As I left the winding roads of the Smoky Mountain National Park I decided I would take the Gatlinburg Bypass Road since I felt I could survive without experiencing Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Odditorium, Mysterious Mansion, and the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum.
That took me to Pigeon Forge and a truly remarkable stretch of Americana along US 441. I readily acknowledge that it’s probably a personal failing that I wasn’t captured by the opportunities presented by Kryptology Escape Rooms, Totjump Trampolines, Speedzone Fun Park, Professor Hacker’s Lost Treasure Golf, Pigeon Forge Gold Mine, Alcatraz East Museum, Trapped Escape Game, Hollywood Wax Museum, Castle Of Chaos, Bluff Mountain Adventures, Smoky Mountain Knifeworks, Titanic Museum, Wonderworks, Old MacDonalds Farm Minigolf, NASCAR Speedpark or The Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show, just to name a few.
I also chose not to dally at Dollywood, but to head straight for I-40 instead. I know, I know, a better person would have spent at least a few days, if not weeks there. Mea culpa.
