We arrived Friday afternoon in Gatlinburg with a dozen park ranger and police cars parked around the base of Ski Mountain Road near the entrance to the Park. Some of the rangers had rifles while others were patrolling the side of the road. Jennifer informed us later that afternoon that a bear had been in downtown Gatlinburg in an alley near her place of work "The Tin Roof".
UPDATE: We learned later in the week that a 44 year old woman had been assaulted and stabbed on the Gatlinburg Trail within thirty minutes of our passing the area. That explains the presence of all the law enforcement vehicles and personnel.
On Saturday evening, JoLynn, Brent and Jennifer (she had worked from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm), went down to Gatlinburg to stroll the town and see Jessica at "Ranger Bobs". We did see a few bears in the shops but none wandering the streets.
As mentioned last week there are lots of changes taking place in Gatlinburg. The Midtown Lodge across from Ripley's has been in Gatlinburg for years and has an small observation tower, which to me, has been an icon. I can remember before the Space Needle, that you could insert a dime into the turn style, and then climb the spiral staircase up to the observation deck, which was just higher than Ripleys and The Rebel Corner.
The Midtown Lodge and Traders Village has been under demolition since the first of the year, but seeing the observation tower laying on the ground was a shock. Hopefully it will be salvaged and displayed somewhere prominent on the parkway.
Later, in the evening after arriving back at the Chalet, we discovered a bear climbing a post inside the house. It appears this little bear cub followed us home from Ranger Bobs.
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| This bear cub was spotted inside the Chalet. |
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| He has not moved. |
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| He appears to be friendly but we will not feed him. |
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| The Midtown Lodge in Gatlinburg, TN closed on January 1, 2012. |
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| The observation tower of the Midtown Lodge in Gatlinburg, TN on the ground. |
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| Progress is great and needed but we hope this observation tower icon is salvaged and re installed on the parkway in Gatlinburg. |
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| The remains of the Midtown Lodge. The Gatlinburg Inn and Sky Lift are in the background. |
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| Another view of the demolition of the former Midtown Lodge. |
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| Across from the Midtown Lodge in the 1970's to early 80's. On the night of July 14, 1992, the entire city block burned to the ground, due to faulty wiring in a light fixture. The Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum was consumed by the fire, along with an arcade, haunted house, and souvenir shop. The blaze was fortunately stopped before it could consume the adjacent 32-story Gatlinburg Space Needle. The block, known to locals as "Rebel Corner", was completely rebuilt and reopened to visitors in 1995. |
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| A view of the Rebel Corner from the Midtown Lodge observation deck. You can see the structure for the space needle and a view up Airport Road. The Rebel Corner was destroyed by the 1992 fire. |
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| The Rebel Corner prior to the Space Needle( late 1960's early 1970's). The Midtown Lodge would have been to the left (out of frame) across the parkway from the Rebel Corner. The car to the left is turning onto Airport Road. |
Today is October 23, 2019, and I visited Gatlinburg this past weekend. I hadn't been there in quite a few years. I was wondering what happened to the hotel with the overlook. I couldn't remember the name of it. It's sad to see some of the changes. I stayed in the Chalet Inn, which is an older building that I found fascinating. I loved walking around and exploring, there's so many rooms and hidden doorways. I can only imagine what it must have been like in it's heyday. Thanks for pictures of Gatlinburg that I remember growing up! My family would visit once or twice a year, we're from SC.
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