A Smoky Mountain resident talks about experiences he wouldn’t try twice at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge While I can’t lay claim to being the world’s biggest Dollywood fan, I’ve been visiting since the first year it transitioned over from Silver Dollar City. I’ve watched in awe and appreciation as it has grown through careful planning and execution from a kitschy
A Smoky Mountain local offers his tips on the best things to do at Dollywood that aren’t rides When I first visited Dollywood, it was in the first year after Dolly Parton invested in the park and made the change from Silver Dollar City. At that time, there weren’t many rides in the park other than Blazing Fury. I’d been
Tired of the mini golf and mountain coasters? Here are a few non-touristy things to do in Pigeon Forge Every once in a while, one of those old photos catches fire on a social media platform and dances around the internet drawing waves of nostalgia for how things used to be. “Pigeon Forge circa 1950,” the caption will read alongside
Local offers advice on avoiding crowds during your next Smoky Mountain vacation There was a time when I didn’t mind the crowds in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. When you’re young and life sprawls out before you, spending a couple of hours in traffic breathing gas fumes from the out-of-state SUV in front of you isn’t the torture it is later
A local reflects on his least favorite winter-related experiences in the Pigeon Forge area Winter in the Smoky Mountains is split – as it is in the rest of the world, I suppose – into two segments: Pre-holidays and post-holidays. To the naked eye, there might not be much difference as the festive holiday lights stay up throughout the season.
A local offers his advice on the best and worst dishes at Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen in Pigeon Forge, TN Over the years, I have at times been hard on Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen. But in fairness, the eatery is battling expectations vs reality. While having the Deen name atop the restaurant is certainly a draw, it also leads to
Just because they are ‘weird’ doesn’t mean we don’t love them! Here are 3 strangely themed restaurants in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Like anything, weird is in the eye of the beholder. When considering weird restaurants in the Smoky Mountains, the first thing that pops to mind is there is a seafood place named after a mentally challenged character and
A local shares what he thinks a perfect day would look like in Pigeon Forge On a getaway and you have only a single day in Pigeon Forge? The easy answer is to say the Dollywood theme park and we’d all go home. But we will assume for this blog that Dollywood is out, and we have all of the
Local ranks top lunch spots in the Smokies There are a lot of good places to eat in Pigeon Forge. So, I want to mention that for this list, I’m sticking strictly to Pigeon Forge. While you’re driving from Sevierville, you probably won’t even notice you’ve changed municipalities. But you have. While Sevierville offers a great many lunch spots –
A local offers advice on avoiding these common mistakes when visiting the Smoky Mountains in the fall It’s hard to pick a favorite season in the mountains. From the blooms of spring to the verdant greens of summer to the explosion of color in autumn, even the snowcapped mountains of a snowy winter, something is appealing about every season in