22. September 2025
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Six US States And Nashville (Day 7 – 5th June 2025) – Riding With Dolly

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

With two interesting mountain road passages right at the beginning of my day and some outdoor activities, my Thursday significantly depended on the weather. Thus, waking up early at the Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Hotel and Casino, I first of all had a look at the window and the weather forecast. It looked quite friendly, so that I was rather positive for an interesting trip. Here is my Day 7 trip report from my Six US States and Nashville trip in June 2025.

 

The Tail of the Dragon

Starting at the hotel in Murphy, NC, I headed North on the US-74. Even though I was a bit later than I planned to be, I was on the road before 7:00. The weather forecast for the afternoon in Pigeon Forge was bad, so that I wanted to have as much non-rainy time there as possible. Apart from that the first scenic route of that day is extremely popular, so that I aimed for a rather relaxed drive. Near Toptop, I headed Westbound on the US-129. I loved the morning light, the slight touch of morning fog and the rural atmosphere, especially after I headed on that route. Especially the section along Santeetlah Lake was beautiful.

The dragon sculptures in Robinsville told you that there was something special. The eleven miles ahead of me are named the The Tail of The Dragon, due to its extremely curvy profile. It is named to have 318 curves. I would not necessarily call it a scenic route. The viewpoints are rather limited. But it is an extremely demanding, beautiful drive. The curves even partially have a natural banking, so that this section is extremely popular among motorcyclists, but also sports car drivers. You can see the popularity by the fact that even on that Thursday morning, there were professional photographers, who later sell the pictures of the bikers. I absolutely loved that and felt that there is hardly any section of this route which in fact is a straight.

 

Foothills Parkway to Pigeon Forge

The Tail of the Dragon ends at the lovely Chilhowee Lake. As I did not have breakfast, the rest area there was a fantastic place for the sandwich I had bought at Walmart the day before. What a lovely scenery! Soon thereafter, it was time to leave US-129 in Northbound direction. The next part of my road trip was indeed a scenic route. The Foothills Parkway takes you almost into Pigeon Forge. Driving is very comfortable most of the time – it is definitely less demanding than the section I had before. Therefore, the route has numerous lookouts, which I absolutely enjoyed. Near Walland, the parkway crosses US-321, but I headed on to the second section, which is slightly less attractive, but a beautiful drive as well. Being in a crowded city like Pigeon Forge thereafter felt so different after the peaceful moments I had since I left I-75 near Dalton the day before.

 

Fun Times in Pigeon Forge

If your credit card is allowing it, Pigeon Forge has almost everything in stock you demand to enjoy your vacation time. I started with a Pigeon Forge classic and rode the lovely Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster. Then, I passed Dollywood. Originally I planed to go there. However, many of the rides are not suitable for me. I would have love Dolly’s home and the show, but just did not feel like paying the rather high admission. Instead I had a Groupon voucher and visited one of the most obscure amusement parks I ever attended, Dig’n Zone. Everything in there is about construction. You can ride a lot of machines (with limited speed). I really loved my time there. By the way, even the action ride is a Caterpillar.

 

Funny Museum and Strange Rules in Gatlinburg

I headed on to Gatlinburg, as I had another weather-sensitive attraction on my bucket list. Before that, I continued with an attraction perfectly made for my Flyctory Obscura tag. The Salt & Pepper Shaker Museum hosts over 20,000 (!!!) pairs (!!!) of salt and pepper shakers. This place made me smile a lot! There was even a pair from my home town Cologne – I loved it.

Pigeon Forge is packed, Gatlinburg is absolutely nuts. You might have less visitors there, but the geography forces all of them onto the road through town (there is a bypass for that reason, luckily). The short drive through the city center can easily take you half an hour. I parked my car at a 10 USD parking lot in the sun and went to the Gatlinburg Space Needle, a classic observation deck. I had bought a ticket beforehand – and were refused to go. Groupon did not tell me that they don’t allow single visitors for safety reasons. You are even not allowed to wait for the next group and just join, which I felt really ridiculous.

I had a short walk through the city center instead. The temperatures were around 30 degrees, but the heat was really crazy to me. The infrastructure there is simply not made for these temperatures. If you spent time in Dubai at 40 C, it is definitely more enjoyable, as there are more places in shadow and air conditioning. I drank about four liters within less than three hours and still felt that this was not enough. Time to head back to Pigeon Forge and the hotel for the next two nights.

 

A Touch of Dolly in Pigeon Forge

My next two nights were at the Hampton Inn & Suites Pigeon Forge On The Parkway. The hotel is located rather North of the city, close to the Titanic exhibition. The Parkway is something like the Strip (to use Las Vegas wording) of Pigeon Forge. You need a car or public transport to commute and that’s not always convenient. Again, the infrastructure is not made for high summer temperatures. Even when I had a short 30 minute stop, the car was heated up again crazily. The hotel was overall a nice one, though.

You need to have at least a bit of Dolly Parton when you are in Pigeon Forge. So I did and visited the Dolly Parton’s Stampede, a dinner show with horses and other entertainment, on the evening. My thoughts about it are mixed, you will read that in my later review. Overall, I was happy being back at the hotel after the show. Unfortunately, my body showed me that he did not like the heat I exposed him to over the day. I thus had a really bad first night in Pigeon Forge.

 

My Song of the Day: Blake Shelton fest. Pistol Annies – Boys ‘Round Here

This trip is about music. Thus I felt present one song each day which somehow accompanied me every day. And I added a playlist of these songs – and some more – on my Spotify account as well:

My key song today is just one these tracks you haven’t listened to for a while – and then they run in (country) radio. It felt to be a perfect match for my road trip day. A road trip classic is Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf – I had to think of it especially at The Tail of The Dragon. Joe Diffie’s John Deere Green feels like a perfect match for my amusement park visit. Finally, Love Is Like A Butterfly was indeed been used at the Dolly Parton Stampede.

Here is the full playlist, which will grow day by day:

 

Six US States And Nashville – Daily Episodes

Here is an overview of the daily postings. I will link them once they

There will be no Day 12 report, as this would only cover the flight back to Germany.

 

 

Amusement Parks – More Postings

Here are all postings about Amusement Parks:

 

Country Music Legends

Here are all my country music postings marked as music legends contents:

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