We then drove back over to Gatlinburg.

We walked the streets and visited various shops.

We went into the Hard Rock. Shawn got a shirt and I had a coupon for a free gift with a purchase (It was a lanyard with a recordable cd on it.)

We also visited the Craftsmen’s Fair. There we saw about a hundred people peddling their crafts. We saw a woodcarver making wooden bears from logs (we did not buy them though we didn't think $3200.00 was a good price. =) We also saw a country band play there too. I found a couple wood toys I liked… I can use them in class.

We ate lunch at the Brass Lantern. Shawn had a burger and loaded baked potato. I had a barbequed pork sandwich.

After the trip into Gatlinburg, we came back to Pigeon Forge. We went to the Old Mill Shops and Patriot Park.

We came back to the hotel and relaxed and took a nap.

Then we went out to dinner at the “No Way Jose Cantina”. I had chicken enchiladas and Shawn had beef ones.

We then walked around Pigeon Forge’s Parkway for a while and saw “Living Statues.” There were these people who were painted with a brownish silver paint. (There was a woman and 2 children.) The paint covered their skin and even their clothes. We saw them walk up and we looked at each other like…what is that? Then they sat down at a fountain and got out their props, put up a sign they had which stated “Tips appreciated. Living statue.”

Then we headed back and packed for our long journey home….
]]> General http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=24 Thu, 27 Jul 2006 20:57:09 -0400 http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=23

Today we had breakfast at Bob Evans. I had an omelet with pepper jack cheese, sausage, onions and tomatoes (which I removed), salsa, sour cream, hash brown potatoes. Shawn had scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, orange juice, and sweet tea.

We then went back to the Christmas place. We decided to pick up a couple of Christmas gifts…As it turns out, they are going to have one up on Bronner’s. They are in the process of building a Christmas Hotel to go with their shop.

We also went to the “Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies” in Gatlinburg. They have an awesome aquarium tank. It puts the Sea world one to shame. It takes up most of the building. It is set up on different levels so that you can walk along the top of the tank and then you go down to a lower level and you walk through various underwater tunnels.

The underwater tunnel area is called the “Shark Lagoon.” They have many organisms in the shark lagoon. There are of course sharks (several varieties), sawfish, grouper, eel, and many smaller bony fish (osteichtheyes).

I was shocked with the number of male sharks in the tank. Most of them were male. I only saw one female shark and one female sawfish. It was so easy to tell male from female from the tunnels being that they often swam over your head. [For those of you who don’t know, makes have a structure on their ventral surface (belly side) at the end of their anal fins called claspers. Females do not. The claspers are used in mating and are inserted into the female cloaca for sperm transfer.]

At the aquarium they also had hands on areas where I picked up a horseshoe crab and touched a stingray.

Other Aquarium Pictures:

Piranha

Shawn got to see pirates...other creatures of the sea...

After the aquarium, we walked a little through the Mountain Mall and shops. We had Wendy’s there.

Then we went back to Pigeon Forge and went mining. Shawn bought me a bucket of sand and I panned for gems. I got several nice pieces. I got amethysts, pyrite, rose quartz, quartz, emeralds, rubys, topaz …all uncut and natural of course…we could have gotten them cut, but I didn’t.

We then got ready for the Dinner show “Black Bear Jamboree”.

]]> General http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=23 Wed, 26 Jul 2006 23:10:46 -0400 http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=22

We had continental breakfast at the hotel this morning and then got on our way. The rain was gone and it had warmed up to 74 degrees before we left. It was starting to get warm and the day was forecasted to get hot.

We had long stretches of highway driving today and so I helped pass the time for a while by reading out loud from a book called “This day in Ohio history.” Did you know Phillis Diller was from Ohio? How about that the July 13, 1995 mission of the Discovery shuttle was manned by an all Ohio crew?...

We stopped in Chapin, SC at a Waffle house for lunch. We had egg sandwiches and hash browns.
Just outside of Henderson, South Carolina I was looking around and I saw a sign for “Ragan Orchards.” I did not get a picture because I had just gotten up from a nap and was not quick enough… =(

We got lost today near Clyde, North Carolina. The directions said to follow I-19/US-23. I-19/US-23 went 2 ways and we chose (or I chose) the wrong way. We did figure it out and got back on track about 10 minutes were lost. Some of you might find it interesting that I didn’t even freak out when I didn’t know where we were. (Normally I freak out if I can’t figure out where I am.)

We started to get a glimpse of the “Great Smokey Mountains” by way of the Cherokee Foothills.

We soon entered the Cherokee Reservation. It was mostly a giant winding road up the Smokey mountains.

Since I kept nagging Shawn that we should stop somewhere in the Cherokee reservation, he finally stopped at the Santa’s Land. It was very decorated and even the car barriers were striped in red and green. They did have one thing I wanted, but we decided not to get it. They had big “Buck knives”…big deal right, well they were made with a deer leg and hoof for a handle. Just up my alley… the combination of a dead animal and a knife…but they were quite pricey not to mention we would be crossing several state lines between here and home...=)

After we left Santa’s Land, we drove through the Great Smokey mountains. This was a 32 mile drive at a maximum speed of 35 miles per hour due to the heights and twisting turns. We did not think we would ever get through them. We did stop a few times and saw some awesome views. We were at 6500 feet elevation at one point…my poor car…ocean ferries and now mountain climbing…=)

When we emerged from the high mountaintops, we eventually came to Pigeon Forge. We are staying at the MainStay suites here.

We went into town and ate dinner at the “Old Mill.” I had sugar cured ham and Shawn got Shrimp and rice. (Actually we each had a half of both…we both were undecided on which of the 2 to get so we got both and shared.) The meals came with mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, corn fritters, corn chowder, and dessert choice. I got peach cobbler, Shawn got yellow cake. The Corn chowder was awesome…I bought the recipe in the gift shop. =)

We then walked a little in town and went to a Christmas store, "The Incredible Christmas Place". It was like a mini Bronners.

Then it was time to go back to the room…222 pics today.
]]> General http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=22 Tue, 25 Jul 2006 22:35:35 -0400 http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=21

We stopped at New Smyrna Beach for breakfast at Denny’s.

We did make a stop today though. We went to the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse.

They also have the Fresnal Lens from the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse here at the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse.

As we were leaving the lighthouse, it began to rain…and it followed us for the rest of the day.

We finally arrived in Pooler, Georgia where we would be staying for the night. By then it was pouring buckets. We were just a couple exits from our hotel when traffic came nearly to a halt in the pouring rain as people began pulling off the road. We decided to continue on because we were getting off at the next exit. As we drove by, the shoulder was lined with stopped vehicles. When we got to the hotel, the streets were flooding and the parking lot...a lake…and the rain was really coming down. We sat in the car for a few minutes waiting for it to let up, but it didn’t so Shawn finally ran through the rain to the hotel door. He came out a couple minutes later and stood under the awning preparing once again to brave the pouring rain. I did a little impromptu sign language that I would move the car and meet him. I climbed into the driver’s seat and moved the car (after adjusting the seat of course…) Then it was my turn to brave the rain. Not only was it pouring, it was a cold rain too!

When we got into our room, we had just ourselves…we did not take time to bring anything in through the rain…and we were freezing….and soaked…so Shawn turned off the air conditioner and put on the heater…which started to smell like fire and the smoke alarm went off in out room…=) He quickly turned the heater off and opened the window to let out the smell. No one came to check on the incident…

We sat and made fun of how we were there for 5 minutes and nearly burned down the hotel.
So there we were in the room with nothing to do. It was too rainy to go out to the car for dinner. The computer and even our cards were in the car (we got Disney UNO and NASA playing cards.) So we watched the weather channel and heard that a funnel cloud was spotted in an area we had just driven through a little while ago. That was helpful. =)

Well after about an hour, it slowed down a little and we braved the weather to go down the street for dinner. (The hotel had only vending machines with chips and Fritos.) We ended up going to Cracker Barrel. I had my chicken and dumplings and Shawn had the meatloaf.

After dinner, it had finally stopped raining, but it was dark already so we went back to the room and worked on our blog. (If it hadn’t rained, I had found a couple lighthouses 20 minutes away that I was figuring out how to get to earlier…oh well another trip.)

That is all for today.

Just to let you know, we have over 6200 pictures.
]]> General http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=21 Mon, 24 Jul 2006 21:32:00 -0400 http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=20 The first stop was at the “Liberty Bell 7” exhibit. This is the Mercury capsule that was flown by Gus Grissom and was lost in the ocean for 38 years after it was not able to be retrieved upon splash down. It was recovered and is now on a Discovery Channel traveling display. This is the first ship that was flown in space that is not owned by NASA or the Smithsonian. The ownership has been transferred to the organization that restored it. It is no longer owned by NASA…

The following is a poster remembering all three lost space craft and their crews.

We then went over to the astronaut remembrance wall. This wall is constructed in such a way that the light from the sun will pass through the etched names and reflect the clouds so that it appears their names are floating among the clouds.

A full scale mock-up of the discovery shuttle is available for guests to walk into and allows viewing of the various compartments that the crew members work in.

There is a launch status building next to the shuttle mock-up where current shuttle and rocket launch information is available. There is a shuttle launch scheduled for August 28th and a rocket scheduled to launch on August 1st. We saw the rocket on the launch pad yesterday it is currently being fitted with rocket boosters.

We then went and had lunch with astronaut Charlie Walker. We had chicken, rice, salad, vegetable medley, mini corn dogs, mac-n-cheese, and desert (I had cheesecake, he had red velvet cake).

While we were eating, Mr. Walker spoke to all of us. There is a lot of information about him that we have, but one thing that stands out is that he was the first astronaut from the private sector. He worked for McDonall Douglas and has gone up in space as a mission specialist 3 times.

After lunch we took the “NASA up close” tour. One of the buildings we saw was the largest washer and dryer in the world. This building is used to wash and dry the parachute for the external rocket boosters and the space shuttle. They are then examined for any damages and repaired in this building if needed. After that they are laid out on a large table and refolded for the next launch.

This building is called the “Astronaut’s Holiday Inn.” According to the astronauts it is not much of a Holiday Inn. However, they stay here 3 days before the launch, and are brought back here after they return for medical check out. The red circle is where they come out and get into the Air-stream van (You may have seen this on TV) and take their 9 mile ride out to the launch pad. The blue square is a door that is on the second level with no stairs. This is where they are brought back from the shuttle on stretchers and are taken directly to the clinic. They are not allowed to sit-up until they are medically checked out and adjust to the earth’s gravity.

These are pictures of Launch Pad 39B. Between Launch Pad 39A and 39B there have been 115 shuttle launches and some Apollo launches, including Neil’s, went up from this launch pads as well. However, Launch Pad B was where the Challenger went up from on its final flight, John Glenn went up at age 77, and the last launch on July 4 of this year went up from.

This is a picture of Launch Pad 39A. This is where STS-107 (Columbia) launched and had its fatal foam problem during take-off.

This is a close-up of Launch Pad 39B.

This is the count-down clock and time elapsed clock that you see on TV.

This is a picture of the vehicle assembly building. You can see the damage it received during hurricanes in 2004.

These are the buildings that house the shuttles. Now that there are only 3 remaining they each have their own building. They used to switch off.

This is the control tower for Kennedy’s landing strip.

This is also where the shuttle lands, either after the launch or when it comes back on the 747.

We then went back to the International Space Station Center and Shawn brought the video camera so that we can take pictures to show the space station modules that are going up to ISS.

After we left Kennedy we hit a tremendous rain storm. We finally made it back to our room and ordered Domino’s Pizza. After the rain stopped we walked over to Ron Jon’s Surf Shop to do some shopping (Florida was a tax free purchase week).]]> General http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=20 Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:18:00 -0400 http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=19 I read the local paper about the Princess Cruise ship that tipped over just outside of Port Canaveral the other day. 400 or so people were taken to local hospitals, and 250 were treated on board. The people were not impressed how the cruise personnel handle the emergency crisis.

It took about an hour for us to get through breakfast, but we found our way out to Kennedy Space Center. Security was incredible. It was way more thorough then when I was there before. I had to turn on every electronic device in my purse, which took a while.

Next year at the Kennedy Space Center they will have a ride that will simulate and actual launch experience that simulates 4G’s.

We saw the NASA mascot.

We then went on the “Cape then and now tour”. This tour allowed us to see every launch pad that NASA has ever used including the active sites.

We started at Complex 26 which was a block house for the Mercury launches.

One of the instruments in the block house was a scale that would weigh the rocket so that they knew how much fuel was in the rocket.

We also say the typewriter that they used as a data printer.

Shawn examined the computer panels which were in the block house. There was a plaque that stated there is more computer power inside a $30 wrist watch than there was in space capsules themselves.

We also saw the seat capsule that they used to launch the monkeys into space.

There were several other instrument panels in this block house.

We then went to a second block house (block house 5-6) where they launch the first Americans into space.

We also got to go past the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse which is missing its top due to restoration. The second light house top is on display outside block house 26.

We stopped at the monument for the Mercury 7 astronauts which houses a time capsule of personal items from the original 7 astronauts. It is slated to be open 500 years from when they placed it and the tour guide told us that our tickets our good for us to come back and witness the opening ceremony. We plan on attending.

We drove by the block house where JFK watched a launch from.

When then stopped at launch pad 34a. This is where the accident occurred where we lost the astronauts in Apollo I.

One day an unauthorized plaque appeared on the launch pad… You may have seen this somewhere before. As it turns out Bruce Willis placed it there during the filming of “Armageddon,” and NASA permitted it to remain.

We drove past the old beach house where the astronauts used to have their parties.

We then stopped at the new Saturn V complex where they have moved and restored the Apollo rocket that used to sit outside in front of the assembly building. They have built an entire complex around the rocket which also houses the van used to transport the astronauts to the launch pad, a moon rock that you can touch, a café, a mission control simulation that has actual control panels that they used, and of course a gift shop.

From the Saturn V location we went on to the International Space Station Center. We were not allowed to take flash photography there since the flash may set off sensors in the clean room, but we did get to see various components that will be going up to the space station. Some of these parts will be going up to the ISS next month on the Atlantis launch.

We then went and fought the crowds in the gift shop and I couldn’t wait until we got out of there.

We went back to the hotel, but picked up carry out to go back to the room to get caught up on our “blog” here. We haven’t had Internet access for a few days.
]]> General http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=19 Sat, 22 Jul 2006 21:04:00 -0400 http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=18 We actually inquired about staying one more night since we will be at the parks all day and our next hotel room is an hour away. The amount of $360 for one additional night quickly ended that plan so we went back to plan A. While Shawn was inside getting the good news, I took some pictures around the main guest area.

Then we waited for a bus over to the "Magic Kingdom". While waiting in line, Shawn pointed out that his legs were still bothering him from the night before. He developed some kind of burn/rash on the front of his shins.

The bus finally arrived and we were on our way to the "Magic Kingdom".

After getting through the gates, we took the little double decker bus back to Cinderella's Castle which was decked out in gold for the 50th anniversary of the opening of Disneyland in Californa.

After several photos at the castle, we headed of the Liberty Square to see the "Hall of Presidents". We were not allowed to take photos inside =(, however Shawn took video.

We left there and went over to the "NEW" Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It now has Captian Jack Sparrow from the movie throughout the ride and many other changes to the displays. It is very different then what it looked like before. Of course, no photography allowed...

Then we had an ice cream snack to cool down a little bit. I had a Mickey Mouse ice cream sandwhich and Shawn had a boring old cruch bar on a stick (that you could get anywhere in Ohio) =)

Of course, no trip to the "Magic Kingdom" is complete without a stop at "It's a small world." Shawn says he still cannot get that song out of his head.

When I went to Disney when I was younger, you could alway get right on the Peter Pan ride. Noboday wanted to ride it. We skipped it today since it had a 60 minute wait.

We made a few other stops and decided it was time to head over to Epcot so we could make some dinner reservations (NOTE TO ALL WHO WANT TO EAT IN CINDERELLA'S CASTLE: Make reservations 180 days in advance...aaarg!!!).

Before we left, we had to get a picture of Walt and Mickey's Statue in front of the castle, but there was a show going on so we stopped and watched that. It was Cinderella's Coronation. This is called Cinderellabration.

We went up to take the monorail over to Epcot and ended up being the first in line to get on the next train. We stood there for about 10 minutes, and this other family came up and cut in front of us. Not thinking much of it and being nice we didn't say anything.

However, that family (the cutters) was asked to sit up front with the driver... Shawn was a little upset.

On the way over to Epcot, the monorail stopped right outside the station. The came over the speaker and apologized for the "Maintenance Check" - wink wink. We used this extra time we had to figure out that we were going to eat in Italy if our reservations didn't have to be 6 months in advance.

When we got off the monorail, there really were not many people at Epcot, so we decided to go on the ride "Spaceship Earth" inside the "Epcot Ball" before we didn't get to. Perhaps we should have just skipped it...not once, but twice while we were somewhere inside the ball the ride stopped and little voices told us to stay in our seats and that we were on an unexpected stop and we would resume the ride as soon as possible....the second time, we even saw a man walk up the mainenance stairs and go behind a wall...but hey, we got on our way and finished the ride safely! =)

We had lunch at a fish and chips hut in the United Kingdom exhibit.

Then we headed over to Italy to check on dinner reservations. We got them...glad we did because later when we went back, someone called and they chastised them for not making them earlier.

With our reservations made, we went on a World Tour. Along the way, not only did we see exhibits and people from many countries, we also saw more Disney characters than I have ever seen before. I have neve seen this many even at the Magic Kingdom.

For dinner we ate at Italy's restaraunt called L'Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante. I had lamb and Shawn had a fish medley special. I watched them make their own homemade noodles and so I got alfredo for an appetizer and Shawn had a salad. For dessert, I had a chocolate chip canoli and Shawn had chocolate mousse. We also had live traditional music and of course did the napkin waving...

We then headed toward Cocoa Beach. It took us just over an hour to get there and it was dark when we arrived.

After we checked in, we walked over to Ron Jon's Surf Shop which was 2 doors down.

Tomorrow we will go to the Kennedy Space Center.

only 421 pictures today...

]]> General http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=18 Fri, 21 Jul 2006 22:25:00 -0400 http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=17

We stopped for breakfast at Burger King.

We then headed out on our way...
After awhile we had to make a pit stop (Shawn) before we went into disney, and came across and interresting sign as we pulled into park the car.

Shawn came out of the rest room unharmed, so we went onto Disney...

We arrived at "Old Key West" our lodging for the evening...

Even the little soaps in the room had Mickey on them...

After checking in we took the bus over to MGM, we had lunch at the "Backstage Cafe".

We took the backlot tour...

We got to witness how they make a special effects scene on a sound stage, and the way sets are made. They brought some people in from the audience and recorded. Then they showed the crowd the final video.

After the special effects show, we then got on a tram and the whole group played the part of a tram being stuck in a flash flood with explosions and fire...

We then road around and saw other props used on various movie sets. In the back of the one stage they have the actual personal plane that belonged to Walt. They had it here, because he used this plane to fly over the property here in Florida to see if this is where he wanted to put Disney World.

Of course the recent release by Disney Studios is the new Pirates of the Caribbean and it was plastered everywhere at MGM. Shawn got excited everytime he saw this stuff so, I took his picture.

We got to see how they created the animated films, and we got to sit in on a cartoon drawing lesson of Donald Duck by a Disney Cartoonist where we learned how to draw a quick sketch of Donald...

We walked around and did a little shopping, then took a bus back to the room for a minute to get cleaned up (It was 90+ degrees) before we took another bus over to Epcot for dinner.

Inside the main entry they now have stones called the "Legacy Wall" and for a small fee you can have your picture and/or some text placed on these walls. Your contribution will be there until the year 2020. Of course we had to commemorate our wedding and honeymoon. So we got our picture and the text: Marianne and Shawn, July 1, 2006. We will be getting something in the mail that will tell us exactly where it is on the wall so if we ever go back we can see it. If any of you go after 6 months from now, e-mail us and we can tell you where it is. Maybe you can get us a picture for our archives. =)

We ended up have dinner at the Mexico showcase at San Angeles Cantina. The place was packed. I walked around twice while Shawn was in line getting the food and there was no place to sit down and eat. Then we went walking with the tray of food, and this "couple" invited us to sit down and eat with them (ask later offline about the couple).

As night fell, we stayed and watch the "Illuminations of Earth Show".

Well that is it for this long day. We basically went back to the room and crashed. We took a total of 647 pictures today.]]> General http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=17 Thu, 20 Jul 2006 21:00:00 -0400 http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=16

There were palm trees lining the roads. Fort Meyers is called the “City of Palms.” As it turns out, Edison had the first palms planted there in front of his home with an agreement that after a year and a half, the town would take over the cost of the palms and they added more…they have extended them for 14 miles.

At the entrance of the museum, there is a giant banyan tree...

The Ford House

The stepping stones outside the Ford house.

The Edison House...

Mrs. Edison had her birdhoses placed out in the middle of the water...her neighbors at the time had cats and kept bothering the birds...and no cats would go out there...

Edison Had a pool made of his Edison Portland Cement.

Edison's Office is under restoration.

Mina's Garden

Edison's Handwritten sketch of the grounds.

The "Friendship Walk".

Shawn was excited by these little guys... =)

Shawn nearly got hit in the head by this falling mango...I wanted to ask if we could keep it if it hit him... =)

Early recording by Edison.

Mock-up of the Ford assembly line.

Edison's Notes...

Edison's Rubber Lab...Shawn had to keep me from misbehaving here...I wanted to play so bad....

On the way back, along the causway there was a huge grouper that washed up...actually two (there was one still floating on the oposite side of the causeway. I had to stop...

It started to get a little bit stormy...but only for a few minutes.

At dinner we went to Cheeburger Cheeburger. Guess what we had...Cheeseburgers, fires and onion rings...the onion rings were fantastic...

After dinner we drove up to Captiva.

We then went back to Sanibel for sunset.

]]> General http://marianneandshawn.com/blog/index.php?itemid=16 Wed, 19 Jul 2006 21:20:00 -0400