From our late 60s travels we had always remembered Cherokee, NC, as the zenith, the nadir, the acme, the summit of touristic crap. Kitsch at best. More recent drive-throughs, however, have convinced us that the presence and growth of the Indian casino there has transformed Cherokee into something more respectable, sort of, gentrified, almost interesting, if you're into "gaming." Certainly no longer for the lower middle class budget family vacation. And no longer our standard of crap. But just over the hill, through the Park, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN, have taken up the cause, and they are now our models of the cheesy kitschy touristy heights, at least on this continent. We had a free night at the Pigeon Forge Holiday Inn and used it to celebrate Vicki's birthday as well as a base for exploring some of the wonders of Pigeon Forge, which is mostly a dozen or more "dinner theaters." We'll leave Gatlinburg for another day. Perhaps another life.
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| The Hollywood Wax Museum |
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Closer up; King Kong has already eaten much of the Empire
State Building, including Fay Wray; looks like he nibbled some
on the Chrysler Building too |
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| Mount Trashmore? I think one of them might be Elvis |
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| Not a dinner theater: the Smoky Mountain Snowpark |
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| Civil War dinner theater: loads of laughs |
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| Not sure what this was |
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No doubt here, the Titanic, sailing under an American flag; watch out for that iceberg! More loads of laughs as husbands and wives, little children lost their lives... |
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| All the parking lots for 3 miles of this were jammed |
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As a McCoy, Vicki was intrigued by the Hatfield/McCoy dinner
feud, as it is styled; somehow we restrained ourselves; she's
waiting to take grand-daughter Penelope, who no doubt will be
quite impressed with her heritage |
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| Medieval fantasyland |
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| This brief injection of reality was nearly surreal |
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| Possibly not a dinner theater |
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| Aaargh! |
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| A resort for Jimmy Buffet fans; there's one in Gatlinburg too |
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| Ever more opportunities for mirth and comestibles |
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| Like Its a Small World but with dinosaurs |
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Still pondering the "Jesus Saves" establishment: a bank? a Christian-
themed restaurant (manna from heaven? new wine in old skins?
rack of lamb of God?)? |
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| Putt-putt |
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We settled for dinner at the Alamo steakhouse; Davy Crockett
was born on a mountain-top in Tennessee, greenest state in the
land of the free; don't you know |
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| My surf 'n turf and creamed spinach |
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Her steak and baked potato; more than a trace of meat tenderizer,
she said |
1 comment:
Looks like Branson on steroids!
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