It will come as no surprise that I spent most of the day at Dollywood. Yes, it was hot, but there is plenty of shade and we had a nice breeze. Dollywood is usually heavy with flowers, but they have really outdone themselves this year. Much of the old landscaping has been redone, and some new areas are very colorful.

When I think of Dollywood, I think of running water, flowers, shade trees, locomotive sounds, and the smell of all kinds of great food. Maybe after all of that, I think of music.

They have two great roller coasters now. One is a steel, three times upside-down, screamer, and the other is a thundering wooden coaster that never tilts you more than 90 degrees. Nope. I haven't tried them yet. Don't hold you breath.

We saw their new 50's music show. I was very impressed.

Speaking of food (see second paragraph), I tried their new flatbread sandwich. It didn't fool me for a minute. You wrap strips of steak, grilled onions, grilled green peppers, and tomatoes in a big tortillia and top it with salad, sour cream, and taco sauce . . . well, I know what that is and it ain't a sandwich. But it's mighty tasty. I might get one of those again sometime.

The glass blower was drawing a crowd and the carriage shop up in Craftmans Valley had six, count 'em, six new carriages. Well, to be correct some of them were buckboards, but still beautifully done, hand made rolling stock.

Come to think of it, I don't think I rode any of the rides.
Howard