Walking Tour of Gatlinburg Tennessee In Summer 2022 - Closed Attractions / Some Secrets & What’s New
Gatlinburg Tennessee Summer 2022
Transcript
0:00
welcome everyone
0:02
out of the woo here as the recording of
0:04
this wednesday july 13 2022 standing at
0:07
this fountain at the threshold to the
0:09
main strip here in gatlinburg tennessee
0:12
and i'm just gonna do a walking tour
0:14
around the area show some things that
0:16
once was things that are now and maybe
0:19
things that will be
0:20
they're doing construction
0:22
right over here i'm inviting you
0:24
to join me the sun is coming out it's
0:26
going to be a toasty one
0:31
join me
0:31
shall we it is 10 30 a.m at the moment
0:34
there are still plenty of parking spots
0:36
left up in that structure in fact there
0:38
were 164 for the price of 10
0:41
a little less expensive some of the
0:43
other places
0:44
in the area but all in all not too bad
0:46
parking wise does get pretty busy the
0:49
mountain view hotel used to stand right
0:51
over in this parking lot kind of show
0:53
some of the relics it was also a place
0:55
called fun mountain i do not believe
0:57
this atm is working anymore at the
0:59
moment this atm is closed for business
1:02
tennessee state bank at least this at
1:04
least this one is and up this staircase
1:07
are the remnants
1:09
of a ministry golf course
1:11
miniature golf courses around these
1:12
parts are very very popular
1:15
some still open some close this is one
1:17
of the ones that
1:23
met its demise
1:23
you can see
1:24
what still remains left
1:26
right through here
1:40
see the space needle off in the distance
1:40
where you can kind of see the space
1:41
needle
1:42
peeking up over the top of that now
1:44
these ski lifts have not worked in
1:46
decades
1:48
they're just dangling they're full of
1:50
vines
1:52
full of foliage
1:55
former foliage in fact
1:57
up the side of this pole is quite a bit
1:59
of ivy
2:01
this is another parking area up here too
2:21
always interesting to see these relics
2:21
of the past
2:26
there are a lot of these still active in
2:27
the area you can see where the queue
2:29
line used to be right here
2:31
kind of went around
2:32
you'd probably board right in here
2:34
there's a little bird this is probably
2:36
the mark where
2:38
the assistants would tell you stand
2:40
there get ready
2:42
here comes the vehicle and then you'd
2:44
get on
2:46
or maybe over there could have been over
2:47
there
2:48
they suddenly take off this way
3:07
five or six years ago
3:07
i was standing in this spot and i ended
3:09
up putting my phone up here back when i
3:11
used to film on my phone
3:13
and i was filming myself on on these
3:15
little items oh they've removed
3:17
they've removed these
3:19
but
3:20
shattered my phone right here which was
3:22
quite the
3:24
quite the conundrum so i had to go get
3:26
my phone fixed but fell on the ground
3:27
somewhere over here just shattered it
3:34
ah memories
3:34
this little cabin is the ogle log cabin
3:37
ogle a lot of history of the ogles in
3:39
this area
3:41
they built the cabin for their mother
3:42
martha jane husky ogle among the first
3:45
settlers of gatlinburg
3:47
and the great smoky
3:49
chapter daughters of american revolution
3:52
this ripley's super fun zone used to be
3:54
cooters the dukesa hazard museum which
3:56
has moved over
3:57
to pigeon forge and ripley's has really
4:00
kind of taken over this town pretty much
4:01
pigeon forged gatlinburg it's either
4:03
ripley's paula deen
4:05
dolly parton or jimmy buffett on
4:07
everything and if you take a look inside
4:09
there is eddie murphy and rocky balboa
4:12
standing there it's funny i've been
4:14
coming to this area long enough that i
4:15
can recall when this was just an empty
4:17
lot now anakista is here well worth
4:20
paying the emission fee and going up the
4:21
side of the mountain a really good view
4:23
for the top of anakista and of course
4:26
the monumental ripley's aquarium really
4:28
good aquarium across the way there
4:30
talking to locals on my many visits over
4:33
the years i've learned little things
4:34
about the town that you know
4:35
non-touristy stuff or stuff that a lot
4:37
of people might not know some of them
4:39
might be true some of them might be
4:40
rumors but i heard that this tree
4:42
originally was going to be torn down to
4:44
build this parking lot and the town folk
4:46
of gatlinburg you know put a petition
4:48
went to the town halls and said this
4:50
tree is going nowhere and the tree to
4:53
this day still remains this iconic
4:56
looking tree right here next to the
4:58
anakisa building right here in the
5:00
middle of this paid parking lot looks as
5:02
if the lemons have showed up for this
5:04
fresh squeezed lemonade stamp i'm gonna
5:07
go inside the village see if i can find
5:09
a coffee
5:10
27 unique shops in the village now if
5:12
memory serves me correct which is you
5:14
know who knows how that's gonna work out
5:17
there was a place down here that had
5:19
coffee oh yes awesome it is still open
5:21
the one and only donut fryer they have
5:24
donuts but i'm gonna get coffee now it
5:26
is tucked away back in here it's kind of
5:29
like i won't say it's hidden but it's
5:30
like definitely even well this bird
5:31
knows the bird up there knows about it
5:33
it knows a secret all right change of
5:34
plans the line to get donuts was about
5:36
20 people deep here in this area people
5:38
really like their donuts and pancakes
5:41
this is the line for pancake pantry i'm
5:43
sure i will stumble on a
5:45
quick service just coffee place at some
5:47
point
5:48
you can just see how many people just
5:50
rolling through here even at even on a
5:53
weekday it's wednesday i found a walk-up
5:55
window called the coffee stand about a
5:57
block from where i'm standing
5:59
right now i'm gonna head down this alley
6:00
i'm trying to find my way up the hill
6:03
to show something pretty interesting if
6:04
i can remember how to get there the
6:06
coffee stand
6:08
and this cardboard sleeve that's on here
6:09
doesn't do much good because this thing
6:11
is really piping hot i believe i have
6:13
found the way i can walk up here you're
6:15
not supposed to drive up here but i can
6:16
walk up the side of this i'm going to
6:18
get a view down over the parkway and
6:21
some something pretty interesting up
6:23
this there's even an employee parking
6:25
lot up here for some of the shops
6:27
down there and this is white oaks
6:30
established in 1830 a lot of notable
6:33
names pertaining to this region
6:36
are up here for example quite a few of
6:39
the ogles
6:42
are here you can even see the space
6:44
needle over there it has started raining
6:45
pretty heavily it's lightened up a bit
6:48
ended up stopping in a store before
6:49
walking up here also getting this
6:52
very teeny tiny umbrella i left the
6:54
my larger umbrella in my car not
6:56
thinking that it was gonna rain
6:59
now i had assumed i'm mistaken once i
7:02
got up here i researched a little bit
7:04
that the man that gatlinburg was named
7:06
after
7:08
was up here on this hill but in fact
7:11
i don't know what i was thinking he's
7:12
not
7:14
so i stand corrected however
7:16
over here
7:17
also i don't know if i'm pronouncing
7:19
ogle or ogle correctly
7:22
but martha
7:27
has a correlation to that cabin that i
7:27
showed earlier
7:29
passed on in 1827.
7:37
interesting story about
7:37
the name and why gatlinburg got its name
7:40
so as i've always heard the story when
7:42
the town was being founded before it had
7:44
a name
7:45
so you know the original people who were
7:47
here there was a man by the name of
7:48
radford gatlin which no one got along
7:50
with everyone despised him he got in
7:52
arguments with his neighbors
7:54
and they told him if you leave town
7:56
we will name the town after you radford
7:59
gatlin
8:00
got the name
8:01
of the town after him and the rest is
8:04
history he never came back so that's why
8:06
he's not laid to rest here in gatlinburg
8:08
there's something very soothing post
8:10
rain you know after a rain
8:12
just kind of nice
8:14
even though it's a hustling bustling
8:15
area there's something very soothing
8:17
about a post-rain experience also i
8:19
think there used to be a cabin over here
8:21
on anakis property that may have torn
8:22
down right there on that corner and this
8:24
is something i never knew there used to
8:25
be a first baptist church back here and
8:28
was removed relocated to his presence
8:30
site back in 1991
8:32
right here on this very corner i would
8:34
have never known that if it wasn't for
8:35
this placard to celebrate the 100th
8:37
anniversary in 1937 it was built in
8:40
1837. this is around the back side not
8:42
the back side of water even though you
8:43
can hear some water this is around the
8:45
back side of the mountain mall
8:47
but the water
8:48
that i'm hearing is right down here
8:51
which occasionally if it rains a lot
8:53
which happened a few years ago
8:54
completely floods
8:57
up and over
8:59
this little side road through here
9:02
nature is
9:03
incredible
9:10
you can already see that parking area
9:10
over there is two dollars an hour but
9:11
it's all full there's two signs
9:14
saying full and speaking of signs
9:17
you know today is wednesday so if i
9:18
wanted to fish which i'm not going to i
9:20
could fish today but tomorrow which is
9:23
thursday
9:24
no fishing allowed on thursdays
9:30
get a day off fish
9:30
you get a free day on thursdays
9:33
you know between fires and floods
9:36
gatlinburg pigeon forge area and the
9:38
smoky mountain greater smoky mountains
9:39
has really
9:41
had some trials and tribulations in the
9:42
last few years there is a trolley system
9:44
that will take you around this area as
9:46
well if you so choose
9:48
this will also be my last day here just
9:50
two days
9:51
i arrived in night before last really
9:53
really really late after driving through
9:55
kentucky and then yesterday did a video
9:57
around these parts
9:58
today i thought about leaving starting
10:00
to make the descent southbound into
10:02
florida
10:03
but i had already booked the hotel for
10:04
two nights so made a second day of it
10:06
just to kind of recruit re
10:09
coop
10:11
relax just a little bit walk around one
10:13
of my favorite places
10:14
get a good night's sleep tonight and
10:16
then start heading southbound
10:18
to florida i'm on the home stretch i
10:20
would like to come back here at some
10:21
point possibly in the winter if not this
10:24
winter during winter time i really like
10:26
it in november and early december here
10:28
in this area but this is just kind of a
10:30
little quick trip to the pigeon forge
10:33
gatlinburg area and after a rain it gets
10:35
so
10:36
stinking humid like my glasses were
10:38
fogging up right before my eye literally
10:41
right before my eyes because they were
10:43
on my eyes
10:46
and now walking back over to the main
10:48
little tourist strip oh wow town center
10:51
plaza is going under a major
10:53
construction renovation update
10:55
construction update i got a photo
10:58
well back in the day with some friends
11:00
over here at this old time photoshop
11:03
which right now is
11:05
completely closed this is really unusual
11:08
that this is all in such disarray back
11:11
here
11:11
like busted out windows glass down here
11:15
yeah just completely
11:17
i mean this is prime real estate i hope
11:19
someone purchases this or is going to
11:21
fix it up
11:22
and make it
11:24
you know a lot nicer than it is now look
11:25
even this is
11:27
even this door is open the old time
11:29
photos
11:30
spot where
11:32
got a photo in here oh my gosh what the
11:35
heck
11:36
look at this and as hustling and
11:38
bustling as this air as this area is i
11:40
can't imagine this sitting in this
11:42
condition for very long so i would
11:43
imagine i'm going to bulldoze all this
11:45
and put something fantastic a new
11:48
little attraction in or some kind of
11:50
interesting thing the fence is up but
11:51
there's just like a a gap in the fence
11:53
you could just walk right through right
11:54
along the parkway so unusual to see that
11:57
empty like that and don't quote me on
11:58
this but i think this used to be a
12:00
mickey d's through here look at this
12:02
there's even like a walk up it's not a
12:03
drive-through or maybe back in the day
12:05
it was a drive-through this walk-up
12:07
window here
12:08
and this turned into a couple different
12:10
things but i remember people telling me
12:12
that this was
12:13
a mcdonald's at one point not anymore
12:16
kind of makes me wonder what would the
12:18
rent or what would the purchasing price
12:19
be for some of these kind of desolate
12:21
closed up spots open a business through
12:24
here in a little i can have a little
12:26
store i'm not gonna do it but i'm just
12:27
gonna you know it just popped in my head
12:29
this is always a fact i like to kind of
12:31
reiterate so the song rocky top rocky
12:33
top tennessee was written in 388 of the
12:36
gatlinburg inn and one of these days i
12:39
would like to stay there i mean
12:40
obviously not on this trip but at some
12:41
point i like to stay in that particular
12:43
room and just kind of feel the music
12:46
vibes
12:47
here at the gatlinburg bragging latin
12:49
burgundy pretty neat nice view of the
12:51
space needle there
12:52
again not to be confused with the
12:54
seattle space needle even though they
12:55
bear the same name and the wacky
12:57
ripley's facade
12:59
just below it the gateway to the smokies
13:02
this is what i was talking about this
13:04
rip
13:05
there's a canoe up there some bears
13:08
there's a bear drinking out of a jug
13:11
always like a good ripley's i've been to
13:12
a lot i haven't been to all of them not
13:14
like the carpetbagger has been to every
13:15
ripley's that there is i've been to
13:16
probably
13:17
a third of them oh this bird just going
13:19
by a hitchcock would be proud also a lot
13:23
of fudge stations around these parts
13:25
moonshine and fudge
13:27
that's what they're selling this is just
13:29
one of many many many many many
13:31
moonshine places oh i nearly forgot that
13:34
this retro arcade had opened look at all
13:36
these kind of look at that like a star
13:38
wars godzilla mando guardian and not
13:40
just pinball but some great arcade game
13:43
style miss pac-man pac-man frogger said
13:45
it beat dig dug and galaga and if you
13:47
put 20 on the play card you get another
13:50
10 for free so i got 30
13:52
worth of tokens and they also have
13:55
donkey kong i've been playing a few
13:57
games and super mario bros in here the
14:00
arcade version
14:39
oh yeah all these miniature golf courses
14:39
are really something else well look at
14:41
the theming on this this person's just
14:42
spinning around here on this wheel
14:45
par for the course
14:57
oh they tore something down here they
14:57
tore another hotel down here too now
14:59
back in the day there were a lot of
15:01
xanadu houses of the future
15:03
and if once again if i remember
15:06
correctly
15:07
the one that was here in gatlinburg used
15:09
to be kind of over near where this
15:11
church building is there's also one in
15:12
kissimmee florida and there was one
15:14
other one somewhere else there was three
15:15
of them but one of them was down here
15:17
let's get some officers patrolling on
15:19
bicycle
15:21
i really like this church building just
15:23
kind of sitting here
15:24
it's the odd building out
15:26
compared to all the gift shops and
15:28
whatnot with the stained glass windows
15:29
and the steeple here this church very
15:31
magnificent it is good to see old dads
15:34
is still kicking the general store which
15:36
is right over here got a little bit of
15:38
everything and old dads
15:43
look at the ivy up here on the side of
15:43
that other building something tempted me
15:45
it just felt right you know kind of a
15:47
winning row moment when you're here
15:49
in this area it just feels right to
15:51
drink an rc a royal crown
15:53
cola also inside old dads the general
15:56
store which the sign is right there when
15:58
you go inside old dads if you had ca if
16:00
you have cash old dad does not want you
16:02
licking your fingers touching your cash
16:05
and then handing the freshly licked and
16:07
wet
16:08
money to the cashier don't do old dad
16:11
does not play around with that
16:14
don't lick it see that dog right there
16:16
it's got his fingers ready to lick its
16:18
tongue
16:19
and get some cash and hand the cash in
16:22
old dad says no
16:25
yeah wouldn't it be fun to rent one of
16:26
those i think it would if doing a little
16:29
gym mining is your thing this is the
16:31
right place look at these old
16:32
prospectors this one over here with the
16:34
beard that is rather impressive even a
16:37
handful of the seven dwarfs there's only
16:38
five dwarfs there but those are disney
16:40
seven dwarfs right there with dopey at
16:43
the far end wherever the other two are
16:45
now if i'm reading this correctly this
16:46
placard was put here in 2013 but it
16:49
states this is the first building in
16:50
eastern tennessee sited with concrete
16:52
logs
16:53
out of kentucky so in a different state
16:56
brought into tennessee now is the
16:58
building from 2013 or the placards now
17:00
one of those old-timey photo places
17:02
called somewhere in time
17:04
and according to this store they are the
17:06
best
17:22
now over here there is a craft fair
17:22
going on with some woodworking and
17:24
whatnot and take a look at ronald reagan
17:26
over here in the corner carved out of
17:28
wood
17:29
ronnie reagan right there it is
17:32
incredible that someone could take a
17:33
chainsaw and carve this out of a tree
17:36
or whittle these owls out of a piece of
17:38
wood like this i mean that is a that is
17:41
a true skill something i do not have
17:44
wiggling something like that especially
17:45
even taking it to the next level with a
17:47
chainsaw and carving this out of a tree
17:49
trunk
17:50
this is done by
17:51
or it's titled the mountain man by billy
17:55
billy reynolds and these two bears have
17:56
gotten a comfortable spot on this bench
17:58
this one's holding a pot of honey
18:00
delicious honey guys and the honey in
18:02
front of the hollywood star cars is this
18:03
truck that was used in hobbs and shaw
18:06
driver moved that vehicle got a mermaid
18:08
up here with a golf club doing a little
18:10
putting up there and also this chicken
18:12
really wants to be eaten this chicken's
18:14
saying eat me
18:16
really wants to be eaten in front of
18:17
bird's famous cookies is they got some
18:20
sweet shades too and stopping into
18:22
johnny rockets good food good times
18:25
sitting at the bar here and get right to
18:28
eat
18:29
i think i'm gonna end up getting
18:36
i'm gonna go with a club salad and chili
18:36
bowl
18:37
get some chili and a little chicken
18:39
salad i've been to a few johnny rockets
18:41
in my day but i've never been in this
18:42
one kind of tucked off the strip
18:45
as well a little coca-cola advertisement
18:48
right there and this is what we're
18:50
dealing with with the grilled chicken
18:52
salad right here with the cucumbers
18:54
croutons also went with a little extra
18:56
cheese and onions on there and i also
18:58
got the oyster crackers and i always go
19:00
with ranch also the junk i also wanted
19:02
water has a johnny rockets emblem right
19:05
on the side yeah i would say i was
19:07
thinking about getting a burger because
19:08
johnny rock is definitely a burger place
19:10
but i went with a grilled chicken a
19:12
little something a little healthier
19:13
granted it has bacon on it chili's not
19:15
the healthiest snack but it really is
19:17
probably better than eating a burger
19:18
with bacon and all that so go with this
19:21
just trying to change things up just a
19:23
little bit even though calorie count is
19:25
probably the same i won't probably won't
19:27
feel as bad as eating like a big double
19:29
cheeseburger and fries and probably
19:31
onion rings and all that so that's what
19:33
i'm going with johnny rockets there's
19:35
not a whole heck of a lot of haunted
19:36
attractions in gatlinburg there is the
19:39
ripley's haunted adventure which is up
19:41
underneath the space needle but then
19:43
there's also
19:44
right here next to the river
19:46
this very impressive mansion called the
19:48
mysterious mansion
19:50
which i was thankfully able to film
19:52
inside of which is kind of a rarity back
19:55
in october of 2020
19:59
not gonna be this doesn't appear to be
20:00
open anymore however
20:03
they're doing that's a scaffolding up
20:05
top there that door is boarded up
20:07
a little bit of construction stuff over
20:10
it looks like the mysterious mansion
20:13
might be down for a refurb
20:16
this is one of the better independent
20:18
aunts
20:20
that i have been through
20:21
in my time in my time frame and reading
20:23
this it says built many days ago 1980
20:26
the mysterious mansion history though
20:28
short encompasses many of the ghostly
20:30
aspects of the classic turn of the
20:32
century quote haunted house within its
20:35
walls you will experience a unique and
20:37
macabre outlet for your imaginations
20:40
fun-filled apprehension awaits for your
20:41
visit if you
20:43
dare
20:48
dang i wish it was open i wanted i
20:48
always like to do this every time i'm in
20:49
town and during the fires a few years
20:51
ago this came very close
20:53
to being burned down but it did not
20:55
happen which is very good and like i
20:57
said it looks if they're doing some sort
20:59
of construction on this but if it was
21:01
open i would probably pay the admission
21:03
fee and go through it something i
21:04
definitely recommend yeah it's all kind
21:06
of boarded up
21:08
looks like it's closed right at the
21:09
moment for refurb definitely
21:11
construction update
21:16
i wonder what they're doing in there
21:16
got the red tape
21:29
just look at this place this thing is
21:29
awesome there's even a vulture
21:31
up there on the north south east west
21:34
a little pinnacle on the peak there the
21:36
tower
21:38
gatlinburg's mysterious mansion
21:41
down for refurb if it's not down for
21:43
reefer
21:44
there's no info
21:46
of when it'll be open so maybe it is
21:48
open later in the day but looks like
21:50
it's closed to me
21:51
no signage or anything that kind of
21:53
looking all around over here over
21:56
here no information i don't know if i've
21:59
ever seen a piece of heavy machinery
22:00
like this going down the parkway before
22:03
also there is a chicken guy just like
22:05
they have at disney springs
22:07
a chicken guy
22:13
has opened in gatlinburg
22:13
chicken guy yeah traffic through here
22:15
really is something else look at this
22:16
complete bottleneck
22:18
over here it's just like all backed up
22:20
here at this light
22:22
it is
22:23
very a very busy summer
22:27
summer's in full effect here
22:29
and as i peek over this river that leads
22:31
from gatlinburg back into pigeon forge
22:36
moving along pretty quickly down there
22:40
i don't know if i want to get too close
22:41
to this edge i might slip off
22:44
you can definitely see the rapids
22:47
moving at a brisk pace
23:06
that's gonna do it for today
23:08
tomorrow morning bright and early i will
23:10
start heading southbound
23:12
the descent down into the u.s
23:15
heading towards florida i am on the home
23:17
stretch
23:19
i'd like to stay in the gatlinburg
23:21
pigeon forge area a little bit longer
23:24
but i've been on the road a long time
23:39
it's time to start heading home
23:39
i'll see you in the next video the vlog
23:45
is