00:00:05:17 - 00:00:27:23 Unknown Ring, ring. Hey. It's Gatlinburg, the podcast is calling. Thanks for picking up. This is the official podcast for Visit Gatlinburg and you're inside pass to the Smokies. We are diving into everything Gatlinburg from the places that you've heard of, and even those places that you haven't yet. With the locals, business owners, and insiders who know it best. 00:00:27:23 - 00:00:47:01 Unknown So if you are planning a trip and I bet you are, or you're just dreaming about one, you are in the right place. We are your host. I'm Caroline and this is Brant and we are so excited to be here. So why us? You might be wondering. I'm qualified to be able to do this. Who are these people? 00:00:47:02 - 00:01:15:18 Unknown Yeah. Who are you? I have no idea. Well, I'm Caroline, being the public relations and communications manager for the Gatlinburg CVB Convention and Visitors Bureau, also known as Visit Gatlinburg. You might have seen me on the news, or maybe you've seen your favorite influencer in Gatlinburg. I pretty much spend my time sharing all of our Gatlinburg stories with markets, traveling to different cities, travel writers, influencers, state tourism boards, you name it. 00:01:15:18 - 00:01:48:03 Unknown I'm spreading Gatlinburg magic. You have too much fun. Way, way too much fun. So yeah, I am a native East Tennessean. I'm grew up in Chattanooga, lived in Knoxville and worked in Gatlinburg. So I've been coming to Gatlinburg for years and years and years, and all along the way I've been a performer, been behind the mic, been on stages, and I've spent some time in marketing in Gatlinburg to marketing attractions and, basically if something has happened in Gatlinburg, I've tasted it, I've seen it, or I've been a part of it. 00:01:48:05 - 00:02:07:16 Unknown But there's so much more that we have yet to explore. Yes, luckily for you guys, it will not just be us talking. We are going to be bringing in guests and asking the hard hit very hard. Like, what's up with that band? What's up with that BMW? We've got to talk about it. I can't wait to get into the. 00:02:07:18 - 00:02:36:14 Unknown Well. Today we are going to talk all about Gatlinburg, the burning questions everyone has and we know they're out there. The questions that you all actually submitted on our socials. Yes, we were actually teasing this podcast before you even knew so haha. Our first guest has one of the most unique backgrounds you'll ever hear. He's a multi-time Guinness World Record holder, known internationally for incredible feats of strength. 00:02:36:16 - 00:02:58:10 Unknown Haha. Like holding back airplanes. I don't know if you can do that. No I cannot, it's not. It's not my strong suit either. But beyond that, he is also the president and CEO of Visit Gatlinburg, where he leads tourism efforts for one of the most visited mountain destinations. Please welcome Chad. Oh, thank you so much for having me today. 00:02:58:13 - 00:03:20:14 Unknown Yes. Thank you. We should we should have some sort of applause track insert applause track here. So we are so happy to have you. Before we get to all the questions, everyone else wants to know, let's break the ice. Although, apparently, Chad, you're already a professional ice breaker. Yeah, a little bit of, background on that. Yeah, just, like, seriously holds the records for the most ice blocks. 00:03:20:15 - 00:03:39:16 Unknown Okay, you've got to unpack this. Yeah. Melt our brains. Yeah. Right. So, yeah, lots of Guinness World Records, as you alluded to. The largest stack of ice ever broken in the world, which is, 20 blocks of ice over, over a ton of ice. And then the fastest time to break 50 blocks of ice by handle the Rachael Ray show. 00:03:39:16 - 00:04:02:07 Unknown She did a whole show about ice. Yeah. And, I think somebody said, if you hurt your hand, what would you do as well? I have a lot of ice, too. Yeah, I am as an ice breaker. Caroline was actually quite funny. Perfect little played. That's what I'm here for. But actually, tell us maybe something else about you that, like, kind of like a little, believe it or not, said, give us something else besides ice. 00:04:02:12 - 00:04:20:21 Unknown I had a it'd be like, like rid of the in the opening or was a before rose before for many years for Ripley's Believe It or Not and some really unusual things. If you google ever, please don't know what. My time back together was really interesting because my my family used to vacation and so I went to the I wanted to get. 00:04:20:21 - 00:04:44:05 Unknown And we're probably, it was probably 10 or 11 years old and they had a Guinness World Record museum there. And that was one of the first times I ever really got to experience that, you know, as a kid. Sure. I mean, I mean, I mean, to me, Gatlinburg and it's and it's great. And I don't think Indiana Jones might have been in the the old I am, but, so I'm in there and, and I go in, I see all these crazy things and I never I never see them forward. 00:04:44:05 - 00:05:04:19 Unknown And, you know, I get back and I'm looking through Guinness books at the library and, you know, at school and whatnot. And I started thinking, you know, maybe I could do some of these things. Yeah. So you fast forward 20 to 25 years from that moment in my life, the there's an entire wall in that same museum in Gatlinburg dedicated to all my world records. 00:05:04:21 - 00:05:25:03 Unknown They that's amazing. And then if you fast forward another 15 years from that point, I'm the president and CEO of the tourism division. So a full circle from who's child to, you know, really changing the way that that, that I would set goals and try to accomplish goals and in to, to be to, to lead such a wonderful team. 00:05:25:05 - 00:05:45:12 Unknown It's a great 360 moment in an all ties back to, to our our wonderful time. Yeah. This feels like it's meant to be. Travel to me well alone for sure. Chad is is our expert on all things Gatlinburg and, no doubt you know, a lot. You certainly know all the records that have been broken in and around the area. 00:05:45:14 - 00:06:08:14 Unknown I set it up for sure. So we've got a lot of questions that we've sourced from, from, all of our fans across the country and all across the world. And so we're going to ask you a few of those today. And I think people out there are ready to hear those. So one of the first ones that we hear a lot is this, question between the difference of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, its neighbor. 00:06:08:18 - 00:06:26:08 Unknown Yeah, a lot of people think sometimes they're one in the same. Explain. It's a great question. You know, if when people come to, the Great Smoky Mountains, they come to the area, to to your point, a lot of them, they don't they don't realize what city they're, Pigeon forge is a wonderful sister city. Forget it. 00:06:26:09 - 00:06:42:09 Unknown It's such a great contrast to what we have to offer versus what they have to offer. So when people come in that town, they're like, all right, if you want walkability, if you want to stay in one area, if want to be right in the mountains, it's Gatlinburg. You want to go to the most visited, attraction in the state of Tennessee. 00:06:42:09 - 00:07:02:20 Unknown It's Dollywood. There's a pigeon forge. So you have two different experiences with just a few miles from each other. So, as a, as a sister city, you probably couldn't pick up a better, difference between the two. Almost like the yin and yang that that kind of makes it very well balanced. You know, the major differences being just the experiences that you could that you could have there. 00:07:02:22 - 00:07:19:00 Unknown If you want to be down in the mountains and you want to be walkable in Gatlinburg, at the base of mountain, the largest mountain in the eastern United States, or if you want roller coasters, you're you're in Dollywood. So we have all that to offer. When people come to our. I'm kind of surprised you don't have like the record for maybe hiking mountain. 00:07:19:00 - 00:07:40:11 Unknown I call it the fastest. So yeah. Chad, where is that? Well, I'm good. I think a lot of us have. Okay. Yeah. You're at track a lot or. Okay. So, Chad, you're, you're in an elevator with someone, at a far distance from. From here. You have a short amount of time to sell somebody on coming to Gatlinburg. 00:07:40:11 - 00:08:02:07 Unknown Why should they come? They've never been here. Oh, my God, how tall is this building? Well, let's. Let's give you 20 floors. 30s is no longer about 30s. There is no other destination in the world. It's 4000 full time residents. The town is three miles long and houses some of the most interesting, attractions that you can visit. 00:08:02:07 - 00:08:22:16 Unknown We're at home to Tennessee's only ski resort, the most southern ski resort in America. We're home of Smoky moonshine, most visited distillery in the world. We have the longest aerial pedestrian skybridge on Sky Park. We have a one of a kind attraction in the Keystone. We have the fifth most visited aquarium in the world. We're all in a town that has 4000 residents and receives 10 million plus visitors. 00:08:22:16 - 00:08:56:06 Unknown Here, Boone. That was that was a good pitch. That was really hard. There we go. Okay. All right. Now. No, no. No pressure, no pressure. It is an easy sell. There's. Yeah, things to do in that town. You know, I never even got to the, you know, the candy stores and the pancake houses of all the things is there is it does it does seem like, you know, there's a there's a history obviously for Gatlinburg being a tourist destination that goes back generations and those generations continually come back. 00:08:56:06 - 00:09:20:22 Unknown What do you think it is about the appeal to multi generations and people traveling with families all together? What is that. You know, it's a great question with the we get asked a lot and I was one of those families. Used to come back saying yeah yeah. You know it's it's the memories and you know the, the, the, the moments that you create there that you want to then share with the next generation. 00:09:21:02 - 00:09:44:16 Unknown That's, that's the, that is the best answer for that because it truly is what it is. You know, you go there with you with your family and, and your grandparents and, and you bring your kids and it's it just builds on experiences. And there are so many authentic experiences there that, that, that really don't go. So attractions that have been there for 70 years and we have candy stores that have been there for 3 or 4 generations. 00:09:44:16 - 00:10:04:09 Unknown And so you really have that transition of, you know, time after time that it doesn't change even though the town evolves those authentic experiences. Yeah, it does feel like Gatlinburg is a bit of a tradition for a lot of people. You know, it's a it's a once a year. Let's get everybody together. People. Yeah, yeah, that's such a special thing about it. 00:10:04:09 - 00:10:22:13 Unknown And I think, you know, you were kind of talking about how Gatlinburg has evolved, but maybe you want to give us a little bit of the history of Gatlinburg and how it became this, you know, top visit destination in the country. And then is there also maybe a museum or somewhere that you could send people if they want to learn more about the history in the Gatlinburg? 00:10:22:13 - 00:10:40:02 Unknown You know, Gatlinburg is a museum in itself. You know, I mean, the definition of a museum is a place that you can go and see authentic art from that area. Things that, that are historical. And I'll get to, to that point in a second. But, there's so many things that you could experience there that are historical. 00:10:40:04 - 00:11:00:00 Unknown And then being right next to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is the most visited national park in America, and the code is the most visited national park in the world. Truly amazing. But, when you do come to the area there, there are other we don't have an official, museum for Gatlinburg began working has tremendous amount of, value for historical information. 00:11:00:00 - 00:11:17:07 Unknown And then if you're visiting a visitor center, they have history on the area, and the park service provides quite a bit of that information. But, I don't know if that answered your question. That was very political. Oh, and you did came back and I was going to offer in my in my studies. Chad, have you ever gotten lost in the Gatlinburg Library? 00:11:17:07 - 00:11:43:19 Unknown Because there's a ton of information there that I find fascinating, that tracks you broke some records, broke some books. They get it right. So talking about this generational aspect of Gatlinburg, how do you how would you say Gatlinburg has really changed in the last decade? And kind of like what is new? Maybe someone hasn't been in a while or in a decade, you know, like what's new to what's drawing people in nowadays? 00:11:43:19 - 00:12:04:11 Unknown And, you know, the good thing is that Gatlinburg parts of it never change. And that that that nods to the heritage. And it has to sort of be, the thread that you see from the multi-generational travel and people coming back time after time. The things that have changed is that we're getting better restaurants, better shopping experiences, better lodging, better things. 00:12:04:11 - 00:12:25:21 Unknown And by better I mean more apt to what the current travelers. Those amenities that they're looking for. And that part is really like a decade ago we didn't have nearly as many flat hotels as we do now. Now we have some spectacular properties, beautiful restaurants. You know, we it took us ten years to get a Starbucks and now we have two. 00:12:25:23 - 00:12:53:08 Unknown Hey, so, you know, I mean, so, the the evolution of consumer behavior, what the consumer wants with a vacation experience is they want, we we have done very well with trying to keep up with that and provide. But yet still keep an authentic, real feeling experience. And when you come to the mountains, you're in the mountains and you get that moment when I was growing up, a trip to Gatlinburg could have meant that we would have stayed in an interesting motel. 00:12:53:10 - 00:13:13:14 Unknown You know, I'm talking I'm talking in the 1980s. Right. And one thing that I really remember now, I didn't see this firsthand, but I heard, yes, I heard tell of heart shaped jacuzzis. And I thought, wow, this is incredible. But I believe are there any heart shaped jacuzzis left? Still a few, I think I did see, there. 00:13:13:16 - 00:13:32:14 Unknown Wasn't any, came truly, truly. Okay. And, like, is that real? And it was real. Wow. Okay. All right, so they still exist. So you can go relive. I feel like that's an attraction in and of itself. I mean, truly, I remember airbrushed t shirts. That was a thing that you got every time you came to Gatlinburg for fewer. 00:13:32:14 - 00:13:56:07 Unknown But but yeah, there's so people really always want to know, especially when they're thinking about when to come to Gatlinburg. There are lots of different times of the year to consider. You know, is there a best time of the year? And maybe you could speak to the seasonality, and even thinking about the best time of day to, to visit if there's something like that that exists. 00:13:56:09 - 00:14:14:16 Unknown Well, it's a great question. And that is a question that we do get asked very often. What is the best time of year? And the first response is, what type of experience would you like to have? You know, we have a seasonal ski resort, so if you want to come to the wintertime, we have skiing. We have, you know, ice skating, we have, Winter Fest. 00:14:14:16 - 00:14:35:19 Unknown We have some amazing things that happen around each individual season. We're a four season destination. If you're coming in the spring, we have wildflower pilgrimage, and we have all the flowers out, and we have all kinds of amazing things out. The summer is obviously our busiest time of the year. We have, you know, and then and then as you move into fall, which I think is the most beautiful time of the year for me, is this fall, a lot of visitation. 00:14:35:19 - 00:14:51:04 Unknown So summer and fall is are one and two a largest times to come. But you have a completely different experience in the fall than you would, because we have a harvest festival and all the pumpkins are out and, you know, the menus have changed. And so you, you really want to pick your time based on what experience you want. 00:14:51:06 - 00:15:12:14 Unknown And the leaves, I mean, there's a specific person. I'll count myself among them who needs to see the color. You know what I'm saying? In the fall down for the color, I can't determine if it's spring or fall. That's my favorite in the Smokies, but it's really beautiful to go with all. Well, I think we're all there right now for that one. 00:15:12:17 - 00:15:36:12 Unknown So, so weather wise, you kind of covers the gamut. And Gatlinburg being so close to the mountains. Talk about what you can expect weather wise. Not that you're a meteorologist. Yeah, right. You know, I tend to lean into the weather app. You know, it's going to be that day. But, you know, it is interesting because it could almost possibly be, you, arrival, I mean, for, for the amount of rainfall that it gives accurately for a year, it could qualify. 00:15:36:12 - 00:15:53:11 Unknown But so we can right in the afternoon and be completely, you know, fine by the evening time. We get some little showers in the summertime, but, you know, weather dependent on all the, all season, it can be a little iffy, but, but we do get snow, and we do get, you know, beautiful days and we get fall days. 00:15:53:11 - 00:16:08:16 Unknown So it's, it really depends on the time of year. I feel like we always joke about how, like, Tennessee is a little bipolar with weather. Yeah. You know, changes. Yeah, it's definitely a tease sometimes, too. It'll be, like, really cold. And the next day it's really hot. And we're back to really. Well, you guys may or may not remember. 00:16:08:16 - 00:16:27:08 Unknown You may have seen in your childhood. I remember in souvenir stores the weather rock where, you know, but hey, if the rock is white, it's snowing. If the rock is wet, it's raining. I've never heard of that. You never seen it? Yeah. We'll check into it. It's. It's a fall weather. And they do. If it's hot, it's sunny out. 00:16:27:08 - 00:16:52:16 Unknown So. Exactly. Exactly. It's. It never fails. So. Okay. In Gatlinburg places to stay. When we think about Gatlinburg, of course we are in the mountains. You've made it. Congratulations. So you've got all sorts of places to stay, all sorts of different offerings take us through what that is. And, you know, how can people make their decisions? Best. 00:16:52:19 - 00:17:09:21 Unknown Yeah. Well, the best way to make a decision is to go together with a com and just look at lodging options. Right. And then, but, really, again, back to what type of experience do you want to have? And I think when, when people travel, it's very simple. You know, you you dream about where would you like to go? 00:17:09:22 - 00:17:25:15 Unknown What do you want that experience to be? What memories do you want to create? And then you kind of work back. So most people, they fantasize about, hey, I'm going to be in this huge cavern overlooking the bowels with my family. And then the reality most of the time it's about on the parkway in a hotel, which works better for them. 00:17:25:15 - 00:17:44:08 Unknown So they want the restaurants and everything's walkable. But we do have a variety of everything. We have luxury hotels, we have boutique hotels, we have motels, and then we have cabins that will sleep. You know, people. Yeah, literally a cavity Gatlinburg that will sleep and even glamping. You've got glamping, people. I want to vacation. Well, that's what I'm looking. 00:17:44:10 - 00:18:07:07 Unknown But there are you know, there are cabins that have indoor pools and bowling alleys and like incredible experiences that you can have with family reunions and weddings and things. Yeah, but the lodging options are amazing. I mean, we can sleep roughly 5000 people a night downtown. It within the city limits. And then, you know, everything's walkable, so it, it works out. 00:18:07:09 - 00:18:11:17 Unknown Chad, you also have glamping. 00:18:11:19 - 00:18:38:02 Unknown Which is actually pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, we have a explain. Explain glamping to somebody who's not in there. Yeah. There's a great compound word. They do not, but our, Yeah. Glamping is is having a camping experience. But, yeah, you know, it's like, Carolina would help take care of the garage as a client. Not afraid to get camping, get camping, get down to dirty camping. 00:18:38:04 - 00:18:54:09 Unknown Well, it's still campsite. I mean, it's still like a primitive campsite, and it's like a much. It's already ready for you. Yeah, it's already ready for you to set up, but it might not be a tent. Not like, you know, something you got from, like, target, but it's so. Yeah. I'm not afraid of the tent. Okay? 00:18:54:12 - 00:19:13:17 Unknown But I'm a black woman. I think first rate. Right. To your point, it depends on what sort of vacation you want to have. Yeah. Back to that area. I don't know if I want to be in a tent, but that's. Yeah, we do have that as well. Thank you for bringing that up. That's actually a really cool experience. 00:19:13:17 - 00:19:32:02 Unknown If you look at that, you're exactly right. You show up, you know, you walk in, you're in a beautiful campsite, and there's all kinds of various types of things that you could do. You could do. It is really cool. So I know that there are some sort of fact that I think you shared with me before about the drivability of Gatlinburg and proximity to the US. 00:19:32:04 - 00:19:50:21 Unknown What is that? Is that the certain percentage? Well, it's one of the reasons that Great Smoky Mountains National Park is so the most visited for America. It's the drivability from the population of the United States. We we can reach over, two thirds of the US population can be to our market within a full day's drive. 00:19:50:23 - 00:20:10:21 Unknown So in a day's drive just, you know, roughly, you know, 8 to 10 hours, you, you know, you don't you want to go 24 hours up in California, but but within a ten hour drive you could, you can reach over a two thirds of the population of the U.S, most of our markets, you know, probably six hours, eight hour tops. 00:20:10:21 - 00:20:29:00 Unknown When you start looking at our demographic who visits our area. But that that is that that's the rule of thumb. And why, we're so blessed to have that level of visitation because we're just so accessible. So it's, it's a it's easy to get into for the most part. So, so if, if someone is not part of that two thirds. 00:20:29:00 - 00:20:50:12 Unknown Right, and they have to fly in to Mickey Tyson, also in Knoxville, what would you recommend the most affordable way or maybe the best way to get from the airport to Gatlinburg would be. Yeah. So, Bucky Tyson Airport, as you know, it's it's a Knoxville. It's about 45 miles from Gatlinburg proper where we are, the most affordable. 00:20:50:12 - 00:21:23:19 Unknown We would have rent come and pick up. Okay. I'm I'm happy to. I'm happy to do that. Yeah. Just give me a call. And you got, like, a brick over here and bring you the rent. Hey, come on, dot com, and you can get into my van. There's nothing weird about this. No. You know, there's a there's a lot we don't have, like, actual proper transportation from the Gatlinburg side, but there is, there's lots of opportunities, like, there are other markets with, you know, rental cars and, whoever will actually take it down or it's a little bit. 00:21:23:20 - 00:21:42:21 Unknown Yeah. I should also say it is. It has it's a lovely drive, depending on exactly the the way you come from the airport into the mountains. It is an interesting question that I'll, I'll just elaborate a little on for just a second. Like if during during Covid we were one of the most visited destinations, literally in America, based on the fact that when people came to visit us, they felt safe. 00:21:42:21 - 00:22:04:17 Unknown You could social distance. You're in the mountains. You really cabins. We did. It was truly amazing. The airport, during that time said over 90% of every car they rented was all together. Oh, wow. What's up? So, you know, that is not a rent rental car is the way to go. So that if you see a lot of, a lot of Texas license plates in our market, the majority of those didn't drive from the other side of Houston. 00:22:04:17 - 00:22:24:13 Unknown The restaurants that would that would make sense. Oh, I would so once you're in Gatlinburg, right, what is the best way to get around? I know you keep saying it's so walkable, but what does that really mean? You know, what is the distance of that strip or what do you recommend? Yeah, the whole town's only about three miles long, and, we have plenty of parking. 00:22:24:13 - 00:22:44:16 Unknown I think that's one of the one of the ideas that. Oh, my God, I don't know where to park over 4000 parking spots. So that means you and 3999 state your feet. You can visit. But we do. But most people wouldn't realize that on any given day, we have 4000 parking spots. That's why, so, yeah, they're. 00:22:44:16 - 00:23:01:18 Unknown And they're all up in on the strip. So I think there's 1900 just municipal parking spots, and the rest are private lots and whatnot. So there's plenty of parking. Once you get the town parking to either ramp or in the middle, and it is truly walkable. And if you didn't want to walk, if you wanted to, you know, just kind of take the tour around. 00:23:01:18 - 00:23:22:15 Unknown We have a free trolley service and, free, free, free. They still have that is in town. So the best price is, it's the best price trolley around. And you definitely get your steps in. You can make a day of it, but, you know. Oh, we forgot to mention, the trolley has no wheels. 00:23:22:17 - 00:23:40:10 Unknown It's people powered. You do it. But, you know town, is it? Literally, if you want to get your steps in, that's the way to do it. And that's, So, Chad, first of all, we're really glad you're here. Did I mention that? So, I want to talk to the people out there as they are considering coming. 00:23:40:12 - 00:23:58:02 Unknown There's we've talked about it. Lots to do. Let's get into the specifics of the attractions, the things that people are buying tickets to, experiences that they really want to have. And I will go back to the thing that you said earlier. It depends on what sort of vacation you want, because there's a lot for different people. 00:23:58:02 - 00:24:19:09 Unknown So take us through some of the highlights. But I know that even the ones that you might mention, there's going to be things that are under the radar that still are definitely worth checking out. You know, in my elevator pitch a minute ago. Thank you. That was actually you got to try to put me on the spot. But, you know, I, I can't think of it any other place that has that much to offer. 00:24:19:10 - 00:24:39:03 Unknown A town that size. There are so many different things that you can do, and you can stay literally for days doing all these various things. And, I was just, looking through some old pictures here just recently, and, it was me as a kid on the alpine slide open over, over Gatlinburg and that's still there. 00:24:39:05 - 00:25:04:11 Unknown Like, okay, I still got a bruise. And, that's you, 70s and 80s, but, but, you know, even, like, retro things, newer things we have, like the Sky Park, we have multiple chairlifts with zip lining, if it's raining or if you want to head or experience is hot near the aquarium. Yeah. With experience, we have Anakeesta, which is now expanding with with a massive infrastructure that they're putting out there. 00:25:04:11 - 00:25:22:04 Unknown Some of the best use of mountain can't, there's just so many wonderful things to do. And if you're not looking for ticketed attractions, there's so many free things that there is to do in town. There's all kinds of tastings that you can do. And then there we have multiple parks that you can go to your Great Smoky Mountains National Park that you can go to. 00:25:22:04 - 00:25:52:15 Unknown And, you know, there there's so many things to experience in just a very small part of town. Obviously, the national park has pulled people into Gatlinburg for years. But outside of those experiences where people have traveled, what do you think in terms of like, a good itinerary might be to get somebody moving on in their day or let's just say they're, they're they've got a family of four, let's say, let's take it through. 00:25:52:18 - 00:26:15:08 Unknown You wake up and now what? Right. Well, it's good for us because we have itineraries in gatlinburg.com. Okay. I did not know that. I should know that. Like Snoop said, you know, you can start at the finish first, starting at the beginning. So there you go. Okay. Right up and, and have it there. No, you know, one of the first things that that people love to do obviously go eat. 00:26:15:08 - 00:26:34:20 Unknown So you wake up and where do you want to go? Yeah. Because a lot of pancake house, a lot of pancake house is way to go. We have some wonderful breakfast restaurants and, you know, start your day out. Right? Right. The most important. Definitely. You got to have your fuel. Have you feel. Yeah. Listen, great hikes that some people do in the mornings. 00:26:34:22 - 00:26:55:05 Unknown One of the places that you could have lunch, rooftop areas that that kind of overlooks the views where people love rooftops. Give us a little rooftop example or maybe just somewhere to go, just like, I believe, local burrow has a roof. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we're looking for some authentic Mexican food and a beautiful view about the car. 00:26:55:05 - 00:27:14:13 Unknown I mean, it is it is spectacular from up there. You know, I think there's a there's a couple of other ones. See, one that just opened, I think I just saw an ad for a new the new hotel. Oh, yeah. So the indigo. Indigo is a beautiful rooftop setting up there, and it also overlooks and it's hard to put in. 00:27:14:15 - 00:27:41:18 Unknown And that's what I was looking for. Oh, there you go. Restaurant. It overlooks. Oh my gosh, they're brisket. Yeah. Right point. Yeah. There's so it's it's always it's always hard to put into words something that you can only really feel when you're there. Gatlinburg is that place. It's kind of like when I try to take a picture of the moon, and I just look at the picture and it's just a little white dot in a big, dark background, and it just doesn't. 00:27:41:23 - 00:28:12:02 Unknown It's not the same as the kind of the beauty that I experienced when you think about Gatlinburg and kind of the, the essence of it. Obviously it's inexplicably linked with the national park. What do you think that do you think people are coming for that strong dose of nature? Yeah, I think, you know, like, I can liken it to people saying, I want to go to the beach, and I know people who say they want to go. 00:28:12:05 - 00:28:28:16 Unknown There's never actually go to the beach. They go to they go to a city around the beach, walk down on the ocean and actually physically go to the beach. I think we have a lot of that. People get in touch with nature and they they want to go into nature. Or do I see them going backpacking in the backcountry? 00:28:28:16 - 00:28:45:16 Unknown I know I don't, but, but you know, the the beautiful thing about how we're positioned to the park, you don't even have to get out of your car. And so these areas you are right. We have, the, motor nature trail. We have so many drives where you're driving through an experience of that that you don't have to get off the trail if you didn't want to. 00:28:45:22 - 00:29:16:03 Unknown But to your point, I think that is a huge draw. I mean, that that the natural I want to get out and kind of my cell phone doesn't work over here. I might lose reception. That's a great thing. When you're on vacation, you kind of disconnect and, and get back to certain things. And then being that guy, we're so close to some of these other experiences, you could be in the park and then back downtown literally thought that, well, okay, now listen, I asked you a question earlier and now I want to come back to it. 00:29:16:05 - 00:29:43:18 Unknown Why are there so many pancake houses? Is this is this the international capital of pancakes? Oh, yes. It's interesting. If you look, back to one of my earlier comments about how how things happen in culture as society kind of changes, how destinations come to be, back in the early 1920s and 1930s, Richmond Mountain National Park, before it was established in 1934, was a logging community. 00:29:43:20 - 00:30:06:12 Unknown And at one point in the last hundred years, they had logged about 80% of what you see today. Could you imagine a great Smoky Mountain National Park with 80% of their trees? Right. That's what hap. And so that the park was donated, June 15th, 1934, then dedicated in 1940 for President Roosevelt. But what do you feed, hungry lumberjack yet? 00:30:06:14 - 00:30:14:01 Unknown And so they're easy to pack. They're easy to make. They're cheap. And then you fast forward 100 years, and that's what. 00:30:14:02 - 00:30:28:22 Unknown Oh, my gosh, I have no idea. That's how this happened. I don't think I'd be logging, though. I think if I think I'm going to sleep well, you might you might hibernate for a while and manual labor out there, you might be able to back to the, yeah, sure. 00:30:29:00 - 00:30:38:21 Unknown So why what are they just out of curiosity, do you eat pancakes? 00:30:38:23 - 00:30:59:06 Unknown Really? You don't eat pancake? No, I just don't love like bread. But I will go to a pancake house and eat, like, sausage. It depends on what sort of breakfast you want to have. So this is a better. Yeah, this is definitely better question for you. I have maple sirup Cologne on right now. You do, I know is noticing a kind of a smell. 00:30:59:12 - 00:31:17:18 Unknown So do you have a preference on your pancake preparation? I gotta tell you, there's so many different ones I could see you had, we have Pancake week, and now, I've never seen so many combinations. You. I bet that's fine you've ever seen. And, you know, chocolate and blueberry and any other concoction that they could come up with. 00:31:17:18 - 00:31:20:03 Unknown But, Wait, there's a new addition to that. 00:31:20:05 - 00:31:33:10 Unknown Yeah. I think this is the first year, dear pancake, we have pancake eating contest, and I got to pay. And you said go to some of our social channels and look it up. They're hilarious because, some of these kids, they won't really get into it, and you couldn't use your hand. 00:31:33:12 - 00:31:53:17 Unknown And so they are literally covered in pancakes. And like, this cute little girl, she's like, maybe 6 or 8 years old, and she's got pancakes hanging out. It's hilarious. Sirup in the hair. Yeah. It's everywhere. Yeah. Right. And, yeah, we do have a thankful for them because, a lot of people love pancakes. Hey, they get you up in the morning, right? 00:31:53:19 - 00:32:14:04 Unknown Well, back down, they put you back? Yeah. We, I have to say, while we're recording, that, peanut butter and bananas on my pancakes with a little bit of sirup. Is that jam? Thanks, dad, for that one. That was, that's that's my jam. So if anybody wants to try that out out there, she definitely suggested, 00:32:14:06 - 00:32:30:17 Unknown Yeah. This is, great. So far, I feel like we're getting to a lot of questions that people have really been asking. By the way, if you're just kind of catching up, we are fielding questions from you. We've been listening to all sorts, and so, we're sitting here with Chad Netherland and really diving deep into Gatlinburg. 00:32:30:17 - 00:32:58:13 Unknown Everything food is, is such a huge part of travel. I think a lot of people schedule even way in advance. They're looking for kind of, where do we need to land, where do we need to make reservations? So even getting in to dinner, Gatlinburg has got a pretty significant food scene. Yeah we do. We have a variety of really just about anything that you would want, from Italian food to speakeasies to, you know, steak houses to boutique restaurants. 00:32:58:13 - 00:33:00:11 Unknown We we have we have quite a bit. 00:33:00:13 - 00:33:02:14 Unknown We actually have one in the book called, 00:33:02:18 - 00:33:20:09 Unknown the Roaring fork. The Roaring fork. Yes. Word for order, nature trip. And the restaurant's called the roaring. It's brilliant. I don't even know that you didn't know that. Well, there you go. It's breaking news, everyone. Oh, we should also say there's a fair amount to drink around town. 00:33:20:11 - 00:33:40:05 Unknown Let's talk a little bit about the the kind of the nightlife and, drinking scene. I mean, if you're, if you're into sampling all different types of spirits, I mean, we literally have everything from moonshine and every type of moonshine you can possibly imagine. Every flavor, from the authentic stuff to, you know, whatever concoction they came up with that. 00:33:40:07 - 00:34:00:13 Unknown Yeah. It to bring it to the next level. I think it's all bar stock today. I'm like, okay, all right. Oh, it's so good. Yeah. But we have we have one place that does apple cider and we have a place it does mead. I'm like, okay, I love it. We've, we've actually, we've had every we've checked every box gathering also has are very wonderful. 00:34:00:16 - 00:34:24:19 Unknown We have a wine trail. That's right. We have wineries and we have, we have a great selection of, spirits for my life and my us. And we have wine. Wow. Okay. We got this is a lot. We've got events, food. And somebody writing this down. Okay, so if you're out there. Yeah, hopefully you're we're giving you some ideas again, you know, not to overwhelm me with, all this information. 00:34:24:19 - 00:34:52:07 Unknown Gatlinburg.com has all of this information, but, yeah. What are you thinking? Well, so, you know, talking about moonshine chat. If you were a flavor of moonshine, what would your taste be? Oh, that's a good one. I'm gonna have to go with coffee on that one. Oh. Okay. You have to explain why. Coffee local. You do love coffee explaining every time I see you, you have a coffee in your hand. 00:34:52:09 - 00:35:15:10 Unknown What are you good with? Yeah, definitely. Coffee would be, All right. Well, I. Yeah, it's all right, I love you. I do have to ask, you know, how are you marketing Gatlinburg to this digital generation? And you know, what experiences are they seeking that Gatlinburg can offer or that they can sort of hit Gatlinburg to tailor to for their trip? 00:35:15:12 - 00:35:33:09 Unknown Oh, that's a great question. You know, I think you you have to reach people where they are. And you, you look at when I was a child and grew as a child, you turned to all the media to to interact with the media. You went to the TV to get news, you went to devices to to do that. 00:35:33:11 - 00:35:58:10 Unknown And now it's the other way around. Now the media finds you no matter where you are, you're inundated with something. So you're always in like a receiver mode. But sometimes you you got to be able to cut through that clutter. And people, no matter how technologically advanced we get, no matter how much I will take over, people will always want an authentic author, no matter what it is they want, what's real. 00:35:58:10 - 00:36:18:14 Unknown They may want to dabble and let's create something that we can do. But at the end of the day, they want something real. And that is what we offer. And that is what we provide. And that's something we will never go away. So. But we also have to understand how the evolution of media changes. I first started in media. 00:36:18:14 - 00:36:44:09 Unknown What were TV were print or newspaper or radio and things. And those are still very viable. But now we have influencers and now we have all these other layers of digital media that we have to do because we want to reach the next generation. And my daughter, she's 25, she's definitely not watching the evening news. I have to reach that demographic where they are, and I have to interrupt whatever it is that that they're into it, or to say, hey, reinforce. 00:36:44:09 - 00:37:01:01 Unknown This is a great place where you're planning your destination, and there's a lot to do. I mean, we're I think in, in my, in my early 20s, I was a while ago just, you know, I like the good getaway. I'm especially if you can get away for a weekend and, you know, that's, that Gatlinburg kind of checks the box for that. 00:37:01:01 - 00:37:37:19 Unknown Absolutely. Yeah. So we work together. So I sort of know this, but what is your day to day kind of look like? And what is your favorite part of the job? Oh, you know, that's a loaded question. Well, I mean, as a CEO for, for Gatlinburg, convention business bureau, we not only run, the Chamber of Commerce, we run the convention center all the sales for any convention business that happens, we run all the special events on the street, and then we are in charge of helping market the city of Gatlinburg to to bring people here that they care on here. 00:37:37:20 - 00:38:15:08 Unknown They're part of that team. And we're very thankful for you to be there. Day to day. It changes depending on, on what's, what's happening. You know, our my, my, you know, you always you never can plan the day. Exactly, but you can always plan what the focus is and what what the target is. And if it is, if it's helping with marketing or helping secure, a better location for things or if it's helping, look at, better avenues for, for media, if it's helping economic development, bringing other businesses into town, which we helped with as well. 00:38:15:08 - 00:38:39:09 Unknown We brought in a couple new businesses this year. And so that day to day kind of changes based on what's happening near that week or the time, but the focus never changes. Bringing people to town. Creating an authentic experience, and then making sure that they enjoyed it. You know, I think I think sometimes destinations are really focused on the sale. 00:38:39:11 - 00:39:01:08 Unknown Right. We should come to the beach. We want you to, we want you to buy that. But I don't think a lot of the destinations are focused on the returns and that happens with the experience. Because you see that experience no matter how hard you sold them, they are never coming. Right. You know just think about it from a restaurant no matter if the food's amazing. 00:39:01:08 - 00:39:19:19 Unknown But if the service is terrible, sure. Like, yeah, we'll go somewhere else, right. And that's what I think. We have done a really good job that and that's you know, generational. We talked about we have, we have a, we have Kane shop that's been here for three generations now. And when they come there they're friendly. 00:39:19:19 - 00:39:47:21 Unknown They get that experience and that it has value. Experience has Bobby. Well that's what they're after. And that's what causes that repeat year after year. So what is your favorite part? Oh, my favorite part, is when I drive into town every day. The first thing I see is the miles. And I have been at the organization doing it in my 14th year and almost every time in. 00:39:47:23 - 00:40:07:20 Unknown Yeah. Yeah. It's a wow moment. I have the same experience. I'm always like this is so. Yeah. And it's a wow I think I'm a bit of a tyrant going on vacation somewhere else. And you come back here. I'm like I miss the mountains. Yeah I think I think that's how everybody feels when they're approaching it is you turn the corner and it's. 00:40:07:20 - 00:40:13:19 Unknown It is kind of, it takes your breath and then you're like, we're going there. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. 00:40:13:19 - 00:40:32:00 Unknown So, Chad, what is actually up with that BMW? But, you know, wait, wait, wait. We should first preface this. We keep talking about this BMW. Yeah, maybe give us a little backstory, but I'm sure, you know, you give us a backstory before you dive in because this has been talked about online. 00:40:32:01 - 00:40:52:14 Unknown Yeah, we should preface this. Maybe I don't want to let it out. This is like, oh, maybe this is like big slow, the Loch Ness Monster maybe set it up with a little bit of a little bit of mystery. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So I will tell you, since the early 90s that BMW has changed. Like. Right. You're coming into town right there at target. 00:40:52:14 - 00:41:19:12 Unknown Stanley. It is change year like every year, every couple of decades it's upgraded. So in my lifetime I've seen it go from a 90s BMW to a 2000. We we should it is now, but I don't know that I can let the cat out of the bag. We should explain for context. There is a parked BMW that has basically greeted everybody when they've come into Gatlinburg for years and years and years. 00:41:19:12 - 00:41:42:00 Unknown You're saying actually, decades of absolutely. At least 30 years or more. But there's never been a left hand side before you get to. Yeah, we do before you get to, hillbilly golf. It is literally been parked up at the corner. And if you see it, you should just honk. You're gonna start something just to let them know you're here. 00:41:42:02 - 00:41:55:07 Unknown A video of, like, bears going over there trying to steal it. It's all kinds of funny stuff, but, yeah, that is funny. We do. I think there's an actual BMW fan page on Facebook, a group for that particular car. So 00:41:55:09 - 00:42:02:01 Unknown that's awesome. Before we move on, I would love for you to touch on something that I think is one of the most special parts of Gatlinburg. 00:42:02:01 - 00:42:31:02 Unknown I'm an artist and I love art in general. And Gatlinburg art community is unlike anything else anywhere. Can you speak to that arts and crafts community? You actually have something right here? Yeah, there it is. We're members. Yeah. You are members? Yes. Membership. And I'm glad you brought that up. It is one of the largest actively working artisan communities in America. 00:42:31:04 - 00:42:32:01 Unknown You know, it's, 00:42:32:01 - 00:42:50:07 Unknown loop of of artists. And, if you go out there, you can see people making brooms or making, you know, blown glass or making pottery and all kinds of amazing, authentic things that, that they make. And it's really cool. You can you can interact with them. They teach classes, you can do painting. 00:42:50:09 - 00:43:14:09 Unknown There's a lady answered, rock and pottery, matter of fact, the cup that you're drinking. Oh, look at that. Perfect. Yeah, there's a little bit left over, but the experience of drinking out of it is amazing. But, Yeah, it's wonderful. And the people, the people who work out there, they are, they're the owners and they're the operators, and they're also the craftsmen. 00:43:14:11 - 00:43:32:08 Unknown So it's interesting to talk to them and and see their heritage. The very first business license that was ever issued in the city of Gotham or was issued in the arts and crafts community, really? Was it to the brew maker? No, it was to, wood Wilbur. And some of the stuff that they make is just spectacular. 00:43:32:13 - 00:43:56:02 Unknown So what you're saying is, is people can these art galleries, their shops, their workshops, they're they're open. So it is it is it's not exclusively confined to this 11 mile loop, but you can get in your car and basically head down and kind of make a day of it, stopping through different shops. Right? All along the lines there, there's all kinds of, grateful nuggets that you could pull out from that area. 00:43:56:02 - 00:44:09:14 Unknown Do they do, like craft shows in Gatlinburg for the community? Yeah, yeah, for sure. Every year we have craft show at the, the convention center. And there's a lot of the artisans from the arts craft community that are there, 00:44:09:16 - 00:44:14:09 Unknown take a look at their work. There's a lot of deep history with what's being made there. 00:44:14:09 - 00:44:34:00 Unknown I know that there's a brew maker that's been there. The wood will there to your to your point, there's pottery. But this has been a part of the Gatlinburg identity for and and I know, Elmont has a specific presence in Gatlinburg School of Art and the, it's kind of, you know, it's on the parkway right next to Anakeesta. 00:44:34:00 - 00:44:57:04 Unknown It's still kind of hidden. Yeah, it's kind of a hidden gem. And if you are listening today, I would, I would recommend just looking up. I mean, the amount of, the level of talent and, and artisans who've come through that school is astounding. Like, from all over the world. They, they do, they actually do, raku pottery class there as well. 00:44:57:08 - 00:45:17:13 Unknown And people that come from Japan to actually participate. I mean, it's, it's it's kind of a world class, facility, right? Their own pathway. It really is amazing. Yeah. It is. And we host, I want us to get there to you. So you really get to, like, experience kind of a lot of culture. I would say a lot of in between the, and the wine and more. 00:45:17:15 - 00:45:38:18 Unknown Sounds pretty fantastic. Art and wine in the mountains. I can I can get behind this. You can't beat it. So, final question that we're going to ask all of our guests this season is going to be about your ideal postcard. If you were going to send a postcard to someone, what would be on the postcard from Gatlinburg? 00:45:38:20 - 00:45:59:17 Unknown Maybe who would you send it to? Right. Well, since I'm in charge of tourism, I want to link everyone and it would say, wish you were here, I love that. Yeah, it would be, it would be a picture of Gatlinburg. It shot from the Gatlinburg bypass, which I don't like that word because I think no one should ever bypass Gatlinburg. 00:45:59:19 - 00:46:21:06 Unknown However, it was through the national park. And there is an overlook that, looks down, and you can see for what it is, it is a town nestled in the mountains. It is spectacular. And that would be my postcard on it for sure. What it does when you look at it from that angle, you're, you're, it's kind of an aerial view, a distant view. 00:46:21:06 - 00:46:41:16 Unknown And you really get to see kind of how small and adorable this town is. It's like this little hamlet nestled into the mountains. I like the word nestled here because it does feel like just you just look up and you're completely surrounded by right at the base. Yeah. The largest mountain in the eastern United States. Yeah. That is what you see. 00:46:41:16 - 00:47:00:18 Unknown And then the base of it is, is the town that we all know. So. So I love that postcard. So you you. Well, it sounds like you're going to send it to everybody. We need to print this. We'll be we'll be looking for that much news. So it feels like everyone kind of has a story about Gatlinburg. 00:47:00:18 - 00:47:37:05 Unknown You know, throughout this, we've talked about the generations and how people, you know, there's so many repeat visitors. Right. So, Chad, we would love to hear kind of your story about Gatlinburg or maybe a favorite memory. There's something that really stands out about the place that we all love. Well, you know, the, the, the earlier story about the connection that I had to get and how I'd come here as a kid and how, seeing that gift of museum kind of inspired that, part of me that then went on to do some, some kind of crazy things, you know, and at one point, I think I held more world records in 00:47:37:05 - 00:48:01:22 Unknown martial arts, a stroke than anyone in the world. And all that stemmed from a vacation that I took in Gatlinburg and getting to experience that, and then to then work in tourism side. That's probably there's so many connections there. But but great stories. I mean, I can't think of, like, a bad memory that I've had where either I was a kid visiting, you know, probably some stories I could tell. 00:48:01:22 - 00:48:34:06 Unknown And probably I got some major stars as a kid or I. They probably all is. Oh, yeah. I probably shouldn't be saying that. But, you know, this was the 80s practicing safely like a squirrel. I had to start. But, but, you know, just great memories with my grandparents and going to the village that we would do it the night time and see, because, you know, I'm like, this is literally my grandpa was like, there's a fountain in this town that's on fire. 00:48:34:08 - 00:48:55:09 Unknown And I'm like, you lost your. And sure enough, I got, you know, the founder of the village. Yeah, that comes out of the top of it, which is super cool. But as a kid, it's cool. So it it's a it's a lot of fun. It's on fire. Right. So, you know, you connect those as you get older and in that kind of life you want to create that. 00:48:55:10 - 00:49:16:20 Unknown Yeah. The next generation. But that would be my short answer I have. So I bet Caroline what's yours. Oh well I grew up in civil so obviously right outside of Gatlinburg. I will say there was so much I did not know about Gatlinburg until I started working for Gatlinburg, which has been incredible to learn about. 00:49:16:21 - 00:49:42:17 Unknown But, as a little girl, I was dancing and I was in the Fantasy of Lights Christmas parade from a very young age. And I have this photo of me in, like, a red poodle skirt and long sleeve white turtleneck, and I had heat warmers taped all over my body, and I remember it so vividly. So one of my favorites is definitely dancing in the parade. 00:49:42:17 - 00:50:01:02 Unknown As a little girl. It's really interesting to be on the other side of that now and then. Also, you know, in school we used to go to the aquarium for field trips, so I was like, really lucky. I remember Sally the sea turtle. She is my favorite and the ho ho ho. And I'd like watched you know her grow. 00:50:01:02 - 00:50:17:22 Unknown And I've grown kind of with her. And then I was there, you know, when they first got the penguins, which was, like such a cool thing to have in Gatlinburg. But yeah, those are a couple of really stand out to me. I think we have three younger in that parade. Do not we do not. I hope we do. 00:50:18:00 - 00:50:34:09 Unknown That definitely needs to be shared. Do you want to host to that parade you have? Yeah, for a couple of years I hosted it. So either you or I hosted in the year. Oh my gosh, that's crazy. I didn't even think about that years. You know, it wasn't just like a one time thing. So for sure you like posted it while she was. 00:50:34:15 - 00:50:59:00 Unknown So here's my question. Will you be performing in the next parade? Come on Caroline. Well, my story actually starts with my grandmother, who was born in 1922, and in the, late 30s and early 40s, especially when the the World War two was happening, her sister would actually bring her up from Chattanooga to Gatlinburg for a little getaway. 00:50:59:00 - 00:51:22:14 Unknown And so just the two sisters drove up, and they did it almost every year. And when my grandmother was, you know, got much older, shout out and, you know, she, she would talk about this in such a wonderful way. All the boys were off at war, and this was a place that felt safe and memorable, and they had this incredible sisterly time. 00:51:22:16 - 00:51:41:00 Unknown When I showed up on the scene, it was a few years after that, we, we would always come to Cades Cove. And camp out, not too far here from Gatlinburg. We would camp out every fall, third week in October. And, that is also the big game. We're highly aware of the big game. 00:51:41:02 - 00:52:09:19 Unknown And, and so we would always come from the Cades Cove Gatlinburg experience was kind of, you know, being on the streets and also being in the woods and, it was magical. You know, we, I can't think about, you know, all the different kind of, little souvenirs that we took home. But to our point earlier, there were times where we had multiple generations with us, and it it felt so like that was our place to be together outside of somebody's home on a Sunday afternoon. 00:52:09:20 - 00:52:31:01 Unknown It was. It was really. It really felt special to travel in a pack like that. But, but now, you know, I've had the time to, to work in Gatlinburg, and, to just really see all the people. And I think probably one of my favorite things is just all of the different backgrounds of people, all of the, the dialects, all of the different. 00:52:31:03 - 00:52:55:11 Unknown I was going to say costumes, but wardrobe that people wear, the outfits that they wear, that kind of show where they're from, there's literally people here from all over the world, and it's just super cool. So that's pretty fantastic and for so many different reasons, you know? Yeah, it's like some come for the hiking or the hiking or some come for there's exactly I love I love that see, see, isn't this nice and warm? 00:52:55:12 - 00:53:22:11 Unknown This is a warm fuzzy. This is really exactly why, we love telling these stories. Because everybody's kind of got one. They're kind of one of a kind moments. And we know you, as our listeners, also have some stories, too. That is why we are collecting them as part of our Gatlinburg Story capsule project. Everything from Tall Tales, which we know you've got a lot of tall tales, wild, crazy memories, to help preserve the spirit of Gatlinburg, for years to come. 00:53:22:11 - 00:53:54:17 Unknown So we would like for you to think back in that beautiful brain of yours, that beautiful memory of yours, to a time that you remember in Gatlinburg and share it with us. And here's the fun thing you can actually call us. That's pretty fun. The the podcast is called remember, so you can leave a voicemail with us with your story if you can keep it under two minutes if possible and, and call us, I'll give you the phone number now is, (865) 430-1055. 00:53:54:19 - 00:54:18:11 Unknown Keep your story under two minutes if you can. If you feel like it needs to be longer. And believe us, we understand. Did you hear us today? You can actually submit your story, through our website, which is gatlinburg.com/podcast. And you can submit it online. How fun is that? And, we'll look forward to sharing those as we go along through this little journey with you, and hear your stories here on this podcast. 00:54:18:11 - 00:54:39:21 Unknown Fun. Totally fun. Totally for all we do. All we know is fun. It's fun. We'll try to thank you so much for joining us. It was fun, guys. Yeah, we got to use pancakes. Pancakes. And I feel like I have. Yeah, I have a new perspective on some Gatlinburg. I do too, and I think we've also just scratched the surface. 00:54:39:23 - 00:55:04:16 Unknown So, Chad, I have a feeling we're going to be talking a lot more. Please keep us on your phone and don't block me. Absolutely. Yeah. So you're the first guest for the first episode. Come on, man, you actually broke a record. I don't know if you noticed this as good as ever. Broken a record? Yeah. Broken other is awesome. 00:55:04:18 - 00:55:25:08 Unknown First. It is the first. Yes, exactly. Listen, folks, come back and join us for all of the upcoming episodes. And if you hopefully learned a little bit, about Gatlinburg from this podcast, let us know. We have reached the end of this episode. But before you go, we want to tell you something very, very exciting that is specifically for you. 00:55:25:09 - 00:55:54:07 Unknown You guys ready for this? We are giving away pop up shop giving away and Gatlinburg Attractions Pass, which includes admission for up to six people to experience attractions in Gatlinburg. It's actually pretty insane. It is amazing and we're giving it away. Okay, so to be entered to win, I'm sure you're going to want to know this, to be entered, to win, just head to gatlinburg.com/podcast and enter your email. 00:55:54:09 - 00:56:16:04 Unknown That's is that simple. We'll be drawing two winners per month, and you'll be the first to know when new episodes drop. So, be in the know. And don't forget, we also have an app. An app, not dot appetizer, although we may have some appetizers after this. We do have an app you can download it now in your app store for everything you need to plan your next trip to Gatlinburg. 00:56:16:05 - 00:56:35:09 Unknown And if you'd like to share your thoughts or connect with us, you can always leave us a message at gatlinburg.com/podcast. We would really love to hear from you. We would. We really want we gave you our phone number for gosh six. But it doesn't get you on personal. Come on. We've had a lot of fun. Yeah, well, I guess it's time to go. 00:56:35:09 - 00:56:41:20 Unknown So we're going to hang up now, but we will see you in two weeks for another episode. Yeah. Thanks for picking up. See you guys.