Surviving the Storm

Little did we know what awaited us Thursday evening.  Our day was spent eating at Fuddrucker's in Sevierville, hitting the streets of Gatlinburg, boarding the Titanic and riding out the storm.    After enjoying lunch in Sevierville, we tried to purchase tickets for the Titanic exhibit.  It appears that the Titanic crew does not let locals board until after 5:00 pm (locals get a deep discount on the price).

Part of our crew headed back to Blackbearry Ridge to nap while another part hit the parkway in Gatlinburg. During the afternoon Brent and Conley headed to the Parkway and went to Ripley's Haunted Adventure and Ripleys Believe It or Not, hit the arcade at Fannie Farkels' and grabbed some candy at Aunt Mahalias'.  Then the two (2) met Jessica at Ranger Bobs as she ended her shift and the trio headed to the Titanic to meet the rest of the gang.

Out of a premonition, Becky, Brent, JoLynn and Stella did not board the Titanic, but instead headed to the Old Time Pottery while the rest of the group ignored all the warnings and took sail on the Titanic.  About an hour into the voyage, a huge and violent storm descended on East Tennessee, as all those on board were unaware of the danger.  The group at Old Time Pottery watched as the storm rolled in, the winds became strong and the rain fell in buckets.

Shortly thereafter, Brent received a distress call from Rebecca inside the Titanic as she informed him that all power was out in the ship and they were floundering in total darkness.  We had power inside the shop and soon all met for dinner in Piegon Forge before heading back to Blackbearry Ridge.

This time Jessica and Conley headed back to Gatlinburg to go to Ripley s' Mirror Maze and Ripley's Moving Theater, while the rest of us headed back to blacked out Blackbearry Ridge.  Yep, we did not have power at Blackbearry Ridge because of the storm.  Luckily, the temperature had dropped so it was not unbearable but we were glad to have the power back around 1:00 am.

The area did sustain some high wind and violent lighting and two (2) people were killed by falling trees while camping in the park.

Boarding the funicular that takes you to the funeral parlor at the Haunted Adventures.

Conley playing skee ball at Fannie Farkels'

Conley is ready to throw again!

Conley eating candy outside of Aunt  Mahalia's.

That candy sure is good.

The moon rises over Mt. Le Conte.