Arthur Digbee wrote:

MarkDidier wrote:

Bob Sihler wrote:So there's really someplace worse than Gatlinburg?

Actually I think Pigeon Forge is worse than Gatlinburg (can't say if it's worse than the Dells though).

Beat me to it. Been to 'em all and avoid Pigeon Forge like the plague.

Yeah, come to think of it, Pigeon Forge is worse. I think the traffic is equally bad in both places, but Pigeon Forge is just so tacky and ugly; at least Gatlinburg, though plenty tacky, attempts to look nice.

Since I come from the northeast (or leave that way), I use Foothills Parkway from I-40. I still have to endure Gatlinburg that way, but not Pigeon Forge.

I haven't been there, but isn't Pigeon Forge where Dollywood is? I once heard it described to me as a place where there are a bunch of old men sitting around whittling for money. What is tacky about a place like that?

Again, having not been there, I would still reckon the Wisconsin Dells worse. There are miles upon miles of the tackiest attractions and waterslides and they have completely consumed the original reason people vacationed there - the Dells! At least at Gatlinburg et al, you still go there to get to the Smokies.

The Ortega Indian Emporiums in AZ/NM are still my favorites. The billboards every mile along 50 miles of I-40 are something else...and who has ever heard of Running Indian Ice Cream?

Bubba Suess wrote:I haven't been there, but isn't Pigeon Forge where Dollywood is? I once heard it described to me as a place where there are a bunch of old men sitting around whittling for money. What is tacky about a place like that?

Yes, Dollywood is there. And no, it is not a place where old men sit around whittling for money.

Bubba Suess wrote:What is tacky about a place like that?

Just for the record, this was sarcasm. I think the idea of Dollywood is ridiculous. If I was cajoled into going there for any reason other than extreme people watching I would feel like a rube who just bought a bridge.

Bubba Suess wrote:

Bubba Suess wrote:What is tacky about a place like that?

Just for the record, this was sarcasm. I think the idea of Dollywood is ridiculous. If I was cajoled into going there for any reason other than extreme people watching I would feel like a rube who just bought a bridge.

Sorry.