Sevierville TN

[sha0lin1]

I will be travelling to Sevierville, Tn next weekend. Anybody have any comments on what it is like or things to do in that area?

[DPL]

What counts as 'something to do' for you? If you're into family-style touristy entertainment, you'll be smack-dab in the middle of the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge tourist venus fly trap and will have plenty of rides, attractions, restaurants to spend your money on.

They've got a skydiving simulator in Pigeon Forge that's pretty fun, except the 'expert' who went on before me went all the way to the ceiling and crashed down onto the floor neatly breaking his ankle cleanly through, which limited my enthusiasm a bit.

You're also not too far from Knoxville, which has some pretty decent bars, nightclubs and sports clubs if you're into that sort of thing. The UT campus strip is a nice place to cruise if you're looking for cute, young adventuresome ladies, but of course I wouldn't know because Mrs. DPL frowns on that sort of thing.

If you're in town for a while, the hiking and lakes are beautiful and it's supposed to cool down next week so that birds are no longer melting as they fly through the air.

[sha0lin1]

Thanks for the info DPL. I will be traveling there with my Master. There is a group from Shaolin Temple there performing at the Smoky Mountain Palace so we are going to visit my Masters Wushu brothers.

[sha0lin1]

Okay, back from my trip to Sevierville. This is the strangest place I have ever been to. It is a definite tourist trap. From Sevierville to Gatlinburg the whole place is crawling with these restraunt/theatres that put on these variety shows. I remember when I was a kid my grandparents used to watch this show called Hee Haw. This area of the United States is like that, Hee Haw come to life. All the shows have that kind of theme to them. Of course Dollywood is there as well. And right there in the midst of all this weirdness are a group of Shaolin Monks, Chinese acrobats, and Shanxi drummers. The monks are putting on a show there called Hui Guang, it is a play like Shaolin Wheel of Life and it was awesome. We also got to watch the Legends of China show with the acrobats who were also amazing. The Shanxi drummers were cool too, it was the same group who were in Jet Li's Fearless movie. The show is there until November and may come back next year and tour the U.S. If you find yourself in that area it is worth checking out.

[yu shan]

Shaolin1

I meant to inform you about the Gatlinburg area. I look at it as sort of Las Vegas for hillbillys. I use to hike the area but the trails are getting too crowded. But for laughs we would get a room on the strip, get a good beer buzz on and just sit and people watch. Between the country folks cruising the strip in their wanna-be hotrods, and the sight and sounds of the vacationers, just plain hilarious.

Thanks for the information about the show, think I`ll make the trip over to see this.

[Judge Pen]

Tourist Trap is an accurate description. Though I live less than an hour, I rarely visit Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg.

Jim,

Let me know when you are in town--I'd like to grab a beer with you.

JP

[yu shan]

JP

Will do, we can do the strip in Knoxville, now that is some good entertainment.

We are having Kevin Brazier here to teach Xiao Fan Che with apps. You are invited, Matt and Sylvia`s coming over from Asheville. Sept. 21 thru 23.

[Judge Pen]

JP

Will do, we can do the strip in Knoxville, now that is some good entertainment.

We are having Kevin Brazier here to teach Xiao Fan Che with apps. You are invited, Matt and Sylvia`s coming over from Asheville. Sept. 21 thru 23.

Thanks for the invite. I'll see what I can do....

[mkriii]

I'll be going to Gatlinburg in about 3 weeks (end of Oct.). It's been about 3 years ago since I've been. I'm hoping that the knife shop is still there, the one that is like 3 stories tall. I wan't to get a new broadsword.

[DPL]

Still there the last time I went through. Smoky Mountain Knifeworks, right?

[mkriii]

yeah thats the name of it. Cool place.

[Judge Pen]

PM me when you're in. Maybe we can meet up. It will be tough on my end as its my daughter's first b-day and I'll have out of town relatives out the wazoo.....