Thursday, August 13, 2009
The Good Thing Too!
I forgot to mention in yesterday's blog entry that Gatlinburg has a wonderful and wondrous AQUARIUM! Owned,it seems and run as well by the Ripley's folks (they seem to have several major public attractions here in Gatilinburg), Peter and I went to the Aquarium of the Smokies on our first full day here, and not only does it have things I have never seen before, but they are presented in a really accessible and educational way for all to learn from as well as view. THe place was crowded with kids of all ages, strollers,etc...things that would have bothered me in another museum, but the Aquarium is designed to accommodate such traffic and I barely noticed the crowds, I was so intrigued with the fish and other aquatic critters there! LOVED IT! Also, despite the difference in tastes, I am impressed with Gatlinburg's ENERGY...so much going on, for so many to enjoy and engage with....
And we did end up going to Dollywood yesterday after all, and strolling about in the warm, clearing day...business seemed down, as most of the enormous parking lots were empty and there was no wait time for any of the rides (which Stephen went on), nor for the show we all saw: SHA-KON-A_HAY...an Indian word meaning mountains of the blue mist, or something like that, which I thoroughly enjoyed! ...produced in an ENORMOUS 1700-seat venue, barely half-filled with audience...but still that is over 750 people...more than a full house for us...
and I was moved by the central spirit of this large one hour show: that the mountains mean something to the people who are born and raised there for generations...Dolly Parton wrote 8 original songs for this show at her Park, and they are lovely...at a late point in the presentation, this enormous mechanism moves slowly above our heads and no matter how clunky it is , all lit up and guided by computers, when the 4 dancers dressed as Indians are hooked to its 4 cardinal points, lifted in the air above us and start posing as birds in flight, with winged feathers on their muscular arms, I was thrilled! I know, I know: I'm an easy audience, but I am proud of that. And I like that I was moved by this show obviously built for large commercial audiences, and that the heart of it beat well and familiarly with mine....and these actors and singers and dancers (all gymnasts, with extraordinary skills well used in the show) do 3 or 4 shows per day! Parts of the large stage looked like normal stage flooring, but were actually gymnastic floors with bounce and yield, and some of the areas were actually trampolines so the dance movement went vertically as well as horizontally across the wide wide stage...I appreciated that. And I loved the 7 piece country band rocking away on stage left. Those musicians were terrific! Now, how much of it is tracked and how much is live , who knows? But these musicians were definitely getting paid, so i am pretty sure they were playing live, and they sounded really terrific!
I did not much care for Dollywood itself - I am Disney girl myself - but i did enjoy SHA-KON-A- HAY, the show!
It's a glorious sunny day here in the mountains today - and our "outside" activity was to take Stephen to the Knoxville Airport to pick up a car so he could drive to Nashville to be with ailing daddy....Paul is still with us, and will stay here until we all leave on SUnday....nice to have time with him....always a lot to talk about.
There is something about mountains...no question about it...mountains rising up, up, up, creating vales and valleys that people seem to love to settle in and populate with lovely farms, churches and fields gorgeously cultivated with the sweat of their family's brows...there is a culture here I don't pretend to understand or be part of....but there is a certain beauty that even an outsider like me can enjoy, and I have been resting a lot in its ample arms: Momma Mountains.
Have the Jews ever been a "mountain" people?
More soon.
And we did end up going to Dollywood yesterday after all, and strolling about in the warm, clearing day...business seemed down, as most of the enormous parking lots were empty and there was no wait time for any of the rides (which Stephen went on), nor for the show we all saw: SHA-KON-A_HAY...an Indian word meaning mountains of the blue mist, or something like that, which I thoroughly enjoyed! ...produced in an ENORMOUS 1700-seat venue, barely half-filled with audience...but still that is over 750 people...more than a full house for us...
and I was moved by the central spirit of this large one hour show: that the mountains mean something to the people who are born and raised there for generations...Dolly Parton wrote 8 original songs for this show at her Park, and they are lovely...at a late point in the presentation, this enormous mechanism moves slowly above our heads and no matter how clunky it is , all lit up and guided by computers, when the 4 dancers dressed as Indians are hooked to its 4 cardinal points, lifted in the air above us and start posing as birds in flight, with winged feathers on their muscular arms, I was thrilled! I know, I know: I'm an easy audience, but I am proud of that. And I like that I was moved by this show obviously built for large commercial audiences, and that the heart of it beat well and familiarly with mine....and these actors and singers and dancers (all gymnasts, with extraordinary skills well used in the show) do 3 or 4 shows per day! Parts of the large stage looked like normal stage flooring, but were actually gymnastic floors with bounce and yield, and some of the areas were actually trampolines so the dance movement went vertically as well as horizontally across the wide wide stage...I appreciated that. And I loved the 7 piece country band rocking away on stage left. Those musicians were terrific! Now, how much of it is tracked and how much is live , who knows? But these musicians were definitely getting paid, so i am pretty sure they were playing live, and they sounded really terrific!
I did not much care for Dollywood itself - I am Disney girl myself - but i did enjoy SHA-KON-A- HAY, the show!
It's a glorious sunny day here in the mountains today - and our "outside" activity was to take Stephen to the Knoxville Airport to pick up a car so he could drive to Nashville to be with ailing daddy....Paul is still with us, and will stay here until we all leave on SUnday....nice to have time with him....always a lot to talk about.
There is something about mountains...no question about it...mountains rising up, up, up, creating vales and valleys that people seem to love to settle in and populate with lovely farms, churches and fields gorgeously cultivated with the sweat of their family's brows...there is a culture here I don't pretend to understand or be part of....but there is a certain beauty that even an outsider like me can enjoy, and I have been resting a lot in its ample arms: Momma Mountains.
Have the Jews ever been a "mountain" people?
More soon.
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