There’s a war at work in the high country along the Tennessee-North Carolina border. The war began before there was a Tennessee and before there were Carolinas. In fact, the war was waging before European settlers set foot in the Americas. The war began when tectonic plates met and pushed the mountains up out of the subsurface. The victory has
Before the days of Dollywood as we know it, in 1976, Herschend Family Entertainment purchased what was then Goldrush Junction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The Herschends quickly set about recreating their successful Missouri park in the Smokies. Soon, the Pigeon Forge theme park was rebranded as Silver Dollar City and built some of the other park’s most popular elements. This
The future of this abandoned theme park looks bleak as the project continues to hit roadblocks Ghost Town in the Sky, aka Ghost Town Village, is a long-shuttered Wild West-themed amusement park that sat atop a mountain in Maggie Valley, NC. It opened in the early 60s. However, it began stumbling in the 90s as revenue couldn’t support maintenance needs
Soaky Mountain Waterpark is one of the new attractions in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. And even though it only recently opened in 2020, they are still bringing us new attractions and improved guest experiences throughout the park with each new season. When you’re planning a summer trip to the Smokies, you may be curious on what exactly
I was thinking about summer vacations and the best waterparks we’ve visited, which of course, includes Dollywood’s Splash Country. There’s a powerful combination of the summer sun and water attractions that can end a day of family fun early out of simple exhaustion. For example, when John Paul was a toddler and we were at Disney, he was overwhelmed after
It was 1987. I was in the 7th grade and our neighbor – a young adult – invited the neighborhood for a cookout. While the adults sat around a fire, I commandeered the boom box. I had VERY strong opinions about music at the time, nearly all of them wrong. I shudder to think what I subjected the crowd to as I
Anakeesta vs. Ober Mountain: Which is better? This is one of the most common questions we receive. But as with most things in life, the answer is subjective, so it is not always simple. Let’s take a look at the differences between Anakeesta and Ober Mountain in Tennessee. Anakeesta vs. Ober: The similarities Let’s start with the basics. Why are
Let’s start with a caveat: The 70s were a simpler time. “Star Wars” was huge. The world loved disco and the Pittsburgh Pirates and “Grease” and “YMCA” – it was arguably a very silly time. Herschend Family Entertainment had purchased Gold Rush Junction in Pigeon Forge from Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell in 1976. And that began the process of
Look, we get it. There’s a lot of competition in the Smoky Mountains. There are a lot of places selling some version of the same stuff you’re selling whether it’s pancakes or T-shirts or whatever. In particular, you have to find a way to stand out. And often that way is through branding or marketing. Maybe you’re a business owner
It’s not often we get a glimpse into the road not taken. There was a movement in the early 1900s to preserve the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains and create the national park. But that movement came with consequences. Whether those consequences were good or bad depends on your point of view. Ultimately, people lost their homes, their land