The Fitness Within: Cool to Cliche!

K:

So the day started with a coffee with Dave, and then breakfast with Jas and Conner. I am so glad we got to stop there, even just four days into our trip it was so nice to get a touch of home. As we left Jas and Dave recommended we stop on our way to our next destination, Pigeon Forge aka Dollywood, in a town called Asheville, NC. They said it was a great town to visit. I remembered another friend, Al, had mentioned this town as a sight to see as well...so we slightly adjusted our route and headed to Asheville. When we got there what we found was AWESOME! A great town, lots of hippies walking around, vegetarian restaurants, art galleries etc. As we drove through town I was reminded of one of my other favorite hidden American spots, Yellow Springs, Ohio. Both of these towns have one thing in common... a lot, I mean ALOT of former deadheads and Phish followers missed the bus out of town somewhere along the line and ended up living in these towns permanently. Don't believe me...check out the photos below and notice the name, decor and slogan for a restaurant we found today! AWESOME! I swear I didn't see Jerry Garcia resurrected, I saw 10 Jerry Garcia's! Ok so even better though is not seeing Jerry alive and well...I swear he was there...it was another face I saw. D had gone to the Asheville visitors center for a map for us...while she was inside I started thinking Asheville, Asheville...the name was SO, SO, SO familiar, but why? And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. A colleague of mine/former Equinox member/all around awesome lady had recently moved down to No. Carolina to open a new Lululemon showroom...and I was pretty positive it was in Asheville. Well I grabbed Dee and started combing the streets, and low and behold, there it was. Sign on the door said the store was only open on Thursday-Saturday. DAMN, I thought. BUTTTT then I looked inside and there she was! KATE CARSON, LULU extraordinaire! I ran inside and just stood there. The look on her face was priceless; she just stared at me for a solid 5-10 seconds before it sunk in that it was really me. :) It was AWESOME! Such a great surprise, I know she got a kick out of it as did D and I. Soooo nice to see her again even for just 20 minutes! Anyway moral of the story is...go to Asheville sometime, it’s a great little town, and while you are there...go see my friend Kate at Lulu, and buy some Lulu stuff, you will not regret it!

Ok so from Asheville we headed to Dollywood. We got in later than we hoped, 6pm, but who cares right? This is not supposed to be a stressful trip...we saw a great little city unexpectedly, all is good. So we roll into Pigeon Forge all excited to spend the evening and tomorrow morning at Dollywood, maybe even see Dolly herself, WHO KNOWS? The world is/was our oyster! We checked into a lovely hotel called the Motrel, Mictrol, something like that...doesn't matter, it's gross. We dropped our bags, scoured for bed bugs and then then hurried back to the car, brochure in hand to get to the park. And then it happened, we looked at the brochure....Dollywood....closes...at 6pm. WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTT how can this be? 6pm? Seriously? What amusement park closes at 6pm? So we resign ourselves to only being able to go tomorrow morning. And then it happened again...we looked at the brochure and guess what...DOLLYWOOD IS CLOSED ON THURSDAYS! WTH! What amusement park is closed on Thursdays? Seriously!?!?! We didn't believe it, we went inside to talk to the front desk only to learn that yes, indeed...the park close stupid early and is stupid closed on Thursdays. Ugh! We contemplated going straight to Nashville, but that didn't sit well, so off we went to find other Pigeon Forge amusement. We were referred to a magic show, an upside down house of fun, and Joseph and the multicolored trench coat ( I do NOT care if that is the correct name or not, it's what I call it!) At Joseph I inquired about the cast, "Will I recognize any of the actors?"...The rotund, friendly gentleman in the multicolored, glittery, mirrored bowtie and vest replied, "Well only if you have seen our sister show The Miracle...BUT Melinda Dolittle from Amerian Idol kicked off the show when it first opened and sometimes...sometimes she comes back to visit. Surpringly this did not sell D and I on the show....we headed to Kickin Country instead. WHOA it was kickin. It was basically a really great cover band show of all modern country music singers, not impersonators like I first had assumed/thought/hoped. And they were good. Like really talented. I have a feeling they are all Nashville hopefuls that drive here for work. Sureeee there was a lady mullet in the band, and I think I saw a few flashes of beaver as well, but overall it was a realllly great show, and the audience watching was top notch. One older woman in the bathroom told me she comes to the show EVERY WEEK! D and I overheard another woman say that she had recently moved to Pigeon Forge after vacationing here for years.(Trust this is nowhere to visit more than once). OH and I forgot to mention....At Joseph, you would also get a camel ride. Yep, you read that right, a ride...on a camel...like in the parking lot. So I just imagined that this woman at Kickin Country came up to Pigeon Forge year after year, rode some camels, saw Melinda Dolittle in concert and said “I AM MOVING TO PIGEON FORGE!"

So there it is, our day. Check out the pics below, everything from Asheville and Carson to Pigeon Forge and Kickin Country. Talk to you all tomorrow in Nashville!