 28, 2016 Part 4: The Jack Daniels Distillery/Conclusion. On Saturday we started the long 14 hour drive home. On the way however, we decided to check out the Jack Daniels Distillery! It was a pretty cool place. It was PACKED! We got there around 12:30 & got signed up for the dry tour at 1:30. It was the last spots available so we took it. It was a nice tour of the facility. Learned a lot of fun facts about Old 7, & saw some cool stuff. I now present the final installment of my TR. Thanks for all of the comments & for everyone following a long! The entrance. Good old Jack! Some props from the lobby. There are (apparently) lots & lots of barrels in that building. Couldn't go in there. More cool buildings. Fire trucks are on call! They had 2. The spring that Jack found & the birthplace of his company! Jack's original office! Where we saw the making of whiskey. More buildings! That's a lot of Jack, Jack! This is where they put the whiskey in the barrels! A room full of Jack! Thanks again for reading! Maybe next time I'll make the trip to Memphis.
TBpony414 Posted August 18, 2016 Posted August 18, 2016 I saw the start of your TR a few weeks ago and didn't get a chance to finish it until now. Really cool little trip you went on. Next year I'll be going to Dollywood for the first time and have a list going of other fun things to do in the area like alpine coasters, evidently there's a great aquarium, and that fantastical xmas store is on the list now too!
mtavenger55 Posted August 18, 2016 Author Posted August 18, 2016 ^Thanks! We will be going back. Next time I want more time in Pigeon Forge. Maybe do a dinner show or 2 & hang out on the strip. The Xmas store was a nice little surprise!
ElvisLuv Posted August 18, 2016 Posted August 18, 2016 Little know fact, Jack Daniels is produced in a dry county. Meaning no alcohol sales.except for some specialty items at the Distillery. Up the road at Tullahoma, where they make George Dickle, you can wet your whistle good. Memphis has: a world class zoo with a small collection of ancient kiddie rides Beale Street where Country is really heard. So much Que to choose from it' s silly. I'm partial to The Commissary, Central and Three Little Pigs. Graceland the second most visited house in America behind only the White House Sun Studio, stand where Elvis, Johnny, Jerry Lee, Bono and others have stood and recorded. Stax Studio Museum Blues Museum Chill at Overton Square and Lafayette's where you might notice Robert Plant at the table next to you like I have.
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