In a picture that sat in a dusty album in my grandmother’s home, there was a picture of 5-year-old me with my arms stretched out from my shoulders and bent at the elbow. On each bicep rests a large, colorful parrot with a tight grip on my quivering arms. It is a photo-op from Busch Gardens. My eyes were wide and
A Great Smoky Mountain National Park Fanboy Ranks His Favorite National Parks If you think about it, it’s a bit strange to grow up with the most visited national park in the country in your backyard. Last year, 12.2 million people visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I could be there in 45 minutes, 30 if I get good
Many Smoky Mountain Attractions Sell Themselves As Historic or Use Historic Theming, but the Old Mill Is the Real Deal In the Smoky Mountains, history sells. Countless attractions try to grab visitors’ attention by overplaying their connections to history. They may borrow the history of someone or something local or create a theme around a historic figure or place that
A Smoky Mountain Expert Weighs In on Which Mountain Park Is Most Deserving of Your Money The best views in the Smokies remain free. You can drive up to Kuwohi – formerly Clingmans Dome – and soak in the natural wonder that made our ancestors see the mountains as something worth preserving. A drive along Newfound Gap Road offers several
You Can Visit This Once Abandoned Notorious Prison in East Tennessee In Morgan County, near the tiny community of Petros – right in the shadow of the Cumberland Plateau- they’ve taken hell on Earth, shined it up and used it to market a peculiar concoction of horrid history, fabricated ghosts, mountain likker and classic Southern café dining. For more than
Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show preparing to debut its South Pacific Celebration It seems unbelievable now since decades of dust have piled around the memories and obscured our vision. But for 12 years, a magical, mystical, improbably and fiscally irresponsible place lived in the Smokies. Porpoise Island, it was called. And it brought – quite literally – Polynesian culture and
The Giant Dollywood Sign About To Take Shape at Dollywood I don’t remember when I first heard about Dollywood coming. It might have been in 1986 as the media covered the park opening or it might have been earlier when the coming of the park was announced. Either way, I was around 11 and I was a hater. I can
Herschend Family Entertainment Just Acquired 20 New Parks and Attractions Including Kennywood, Dutch Wonderland and Something Called the Boulder Dash Herschend Family Entertainment just acquired 20 new parks and attractions including Kennywood, Dutch Wonderland and ….Boulder Dash. I’ll admit it. For a second, I let my imagination run away with me. I saw Kennywood – which is a Pittsburgh icon
Water is coming back to the best ride at Dollywood, here is what we know Dollywood’s beloved, quirky and bizarre dark ride Blazing Fury is about to be restored – at least in part to its former glory. Officials hinted at a major refurbishment for one of the park’s legacy rides last year. This year, it was announced that the Dollywood
This 850-foot-long tunnel was once called the 8th wonder of the world The irony of aging – or one of them – is that it takes time to acquire the wisdom to grasp the depth and breadth of our ignorance. I was a confident young man. Well-read and inquisitive and possessed a certain acumen for retaining and recalling that which