30days30years

Tennessee

I think I’m being punished by the man upstairs at the minute. I spent most of today trying to get from Knoxville to Pigeon Forge. Once again I stupidly assumed it would be easy to get the 50km to Pigeon Forge via public transport. I forgot that it’s just not the American way. EVERYONE has a pick up truck in this part of the world and bar hitchhiking, hiring a car or taking a cab were my only two option for the one hour journey.

I didn’t want a hire car because there was nowhere for me to take it back once I arrived but I also knew a cab ride wasn’t exactly going to be cheap.  In the end I decided to go for the latter and found a little taxi company from the Smokey Mountains and asked it’s owner Tim to come pick me up in Knoxville. He was very kind and offered me a flat rate fare and sent his father Herbert, who is in his 70s, to fetch me.

What a gem! Herbert and I had a great ol chat en route. Turns out he is married to a Parton- Georgie- who is Dolly’s third cousin. She and Dolly went to school together and used to ride the bus each day. They are apparently pictured next to each other in Dolly’s high school year book which is on display at Dollywood so I’ll have to go check it out when I’m there. Herbert was kind enough to take me on a bit of a scenic tour through Sevierville, near where Dolly grew up as a child. He showed me the school she went to etc and the statue at the local courthouse. I think I’m going to get him to drive me round a bit over the next couple of days. He was telling me he spent five hours showing rapper Ludacris and his daughter around the area over the summer so if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me. 🙂