PIGEON FORGE, TENNESSEE, USA - From the spacious Knoxville airport, it was only a 33 mile drive along scenic routes 411 and 441 to the charming village of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the home of Dollywood, one of America's prime vacation destinations.

Strangely enough, Dollywood appears on the AAA map as a city, but once we experienced its warm 1880's ambiance, we quickly discovered that Dollywood is more of a fantasy and definitely a world apart from modern-day America. Life's daily stress quickly slipped away as we became immersed in its 125-acres of natural beauty, the genuine friendliness of its inhabitants and the homespun charm of Dolly Parton's dream.

Dollywood offers the best of everything all wrapped up in a neatly packaged production overflowing with great music, wonderful shows, fascinating attractions, old-time crafts, family-fun rides and delicious down-home dining. Dollywood is actually a companion park to Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. Both are famous for having the know-how to do everything right the first time and both are filled with repeat customers, year after year. In 1986, Dolly Parton fell so in love with the park, which is only a few miles from where she grew up, that she became a co-owner. The new partnership "Dolly-ized" their theme park in Pigeon Forge and turned it into a grand salute to the deep South and good old fashioned Southern hospitality.

What did we find in this year-round entertainment mecca? Well, for starters, we found many attractions named after people and events that played an important part in Dolly's life like Aunt Granny's, a popular restaurant bearing the nickname her nieces and nephews call her, and Apple Jack's Eatery, named after one of Dolly's number one hits. Incidentally, the Parton family recipe for fried green tomatoes was so popular during Dollywood's 1994 Fall Festival that it has become a regular item on its menus. Granny Ogle's Ham 'n' Beans is named after the mother of Dolly's best friend. Red's Diner is a copy of the restaurant in nearby Sevierville where Dolly tasted her first hamburger in the 1950's. The Spotlight Bakery is a full-production bakery where we found "bucket bread" inspired by Dolly's memory of her mother baking bread in a coffee can.

We thoroughly enjoyed our delicious lunch in the Backstage Restaurant with its lookalike waiters and waitresses. "Elvis Presley" worked our table! Butterfly Emporium, the park's largest store, features a live butterfly aviary. Dolly has loved butterflies since she was a little girl and they have been identified with her throughout her career. Cas Walker's Store is named after the Knoxville entrepreneur who gave Dolly her first break in television. Critter Creek Toy Factory is so-named because her grandpa called all little animals critters. Dolly's Dressing Room carries Dolly's styles, ranging from country to glitzy as well as the star's own line of cosmetics. The Old Flame Candle Shop is another establishment named after one of her hit songs, "Old Flames Can't Hold A Candle To You."

The Sweet Dreams Candy Shop was named after her older sister's reply whenever Dolly asked her to make homemade candy. Willadeane would tell her, "You'll just have to have sweet dreams because I'm not making you candy, today."

Uncle Bill's Guitar Shop is named for Dolly's Uncle Bill Owens, her first manager and co-writer of many of her songs. He and her mother's sisters and two brothers star in the Backporch Theatre show, "Dolly's Mountain Music." Her brother, Randy, also has his own show in another theatre.

Radio station WDLY broadcasts daily from the park and is a sister station to WSEV, the first radio station Dolly sang on when she was ten years old. When Jukebox Junction was created, Dolly named the new theatre after Pine's Theatre in Sevierville, the site of Dolly's first public performance before an audience in the mid-50's.

There are fourteen theatres located throughout the park seating 300 to 1700 guests offering shows ranging from singing duos and trios to elaborate production shows. Our favorite show was Heartsong, a unique multi-sensory musical/film experience which tells the story of Dolly's life. It's housed within a "Naturound" theatre creating the ambiance of a secluded Smoky Mountain cove. Rather than reveal too much, let's just say that you'll experience a few gimmicks unlike any other others you've ever seen, anywhere! It was filmed around Dollywood and at Dolly's childhood Tennessee mountain home. Her brother, Bobby, has duplicated that home inside the park.

Friendship Flower Gardens and Starwalk, introduced in 1992, is dedicated to Dolly's numerous show business friends. We found well over 130 famous stars honored with plaques along the Starwalk and, among the hundreds of thousands of flowers there and throughout the entire park, we discovered Dolly Parton Roses, a beautiful orange-red hybrid rose named in her honor.

Each of the park's eight differently themed areas features a nice mix of unusual attractions, rides and restaurants. We discovered about two dozen appealing rides. In Jukebox Junction, we drove a replica 1950's car down the Rockin' Roadway and in Rivertown Junction we went white-water rafting in the Smoky Mountain Rampage. At the Country Fair we found a number of fun rides for all ages while Daydream Ridge offered the Mountain Slidewater, a thrilling water toboggan ride, a balloon race and a huge play area for kids.

Dollywood Boulevard, an $8 million expansion unveiled in 1996, contains Thunder Road, the world's first Turbo-Ride Action Adventure, based on the very first movie Dolly ever saw. We found it to be a thrilling experience as the seats jerked us around wildly while we raced through the rugged countryside.

Dollywood's rides are most certainly unique. Where else could we have expereinced an exciting roller coaster ride on a runaway mine train, a hair raising ride through a burning town and a boat ride through a flooded silver mine! Having lived on a circus train for seven years, I grew very fond of riding the rails. At Dollywood, we took a delightful five mile trip on the Dollywood Express powered by an authentic full size coal-burning steam engine.! We also rode the one of a kind antique handcarved carousel. They are so proud of this old fashioned merry-go-round that they don't allow guests with damp clothing to ride until they have visited the nearby clothing dryers. No other park I know of can make that statement!

In an effort to preserve the traditions, arts and skills of Dolly's Smoky Mountain heritage, various crafts are demonstrated daily in Craftsmen's Valley. Among the numerous arts and crafts to be seen are candle, lye soap, broom, knife, candy and wagon making as well as leatherwork, glass blowing, fabric painting, woodcarving, pottery, forge and foundry crafts. The artisans are friendly, informative and more than willing to sharetheir knowledge of these ages old arts.

We were amazed to discover that Dollywood even has a government licensed American Bald Eagle Sancutuary in a huge 30,000 square foot natural outdoor aviary. Birds of prey demonstrations are presented several times daily.

We found our visit filled with wonderful surprises. We strolled through a working grist mill (the first one built in Tennessee in over 100 years), saw guests hurrying into the Sunday morning service in the little chapel, relearned our ABC's from the valley school marm, and saw over 2000 items from Dolly Parton's childhood in the Village Museum. We ate far too many delicious baked cinnamon rolls, dressed in old time clothing for an anique photo, tasted Tater Twirls and Sugar Mountian funnel cakes and loved every single minute of it.

I highly recommend this ever changing, delightful, fun and nostalgic experience. We're looking forward to a return visit as soon as we can work it into our schedule. Dollywood Park, as well as the cities of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, maintain heavy schedules of major special events throughout the year. With over 15,000 overnight accomodations and 2,500 campsites available in nearby Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Townsent, plus more than 1,700 campsites and public accomodations in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it's not difficult to find lodging that fit's anyone's pocketbook.

Dollywood's daily admission tickets include all entertainment, rides, crafts showcases, attractions and special events (except parking, games and celebrity concerts). If you enter the park after 3PM on any day from late April through late October, you can return on the next operating day at no charge.

Every summer, some of the world's biggest country music stars appear in Dollywood's 1700 seat Celebrity Theatre, with showtimes at 2PM and 7PM For celebrity concert tickets and concert information call 423-428-9620 or 423-428-9630.

For the lastest Dollywood brochure, operating schedule and daily admission prices sned your request to:
Dollywood
1020 Dollywood Lane
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863-4101
or call 800-DOLLYWOOD
Visit the Dollywood website at www.dollywood.com.

Be sure to also read:

• Fun Family Dining in Eastern Tennessee
• Spending the Holidays in East Tennssee
• The Evolution of The Bailey House
• Rafting the Ocoee River
• You Can Fly! -- A First Time Hang Gliding Adventure
  
  

  When Chuck Burnes isn't writing stories he's busy booking variety acts and producing shows through his Southern California based company, Periwinkle Productions.