Griswold 2010 - Day 16

We began the day at Chimney Rock State Park in western North Carolina. We started with a hike to Hickory Nut Falls, which were pretty falls cascading down a large rock face.

Steve got right down under them, but only a little damp from the mist.

Then we headed back to the parks namesake...Chimney Rock. Chimney Rock is a large stone formation that stands out from the hillside. It's a great view of the valley below from the top of the rock.

One of the things we could see well from the top of Chimney Rock was Lake Lure, which is where some of the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed.

These give you a better sense of what Chimney Rock looks like from further away.

From Chimey Rock, we drove up towards eastern Tennessee, specifically the Pigeon Forge area, where we visited Dollywood for a few hours in the afternoon. (If you get your tickets after 3:00 PM, they can also be used for the next day.)

So we enjoyed a few hours before heading into town to check into our hotel.

In the evening, we attended Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, which is a dinner show in an arena with a lot of horse related entertainment. The main thrust of the evening is the Civil War, so they have the audience seated in North and South sections. (We were in the north!) Steve and Anne actually got picked out of the audience to take part in a competition that was one of many pitting the North against the South. We were in a race on Hobby Horses and our team won, so we were awarded medals for our efforts. (We won't talk about Steve's victory lap in the middle of the arena after the race!)

It was a long day, but a fun one!