Meet the attraction that pre-dates the park itself, The Dollywood Express, the oldest ride at Dollywood Before there was a Dollywood or a Silver Dollar City, there was a railroad track and a dream. In 1961, a pair of brothers from North Carolina desired to recreate the success of Tweetsie Railroad, a popular theme park between Blowing Rock and Boone, North
The Fugitive train wreck: Discovering the movie crash site in the Smokies Déjà vu is the common feeling that you’ve already experienced something even as it is happening. Could it be memories from a past life? Or is it that you’ve watched a movie 145 times on TBS and you’ve unknowingly wandered onto the exact location where it was filmed? When
A Smoky Mountain native offers her opinion on The Greenbrier Restaurant When you grow up on the outskirts of the Great Smoky Mountains, sometimes you miss some obvious stuff. For instance, I overlooked The Greenbrier for years. While The Greenbrier is a favorite among locals (and heavily shrouded in local lore) you might notice that it’s not heavily advertised. Also,
A timeline of events that inspired shows, movies and more The truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, and it’s certainly the case with the Hatfields and the McCoys. Growing up in East Tennessee, I’ve seen the Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Feud along the Parkway several times. But until recently, I didn’t know the full story of their famous feud. You
The Walker Sisters Place and the women who lived within, surviving off of the land, selling trinkets to tourists In the Great Smoky Mountains, history is often found in the hollers, in the lingering crannies found in the shadow of giant mountain ridges. It’s in these historic places that the great passage of time, which in our everyday lives is
According to Cherokee legend, the enchanted lake only reveals itself to those who are pure of heart The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is dotted with well-preserved conclaves of cabins and barns. And the occasional mill or silo. Places like Cades Cove or Greenbrier or Roaring Fork serve as reminders of life in the mountains in the decades leading up
A local movie buff offers a list (and commentary) of movies filmed in and around the Smoky Mountains Last summer, my daughter and I traveled to Atlanta to see John Mulaney perform. We had a little time to burn and decided to swing by the Marriott Marquis downtown, which was used as one of the main locations for the Marvel TV
Gatlinburg was named after a disliked man who lived there for less than 10 years Gatlinburg really should be Oglesburg, Oglesville or maybe Oglestown. I mean, at least, White Oak Flats. The town that became Gatlinburg, you see, was first settled by a South Carolinian named William Ogle in 1802. As one of the first settlers, Ogle found his “Land
Popcorn Sutton always said his name, his legacy and his moonshine would outlive him. He was right. Obscured by the brightly lit neon tourist attractions in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, there is a deeper truth about the mountains that I’ve called home for the better part of the last 35 years. It’s a truth we don’t market to tourists or
The ill-fated Polynesian-themed attraction that barely lasted a decade in the Smoky Mountains They imported people from Hawaii and tame deer from “all over the world.” The porpoises? They lived in Mississippi, of course. Children, I’m going to tell you a tale. I certainly wouldn’t blame you a bit if, in the end, you called me a liar. Indeed, I might