Tom Adkinson
Tom Adkinson has been involved in journalism, travel writing and travel industry public relations for more than 35 years. He lives in Nashville, Tenn.
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Articles by Tom Adkinson
February 06, 2012
Six teams of cowboy cooks will make camp in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., on Feb. 25 for a cookoff competition that is part of a four-day celebration of the Old West called Saddle Up. Pigeon Forge, a gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, presents Saddle Up as part of its Winterfest celebration.
January 09, 2012
The staff at TripAdvisor, the huge online travel community, has gauged member activity and produced a list of 15 destinations "on the rise." The Great Smoky Mountains resort community of Pigeon Forge, Tenn., was #4 on that list.
December 16, 2011
Wilderness Wildlife Week, an every-January event in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., has included 20 special programs for youngsters. They are among 288 total seminars, nature photography workshops, musical performances, hikes and owl prowls. Pigeon Forge offers the week as a salute to its next-door neighbor, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
November 30, 2011
Enjoying and learning about the outdoors are the focus of Wilderness Wildlife Week, an eight-day extravaganza of free programs, hikes, excursions and owl prowls in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Dates are Jan. 7-14, 2012. Pigeon Forge started Wilderness Wildlife Week in 1990 to salute its next-door neighbor, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, America's most visited national park.
December 05, 2011
A holiday feature at TIME.com puts nine destinations in the spotlight as "the most Christmassy towns in America". Pigeon Forge, Tenn., home of the Inn at Christmas Place and Dolly Parton's "Smoky Mountain Christmas" at Dollywood, made the list, along with big cities such as Washington and New York.
October 17, 2011
Pigeon Forge, Tenn., raced home from the International Festivals and Events Association Pinnacle Awards program with six gold awards. The big winner was Wilderness Wildlife Week, a free week of program that focuses on myriad subjects and has a special focus on Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
September 21, 2011
Fall and winter bring a variety of new attractions and activities to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., home of Dollywood and next-door neighbor to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Among them are the Great Smoky Mountain Lumberjack Feud, an action-packed dinner show; ice skaters in a major production at Dollywood; and a parade saluting America's veterans.
July 28, 2011
Pigeon Forge Winterfest, a civic event stretching from November through February, has been named a Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 Event in the Southeast. It's giving Tennesseans something cool to think about during the heat of summer.
July 01, 2011
Five families from five states competed for $10,000 in a reality show-style event in the vacation destination of Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Webisodes of the competition launch July 5 and will continue throughout the month. The winning family will be revealed in the webisode that starts on July 26.
March 13, 2011
Sausage-shaped manatees are Florida's adored aquatic mammals. There are many ways to see them, and one of the most enjoyable is by paddling a kayak amid a herd of the docile creatures.
January 17, 2011
There are many locations that tell parts of the civil rights story across the Southeast worthy of a visit during the month of Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- and any other month, too. Here is a sampling.
November 16, 2010
BMW's only North American manufacturing facility and a peaceful botanical garden provide two very different kinds of plant tours in South Carolina's Upcountry near Greenville and Spartanburg.
October 29, 2010
A raging Cumberland River flooded the Grand Ole Opry House in May, forcing the venerable country music show to perform elsewhere for five months. The longest-running radio show in the world now is back home.
October 29, 2010
Some of the top cowboy poets and western singers will perform in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., Feb. 24-27 for the 11th annual Saddle Up! celebration of the American West.
August 05, 2010
The Northwest Florida Gulf Coast, known to many simply as Florida's Panhandle, is fighting a perception-versus-reality battle. The perception in many potential visitors' minds is that the BP oil spill has fouled the beaches, but the reality is that the beaches are beautiful, and the tourism industry is eager to see late-summer visitors.
August 04, 2010
Sailors who have served on the USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, will gather hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean for a reunion in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. The Enterprise is still in service and is the eighth Navy vessel to have that name. The first was a sloop captured from the British in the Revolutionary War by a soldier named Benedict Arnold.
June 30, 2010
The American bald eagle, once nearing extinction, now can be seen in many locations in the Southeast. Georgia and Tennessee are great examples, and there's a substantial rehabilitation and hatching facility affiliated with the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
June 03, 2010
Three gigantic music festivals will entertain tens of thousands of visitors in mid-June. They are the CMA Music Fest in Nashville, Bonnaroo in Manchester and the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga.
February 11, 2010
Wilderness Wildlife Week is a celebration of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Mother Nature in general. The just-completed 20th annual event included a cumulative 4,656 miles tallied by almost 1,000 hikers.
February 11, 2010
The Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee may seem an unlikely event for a cowboy chuckwagon cookoff, but an event in Pigeon Forge called Saddle Up! gets flavorful and very competitive in the spirit of the Old West every February.
January 29, 2010
New Orleans is the city everyone immediately associates with Mardi Gras, but nearby Houma -- and other communities -- know how to throw a party, too.
January 04, 2010
Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., introduces you to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Mother Nature in many ways. One way is to hoot like an owl on a evening "owl prowl." The event is Jan. 9-16,
December 05, 2009
Kids can enjoy all manner of activities at Wilderness Wildlife Week, a Jan. 6-16, 2010, event organized by Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Wildlife and nature experts lead more than 230 programs during the week. Topics include bears, elk, trout, mountain folk medicine, camping techniques and outdoor safety. The week is a tribute to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, America's most visited national park.
November 24, 2009
Every January, Pigeon Forge, Tenn., organizes Wilderness Wildlife Week, eight days of programs about Great Smoky Mountains National Park and multiple outdoor topics. Experts donate their time to teach photography classes, discuss Smoky Mountains flora and fauna and lead winter hikes and excursions. Participation is free.
November 10, 2009
Pigeon Forge, Tenn., a gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is ready for Thanksgiving visitors with holiday meals, family entertainment and shopping.
November 05, 2009
The Blue Ridge Parkway is ready to start celebrating 75 years of scenic drives just as the neighboring Great Smoky Mountains National Park wraps up its own 75th anniversary.
October 19, 2009
The expansive Duggar family from TLC's "18 Kids and Counting" reality TV show will help kick off the 20th anniversary of a winter festival in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Their job: Turn on the festival's five million winter lights.
October 05, 2009
Two major crafts events in Pigeon Forge and the Dollywood theme park are extra attractions when fall color comes to the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.
August 31, 2009
Summer's not quite over, and autumn's not quite here, and many visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee find this in-between time appealing.
August 14, 2009
Savannah, Ga., is old, odd, quirky and fun. It's a place to wave at ships, enjoy a cocktail and learn about "haints."
August 06, 2009
Bluegrass and other traditional music enlivens Pigeon Forge, Tenn., during StringTime in the Smokies, a two-day festival Aug. 14-15.
June 28, 2009
Small-town Fourth of July festivities have special appeal as America celebrates Independence Day. Whether the setting is the Great Smoky Mountains, Lake Superior, the Idaho wilderness or the Texas Hill Country, the good vibes are there.
June 23, 2009
Pigeon Forge, Tenn., is celebrating the 75th anniversary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park by choosing 75 families to receive $75 of gas, $75 of attractions tickets and a Dolly Parton soundtrack CD to a musical about the Great Smoky Mountain region.
June 23, 2009
New diversions, some of them truly thrilling, are around almost every corner in Atlanta. One is even up in the trees.
May 29, 2009
The 18th annual Smoky Mountains Storytelling Festival is June 4-6 in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., a gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The event is on the official calendar of the national park's 75th anniversary celebration and is a Southeast Tourism Society "Top 20 Event in the Southeast" for June.
May 06, 2009
The Duggar family from TLC's "18 Kids and Counting" reality TV show is getting a jump on summer travel with a visit to Pigeon Forge, Tenn. A vacation highlight is meeting superstar entertainer Dolly Parton. The vacation will be shown in a summer episode of their TV show.
April 22, 2009
Great Oak Manor is a quiet retreat on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Among its surprises is a bedroom that used to be a gambling den.
March 31, 2009
Local superstar Dolly Parton will be the center of attention at the 24th annual Dolly Parton Homecoming Parade in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., on its new date for 2009--May 8.
March 10, 2009
Quilters from 11 states and Canada are competing for a $2,500 prize at A Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. The pattern they used honors the 75th anniversary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
March 14, 2009
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is a three-week blast that transforms Houston into "the Cowboy Capital of the World" every March.
February 02, 2009
Pigeon Forge, Tenn., offers two days of traditional storytelling in the wake of last weekend's entertainment overload produced by the Super Bowl.
January 31, 2009
Mayor Bill White regularly proves that sprawling Houston has its appeal to urban bicyclists.
January 28, 2009
An animated TV commercial for about the vacation destination of Pigeon Forge, Tenn., has won an Emmy Award. The spot is believed to be the first fully animated tourism commercial.
January 27, 2009
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (January 2009)—Wilderness Wildlife Week, a Top 20 Event in the Southeast according to the Southeast Tourism Society, tallied a cumulative attendance of more than 25,300 in almost 300 classes, presentations, musical programs, hikes and excursions.
The week included 47 hi...
January 08, 2009
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (Jan. 8, 2009)—Two animated television commercials promoting tourism in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., have been nominated for Emmy Awards, continuing a multi-year stretch of Emmy attention for this tourism-oriented city. Pigeon Forge commercials have won Emmys for the last two years...
January 06, 2009
Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains ranked #1 as the "Best Weekend Getaway" in Southern Living Magazine's annual "Readers' Choice Awards."
January 02, 2009
Pigeon Forge, Tenn., helps celebrate the 75th anniversary year of Great Smoky Mountains National Park with a night of traditional music called AppalachiaFest.
December 13, 2008
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (December 2008) — Smoky Mountains Winterfest—a winter tourism event with activities in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville, Tenn.—is fourth on a list of the nationīs top 10 holiday light shows.
The list appears on the Americaīs Best & Top 10 Web site (ww...
November 20, 2008
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (November 2008)—Pigeon Forge, Tenn., hundreds of miles from the nearest saltwater, is about to become a cruise port of sorts. The reason: Titanic Pigeon Forge, a towering ship-shaped museum/attraction devoted to the world´s best-known ocean liner.
Christening of ...
November 18, 2008
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. Wilderness Wildlife Week is Pigeon Forge´s annual tribute to its neighbor, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the 2009 event has special meaning because it is the first major program marking the park´s 75th anniversary.
Wilderness Wildlife Week, Jan. 10-17,...
November 18, 2008
HOUSTON—On Sept. 13, Hurricane Ike whomped Houston "up side of the head," to use an expression any down-home Texan would understand. It was a body blow that to a large extent put America´s fourth largest city out of commission.
Now, just a few weeks later, the casual visitor would be...
November 11, 2008
Pigeon Forge, Tenn., a gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, has begun a four-month celebration called Winterfest. The off-season program attracts visitors for light displays, musical entertainment, shopping and themed festivals.