Michelle's 10th Birthday Recap: DreamMore Resort

Hey Yall!  I'm back!  Did you miss me?



This year, one of my goals were to start taking breaks from blogging to clear my mind and enjoy not staring at a screen all day.  It has helped me to focus more on what matters most, my family and my well-being.  I don't want to go on trips worried about adding new content to my blog; I want to enjoy my trip uninterrupted even though my trip was only for two days this time.



Still, when I got home, I enjoyed some alone time with myself by kicking up my feet, catching up on some shows, having a spa day at home, attended a Mother's Day event, and spent more time with my family for Mother's Day.

With Michelle having a milestone birthday I wanted to do something special for her like I did with Lauren when she turned 10.

Mr. M and I were up in the air on where to take her.  First, we were planning to have her celebration at The Great Wolf Lodge since we never been there.  But, the price was $666.66 for the room we wanted for two days, and I don't like those numbers, too high, plus that's the numbers of the devil.  No thanks!  I even checked on Groupon for deals and the days we wanted were blacked out.



Next, we started looking into Wilderness at the Smokies.  You've seen me blog about them a couple of times, and you know I love going to that resort waterpark.  I was looking at their deals on their website, and it was half the price of The Great Wolf Lodge.  I was about to book a room until something told me to check recent reviews.  Come to find out Wilderness at the Smokies has had a severe bed bug infestation lately.  Eww, no thanks to that either!



So, with me on my laptop searching and Mr. M on his phone doing the same, we ran across Dream More Resort.



I always wanted to visit Dolly Parton's hotel after seeing it last year when my girls and I went to Dollywood Theme Park.  Depending on the time of the year Dream More Resort can be a bit pricey, but the days we wanted Sunday-Tuesday wasn't a bad price.  We saved money by booking our room on Expedia.com using a cell phone since they have exclusive mobile specials.



If you're ever looking for hotel deals, 3rd party sites like Expedia, Priceline, and Travelocity have lower price deals when using your cell phone.



As many of you know The Great Smoky Mountains suffered from devastating wildfires that tore through the Smoky Mountains and Gatlinburg area.  Two juveniles were arrested for starting the fires, but no one knows the outcome of their punishment.



I was expecting the worst arriving at the mountains but surprised to see the town was untouched.  But I can clearly see the damage from the fires while driving in the mountains to Pigeon Forge.



14 people were killed and over 100 injured in the wildfire that ravaged through the Tennessee communities. Over 1,500 structures were destroyed, and many families and businesses are left picking up the pieces.



The Smoky Mountains rely heavily on tourism dollars, so the fires were a major blow to the people there.



Thanks to Dolly Parton and her My People Fund Project, she raised enough money to help displaced families by giving them $1000 monthly for six months.  She even had enough to give a bit more with the last checks being $5,000 each!  The last of the checks went out about a week ago.



But the support didn't stop there.  Dolly also announced the creation of an organization called Mountain Tough.  Immediately after the conclusion of her My People Fund project, her Mountain Tough organization has pledged to support fire victims for the next three years.

Such a beautiful, generous, caring person!  I have so much respect for Dolly.  A real angel with a heart of gold!  God bless her and those she had helped!

When we got to the resort, the friendly bellhops greeted us and took our bags to our room.  Just by the friendly jester, I just knew we were in for a fabulous time.

Walking into the resort and onto the grand staircase, the floor to ceiling window showcasing what Dolly calls, "The Water Hole" looks like a tropical oasis ready to take you away into paradise.  Instantly, you feel calm, relaxed, wanting to soak in the pool and sit in a rocking chair while gazing at the mountain tops with a sweet tea or lemonade in your hand.

The rooms are a bit different than other places I stayed in.  The look you can tell is Dolly's personal style and color palette with unique touches.  Dolly thought of every inch and detail when it comes to her resort.  From the rooms, the lobby, the grounds, everything is strikingly beautiful.  It's a family getaway you'll never forget, and you'll be wanting to visit there time and time again.

Honestly, there is no need to leave the resort; there are a lot of activities to do for everyone each day.

My only complaint was the room we stayed in was a bit cramped, but we didn't mind since we were staying there for a couple of nights.  There are different rooms to choose from, but we wanted a room with a wall divider for extra privacy from the girls and them having their own beds.

Also, there wasn't an ironing board or iron.  We had to call the front desk to request one.  But that was no biggie; front desk had someone bring both to us quickly.






Since folks were back at work and school; there weren't many people staying at the resort.  So we had the pools to ourselves most of the time.

Michelle's favorite part was making smores by the fire outside.







While making those yummy gooey treats, we chit-chatted with Lila, the activity staff at the resort.

I asked her for more information about the wildfire and if it had affected tourism at Dolly's attractions.

Lila mentioned it has because people think that the whole town went up in flames.  Dream More resorts have cabins as well, and some of them were burned down.






The fire was getting real close to the Dream More Resort and had to evacuate guest.






She showed me pictures on her phone of the flames and black smoke covering the night skies.






That fire was severe too, with me living over 3 hours away the skies at home was smoky and unsafe to breathe.  My girls at their school were unable to play outside, and teachers were walking around with face masks.






With the grace of God and his protection, Lila, her husband, and cat were evacuating their home when the fire was getting close, then all of a sudden it started to rain helping put out the flames.






That was the scariest moments of her life, so frightening she couldn't even swallow because the thought of going to die.






She kept giving thanks to Dolly Parton for being the best employer she ever had.  And she thanks her for stepping in to help during a stressful time.  Lila said what you see is what you get with Dolly, she is a very genuine person that cares for her people.






Lila didn't know I was a blogger, and for her to share her respects for Dolly and how much she loves her job lets me know that she wasn't putting on a front because media is staying at the resort, she truly loves her job and Dolly.







When we were not lounging around the resort, we went and toured a few places.

Parrot Mountain- This exotic bird paradise has become our must-visit whenever we're in Pigeon Forge.  This was Mr. M's first time visiting, and he didn't touch a single bird, he kept away from them fearing he was going to get bitten.

The girls and I were all hands on deck petting, feeding, and holding different kinds of parrots.

Michelle's favorite bird was Charlie.  He was such a sweetie wanting to be held and cuddled.  He walked around his perch telling people who walked his path that his name was Charlie.  How adorable!

I was feeding and holding several different birds then I came across one that got mad at me when I ran out of food and bit me.  The nerve!  It didn't hurt though.  Don't that parrot know to never bite the hands that feed you?

Paula Deen's Restaurant:  Last year's All-Girls Trip we went to this restaurant and enjoyed the Sunday style southern food.  I wanted to bring Mr. M to see what he thinks since he loves southern cuisines.

He thought the food was excellent; the only complaint was the second helping of fried chicken taste like it was reheated in grease.  However, he would visit the restaurant again.

Gatlinburg:  We walked up and down the strip doing sightseeing like we usually do.  We stopped into Ripley's Believe It or Not to check out the artifacts in there since we enjoyed the one in Myrtle Beach.

It's a bit different with parts of the museum having the girls scared that something was going to pop out and grab them.

We had a $2 off each ticket coupon, and admission price was still a bit steep, to be honest, it wasn't worth the price of paying over $60 for the four of us.







Michelle's Birthday will go down in the record books.  She and Lauren got to play hooky from school, and enjoy traveling to one of their favorite places.

Now, it's time to get ready to celebrate another milestone, Lauren graduating!  We're unsure if we'll be taking a trip, knowing us will plan at the very last minute like we always do.

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