DESTINATIONS THE US |TENNESSEE


CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Dollywood’s Big Bear Mountain rollercoaster; writer Laura French at the Dolly Parton Experience; Shine Girl distillery in Sevierville


PICTURES: Dollywood; Tennessee Tourism; Laura French; Shutterstock/CrackerClips Stock Media


MUSIC IN NASHVILLE


It’s impossible to tour Tennessee without starting or ending a trip in country music capital Nashville (pictured). Here,


we prowl the live-music bars of the Honky Tonk Highway, visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and stand where


Elvis, Dolly Parton and many others recorded at RCA Studio B. On a backstage


tour of the Grand Ole Opry (pictured, below) – celebrating its centenary this year – we glimpse Dolly’s dressing


room, while at the Ryman Auditorium, we stand on a


stage graced by everyone from Elvis and Johnny Cash to Neil Young and Harry Styles. This music-infused city is every bit as surreal as I’d imagined.


of a legend Dolly is in these parts – and not only for her country music prowess. A half-hour drive from Sevierville is Dollywood, the


star’s legendary theme park in Pigeon Forge, which marks its 40th anniversary next year (entry from $92 for adults, $82 for children). Country music plays from the speakers as we’re welcomed into the scenic Smoky Mountains spot, with rattling rollercoaster tracks peeking above the trees. Browsing the Dolly Parton Experience, which opened last year and features a collection of her trademark glittering outfits, I read about the singer’s philanthropic efforts. In the late 1980s, she set up the Dollywood Foundation with the aim of decreasing the drop-out rate in Sevier County’s high school. She later launched the Imagination Library, a book-gifting initiative developed in honour of her father, who couldn’t read. After my education in Dolly Parton, I sample a handful of the park’s attractions: dangling from beneath a loop-the-loop track and soaring over the park on Wild Eagle, then riding the formidable Lightning Rod, where I’m blasted along an undulating track at 73mph, propped up on a huge wooden structure. There are more than 50 attractions here and regular


live-music shows mean the park can be a good option for adrenaline-averse clients too. Next to Dollywood, there’s also a water park, Dollywood’s Splash Country. I don’t have time to visit, but I do drop in to try the


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signature cinnamon bread – a slice of sugary indulgence doused in sweet cinnamon sauce, apple butter and cream icing that has me wired for the rest of the day.


MOUNTAIN HIGHS


Dollywood wasn’t the only theme park I experienced during my visit to the Great Smoky Mountains. I’d already had my fill at Anakeesta – a mountaintop adventure park in nearby Gatlinburg (entry from $35 for adults, $23 for children). Whimsy is at the heart of this eclectic park,


which is reached by a four-seat chairlift that allows visitors to glide gently over a carpet of green below. At the top, a fairytale-like village offers a host of attractions – from ziplines to a new BirdVenture aviary-themed playground that has us descending neon-lit tube slides and jumping on trampolines, with views of billowing mountains all around. More magical still is the Astra Lumina light trail, a celestially inspired night-time walk that mesmerises everyone into silence. Twinkling lights, strobe lasers and glimmering projections dance between the trees, while harmonious music and a cooling mountain breeze complete the ethereal effect. Surprisingly, the best part comes as we leave the


park. While riding on a large, safari-style truck that takes us back down the mountain towards the exit, we spot something emerging from the darkness – a black


² travelweekly.co.uk


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