As a young kid, my parents went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee every October to enjoy the Autumn foliage and to visit the attractions.
For any of our trips, Mother made a pallet for me in the long back seat of our steel blue Bonneville, complete with my favorite pillow, coloring books and crayons (which always ended up in the back window and melted), and a large white square Tupperware container filled with orange cookie-cutter pumpkin-shapes sugar cookies.
A styrofoam cooler was always behind the driver’s seat and I can still hear the squeaking styrofoam against the leather seats.
We always stayed at one of the few motels in Pigeon Forge which was the very last motel before entering Smokey Mountains National Park. It backed right up to the mountain where a large picture window opened right up to rock and trees.
While we were in The Smokies, we always visited:
- The American History Wax Museum
- Christus Gardens Wax Museum
- Cade’s Cove
- Clingman’s Dome
- Cherokee Indian Village in Cherokee, North Carolina
- Ghost Town in Maggie Valley
- and all the various stores and attractions in Gatlinburg
My favorite was the American History Wax Museum. I was in heaven.
Below are several of my favorite exhibits. One photo I could not locate was of the Kennedy section which included President Kennedy, the widowed Mrs. Kennedy with Caroline and a saluting John, and Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald.
I have such fantastic memories of those annual trips to The Great Smokey Mountains.
John Brown execution.
The Alamo.
Lincoln assassination; 1970s
