ANAKEESTA EXPEDITION!

I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which happened to coincide with the re-opening celebration of Anakeesta theme park (www.anakeesta.com).   The park has been in operation for quite some time, but the completion of various phases of their expansion goals, is a good reason to celebrate.  

Before the ribbon cutting of the expansion, attendees had the opportunity to get be "framed" with the photo prop shown below:

One of the new experiences they were celebrating is the "Crystal Express" high speed,  gondola cars, that have glass floors, glass roof, and surrounding glass windows, that gives guests a bird's eye view of the beautiful countryside:

The view below our feet:

To my delight, I was able to be there when "The United Tastes of America" was taking place:

Throughout the park, a visitor had the opportunity to celebrate foods from a particular state.  The photo below shows the trailer being used to serve up delicious salmon dishes from Alaska:

I opted for Texas BBQ, and had a beautiful setting in their cafe, that overlooked the mountains:

The cafe has a good view of the famous Park Hilton, that sits above Gatlinburg:

The Little Pigeon River runs through Gatlinburg, so there is an abundance of "river rocks", made smooth over eons, by the flow of water over their surfaces.  I was very impressed with the work done by a river rock artist/sculpture, to make a stunning artistic design, from the various colors and sizes of river rocks available:

Close up of rock work:

Photo opportunities are abundant:

The map of the park had little camera icons, telling visitors where to look, to get great photos for social media posting:

One of the park rides is called Hellbender.  Even though I did not ride it, the attendant was happy to take my photo in one of the cars used for the ride:

In addition to coaster rides, there are various performance stages throughout the park, so I was able to see dance routines, as well as hear some great mountain music!

Many of the park decorations gave a nod to the USA celebrating 250 years in 2026:

United Tastes of America Lady Liberty statue:

Photo Swirl special event was something new to me:

The presence of a balloon arch always signifies a celebratory mood!

Vista Gardens is another very fun place to take pictures:

For youngsters, or those "young at heart", the bird venture section is both educational and activity oriented:

The tower that is used in all of the Anakeesta advertisements is shown below:

One of the helpful signs at this very high location, was a placard, naming the mountains I was looking at.  The view brought to mind one of the memory verses for my First Place 4 Health (www.FirstPlace4Health.com) class, that says, "I lift up my eyes to the mountains---where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth"  Psalm 121:1-2

I was thankful to be able to climb that tower all the way to the top, and still make it down in time, to see the special lighting effects use to highlight its features:

The new Firefly attraction at the park was fantastic, and because of its popularity, one gets a ticket in advance, that gives you a timed entry.  The entry time for everyone in my group was 9:15 pm.  Anakeesta has a treetop sky walk I enjoyed, with hanging bridges spanning 880 feet, suspended more than 50 feet above the forest floor.  Earlier in the week, at the Skypark in Gatlinburg, I had walked across the SkyBridge, which is North America's longest pedestrian suspension bridge.  

As I rode in my glass gondola at the end of the night, to return to the Greystone Lodge (www.GreystoneLodgeTN.com),  I was thankful my hotel was just across the street from the gondola exit!   I was also very thankful for the folks at the Gatlinburg tourism office (www.Gatlinburg.com) and US Tours (www.USToursAmerica.com) for arranging the fun-filled days, at this amazing destination!

Finally,  I was giving thanks to God, for the United States of America, and that He has abundantly blessed this country, over its 250-year existence!  All these blessings give me "MILES OF SMILES"!!  Tricia

 

PASSION PLAY EXPEDITION!

If it has been a while since you visited the 667-acre campus of The Great Passion Play, (www.greatpassionplay.org), in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, I am hoping that this information will "put it on your radar", as a place you need to check out for the first time, or re-visit, if you have not been there in a while.  You will see this impressive sculpture, fountain, flower garden, and columned sign as you drive on to the campus. 

Shortly past this fountain, will be another sign, pointing you to the paved road, that leads to the Christ of the Ozarks Memorial Statue.  All cars stop of the gate-keeper kiosk, where a staff member will welcome you, give you a map, and happily provide information on making donations to this non-profit entity. 

There is ample parking, and clean restrooms, in front of this sidewalk, that leads to statue. 

As you start up the sidewalk, the statue will become visible, framed by trees:

The memorial stands 67 feet high, which is about the same as a seven-story building.

   

One of the reasons I wanted to revisit this memorial, was to get a photograph that focused on the 65 feet arm span of the statue.  I wanted it to serve as the visual aid to help me with one of my First Place 4 Health (www.FirstPlace4Health.com) memory verses that says, The Lord answered Moses,"Is the Lord's arm too short?  You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you."  Numbers 11:23

To put the immensity of the statue into perspective, this photo shows me at 62 inches, and the statue at about 13 times my height!

Yet another reason I wanted to revisit this campus, is because when my grandson and granddaughter toured their Holy Land replica (See September, 2017, in blog archives) the tour guide mentioned that they had just been awarded a grant from the Walton Foundation, to build a vast network of mountain bike trails on the property.  I was not surprised to hear this because I had read that the grandsons of Sam Walton (founder of the NWA-headquartered company of Walmart) were dedicated mountain bike enthusiasts, and had been heavily involved in making Northwest Arkansas, the mountain biking capitol of the USA.  However, when I saw the trailhead sign below, I realized it was the biggest and best trailhead sign I had ever seen, in all my treks around the USA!

I was impressed the way the creators of this massive structure, used bicycle wheels in both a functional and artistic way.  The information here will tell you that the trails are FREE, designed for ALL ages and skill levels.  One can go to www.GreatPassionPlay.org/trails to get up-to-date information on races, events, pictures, and trail maps.  In addition, you can interact with other users by typing "Great Passion Play Trails" into your Facebook search window. 

One of the trails will lead you to the area in the woods (marked by where the trails make an "X") that is just a few feet from the paved sidewalk beneath the statue, and quick access to the covered pavilion.

It is good to know that the 20 miles of trails also have enough room for hikers, as well!

Since there is a covered pavilion below the statue, that looks out over the town of Eureka Springs, you might consider this spot as a scenic place for a sack lunch!  It would also be a lovely place to enjoy a colorful Ozark Mountain sunset.  (The area is open from dawn to an hour after dusk).

Visitors are encouraged to stroll into the Cross Prayer Garden, that is adjacent to the memorial statue:

Nearby, one can also look into "Church in the Grove", which is reminiscent (both on the inside and outside) of many country churches I have visited:

A few feet from this little church, is a section of the Berlin wall, which represented the dividing line between Communist East Berlin, and the free West Berlin.  Notice the reference to the 23rd Psalm in the painting on it:

Another campus site I revisited, was the Bible Museum.  It is located beside the gift shop, and although there is no admission charge, donations are welcomed!  My grandson and I visited here on one of our grandma/grandson outings, and I was very impressed with his knowledge of the history of the Bible, that he had learned at his Christian parochial school.  He pointed out several items on exhibit that  he had learned about in his Bible history classes!  There was a great deal of publicity when The Bible Museum opened in Washington, D.C., a few years ago, but let me assure you, there are enough exhibits in this museum right here in the Ozarks, to occupy history buffs for a very long time!

It was a very gifted (and patient!) artist that drew this picture of Jesus, using 181,253 words from the New Testament.  The features of the painting are made to stand out by using variations of light ink and dark ink.

The Bible Museum has 7,000 Bibles in 625 languages and dialects.  The one shown below is in Hebrew.

The artifacts in this display case include cuniform writings, carved stone memorials, and writing on parchment .

The Bible often talks about scrolls, and an example is shown in photo below.  A tech-savvy  teenager today might think that the word "scroll" only means the movements they make with their finger, as they peruse (scroll) through their social media accounts. But the word originated long before social media!

The museum has a page of the Gutenberg Bible, and also this model of a Gutenberg printing press. 

There is also a copy of the Jefferson Bible.  For this publication, President Thomas Jefferson only included the words of Jesus.  He cut out texts and arranged them in order on blank pages.  He retained statements that clearly were the words of Jesus.  He did this for his own personal use, and it was not published until many years after his death.

The photo below shows the Martin Luther Bible, from 1534. 

Bibles brought over by the pilgrims are also on display.

 

An exhibit on William Tyndale teaches that this man played a significant role in making Bibles as accessible as they are today.

A display case of various forms of Gideon Bibles is on exhibit, and includes a one-of-a-kind 1898 Bible signed by all of the original Gideons. 

Hope this blog has provided some ideas for an expedition to see all the interesting features available at The Great Passion Play attraction .  To start planning your trip to Eureka Springs, visit www.EurekaSpringsChamber.com.  A visit there is sure to give you "MILES OF SMILES"!!  Tricia