Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2014 - 22

Top to bottom:
Applewood Farmhouse
Restaurant of Sevierville,
Tennessee, is known for
its tasty breakfasts and
apple fritters; John
Tennis overlooks Porters
Creek in the Great
Smoky Mountains
National Park of Sevier
County, Tennessee;
colorful plants adorn a
scenic sidewalk in
Bryson City, North
Carolina; Harrah's
Cherokee Casino Resort
in North Carolina offers
a chance to gamble -
win or lose - near the
Great Smoky Mountains
National Park.

FOR AN HOUR on a steamy June afternoon, my eightyear-old son and I wait out a thunderstorm along the
Sevierville-Pigeon Forge border. Such storms in the
Smokies are natural. But they seem almost like a summertime tradition - just as much as stopping for a
malt at The Diner in Sevierville or circling Cades
Cove in your car at the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park.
Saddling up after the storm, we rode horses at the
Adventure Park at Five Oaks. With a dozen other
riders, we traded the traffic on The Parkway for the
park's peaceful pond and pastures.
"If somebody doesn't want to ride the horses, they
can do the zipline," says David Stidham, an Adventure
Park trail guide. "It all lasts about an hour."
Spending time in the Smokies means making
choices:
* Take on a ropes course or ride a horse?
* Devour home-style meals at the Applewood
Farmhouse Restaurant in Sevierville or slice into a
steak at Sevierville's Chop House?
* Drive a go-kart at The Track Family Recreation
Center in Pigeon Forge or make a splash on the
blaster boats?
* Stay at a hotel with an indoor water park, like
The Resort at Governor's Crossing in Sevierville, or
cuddle up in a condo with a fireplace and a view of
the river like the Cedar Lodge in Pigeon Forge?
Even with a couple of visits, you may only scratch
the surface of all that's in the national park, on The
Parkway, off the beaten path or up-and-coming.
"There's great stuff to do all around here," is the
way Dolly Parton puts it.
So plan repeat visits - with themes. Spend one
weekend shopping at outlet malls. Set up another to
gamble at Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort. Get out
and hike the national park. Do Dollywood. Relax at
a cabin in Cosby. Sample some 'shine in a shop along
the busy streets of Gatlinburg.
At least once, too, dangle your feet from a zipline
and try the fast-and-furious jet-boat ride at
Adrenaline Park in the Kodak section of Sevierville.
Here, the bearded captain, Gary Lang, cuts across the
water smooth enough - to start. But then he makes
a motion, circling a finger: a warning that he's about
to slow down fast.
"When they want to get wet, I give 'em a good
splash," Lang says.
Then he jerks the wheel of the boat. And all

22 | BlueRidgeCountry.com

ABIGAIL TENNIS

Why, I even managed to have a chat with Dolly
Parton - backstage at Dollywood, her theme park in
Pigeon Forge - and learned why the style of the
Smokies remains in her soul. "When I sing, I feel like
I'm part of the mountains. I'm part of that whole
sound," Parton says. "And I could not be prouder
than to be a Smoky Mountain girl."

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Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2014

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