Spout Spring Estates is a surprising, picturesque spot hidden in the mountains of Blaine, TN Even after more than 30 years in and around the mountains, there are things that surprise me. Well-known things that have eluded me, secret spots or stories only known by a few, or places that I just haven’t made it to, yet. The mountains are
Thousands of visitors are leaving their handwritten wishes at this beautiful bridge in the Smoky Mountains I’ve been around the Smoky Mountain tourism game for more than 30 years. So, I’ve come to expect certain liberties to be taken with local lore. Any mountain, cove, den, holler, waterfall or creek that happens to come under the ownership of a money-making
Celebrating the Unique Dining Spots in the Smokies Mimicry in the Smokies is king. Success breeds imitation. That’s why everywhere you look, it’s pancake houses and go-kart tracks and mountain coasters as far as the eye can see. But the Smokies isn’t all about imitation. Some folks eye the landscape and decide to carve their own path. When everyone else
A Guide to the Devil’s Courthouse in Transylvania County They say the Lord works in mysterious ways. But so, too, must the Devil. It stands to reason, right? He’s in Georgia inexcusably losing fiddle contests and in Mississippi luring Blues men to their eternal fate. But as much as it appears the Devil enjoys having a hand in the music
Inside the area that legendary author Horace Kephart once described as “a country of ill fame” In 1904 Horace Kephart, a librarian/outdoorsman who tended the stacks at the Yale University Library and for a while worked for an American rare book collector in Italy, separated from his family and made his way to the Mountains of North Carolina. Kephart was
A Local Reveals Some of Dollywood’s Best Kept Secrets The thing about a place with a legacy like Dollywood is that even as progress rolls through, and even as things change, little snippets of the past survive. Sometimes these little slivers of what was remain purposefully, a little tribute shared among the knowing. Other times it’s more practical. It might
Did you know an entire rentable Harry Potter-inspired village is hidden near Gatlinburg, TN? In the Smokies, we have a grand tradition of thumbing our noses at things like laws. We have traditionally eschewed the idea that outsiders can come here and tell us what to do. Especially up in the mountains where we are free and hard to find.
Local lists most interesting links to Pigeon Forge history and some can still be found around town Coming to Pigeon Forge for a long weekend or a full vacation doesn’t require a lot of planning. You can spend a day in the National Park, a day at Dollywood, a day exploring Gatlinburg and a day shopping the outlets around The
Local lists the best hidden secrets that are part of Gatlinburg’s rich history One of the most pleasing – and occasionally frustrating – things about life in a tourist town is the nature of change. Things can come and go quickly. Certainly, some institutions become iconic and stand the test of time (hello Pancake Pantry). That said, there seems to
Rich Mountain Road is a 200-year-old road hidden in the Smoky Mountains and it’s not for the faint of heart I learned to drive on the mountain roads of East Tennessee. I’ve rarely encountered a road that gave me much concern. That said, a couple of times, I’ve been caught underprepared. Maybe I didn’t pay close enough attention to the