Carolinas, Georgia & South Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Alex Leviton [41]
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“Any real Dolly fan must make a pilgrimage to Dollywood. But there are also several less well-known stops in the area. Many fans visit the Sevier County Courthouse in Sevierville and get their picture made at the statue of her on the courthouse lawn. In Pigeon Forge you’ll pass the Little House of Prayer, where her ‘holy roller’ Pentecostal grandfather preached, and Caton’s Chapel School, one of the schoolhouses Dolly attended as a child.”
Duane Gordon, webmaster, www.dollymania.net
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Head out of town via Hwy 321. This rural highway gives you an idea of what a Tennessee road trip was like before I-40 sliced its way through the state. Watch as the tree-covered peaks of the Smokies mellow into grassy green hills dotted with farmstands and flea markets; stop for an ice-cream cone as you pass through the time-warp town of Maryville, where it still looks like 1955.
About two hours southwest of Pigeon Forge is the town of Sweetwater, home to America’s largest underground lake. The Lost Sea is a genuine country roadside attraction, where families and elderly couples with guidebooks queue up for hour-long tours. Before the modern tourist-era, the caves were used as a dance hall, as a venue for cockfighting and as a hiding place for moonshine stills. Descend into Craighead Caverns via a long metal tunnel and ride a glass-bottom boat across the eerie greenish lake, illuminated from below by underwater lights. If you’re lucky you’ll spot a silvery cave trout gliding through the murky depths.
Double back northeast for 45 minutes to hit Knoxville. This funky little gem of a city is one of those places where, despite the lack of specific tourist attractions, you come away feeling like you might want to live there one day. Driving in, note the giant gold orb towering over the city skyline. That’s the Sunsphere, a relic of the 1982 World’s Fair. You can walk up to the observation deck for free. Downtown Knoxville is full of splendid 19th-century warehouses and storefronts turned lofts and boutiques. Pedestrian-only Market Square is the center of the action, with outdoor cafés and a public green that hosts summertime concerts and plays.
Grab a table in the crowded, art-filled dining room of the Tomato Head, where tattooed hipsters will serve you a gorgonzola and free-range chicken calzone. Right around the corner, the Hotel St Oliver is like something out of a Tennessee Williams play. The 28 rooms have the eccentric elegance of a slightly dotty Southern belle, with Victorian wingback armchairs and thick Persian carpets. Sit for a spell in the dim downstairs library with its crumbling leather tomes and gilt-framed oil paintings. Wind down with a night of music at the impeccably restored Bijou Theatre. Built in 1909, the Bijou has hosted luminaries of the bygone era like Dizzy Gillespie and Groucho Marx. These days, Knoxville’s old guard comes for the ballet, while the whippersnappers from the University of Tennessee bobble their heads to indie rock performers such as Bright Eyes.
Emily Matchar
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TRIP INFORMATION
GETTING THERE
From Charlotte, NC, take I-85 South to I-26 West to I-40 W. Turn onto the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway and continue for 40 miles toward Bryson City.
DO
Bijou Theatre
Downtown Knoxville’s opulent 19th-century theater hosts big-name rock acts, ballet and theater. 865-656-4444; www.knoxbijou.com;