travel

Good Taste Gwinnett – 2019

Last week on October 17th, my wife and I attended Good Taste Gwinnett, an opportunity to sample and try out some restaurants in the local area.  We had such a great time last year that we came back a second time.

Good Taste Gwinnett 2019 – welcome sign

Good Taste Gwinnett is like a mini convention.  You have to pay a small fee to attend (an even smaller fee when purchasing ahead of time and when using promotions), but with that you receive a goodie bag with a bunch of coupons and other little gimmicks, as well as three “tasting tickets.”  Each tasting ticket allows you a sample from any of the restaurants in the venue.  If you want more tickets, they’re sold at Good Taste Gwinnett for $1 each.

Good Taste Gwinnett 2019 – participating restaurants

If you pay for the V.I.P. experience, then you receive six tasting tickets and an even better goodie bag (a small insulated bag) with really good coupons as well as free tickets to the Fernbank science museum, and a free hockey ticket for the Atlanta Gladiators.

Good Taste Gwinnett 2019 – participating restaurants

Enough of that already.  Onward to the venue! Read more…

Gatlinburg, Tennessee – trip report part 9 – Diamond Resorts Sales Pitch

On Sunday morning we started the day very early.  After waking up at sunrise, showering and dressing, we had one final breakfast at our hotel.  Then we quickly loaded the car and checked out.  It was time to head home, but first we had to make a mandatory stop for our timeshare sales pitch with Diamond Resorts.

As it was explained earlier, the sales pitch was the entire reason for our almost spontaneous trip to eastern Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains.  Without it we would not have gone at that point in time.  But Diamond’s “free” trip offer was interesting, so we gave it a fair shot.

Diamond Resorts – Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Traffic was extremely light and the sun was still rising as we easily drove south through Pigeon Forge and quickly made our way into Gatlinburg.  Although our timeshare sales pitch meeting place was classified as being in Gatlinburg, the actual location was over ten miles away from the heart of the town.  It was a bit of a drive getting there, but we made it just before our scheduled appointment.

A strange part was that when we made our appointment for this trip, we chose the Pigeon Forge vacation option.  Our hotel was in Pigeon Forge, and that part was great.  No problems there.  But our sales pitch was not only in Gatlinburg, but it was at a place way outside of town.  Later during the meeting, the salesman did mention that Diamond did have a newer location in Pigeon Forge.  Why we weren’t scheduled to meet there, we’ll never know. Read more…

Gatlinburg, Tennessee – trip report part 8 – More Ripley’s Attractions

Returning to the October 2018 trip to Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains, after finishing Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium, we continued with our tour through Gatlinburg.

The weather was fantastic, the streets were getting busy, and our stomachs were getting hungry for some lunch.  We made our way down the street and dined at a national fast food establishment.  It wasn’t anything special, but it did its job of being inexpensive as well as satisfying our appetite.  Once we were finished, we kept walking down the street until reaching the Ober Gatlinburg tram station.  This was our turnaround point, so after checking out the building we crossed the street and began our long walk back towards the north side of town.

We still had two more attractions to visit as part of our Ripley’s multi-attraction ticket.  Up ahead we spotted the building for Ripley’s Haunted Adventure, so we decided to try it out.  My wife and I love haunted houses, and each year we always visit Netherworld here in metro Atlanta.  I remember seeing the website for Ripley’s Haunted Adventure before we left for the trip, and it sounded promising.

RIPLEY’S HAUNTED ADVENTURE

We approached the ticket window and scanned our attraction tickets to enter the attraction.  Then we walked down a short path that ultimately led to a waiting area for an inclined tram.  The theming in this area was decent and it helped build the suspense for a spooky trip through the ghost house. Read more…

Gatlinburg, Tennessee – trip report part 7 – Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium

Continuing with our trip report, after visiting Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, we headed down the main street in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and stopped at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium.

The heart of the Ripley’s empire is thanks to an explorer named Robert Ripley, and his fascination with sharing unusual stories and artifacts from around the world.  Many of those discoveries were presented in a series of books, and there have been at least two television shows as well.  Naturally, it was just a matter of time before many of these exhibits found their way into some sort of fun house / museum.

Located right in the middle of Gatliburg, the Odditorium is a three-story museum that helps showcase stories and artifacts covering what many people consider to be weird and unusual.  Natural human curiosity wants us to go inside and take a look around, wondering what we’ll find in Ripley’s famous museum.

Let’s take a peek, shall we?

RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! ODDITORIUM

Gatlinburg, Tennessee – Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium – 2018

The lobby and entrance area for the Odditorium have a handful of free exhibits for people to enjoy.  Anybody can simply walk up and see them.  It’s all designed to catch your interest so that you’ll pay for an admission ticket and go inside, not too different from the old carnival barkers advertising a “freak” show. Read more…

Gatlinburg, Tennessee – trip report part 6 – Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies

After having a blast in Pigeon Forge and enjoying the Titanic and Alcatraz East museums, we had our sights set on Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the following day.

When we were planning this trip, the Gatlinburg attractions were the only ones that we officially planned on visiting.  We went to the Ripley’s website and bought a combo ticket for the aquarium as well as three additional attractions.  It was the best deal that we could find at the time, so we decided to splurge and see a few of new experiences.

Just like the previous morning, we got an early start at our hotel, enjoyed the continental breakfast, and then easily made the short drive from the middle of Pigeon Forge down to Gatlinburg.  Traffic was next to nothing at 8:30 in the morning.  🙂  We parked at a parking deck on the north side of town, and after a quick walk, we were at our first stop of the day.

RIPLEY’S AQUARIUM OF THE SMOKIES

Gatlinburg, Tennessee – Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies – 2018

One of the biggest attractions in Gatlinburg is Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies.  As soon as you approach the building it’s easy to see that this is going to be a fun and high-quality experience.  It’s also very popular as well, so get there EARLY if you’d like to avoid most of the crowds. Read more…

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee – trip report part 5 – Alcatraz East crime museum

Once we were finished with the Titanic museum, we merged back with the seemingly never ending bumper-to-bumper traffic and made our way back to the Quality Inn hotel.  We dropped some stuff off in the room and then walked across 441 to our next stop — Alcatraz East crime museum.

Pigeon Forge – Alcatraz East crime museum – 2018

Pigeon Forge – Alcatraz East crime museum – 2018

Pigeon Forge – Alcatraz East crime museum – 2018

Like many of the newer attractions in Pigeon Forge, Alcatraz East looks really impressive on the outside of the museum.  It’s hard to miss the giant fortress / prison, like those jails that were common in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  There are bars across the windows, guards in the towers, and even a prisoner trying to make a jail break.  The building looks fun in the day, but for a real treat, check out how impressive it looks at night. Read more…

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee – trip report part 4 – Titanic museum

After successfully completing our timeshare sales pitch at Wyndham, we headed up to Sevierville to grab some lunch.  Then it was merging into the never-ending traffic jam and heading back towards Pigeon Forge.

While heading up to our lunch destination, we knew that there was going to be at least some traffic on our return.  That small estimation of traffic was off by a *bit* as we ended up being stuck in non-stop stop-and-go traffic all the way from Sevierville to the Titanic museum on the north side of Pigeon Forge.  Okay, no big deal.  We were ahead of schedule and not in a time crunch, so it was more of an annoyance than a problem.

TITANIC MUSEUM

Pigeon Forge – Titanic museum – 2018

When driving south on 441 and entering Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, it’s easy to spot the Titanic museum on the right side of the road.  After all, it looks like the famous ocean liner.  Technically, the version of the ship at the Titanic museum is only half-scale (meaning that the real ship is twice as big), but it still looks impressive from both the road and standing outside of it and gazing in awe at the structure. Read more…

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee – trip report part 3 – Wyndham timeshare sales pitch

As it was mentioned in the previous article, after we arrived in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and checked into our hotel, we went across the street to check out The Island.

The Island – Margaritaville – 2018

Before we left, we looked online and saw a few places that we wanted to visit.  We thought that one of the places was at The Island, but when we got there we couldn’t find it.  We then went over to an information stand and inquired about it to one of the workers.  The worker was unfamiliar for this particular place were were looking for (it turns out that it was a few miles away — our mistake!), but she did start asking us about our trip in general, and if we already had tickets to attractions.

Okay, no big deal.  Obviously she’s able to sell us tickets if we wanted to purchase any.  What she asked next took us by surprise.

The worker asked something similar to, “Would you like to go to a dinner show for free?”

What’s the catch? we wondered.  She informed us all we had to do was attend a timeshare presentation for Wyndham, and then we’ll be awarded with two tickets to basically any dinner show of our choosing.  We don’t particularly care for dinner shows, so we asked if we could instead get free tickets for local attractions instead.  She said sure, that wouldn’t be a problem.  As long as the total cost was less than $100, then she could make it happen. Read more…

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee – trip report part 2 – The Island

One of the newer experiences in Pigeon Forge is a place called The Island.

Pigeon Forge – The Island – 2018

Located near the middle of the town and literally surrounded on all sides by a river, The Island is a mega shopping and dining establishment full of the latest trendy and novelty stores, fine dining, two Margaritaville hotels, attractions (including the Great Smoky Mountain Wheel), and, perhaps the best feature, a large pond featuring tons of water fountains.  The water fountains are continuously doing patterns that make the water look like it’s “dancing” or “playing,” and every thirty minutes there’s a brief show where they blast music (we commonly heard Jimmy Buffett and some other hits from the 1960s) and have the water fountain synchronized to it.  For added fun, the water lights up and changes color at night. Read more…

Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge, Tennessee – October 2018 – part 1

Early last fall, my wife and I basically won a “free” trip for a few nights, and we chose a quick getaway to the Great Smoky Mountains.  Specifically (as you can guess by this article’s title), we chose to visit Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and several attractions in those towns.

Back in September we were visiting a local festival with a bunch of vendors.  One of the vendors had a large wheel that you could spin and win a prize.  My wife spun it and sure enough, she landed on the spot that said “pick a prize”.  She chose the top prize — a combination of a cruise as well as a three-night stay in one of several cities, and $100 as well.  This was all through Diamond Resorts.  All we had to do was pay $200 and go to a two-hour timeshare sales presentation during our “land” vacation.  That’s it.  Two vacations and some money.

Okay.  No big deal.  We already own a timeshare and know the routine, so it’ll be easy for us to give it an honest comparison.  When we attended the timeshare sales pitch at the end of the trip, it was an eye-opening experience, and not in a good way.

Diamond Resorts – 2018 destination options

After looking at the map and seeing which cities were available for this package deal, we selected Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  Technically both Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge were choices, but we chose Pigeon Forge as that town gave us more options as far as food and attractions, plus from there it was easier to drive north into Sevierville as well as south into Gatlinburg and the Smokies.  The “prize” vacation did not include airfare, and we did not want to drive too far at this point in time, so Tennessee it was for us.

My wife had a short break in the school year in early October.  We acted quickly and were on the road up to the Smokies less than a couple of weeks after “winning” the prize.  Being quick to book our trip gave us an additional $50 (or an extra night free, but we couldn’t do that, so we took the money) from Diamond Resorts.  Even though we paid $200 for the trip, we ended up getting back $150, so the total expense for a four-night hotel bill was only $50.  Considering where we ended up staying and for the length of stay, that $50 cost was an amazing deal.  Plus we’re getting a cruise out of it, too.  We’re only responsible for paying the port fees, about $90 for each person.  That’s all.

THE DRIVE

We headed northeast out of the Atlanta metro area and basically headed towards Cherokee, North Carolina.  We didn’t make any stops in Cherokee this time, but it was still amusing driving past the Harrah’s Cherokee casino as well as seeing a bunch of Indian-themed shops and points of interest.  It would be easy to park the car and spend a few hours walking around the clusters of stores and other sights. Read more…

Colonizing Mars — A One-Way Trip To The Red Planet

The Netherlands-based nonprofit company Mars One is looking for people to help colonize and pave the way for future settlement on the planet Mars.

The catch?  It’s being planned as a one-way trip.

A few days ago Mars One released its basic requirements for future astronauts heading to Mars.  The requirements don’t seem to be too strenuous.  You have to be at least eighteen years old, intelligent, and in good physical and mental health.  You don’t need to be the top of your class in test pilot school like the old days of NASA.

And of course, I’m sure you need all of your affairs settled here on Earth before blasting off to Mars.  After all, you’re never going to see any of your family and friends ever again.  You’ll probably be able to send and receive video messages to and from the Red Planet, but that’s about it.

I’ve heard of this one-way-trip concept discussed for a while now when it comes to future space exploration.  The problem is that when you consider the extreme distances, travel time measured in years, and costs that will exceed billions of dollars, it’s hard to convince governments to send astronauts outside of the Earth’s orbit.  Through in the development of future spacecraft plus all of the necessary testing and re-testing to make sure it’s as safe as possible.

That’s just getting the astronauts and equipment safely TO the destination.  Bringing them home safely is another task and significant expense.

But what if you found volunteers who would make the one-way voyage knowing full well that they’ll most likely never return to Earth?  Think of all the work and research those volunteer astronauts could accomplish as long as they keep receiving resupply ships along with fellow colonists.  We’re talking about leaps and bounds of advances without worrying about bringing the astronauts back home.

It sounds cruel but it’s just part of the exploration and colonization process.  Plus, is it really that cruel if you have an all-voluneteer crew? Read more…

Michigan Trip – Detroit, Frankenmuth, Food & More! – November 2012

Back in early November, my family received news that my dad’s aunt, my great aunt, died from complications of dementia and whatnot.

Technically, we really didn’t receive word about it directly from our relatives.  My second cousin made mention of it on Facebook and we took it from there.  My great aunt turned a bunch of family members against my parents and I, and those bad feelings are still lingering in some people.  Considering the intentional lack of sentiment from those people when my brother died two years ago, those so-called family members are dead to me.

My dad still wanted to go to Michigan and pay his respects, so I joined him for the trip.  We planned to stay up in the Detroit area for a few days and make the most of our time up north.

National Museum of the United States Air Force – Dayton, Ohio

The drive from Atlanta to Detroit was divided into two days.  We normally make the entire drive in one day, but my dad and I both wanted time to visit the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio.

The best way to see the museum is when it first opens at 9 am each weekday.  You’ll have the museum to yourself for a few hours before school kids and more tourists arrive.

The National Museum of the USAF is one of the best aviation museums you’ll find in this country.  There are hundreds of aircraft exhibits spaced throughout three large hangers, taking you on a journey through the history of the U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Air Force.  A fourth hanger is scheduled to be constructed starting in 2013 with an opening slated for 2015. Read more…

Wild Eagle (B&M Wing Coaster) at Dollywood

This past weekend my girlfriend and I had an opportunity to visit the Great Smoky Mountains.  This included visiting Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and as you can guess by the title of this article, the Dollywood theme park.

As some of you may know, Dollywood is a small theme park created by music legend, Dolly Parton.  This is essentially her park, and she’s been known to make occasional visits and say hello to the guests.  The park is clean, the workers are friendly, and there’s plenty of live country and bluegrass music.

And for the past few years, Dollywood has been making a name for itself in the world of roller coasters.  It’s been making a BIG name, and the park’s coaster collection just recently took a giant step forward.

“Wild Eagle” is the latest addition to the growing number of roller coasters inside Dollywood.  This is a custom-made Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) creation that not only seats riders four-across, but it seats them on the sides of the track.  In fact, there’s no coaster car above or below you.  This creation is known as a wing coaster, and believe me, it’s an AWESOME  experience!

This past Sunday we rode the Wild Eagle coaster twice at park opening.  Later that afternoon there was a massive line of people waiting for the ride. Read more…

The Santas of Northern Atlanta’s Shopping Malls

It’s that time of the year again.

Time to take those darling, never misbehaving, always polite children to the shopping mall to get that precious picture with Santa.

But with all of the Santas throughout the northern metro area, how do you know which malls have the best displays for that all-important and holiest of holiday photos?  Just which mall (or store) should you visit?  (DISCLAIMER — Those are all just Santa’s HELPERS as we all know the REAL Santa Claus is busy monitoring the toy factory in China, err, the North Pole, and he’s also checking that naughty list one more time)

The other week my girlfriend and I visited many of the Santa locations in northern Atlanta.  We couldn’t hit every single one, but dammit, we saw plenty of malls, a$$hole drivers who can’t back out of parking spots, and plenty of self-centered, ADHD parents pushing their way through stores.  Our pain is your benefit.

Get ready.

Here we go.

“Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane . . .”

Town Center Mall;  Kennesaw, GA

Right off the bat, this is by far the absolute WORST Santa meet-and-greet in northern metro Atlanta.

What kind of crap is this?  Semi-translucent, color changing trees?  WTF?!?  A wide open area of, well, nothing?  Wow.  Maybe next year the people will actually TRY to have a pleasant Christmas display that Santa would be proud to call a temporary home.

Town Center is still a busy and lively mall, too.  It’s better than Gwinnett Place and safer than Cumberland Mall.  It’s just amazing that so little effort went into Town Center’s utterly craptastic Christmas display. Read more…

North Georgia Trip Report — Chattanooga, TN: Tennessee Aquarium

Situated on the south side of the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga is the Tennessee Aquarium.

The aquarium itself is divided into two separate buildings and experiences.  The original aquarium is known as River Journey and it is the world’s largest freshwater aquarium.  The second, and newer, building is Ocean Journey, and it focuses on saltwater creatures and fish.  Admission to the Tennessee Aquarium includes both buildings and requires a few hours to see and appreciate all of the fascinating exhibits.

Arriving at the Tennessee Aquarium, you’re treated to two creative and imaginative structures that house both primary exhibits.  Although the glass pyramids on top of both buildings may feel more like the Journey into Imagination pavilion in Epcot at Walt Disney World, the rest of the building is a massive, multi-level complex filled with dozens of exhibits and literally thousands of animals that live above and below the water.  Long escalators take you to the top of each building, and a self-guided tour takes you back down to the street level, seeing many interesting exhibits along the way.

Outside of the buildings is a creative display of various water features in the sidewalks.  It’s fun and imaginative, and I’m sure that the kids love to splash around in them during the summer months. Read more…

North Georgia Trip Report — Chattanooga, TN: Ruby Falls, Incline Railway & Rock City

During our week in the Ellijay, Georgia, area, we decided to take a one-day excursion to Chattanooga, Tennessee and be tourists for the day.  This part of the trip report involves activities on Lookout Mountain including Ruby Falls, the Incline Railway, and Rock City (includes the full park guide map for Rock City).

Well, to be honest, we actually planned on going there well before leaving for the trip.  Purchasing ticket combos through our local AAA office saved some time and money in the process.

Lookout Mountain

Situated mostly in the state of Georgia and not really Tennessee is Lookout Mountain, a 2,392-foot mountain home to several of Chattanooga’s most famous tourist attractions and spectacular views of the city.

Driving up the mountain involves lots of elevation changes and curvy roads.  Just take note that some of the attraction directional signs can be misleading and actually take you off the main roads and through residential land.

Ruby Falls

Our original plan was to visit Rock City first, but very overcast skies send us deep into Lookout Mountain and through the caves to Ruby Falls.  As it turned out, seeing Ruby Falls first was a great idea as our tour group only had about eight people.  Later groups that morning had about thirty or so people.  Score another one for BDL (born dumb luck). Read more…

North Georgia Trip Report — Helen & Brasstown Bald

Part two of the North Georgia trip report involves an excursion that we made to Helen, GA, followed by Brasstown Bald, the highest natural point in the state of Georgia.

Helen, Georgia

Driving to the alpine-themed town of Helen is one of the most scenic drives in the state of Georgia.  This drive was even better for us from Ellijay as we took a number of scenic roads through the mountains as we drove to the town.

Helen originated as a logging town.  As the industry declined, the town switched to focus on tourism and themed the town to that of the Bavarian region in southern Germany.  The result is a German-themed town that brings in plenty of tourists, especially in the fall during its Oktoberfest celebration. Read more…

North Georgia Trip Report — Intro & Amicalola Falls

Just the other week, my girlfriend and I returned from a week of vacationing in the north Georgia mountains along with Chattanooga, Tennessee.

For me, vacation time always meant loading the car and heading down to theme park land in Orlando, Florida.  Other trips went north to Detroit, Michigan, to visit the Motherland, but those weren’t so much as vacations as they were family visitation periods along with taking trips down several memory lanes.

Although I’ve lived here in metro Atlanta for well over twenty years, my experience in the mountains just north of here is almost nothing.  Friends of the family live on Lake Burton in the northeast corner of the state, and I’ve made many trips to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains many times, but as far as the mountains in Georgia, I’ve generally skipped them.  This past week in that region was quite a unique experience.

My girlfriend has a condo in Ellijay, Georgia.  Ellijay is a quaint little town, although listening to the southern accent can be quite brutal at times, especially when it’s spoken by children.  The local Walmart parking lot is the hangout place for teenagers after school.  A local clothing store we visited had seats up front for the husbands to sit and socialize while the wives went shopping.  Otherwise, Ellijay has a nice mixture of livestock, farms, and very hilly and curvy mountain roads.  At least most of the locals know how to drive fast along the roads.

And as I discovered, Ellijay is a great point of origin for accessing many locations throughout that part of the state. Read more…

Opening of I-85 Toll Lanes in Atlanta

For those people living and commuting along Interstate 85 in DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties in metro Atlanta, the opening of the I-85 toll lanes may have continued to screw the regular rush hour traffic drivers.

Yes, screw them.  Not help.  Not assist.  But continue to make the morning and afternoon commutes a living nightmare.

Sure, the drivers lost a lane a while ago when the furthest left lane became HOV only (carpool, buses and motorcycles only), but now it’s even worse.

Sadly, this toll lane project has been flawed from the start, and if the city planners actually think that this will help lessen the horrendous rush hour traffic problems, or even get its money back on the project, that’s another story.

As most of you probably know, the city of Atlanta ranks up there with the absolute worst of the worst in the nation when it comes to commute times to and from work.  People live everywhere and work everywhere, and they’ll zig-zag along the city’s interstates and major roads, trying to find the quickest way possible to and from work.  The problems with this being A) the city continues to grow, B) no road will ever have synchronized traffic lights, and C) many drivers don’t know how to drive efficiently, let alone knowing how to drive that well period.  This city is just full of traffic nightmares whether it’s a work day or the weekend.

So what do the almighty city planners do to try to fix the situation? Read more…

Hello, October!

My favorite month of the year has finally arrived.

Actually, it officially arrived while my girlfriend and I were on vacation in the north Georgia mountains.  On October first we came home and attended a carnival-themed party hosted by a very good friend of ours.  The next two days after that have been, well, a recovery period from the change in weather and wee bit of drinking that took place at said party.

But October is here!

It’s the time of cooler weather, leaves changing color and falling to the ground, earlier evenings, the absolute best month in college football, and of course, harvest time and All Hallows’ Eve.

Halloween.

I love Halloween.  From the spooky decorations to horror movies on TV to haunted houses to Halloween parties to trick-or-treating, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  I’m addicted to watching all of the Halloween related shows on Travel Channel, that is, as long as it doesn’t conflict with watching my beloved Detroit Tigers in the MLB playoffs.

So, yes.  October is here.  This month is awesome.  The Tigers are playing right now in Game #4 of the ALDS against the Yankees.  New episodes of South Park and The Walking Dead resume this month.  Halloween is fantastic.

Great times for all.