Dollywood and the Under ground sea.

After our drive through the mountains we made it to Dollywood. It was Uber crowded! We expected it to be kind of crowded since it was black Friday, but I have never, ever seen it so crowded. We only got to go on two rides because the lines were so long. But Wes got to go on the "big cars" which is his favorite ride and Ella got to go on the Mountain climbing "ride" which is her favorite. We also managed to catch the light show, the Christmas parade and the new ice skating show. We had a good time, but not as good as we expected since it was amazingly over full. After Dollywood closed, we headed back to the car to drive another hour or so to the hotel. The one thing that the crowds didn't ruin, was the amazing lights. all the trees and buildings were lit up and so very beautiful. There was one tree with flickering multi-colored lights that was especially beautiful.

The next day it was time to head towards home. We didn't go straight there though, we stopped near Chattanooga TN and went to the "Lost Sea" the worlds largest underground lake. They had a long steep walk to the bottom, there were a few formations, including cave flowers, which apparently only grow in a few caves in the whole world. At the bottom of the hike there is a HUGE underground lake, they have boats that you get to take a little ride in the water on. There are fish in the lake, but they are not native. They were originally put in as an experiment to see if the water went anywhere, the fish never left, and so they know that the water doesn't have an outlet. The water is very deep (75ft?) and Crystal clear. The kids really liked the boat ride and I did too. After we reached the top we rested for a bit then we drove over to a HUGE flea market. We walked around a while and bought a few things then finally we had to go home. I had a fantastic mini-vacation!