And This is Mountain Kitsch: Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride, Hillbilly Golf

If you ever doubted that we like all kinds of touristy fun, here's proof!  We finally visted the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride in Pigeon Forge, and while we recommend it for Americana diehards like us, we don't think everyone would enjoy it.  It's pricey for what you get, but the boat ride through anamatronic dinosaurs is pleasant.  The property was actually more "high tech" than we expected, and I can imagine a willing five or six year old having a magical time here.  This attraction is of the variety you don't see too much outside of "big theme parks."  If you've read Tim Hollis's Dixie Before Disney, you can imagine Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride being memorialized in a similar work in a decade or so.  We both have fond memories of large animated dinosaurs that would come to the local science museum, and this ride is a less-educational throwback to that part of childhood. 

Now for a tourist spot we believe will endure:  Hillbilly Golf of Gatlinburg.    This legendary spot is still locally owned and features a well-known incline train ride up a mountainside.  When you disembark, you play one of two simple putt-putt courses in the shade.  It's a classic, easy course decorated by farm implements and fake outhouses--pure, low-maintenance fun so simple it doesn't even have an official website.  Kim had great memories of playing as a kid with her mom and dad, and Justin has decided he enjoys inclines and was looking forward to the experience, too. 

If you go, we'd specifically recommend Gatlinburg's Brookside Resort for your lodging.  The "resort" is a classic, locally-owned hotel complex--very retro.  Nice walkable-yet-off-the-beaten-path location--"city close, country quiet" is their motto.  Expect good value with the stream out back; don't expect extremely modern decor.  The vintage look is part of the charm; Justin stayed here growing up, and we'll continue the tradition.  We already have our next trip planned:  Sweet Fanny Adams Theatre, Hauntings Ghost Show, and Clingmans Dome. 

Can't Keep a Wax Museum Down: Hollywood Wax Museum, Christ in the Smokies

Wax museums: great places, but becoming few and far between.  So, with the opportunity to take in two that have made a comeback in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, we were excited.

First, the Hollywood Wax Museum.  After a year or so absence from the scene, it's moved recently from Gatlinburg and has a Vegas-esque new facade near the Titanic in Pigeon Forge.  The exterior is quite impressive with a "Mt. Rushmore" of Hollywood legends.  While Tussauds it is not, we still had fun touring inside, taking advantage of many, many photo ops.  Expect some attention to classic shows like I Love Lucy but less attention to 90s phenomena (ex. Austin Powers) than the previous site offered. Before you go, read about the rates for various nearby attractions in "combination tickets," and know that it costs a pretty penny to climb to the viewing deck at the top of the facility (we skipped it). 

For a calmer tour, try Christ in the Smokies, the religious wax museum on the site of the former Christus Gardens.  When Christus Gardens closed in 2008 to make way for proposed condos, we worried--but the economy flatlined and a wax site is back.  The revised museum focuses on the Gospel accounts of Jesus; there's more information about the connections between the Old and New Testaments than on the previous Christus Gardens tour.  Expect a paced tour through dioramas beginning with the Nativity and ending with the Ascention.  If you take time to learn about the attraction, you can take advantage of opportunities to talk about it first hand with owner/artistic director, frequently working on site.  We believe the Jesus-in-film exhibit at the end of the museum is not to be missed.  Protestants and Catholics would probably be equally comfortable with the tour.  This site does not allow photographs of the main wax museum scenes, but you can take pictures in the garden and in the Tabernacle exhibit near the entry. 

If you are like us and you can't get enough of this stuff, two more notes:  Those interested on more about wax museums in general will be interested in Houses of Wax, and we believe you can still see the Christus Gardens figures at Florida's Holy Land Experience. 

A Titanic Adventure! : Titanic Museum Pigeon Forge

Justin and Kim slipped away for a quick trip to Gatlinburg, TN, in August 2012, choosing the location primarily to mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sailing with a trip to the Titanic Museum.  If you've driven in Pigeon Forge in the past few years, you know the building: the one that is a giant ship, of course.  It's quite the impressive display.  Our vote is that it is well worth your time:  two big thumbs up.

The experience is immersive, the atmosphere grand.  The exhibits capture the Titanic from its beginnings in drafting rooms to its contemporary rediscovery under water, contextualizing it nicely.  If you're paying attention, you'll garner a lot of information from rare artifacts on display, including menu cards and trip planning brochures for various "classes" of passengers.  Several artifacts are one-of-a-kind items that humanize the idea of the Titanic.  The overall experience is touching without being melodramatic; your understanding of life through the eyes of the great ship grows through truly understanding the cultural role of the voyage. 

You'll find a better selection of related academic books at amazon.com, but there was great selection of Christmas ornaments in the gift shop for Kim.   The Titanic Museum's an obvious stop for those who enjoy seeing history interpreted for a broad audience, and the contemporary museum design is interesting from a museum studies perspective.  Kim's been reading about the concept of memorialization in America, and if you read in related sociology/cultural studies, you should definitely go as well. 

We recommend you eat at nearby Partridge and Pear--The Christmas Place's own restaurant.  It's close to fun holiday shopping, of course, but it also represents an excellent lunch value:  yummy, homestyle food with a creative twist at a very fair price.  We were stuffed, but we hear great things about dessert. 

Pirates Meet Ghosts of the Swamps: Pirates Voyage and Myrtle Beach Ghost Walk

Even though we've only done so twice, we've decided we have a new tradition: a Myrtle Beach date for our anniversary treat.  We had a stunning experience again this year at Pirates' Voyage, a dinner show that is pure fun.  The pirates better fit the beach than the Dixie Stampede formerly on the site, and this year, the show was even more impressive to us.  We had excellent front row seats without paying for preferred seating (our best explanation is that we booked early).  This year, however, there was no American Express discount.  We continue recommend being there when the doors open, enjoying the preshow and taking time in the gift shop before the show when it is substantially less crowded.  

The presentation of the Pirates' Voyage show is so dynamic that our thoughts always turn into "How'd they do that?" questions.  How'd they find a cast that could do acrobatics and swimming?  How'd they figure out how they were going to make all this food service happen simultaneously?  It's all very fun to think about, in large part because the show is so seamless.  Don't go looking for plot or the same kind of fun you'd have seeing a great work of literature on stage--but do go looking for all-out enjoyment and spectacle.  We go as a couple, and we're confident the show's tons of fun for most elementary-aged kids. 

We've also developed a preference for the earliest show, affording us an opportunity to enjoy Barefoot Landing at night afterwards, a throwback to Kim's childhood.  This year, Justin surprised Kim with ghost walk tickets to the Myrtle Beach Ghost Walk with Ghosts and Legends.  We'd always said we'd go sometime--and Justin, seeing a sign in the window indicating "last season," rightly felt we'd better step on it.  Our tour was a charming walk with a fabulously knowledgeable, passionate, and confident guide in Penelope the Pirate, one of the best guides we've seen on any ghost tour.  There was an unexpected and pleasant side trip to the House of Blues, and a good bit of North Myrtle Beach-area history was included.  If you follow this blog, you know we do ghost tours to hear local stories and get a flavor for local cultures--and this tour definitely delivered!   We also recommend the Ghosts and Legends show (presented every 30 minutes in their building) and suggest anyone who likes books of local legends stop in their gift shop. 

More good news: the business is for sale. We're among the hopefuls that it's not really the last season! For info, give them a call or try a google search for the listing.  We wish the original owners good luck as they drive their DeLorean cross country raising funds for health research. 

For more of our recommendations in Myrtle, see another Myrtle Date here and a family spring break trip here.  We did not go to Alligator Adventure as we'd initially planned, largely because we had a very unresponsive customer service experience with them ordering tickets as gifts this spring.  We'll think about it for next time but did not have good success purchasing tickets through their online interface or trying to contact the business via email, social media, or phone. 

Ship bound!

Justin and Elijah took in Jamestown Settlement (formerly Jamestown Festival Park) this summer.  They tell me, their humble blogger, that they really enjoyed the ships, exploring every inch of them.  The festival park is the site of Jamestown's living history exhibition and includes reconstructions of the ships and dwellings of settlers and Native American Indian constructions.  Our son wanted to be sure he visited each of the Powhatan homes furnished with furs and turtle shells.  At the fort, expect artillery demonstrations with cannon fire, and you'll have an opportunity to try on armor from the time period.  Don't be one of the folks there that says, "So this is where the Pilgrims landed?"  That's a different place, plus you'll view an immersive museum on your way in that should contextualize Jamestown nicely.  Do ask questions (or read more) about Jamestown history, which has been fairly sanitized here. 

If you haven't been to the park (or haven't been in a while), know it was remodeled for the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement in 2007. The center now welcomes you with flags from all 50 states, a large lobby/ticketing area, and a pretty comprehensive gift shop. The food in the food court/cafeteria is perfectly acceptable for families and student groups.  They sell some unusual "local" foods including peanut soup and bread pudding, as well as classic tourist food like pizza.  It's good food, but the ordering environment can be confusing and the food's a bit pricey.  If it is going to be a hot day, go early and do the outside exhibits first, returning to the museum.

If you have more time, drive out to Historic Jamestowne, a site that incorporates a great deal of information on historic preservation and archeology because it is the site of the original settlement.  It's typically the Jamestown we hit--we really like the walk it affords across a small marsh on a nice wooden bridge, not to mention the walk along the water to the Archaearium (museum of archeology).  And if you know us personally and are headed here (or anywhere in the area), you simply must talk with Justin.  He'll give you great tips.  Also very nearby?  Jamestown Glasshouse, a free live demonstration of glass blowing with an attractive gift shop selling glass creations and souvenirs.

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Dinosaurs and Potato Chips, Oh My!

We asked Elijah if he wanted to see some dinosaurs and went in search of old fashioned roadside amusement, heading for Dinosaur Land near Winchester, VA.  What a fanciful place full of outdoor sculptures of dinosaurs--not to mention King Kong, an octopus, a shark, and some oversize bugs.  At $4 to $5 entry a person, it's a bargain as far as dino attractions go.  It's also terrific for preschoolers and young elementary-aged kids.  Fences allow for some running, and the sculptures are captivating.  If we lived closer, it would totally be the site of a birthday party.  The attraction is almost 50 years old, and the gift shop sells plenty of classic souvenirs.   Interesting sculptures include uniquely-positioned birds and a dino attack scene, a la Jurassic Park movies. 

If making the journey from Roanoke, consider stopping at one of the many other attractions "up I-81."  Options certainly include the Route 11 Potato Chip Factory, a pop-in factory "tour" that involves viewing the potato chip creation process for yummy Route 11 chips.  If buying, Justin recommends the lightly salted, Kim recommends dill pickle, and Elijah recommends BBQ.  There are plenty of samples, it's free to visit, and given the nature of the viewing, there are no age restrictions.    For other ideas, see our posts about The Factory Antique Mall, Green Valley Book Fair, Johnny Appleseed Restaurant, and the Shenandoah Caverns Family of Attractions (or click their live links for their websites).