Monday, July 17 in Sevierville & Gatlinburg, TN

We started our day early with the complimentary breakfast, followed by swimming outdoors and in the lazy river. After swimming, we showered, and got ready for our last day in Tennessee.

Next door to our hotel, was a really neat store called The Beehive. Tom and the boys dropped me off, then drove across the highway to check out the helicopter rides. While they were there, they all decided they wanted to take a 6 minute helicopter ride; so they called me so I could capture the excitement on my camera! They picked me up at the store, and we headed over to Sevier County Choppers.

At this point, the best way to describe their experience, is to look at the photos and videos that I took from the ground, and that they took from the air!

Eric rode in the front seat with the pilot; and Tom and Kevin rode in the back. The pilot took them up about 2,000 feet. Eric said the pilot did a small drop, too! They all were really glad that they had the opportunity to experience it!

After the helicopter ride, we headed towards the Great Smokies. After what seemed like an hour of bumper to bumper traffic through Pigeon Forge (on a two-lane road), we finally entered Gatlinburg and the Great Smokies.

We went bear hunting, but didn't see any this time. It was a beautiful, sunny day in the Park.

After spending time taking photos in the Park, we headed back to Gatlinburg to the new Ripley's Aquarium. The Aquarium was awesome, and contained some sea life that we had never seen before.

After spending several hours at the Aquarium, we drove to Pigeon Forge for dinner. We ate dinner at Alabama Grill, which was kind of like a Gatlinburg Hard Rock Café.