GATLINBURG, Tenn. – If you’ve never been to the Smoky Mountain region of Tennessee, you may be amazed at how much there is to do there. I certainly was.

It might be fair to say the Gatlinburg – Pigeon Forge area is the Branson of the East. Branson has Silver Dollar City; Pigeon Forge has Dollywood. Branson has a Hollywood Wax Museum, a Titanic Museum, and a Wonderworks, and so does Pigeon Forge.

They both even have Ripley’s attractions. However, even with many similarities there is one difference; Branson has many more performance theaters and shows.

This was our first time to visit the Gatlinburg area, and on this trip, we focused on visiting the Ripley’s attractions, which there are many. I was traveling with my wife and daughter, and all three of us are Ripley’s fans and have been to a few of the Ripley’s museums around the country over the years.

In fact, on my old radio talk show, I used to interview Tim O’Brien, the vice president of communications for Ripley’s, each year and he would send me a copy of the annual Ripley’s Believe It or Not! book, which became gifts for my daughter.

Day one, we went to the Ripley’s Odditorium in Gatlinburg. As I mentioned, this wasn’t our first Odditorium visit, but they all have different artifacts and exhibits from the vast collection of Robert Ripley. A visit to an Odditorium never disappoints.

While visiting this one, I began thinking about how much stuff Ripley was able to acquire on his many travels around the world, back in the 1920s and 1930s. I was also amazed that he was able to travel to so many places on the salary of a newspaper cartoonist, who later created radio and television shows based on his unique discoveries.

The cartoon and programs were titled Ripley’s Believe It or Not! and they still hold the same intrigue as they did almost 100 years ago. Exhibits include shrunken heads, rare artifacts from Ripley’s travels to Asia, and art work made from lint and other unusual materials.

On day two, we spent the morning at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. This state-of-the-art facility houses over 10,000 exotic sea creatures in 10 themed galleries.

One source on the Internet stated that there are more sea creatures in the aquarium then there are residents in Gatlinburg. The most impressive exhibit is the tunnel under the shark lagoon. Visitors travel along a moving 340-foot long glidepath while looking up at thousands of seas animals. As you wind your way through the tunnel you come face-to-face with sharks, tarpons, sea turtles, giant stingrays, sawfish, and much more.

In the afternoon, we all got a scare at the Ripley’s Haunted Adventure. It takes about 15 minutes to walk through this haunted mansion, but it does get your heart racing. At times you’ll laugh, but around the next turn is something to may you scream. I’m not admitting I screamed, I just mean the “you” in the general sense.

That evening was spent with a fun round of miniature golf at Ripley’s Davy Crockett Mini-Golf. This is a fun, two-course, facility and visiting paid off, since my wife won a free round on the last hole. We’ll use that on a future visit.

I highly recommend all of the Ripley’s attractions, and especially these that we visited in Gatlinburg.

It’s no wonder we are repeat visitors and fans.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Before we left the area to continue our trip east, we visited one of the many sites in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Again, my family and I have been fortunate to visit many National Parks over the years, but have never deviated off I-40 to spend time in the Smoky Mountains.

We made our way south from Gatlinburg to Clingmans Dome, a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains that straddles both Tennessee and North Carolina. At an elevation of 6,643 feet, it is the highest mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the highest point in the state of Tennessee, and the highest point along the 2,192-mile Appalachian Trail. It is also the third highest point in mainland Eastern North America, after Mount Mitchell and Mount Craig.

Following a 40-minute drive you arrive at a parking area near the peak of the mountain. There are rest room facilities and a visitor’s center here. From this point, it’s a half-mile hike up a steep paved pathway to the summit of the mountain. It took us about 45 minutes to make this climb.

Many people have to stop and rest on benches along the way. At the top is an observation tower, and it’s worth the extra walk up the ramp to go to the top. The views are spectacular!

The walk down the mountain isn’t quite as bad as going up, however, if you have bad hips or knees, you will certainly feel it. Back at the visitor’s center, there are plenty of souvenirs and National Parks information to be had. Having visited many of our great countries National Parks, we always make sure we get a stamp for our U.S. National Parks Passport.

Next week, the travels continue. Stay tuned.