A Day at Tweetsie Railroad ~ Part II

After lunch, we started the second half of our day at Tweetsie with a ride up the mountain on the chairlift.  I was nervous about riding with Brody on a chairlift so high off the ground with only a little lap bar holding us in.  I had a little trouble getting him up into the seat quickly enough and actually spilled my drink all over my lap in the process.  The attendant was basically no help at all!  We made it safely up the mountain though and had lots more fun.

My cowboys heading to the chairlift.

At the top of the mountain was a little playground.  I thought this little zipline was a neat feature.  

Big brother Evan didn't mind riding the jets with Brody although he was technically a little too big for them.

Brody loved flying the plane. 

Then, we tried panning for gold.  I did this for real in Old Sacramento when I was a child so I loved sharing the experience with them.  Of course, we weren't likely to find any real gold in this sand that came from who knows where.  North Carolina was home to the first gold rush, but that was actually closer to Charlotte.  We may have to go to Reed's Gold Mine one of these days to see if we have any luck.  

I did find this little gold looking nugget and some flakes that were likely iron pyrite.

Brody just enjoyed getting thoroughly soaked playing in the water.

Evan gave gem mining a try.  We got a bucket full of sand with some interesting rocks and stones in it.  I had put them into a bag to keep, but somehow it disappeared before we got home.  Update:  I found the rocks...The bag was still in my purse.  I lose everything in there!  Haha!  I also tested our gold finds.  Some of it was not magnetic so maybe we did find real gold after all.  We're rich!  Ha!

Mining for gems

We found many of these interesting rocks and stones. 

Then, we let the kids watch this little show with Hopper the Engineer and Porter the Conductor.  

Evan got on stage and helped perform "I've Been Working on the Railroad."  He hammered a little too hard and his hammer head went flying off.  

He hammered more gently after that.

I had to be in the picture to get Brody to cooperate.

Brody was very excited to ride the mouse train and go into the tunnel.

His excited face

Our little train heading out.

Daddy and Brody

My sweet cowboy Evan

Heading into the mine

Yep, it was a cheese mine!

Brody enjoyed watching the mice at work and also seeing everything glow.

Heading back down the mountain with Daddy.

Evan rode with me this time.

Brody enjoyed his ride.

Then, the boys all rode the ferris wheel which was a very fast moving ferris wheel.

At the top

Evan and Daddy had some fun in the arcade practicing shooting.

Brody wanted to try too.

Then, we headed back up the mountain one more time because the kids love the chairlift, and we wanted to check out the animal park.

We fed the deer.

The potbellied pigs were not interested in eating.

Emu

Feeding and petting these little mules.

A miniature horse

This llama was not in a social mood after having a rough day, but she appreciated the food.

Brody loved petting this little goat.  Apparently, the babies can fit through the fences.

Right above them was a very pregnant mommy goat who was determined to get all the food.

Brody enjoyed feeding the llama.

Riding the little boat ride.

Of course, Brody can not be this close to water and not touch it.  It is just pure torture to expect him to resist.

We headed back down the mountain to ride the train one last time in the evening.  We had a little time to wait for the evening train ride to start so we hung out in the shade while daddy kept our place in line.

The kids visited their old friend in jail.  

Little jailbirds

I think this kid likes being behind bars.  He liked them at Alcatraz too!

Cooling off in the shops.

He thought he could push this statue over.

Then, I put them in the back of this covered wagon where Brody couldn't get out.

They practiced their horse riding skills some more.

We finally boarded the train.  The evening show is different and more adult oriented with the cowboys and cancan girls.

Evan chose to be a bandit since there weren't any in the show.  Actually, he heard the announcement about possibly getting ash in your eyes and mouth from the smoke stack and covered his face.

Brody started getting very tired during this show.

At the first stop, the cowboys wanted to show off their shooting skills for the girls.

And the girls sang RESPECT to demand respect from the boys.

At the fort, the girls forgave the boys, and they performed "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch." 

And Brody fell asleep on the ride.

So after a long and tiring day exploring the old west and riding choo choo trains, we were on the road.  We woke Brody up for dinner in Lenoir, and although he wasn't too happy about it, he was hungry enough to eat most of his mac and cheese.