Regular readers of our family expeditions know that we have been making yearly treks to spend a day out with Thomas since Brian was first able to watch the show. This year is no different, and this is the biannual trip to see him at Tweetsie Railroad, in Blowing Rock, instead of the NC Transportation Museum, in Spencer. The trip two years ago worked out well, with an infant even, that we basically setup the same trip. We left Raleigh after Brian attended Hudson’s Birthday Party yesterday, followed by Brian’s skating lessons. We just pushed through the night to get to the hotel in Boone and get a bit of rest before the busy day. A bit tough on us adults, but the kids find it fun.
We like to pick hotels that have fairly substantial breakfast options so we don’t have to search that out first thing on the road. Our choice this year worked out well on a few fronts. First, the day actually started with a Lowe’s Build and Grow event. Since Brian has been of the age where he can participate, he has had perfect attendance, and we didn’t want Thomas to break that record. We found the hotel directly next to the Lowe’s in Boone hit all the requirements: easy access to Blowing Rock, easy access to Lowe’s, lots of breakfast choices to give us a great start to the day!
I actually had breakfast with the kids while Alison got her chance to get ready. We did have an unfortunate juice spill near the end of the meal, which explains why Kendall’s outfit changes as you view the gallery. Luckily, we are veteran parents, at this point, and know to over-pack clothes for the kids. Once we got Kendall changed and Alison got breakfast, we checked out, packed the van, and walked across the parking lot to Lowe’s (meandering through the Garden Center to get there).
It took a little work to figure out where the build was taking place, but we eventually found it (learned from a Lowe’s associate that apparently this particular Lowe’s was some sort of prototype for a new layout that they never executed on, so it’s one of a kind). The build this time around was a “Toothless” dragon from the DreamWorks movie How to Train Your Dragon series. Guess we’ll have to see what it’s all about, now that we have a model! Once the build was done, we went back through the Garden Center to get to the van. They were having some sort of program handing out plants for people to take home. We grabbed some and hope they will make the day here in the mountains through the trip home.
So, back in the van and it’s five minutes up the road to Tweetsie! We left at a time where things lined-up nicely for us to check-in and then just queue up for our train ride, as the preceding trip was leaving as we entered the gate. This gave us time to get a good spot in line and to get our sunscreen on for a fun-filled day outside. Alison and Brian shared a seat while Kendall and I shared another. We intentionally picked the side so we could see the “action” at Fort Tweetsie (it’s good being return visitors in knowing these tricks). The trip was it’s usual fun, especially on such a beautiful day!
Leaving the train we took the chance to get a few photo-ops in before the kids get tired (read: cranky) at the end of the day. We then headed up to the arcade area and spent a bunch of time up there playing games. After that, we moved on to the motorized cars. As the one that was the “responsible adult” riding with four-year-old Brian in this very amusement, where he took such joy in intentionally driving the car into the rails, I “graciously allowed” Alison to ride with him this time around. Well, turns out six-year-old Brian still finds the driving into the rails to be a grand-old-time. I already fear for ten years from now 🙂 I was the pedal man for Kendall’s ride, and she didn’t do too bad, but I definitely had to guide the car a lot more. We’ll see how four-year-old Kendall does in a couple of years, for comparison.
After this, it was snack-time, so we purchased one of their quick family meals of a pizza and four drinks. We ate it in the saloon and took in a show while we had our lunch. In the same building, they had the Mega Blocks tables for building Thomas stuff with interlocking bricks. They both had a bunch of fun with these tables, especially Cranky the Crane! The day was quickly getting Kendall tired, so I sat with her while Brian continued to play with Track Master and Mega Blocks while Alison went to do reconnaissance in the Thomas/Tweetsie store (much better having a single adult go in than having the kids asking for anything and everything in there!). But, very quickly, Kendall went into full-nap mode.
After a few more stores and a few more photo-ops, we decided it was time to hit the trail. We picked-up our commemorative professional photos and headed to the van. The plan was to do what we had done two years before, jump on the Blue Ridge Parkway for some welcome mountain views for us piedmont folk. This trick also helps so that Kendall can get her nap in before dinner time. Well, things didn’t *quite* work out the way we anticipated. Brian had more fun than we had thought, and he passed out before the first mile marker. And, Kendall, who already had a power-nap on dad, was wide awake. Oh well, we had to break out a toy from the gift shop to keep Kendall from waking Brian and we made it to our waypoint at The Orchard at Alta Pass.
Unfortunately, we literally pulled up as they were closing the doors for the evening… we were too late to get our preserved fruits, fudge, ice cream, etc. This did make us a bit sad, but we did get some great photos of baby apples and bunnies. With that stop a bust, we headed back down the Parkway and then made our way back to the Interstate. We decided to stop at the Cracker Barrel, a family favorite on road trips, in Hickory for our dinner. After that, it was the long drive home that I’m very familiar with, which was uneventful. All-in-all though, another great family trip to see our seemingly extended family of Thomas and Friends!
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What a fun weekend