Fabulous, Lenora! Unsurprisingly of course. For me your essay today created a sense of eating slices of Red Velvet Cake dressed up in whipped cream. All the facts of Dolly’s life that you offered your readers has deepened my admiration of her.
I’ve not visited DollyWood. My wife surprised me a few years ago with a stay in Gatlinburg. Early summer. All roads with vehicles “super glued” in place. A necessity of course as visitors darted into traffic with no notice. For a sanity break Beth and I took a day trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The mountainsides, cold waters of rushing creeks, and families - children and parents alike - smitten by Nature just as I always am.
My apologies for that non-DollyWood digression. The vibe of one versus the other? For prospective visitors to a theme park this summer, reading your essay with an open mind and love for their fellow Earth inhabitants would tip the scales toward DollyWood.
Much of “persuasion” today hinges on high volume rants. I feel blessed that you are disinclined to follow that course of action. Ever grateful for our serendipitous crossing of Substack paths.
Thanks so much, Gary! I don’t consider your Gatlinburg experience a digression at all! One of our two remaining upcoming trips to the area will be a very quick trip to Pigeon Forge in November to see the Christmas decorations, but our September trip is to neighboring Gatlinburg and will be a little longer. We are hoping to get there after the summer crush (once school is back in session) but before the fall leaf peeping season, in hopes that the traffic might be a little more tolerable around then, but we are absolutely planning to spend a day in nature at the Smoky Mountain National Park while we are staying nearby!
Cades Cove (Smokies) used to excel in its White Tail Deer population. Prone to cause traffic jams. I hope your fall and near winter outings lead to essays as equally delightful as yours today.
We drove through beautiful Cades Cove once, probably 25 years ago, and might try again but had heard about the traffic jams, so we’re not sure yet. A recent recommendation as a less crowded alternative (although not the same experience, obviously) that I think we will try because it doesn’t take nearly as long is called the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, which is now paved. (I guess it wasn’t for a long time?) This video made it look pretty appealing: https://youtu.be/zk6EHIBhWHk?si=qFhoMxPe9uvDHCTh
Thank you, Lenora, for this idea. I once drove the old dirt version of Roaring Fork when I backpacked the Smokies every summer. Tennessee and North Carolina portions. Thanks for sharing the video link.
Fabulous, Lenora! Unsurprisingly of course. For me your essay today created a sense of eating slices of Red Velvet Cake dressed up in whipped cream. All the facts of Dolly’s life that you offered your readers has deepened my admiration of her.
I’ve not visited DollyWood. My wife surprised me a few years ago with a stay in Gatlinburg. Early summer. All roads with vehicles “super glued” in place. A necessity of course as visitors darted into traffic with no notice. For a sanity break Beth and I took a day trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The mountainsides, cold waters of rushing creeks, and families - children and parents alike - smitten by Nature just as I always am.
My apologies for that non-DollyWood digression. The vibe of one versus the other? For prospective visitors to a theme park this summer, reading your essay with an open mind and love for their fellow Earth inhabitants would tip the scales toward DollyWood.
Much of “persuasion” today hinges on high volume rants. I feel blessed that you are disinclined to follow that course of action. Ever grateful for our serendipitous crossing of Substack paths.
Thanks so much, Gary! I don’t consider your Gatlinburg experience a digression at all! One of our two remaining upcoming trips to the area will be a very quick trip to Pigeon Forge in November to see the Christmas decorations, but our September trip is to neighboring Gatlinburg and will be a little longer. We are hoping to get there after the summer crush (once school is back in session) but before the fall leaf peeping season, in hopes that the traffic might be a little more tolerable around then, but we are absolutely planning to spend a day in nature at the Smoky Mountain National Park while we are staying nearby!
Cades Cove (Smokies) used to excel in its White Tail Deer population. Prone to cause traffic jams. I hope your fall and near winter outings lead to essays as equally delightful as yours today.
We drove through beautiful Cades Cove once, probably 25 years ago, and might try again but had heard about the traffic jams, so we’re not sure yet. A recent recommendation as a less crowded alternative (although not the same experience, obviously) that I think we will try because it doesn’t take nearly as long is called the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, which is now paved. (I guess it wasn’t for a long time?) This video made it look pretty appealing: https://youtu.be/zk6EHIBhWHk?si=qFhoMxPe9uvDHCTh
Thank you, Lenora, for this idea. I once drove the old dirt version of Roaring Fork when I backpacked the Smokies every summer. Tennessee and North Carolina portions. Thanks for sharing the video link.