Goin' to the Smokes...

Around the end of May or the first of June, each year from the time I was 6 or 7 until I was 18, my family (that is, my mother and grandmother (and sometimes my annoying grand-aunt)) would go to the Smoky Mountains, about 350 miles from my house. I haven't been since 1998, the year my ex-wife bought a convertible Toyota and we stupidly went without any motel reservations on a week that a converted-truck convention was in town (the ugly pieces of crap like this):



I came across a website a few weeks ago whilst trying to find out if most of the things I remembered about the Smokies were still there or if they'd all been torn down like Panama City Beach's old stuff, in the name of "gentrification". God, I hoped not. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge were the last true relics of over-the-top tackiness left in the tourist world.

Thank God that it was all still there, at least according to http://thegreatsmokeymountainsparkway.com .

here's a look:


For all you familiar with Pigeon Forge, this is the famous sign you see on the way in to the Tennessee Miracle Mile.



This is the first restaurant that I usually saw coming into PF. That sign (if it's still there) hasn't changed in 30 years.



It's STILL THERE!!! Probably the greatest record store known to Mankind. Best selection of t-shirts, cds, and paraphernalia (music, not weed)in the world! A look inside...



Remember this?


I was too chicken-shit to go in this until I was 13 because I believed in all those ghost stories I heard as a kid (still do).




Did anyone eat here? All I can remember is that it had the godawfulest smell on the planet (then again, I abhor the smell of boiled peanuts and turnip greens cooking as well).

Finally, for now...





The very same boxes they used in 1978! How great is that? You can get these in Cracker Barrels across the US, in case you can't get to Gatlinburg.



I have plenty more photos of the Smokies if anyone's interested.