Smoky Mountain Blogger

For the past 10 years I have sold advertising space on a website supported heavily by the Cabin and Chalet businesses in the Smoky Mountains. The expansion of that industry carried me and the cabin owners nicely over the years until cabin construction seemed to outpace renters this past two years.

I worried over the dropping numbers of visitors to websites that had been leaders of the Cabin industry here, and I watched in amazement when Campgrounds posted the biggest numbers they had ever felt in their life times. Just when I was certain that the towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and the Wears Valley area had reached a saturation point of over building, I discovered new developments that are springing up all over the area. I decided the best way to voice my ideas and concerns and hear those of others was to establish a "blog" (web log/journal) on a new website called www.allsmokymountainvacations.com. The blog can be found by typing in the address above, but elminate the .com right after the URL. Instead, type in the following:
www.allsmokymountainvacations.blogspot.com

I would welcome any input from developers, visitors, citizens, students.........give me your ideas and thoughts and comments about visits here........the good and the bad that happened.....what you would like to see here, do here. This is followed by a short travelogue of sights I noticed on my last trip from Pigeon Forge into Townsend. I was pretty surprised at what I discovered and hope you will be enticed into a visit!

My first post was about the fantastic Pigeon Forge Village, Belle Island and the 12-cinema Riverwalk development that will create top-quality experiences for local families as well as the out-of-state vacationer to Pigeon Forge. The locals have always patronized Dollywood, Splash Country and some of the go cart tracks, but little else has attracted families to the area besides the beloved Park and the Smokies. This is finally going to change!

Traveling out of Pigeon Forge through Wears Valley towards Townsend, I was delighted to see the Smoky Ridge development on the left looking well populated and "finished" eventhough construction is on-going. No pretense is made about having wooded sites for the cabins to reside in, but interestingly, the site was not leveled for development and the hills and homes instill architectural magic to the resort.

Entering the heart of Wears Valley, I was relieved to see the horrors of wide-scale construction on the mountain sides have been healed by the green of grass. Artist Steven Spangler has incorporated his art into a new store designed to furnish your cabin to the last detail, including beds, entertainment centers and all the furniture one would need.

A little further on finds a new family restaurant, more family oriented than the well-known gourmet, dinner-by-reservation, Grist Mill across the street. Cove Mountain, Timbercreek and Volunteer Cabin rentals have been joined by Little River Cabin Rentals, the Homestead development and something I did not have time to investigate, called Wilderness Mountain.

On the outskirts of Townsend, the Rafting and Tubing companies flank the river, and as I get on the main drag through town, I find a new development going up with a high wooden fence behind it. It turns out to be the new Trillium Cove Appalachian Village, which will offer a unique look at quaint shops that front on a common area, with private residential construction behind, protected from the commercial area. Twenty five shops, galleries, and restaurants are expected here on the 6 i/2 acre plot.

Then the fabulous new Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center comes into view, and they score a hugh plus with their plans for an educational and historical center devoted to the Native Indians, the first settlers, and the logging industry that thrived here in the early 1900s. What started out as a disaster, the 5-lane Parkway through Townsend, has ended in a judicial use of items found in the archeological digs that resulted when the Native Indians demanded responsibility for the burial remains in the area. Now exhibits of found, broken artifacts will be matched up with similar, intact items on loan from the McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Classes at the Heritage Center wil be held for students of Kindergarten age up to 8th graders......and they will learn how to carve wood, churn butter, weave, make corn husk dolls, use herbs in dyeing cloth and other mountain skills. An auditorium seating 100 people is also on site with two large exhibit rooms for Native Indian artifacts and an antique vehicle exhibit with buggies, stage wagons, mail wagons and more.

New life has been breathed into the Little Railroad and Logging Company museum in Townsend, with new antique equipment and original buildings that were moved here to replicate the post office, and ticket office and train station of years past. The area is reminiscent of a sleepy little depot in the mountains, and the new additions have added much charm to its site.

I was met with a delightful surprise when I entered the Village Market to find good, local hand crafted art work, craft displays and unique kitchenware inside. They also have a wonderful selection of produce, meats and fresh seafood. I mentioned its resemblance to a west Knoxville business and wasn't surprised to learn that is where the owners had been.

While eating lunch, I happened on ads in the local Townsend Traveler for another Gourmet market, called "In the Woods" which proclaims to have a custom butcher, with imported fine foods and fresh food to go. This ad appeared just above one for the Trailhead Steak House, featuring Prime Angus Feef and Alaskan Halibut at an address that must be next door. I will check these out on my next trip.

In short, I came home feeling encouraged and optimistic about the future of our area. Millions of dollars are being poured into new roads to relieve the traffic problems, and millions more are being pumped into developments of high-class visitor interest throughout the area's towns.
Maybe we'll finally see the end of the Hill Billy memorabilia culture and the fake Indian moccasins that misrepresented the area over the last 30 years.

Anyway, all of the new destinations, restaurants, shops and museums are worthy of visits and will be embraced by vacationers and citizens alike. But my hat's really off to Townsend for their work in securing and treasuring the local history. Preserving and promoting history is a weighty obligation and it just seems fitting that those who choose to follow this path, should also be successful in the achievement of it. I can't wait to visit the Heritage Center and the Appalachina Village this fall and walk through the Railroad and Lumber Company exhibit on my next visit.