Pigeon Forge

If it weren’t for Dolly Parton, Pigeon Forge would probably be known its outlet malls and local amusement parks. But because of Dolly Parton, who grew up in nearby Sevierville, Pigeon Forge is primarily known as the home of Dollywood.

Dollywood is the latest version of an amusement park that had operated on the site in various forms since 1961. Dolly put her name on it in 1986, and it has since grown to be the largest employer in the area. As the park has expanded, it has taken on more of Dolly’s personality, with attractions that reflect the places she grew up (e.g., a replica of her family home; the diner where she had her first hamburger, and the theater where she first performed).

We were there during the last week of the park’s operation, right before it was going to close for the winter. Abby had the sense to ask a staffer whether it was better to buy tickets at the window or from a self-service kiosk, and the staffer told her that “the owner” was in the park that day and had told the staff to hand out a supply of “Friends and Family” passes that were going to expire that weekend. As a result, although we never saw her, we were Dolly Parton’s guests. (For all we know, though, the staffer could have been referring to someone from Herschend Family Entertainment, which co-owns the property, but we’d rather think that Dolly’s hand was in it.)

It was still Christmas at Dollywood, but it also was bitterly cold, and the park was nearly empty.

Even as the park began to fill, we still waited no more than 10 minutes to get on any of the rides. Dollywood has some impressive roller coasters.

Next: Asheville, NC.

January 14, 2024

Bowling Green

What do you do in Bowling Green? You visit the National Corvette Museum. Bowling Green is home to both the Corvette Museum and the Corvette factory.

More Corvettes for those of you who like Corvettes.

Fun fact: on February 12, 2014, a sinkhole opened beneath the museum and swallowed eight Corvettes.

This part of Kentucky sits above miles of cavern, as we discovered when we visited Mammoth Cave. Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the world; more than 400 miles of cave passages have been surveyed, with countless additional miles yet to be explored. The bit under the Corvette Museum aside, most of the limestone cave system lies under a sandstone layer which protects the cave ceilings from water erosion and eventual collapse.

The first section we visited had been a saltpeter mine (worked by slaves, naturally) during the War of 1812. After the war, the demand for black gunpowder shrank, so the cave owners—the caves were owned privately until the government bought the land, in 1926—opened the caves to tourists. These visitors (and soldiers who used the caves during the Civil War) used candle smoke to write their names on the cavern ceiling. Anyone caught doing that today would be charged with a felony.

Incredibly, the smooth, almost rectangular shape of the cavern was formed naturally, through water erosion. There still are rivers flowing far beneath this level of the cave system.

In other parts of the cave, water did come in through sinkholes, which resulted in the more familiar sorts of rock formations.

We also visited Bernheim Forest, to see the Forest Giants. These giants—named Mama Loumari, Elina, and little Nis—are the works of Danish artist Thomas Dambo, who built them from recycled wood.

Next: bits of Tennessee and North Carolina

January 8, 2024

Cincinnati-Louisville-Bowling Green

We left Cincinnati to drive to Bowling Green, to visit friends and to see Mammoth Cave. Since Louisville was on the way, and since both Colonel Sanders and Muhammed Ali are buried in Louisville’s Cave Hill cemetery, we had to stop there.

Below Muhammed Ali’s grave is a stone set in the ground that reads “He took a few cups of love, he took one tablespoon of patience, one teaspoon of generosity, one pint of kindness. He took one quart of laughter, one pinch of concern, and then he mixed willingness with happiness, he added lots of faith and he stirred it up well. Then he spread it over a span of a lifetime and he served to each and every person he met.“

Theirs were not the only ornate memorials. This one, for local magician Harry Leon Collins, also caught our eye. His stone reads: “He comes to you with top hat donned. White gloves flash with a sleight of hand that stretches reality beyond. The twinkle in his eyes hides the secret he will never share. With awe, you feel your heart’s great thrill like none you can compare. What lies in the heart of this man? Drawn to him are the children of the land. They know that love flows in abundance, for his heart and soul are reflected in his smiling glance. And now gathered here, with tears in our eyes, grief in our hearts and stiff proper smiles, we honor this great loving man. Never again will we see the twinkle of his eye — the sleight of his hand that drew the children of the land.” That it took twice as long to eulogize local magician Harry Collins as it did to eulogize the Greatest was unexpected, but I subsequently learned from Wikipedia that Harry Collins was the official corporate magician for the Frito-Lay Corporation. “He promoted Frito-Lay products while doing magic tricks, and was known both as ‘Mr. Magic’ and as ‘The Frito-Lay Magician.'” Well, then.

Next, we visited the Hillerich & Bradsby Company factory. You don’t know the Hillerich & Bradsby Company? Of course you do: they make the Louisville Slugger.

The wood—birch, maple, or ash, from trees harvested from H&B’s tree farm in Pennsylvania—is shaped into billets. Some baseball players have a reserve of their own billets from which their personal bats are made. The billets are then shaped into baseball bats by machine and finished. The factory has some of the greats’ bats available for visitors to hold (but not swing).

Then, onto Bowling Green.

Next: what we saw in Bowling Green.

January 3, 2024

Cincinnati

The main attraction in Cincinnati, for us at any rate, was the American Sign Museum, which “is devoted to the art and history of commercial signs and sign making,” according to their website.¹ And it was pretty awesome. There were signs from the early 20th century up through the heyday of neon and molded plastic signage, as well as collections of sign makers’ tools. We highly recommend visiting here.

All of the signs are originals. There were some old favorites among the gems, and I prefer the above Pepto Bismal campaign to what they’re doing now.

After that, it was a stop for Cincinnati chili, a move that I will regret at some point.

Last, the Cincinnati Art Museum, which featured murals that Saul Steinberg and Joan Miró painted for the Terrace Plaza hotel. I photographed some of the panels, but there is no way my camera will do the work justice.

¹There, President Claudine Gay, is that so hard?

December 30, 2023

Hello, Cleveland!

And we’re off!

We have a few months free, so we’re driving across the country. First stop, Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

First stop: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We start with the roots of rock and roll—mostly memorabilia, but also a listening station where I could have spent the entire day, if there weren’t so much else to see.

All of the big names … and the big hair.

Display cases dedicated to specific genres and time periods, as well as a celebration of 50 years of hip-hop, and a room dedicated to midwest acts and hometown heroes.

Surprisingly, some very big stars had very few pieces of memorabilia on display. James Brown had only a few outfits; Elton John, even less.

It was a bit of a thrill to see lyric sheets written by the artists themselves, though.

And there was this:

On the second day, we visited the Cleveland Art Museum which, despite not having a large collection, is considered one of the top art museums in the U.S. because of the quality of the collection. For me, the highlights were Jackson Pollock’s Number 5, 1950, Stuart Davis’ Composition Concrete, and an entire exhibition based on Edgar Degas’ and other artists depictions of Parisian laundresses.

Next: Cincinnati

December 29, 2023

Color

The wood carvings of Newari temples are fantastic.

However, like the statues in ancient Greece, the pillars originally were painted. I recently came across a temple where the paint had been refreshed:

August 30, 2023

Chungsi Cave

On his way to founding the Lo Gekhar Monastery, Guru Rinpoche stopped at Chungsi Cave. He meditated here sometime “early in the 8th century,” says the internet, and a small monastery was later established in the cave.

To get there takes a hell of a lot of steep hiking down, followed many stairs back up. If I remember correctly, the descent from the high point of the morning hike was roughly 800 feet. It looks like there are five or six monks living up there. The monastery is very simple and is centered on the cave itself.

While the golden statue of Guru Rinpoche pictured above dominates the front of the cave, Guru Rinpoche himself allegedly slept in a small hole in the cave wall that now serves as a place to leave offerings:

July 26, 2023

Jhong Cave

Jhong Cave is a five-story network of man-made caves that were carved out of the cliffs close to the Tibetan border. Archaeologists estimate that the caves were used as as burial chambers as early as 1000 BC, but they were put to more dramatic use in the 10th century as refuges during a war with Tibet. Later, the locals used the caves for storage and for meditation chambers, likely up until the point when someone realized that tourists would pay good money to go inside. So let’s take a look.

The landscape is barren, but the cliffs are fairly porous.

Next: another cave.

July 25, 2023

Monasteries, another of a series

This is Lo Gekhar monastery, another AFCP-funded project. Lo Gekhar dates back to the 8th century and is possibly the oldest monastery in Mustang. According to legend, it was founded by Guru Rinpoche, who brought Buddhism from India to Tibet and Nepal (and had to kill demons to build the monastery). The monastery is surrounded by red brick stupas. While modest, Lo Gekhar is incredibly important to Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal.