Good golly, Miss Dolly... (Part 1 of 2)

About a month ago, I took a big ole dip into the bucket list bucket and came up with an interesting thing -- "Go to Dollywood."  Never been there before, so I thought, "what the heck," let's do this.  I spent a day running down motel reservations and tickets for the park and the dinner show and putting together an agenda.  Since our visit was after Labor Day, the park was closed on Tuesdays.  I kinda screwed up and got the motel reservations before looking at the dates for the park.  Oh well, that part of the country is beautiful so there had to be things to do. We were in it for four days, so let's go see what we can get into.

With that in mind, Pam and I packed our bags and off we went.  The drive wasn't too bad -- I-40 all the way.  There was one section in the mountains, however, that would be really dicey in fog or the winter, but it was a pretty easy 4-hour drive in September.  On the way, we came across the factory where they make Bush's Baked Beans.  Might have to stop there next time.

Our first day was pretty much devoted to sight seeing in the area.  The pictures below were views from our hotel.  Big mountains -- Smokey Mountains.

We had heard that Sevierville, TN, which was Dolly's birth place, was worth a look so we drove up there and looked around.  Didn't see much -- probably not looking in the right places.  We did, however, see this statue of Dolly in the downtown area.

We also spent some time driving up in the Smoky Mountains.  We stopped at the visitor's center/ranger's offices and checked it out.  I found a couple of interesting books there -- Bear in the Back Seat I and II,  Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger,  written by Kim DeLozier and Carolyn Jourdan.  Good books, funny stories and amazing look into the life of a wildlife ranger in the Smoky Mountains. We then drove up the parkway a bit and came across a trail that looked inviting.  I wish I had read the books and DeLozier's advice about bears before going off on a hike.  Fortunately we only saw birds and falling leaves.

We spent our evening at a place called "The Island." It is a really "island" located in the downtown area, just off the main drag.  It has really neat shops, great restaurants (including a Paula Deen's restaurant, which was a super dining place), and a spectacular water fountain that shoots up water choreographed to music.  At night, it is also a water/light display and lots of people sit around in rocking chairs.

(This picture will be replaced by a video as soon as I remember how to do that 😀)

So, that was the first part of this particular road trip.  So far, so good.

 

When I'm inspired, I get excited because I can't wait to see what I'll come up with next. (Dolly Parton)

 

Hooah

BULLS win, BULLS win ...

Back in 1988, the movie, Bull Durham, hit the screen and became an instant cult classic.  If you had seen it, back then, and could quote a few lines from Crash, you might have been one of the "cool" guys, and girls (and maybe other jocks, too) thought you had the "it" factor that was portrayed by Kevin Costner in the movie.

 

 

I used to play baseball in little league and high school, and I was a catcher. Hmmm.  But as it turned out, the movie was several years after I graduated -- in fact, I had been in the Army for almost 20 years by that time.  Amazing how things get caught up in the blur of time.

Anyway, the reason I am writing this entry is since moving to North Carolina, we have been to several Bulls games.  It is really fun and the Bulls play a high level game for a minor league team.  Attending one of these games is pretty much like attending a major league game -- parking is expensive, team attire is expensive, and food is really expensive!!  But it is fun.  We have taken our grandkids to a few of the games.  They really liked seeing the eyes on the BULL out in left field light up and smoke come out of its nose when one of the Bulls players hits a home run.  They also really liked the "bat dog" (a Lab that would go out and retrieve the Bulls batter's bat after he got finished hitting).  

 

So, anyhow, the Bulls won the Triple-A East division with an 86-44 record. They also won the "Final Stretch" (kinda like their end-of-the-season championship).  Our last game was the last Friday Night fireworks game.  They really know how to do fireworks.  Below is a short sample.

So, how did all of this measure up with the kids?  Well check this out...

 

Already looking forward to going to one or two of the Carolina Hurricanes hockey games with Doug and the boys. Also looking forward to another baseball season.

“Your shower shoes have fungus on them. You’ll never make it to the bigs with fungus on your shower shoes. Think classy and you’ll be classy. If you win 20 in the show, you can let the fungus grow back on your shower shoes and the press will think you’re colorful. Until you win 20 in the show, however, it means you’re a slob.” (Crash Davis / Kevin Costner)

 

Or, if you have the "it" factor, how 'bout this ... 

"The rose goes in the front, big guy.’ (Crash)

 

Hooah

Trip #14, can you believe that ...

Well, I am now rested up from our most recent "Man Trip."  This is the 14th trip we have done; not all with the same guys -- some have died, some are too old, some have abandoned their golf game, COVID has put some on the bench -- but 14 years none the less.

Team Picture from 2021 (Trip #14)

 

We did a marathon this year, playing 27 holes three days in a row and then 18 on the last day!! Pros don't even do that much, or at least at our age.  Most of the players are now in their late 60s or early-to-mid-70s, and that's not their score.  As has been the case for the past few years, we played a nice course at Mt. Pilot, NC (not too far from Pilot Mountain and Mt. Airy) called Pilot Knob.  As is also a tradition, we finished the trip with a team picture.  Check out this group of par busters above.

Don't know how many more years these trips will continue -- might try for 20!  Group is already committed to next year's trip.  Pretty hard core.

Now that this year is over, I think of all the guys who have been on one of these.  My thoughts always go back to the first groups, especially Dave, Chuck, and Dave.  Yep -- that was a good group.

FYI -- here are two of the earliest pictures from the very beginning.  

The very first trip, 2007, checking in at front desk (l-r) Chuck, me, Dave.

Getting ready to tee off on first hole, 2008 (l-r) me, Dave M., Dave B., Chuck.

 

Just a side note -- the two Daves are both left-handers, so Chuck and I had to go get some mental counseling after playing with them.  They were never on the same side of the fairway as we were, and sometimes not even in the same fairway.  Challenging, but great fun and lots of laughs.

These golf trips are kinda like class reunions.  Nobody quite looks the same as they did when we started them, or even like they did on the last trip, but the fact that we are there is all that matters.  We swap new and old stories, probably eat and drink too much, but nobody cares. Our golf isn't that great, but nobody cares about that either. It all boils down to having 12 friends getting together to play a game.  You don't hear of that very often anymore, especially doing it for a whole week.  

I look forward to this every year.  We used to play in March, but the weather and the courses were not very hospitable then, especially as we got up in age. So, we switched to the fall and really enjoy the NC climate then. I guess now you could call us "The boys of Fall."

Looking forward to next year.  Hope everyone stays healthy.

From exercise keen, from strength active and bold,
We traverse the green, and forget to grow old...
("The Golfer's Garland" of the Blackheath Golf Club, 1700s)

Hooah