The Polar Express

Christmas has now come and gone and I hope that we were able to remember why Christmas is celebrated!
My mom has been here for a few days and we just took a little jaunt to Bryson City. It was only a one-night adventure, but probably long enough. The cabin we stayed in was adorable, but my mom had to cover her eyes each time we came home or left. The driveway was so straight up that we actually had to back down it once to get a "running start" and make it up. The town is really cute, but I can't imagine growing up there. (Sorry Rebecca) We walked around the town and went into every shop that was open (many were closed) in less than an hour. But, the reason we went was for a train trip on the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad called the Polar Express. I was super-excited because the person who told me about it raved on and on and their website says it could be something to go to year after year, a tradition...of course they want customers to return. However, John, my mom & I were each a bit disappointed. Perhaps the trip before Christmas is better...this year they added additional trips after Christmas, I guess they book quickly. We had Santa on the train at the beginning of the trip, we rode to the "North Pole" and dropped him off, then got to hear the story with hot chocolate & a rice krispie treat on the way back. I'm guessing the order of events is opposite before Christmas as they'd bring Santa back with them. Well, I got my picture with Santa and he almost didn't give me a bell. I was gonna' be sad, but, as he was walking away, he said something like "here, take one." Quite a jolly fella! We sang carols on the way to drop off Santa and, it could've been our car, but it was a little lame. My guess is that the "entertainment" may be to distract you from looking out the window. I'll probably add pics later, but we drove by trailer parks with junk in the yard, the river we crossed was lined with old cars on the banks (erosion prevention??) and it was a little depressing. One of the funniest things, of course, was comments from the kids. The boy sitting across from us was quite the character. He really liked adding the little echoes when we sang Rudolph. When we made it to the North Pole, the conductor was announcing the houses and such and when we saw Santa's sleigh, the boy said "those aren't real reindeer" and "that's not a sleigh" and "we aren't in the North Pole." It was so funny. :) Don't know if he could hear his bell?? Anyway, I think once was maybe enough. Having seen the movie and all the "magic" they make in it, I suppose my expectations were too high...a norm for me anyway.