Hello friends,

Have you been to Dollywood?

Each season this amusement park changes decorations, this spring we came here for the first time. I love the umbrellas that are hanging at the entrance, it’s so festive and colorful.

The park that was build here first was Rebel Railroad, which was opened in 1961. In 1970, the park was purchased by another agent who re-named it to Goldrush Junction. The theme park changed owners again in 1976, and this time was dubbed Silver Dollar City. Dolly got involved in 1986, and that’s when the name was changed to Dollywood.

This park is dog friendly. If you bring your pet on your vacation, Dollywood has special accommodations just for dogs. While you visit the park, your dog will spend the day safely at Doggywood. It's easy to leave the park to let your pet out and feed it throughout the day.

Another unique fact about Dollywood is that it has a functional chapel inside that hosts services on Sunday. The chapel is named after the doctor who delivered Dolly Parton, Robert F. Thomas. I was so busy and distracted with everything around me that didn’t get a photo of it.

Here are some facts about Dolly Parton.

Dolly Rebecca Parton was born January 19, 1946, in Pittman Center, Tennessee. She is is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and businesswoman, known for her work in country music. She is the fourth of twelve children born to her family.

She started performing as early as at age six at her local church, later she was invited to local radio and television programs.

Now that you’ve read some about Dolly Parton, let me share our experience at this unique park. We went to Dollywood in April. My kids were so excited about it, you can’t imagine.

I was happy to just look around and take photos but kids talked me to trying a few rides. It’s too bad that first one Thunderhead happened to be too intense for me so I had to take a break. The second one was +Mystery Mine*, and it also was too fast for me, but Dragonflyer was actually fun, and that was it for me, because I was getting dizzy.

Kids were in heaven, they were going wild trying all the scary rides, but the Tennessee Tornado was too fast even for them. We had a fast pass, that’s probably why we got tired too soon.

I had to hang around Mystery Mine ride because my kids went there at least twice, and the line was a bit long even with the fast pass.

There are a lot of cafes where people can have a lunch break (I don’t know if it’s easy to get there or people have to book in advance), but we left right at lunch time, because we’ve had enough rides:-)

I was enjoying all the outside decorations that were almost anywhere I looked. These cute sets of bird houses, different kinds of sculptures, some old rusty tools.

Here are some more pretty buildings that sell candies and other sweets.

I was also amazed by the landscaping of the park, the sculptures made of plants are like some great pieces of art. Check out the raccoons and the bees.

The challenging part for me was to get pictures without people on them. Since it Easter break it was as packed as it could be there:-) So sometimes I enjoy photographing separate items, just like I did here.

This is something I wanted to do, Dolly Express! Unfortunately the kids and my husband were so tired that didn’t have any energy to wait in line for the train. I’m still happy with the things I’ve seen here, and the fresh spring air of Smokies is something else.