|
Hello Dolly!
Dennis and I visited Dollywood last month with Derek and Romaine’s travel group. Some of you might recognize their name if you ever had satellite radio in your car. They had a show for more than a decade on the gay channel before SiriusXM pulled the plug in favor of Andy Cohen radio (don’t get me started). Now, they have a subscription-based channel and also host cruise/travel adventures. You may also recognize Romaine Patterson’s name as she was Matthew Shephard's close friend and a key character in The Laramie Project. We’ve been listening to them for so long that they are like family, as are many of the folks we now know because of them.
But I want to talk about Dollywood. I’m from Georgia. My parents were born Atlantans, but my mother’s family was from east Tennessee. We lived there from 1975 until 1989, most of my schooling years. Some of you may know that before Dollywood, the park was called Silver Dollar City. What you might not know is that before it was Silver Dollar City, it was called Goldrush Junction. What I didn't know was before that, in 1961, it opened as Rebel Railroad! My history with the park only dates back to the mid-1970s and Goldrush Junction. Since then, I have been to all of the amusement park’s iterations over the last fifty years.
At Goldrush Junction, entertainment was limited to the train (still there), a log flume (replaced and relocated), and some kiddie rides. It was kind of boring. Silver Dollar City put some money into the park and things began taking shape with dark rides like The Flooded Mine (long gone) and The Blazing Fury (still there after 40-something years). Even while walking the park now, I often point out (much to Dennis’s weariness) the sections of the park that date back to my youth. In the late 1980s, along came Dolly with even more money, growing the place like a wildflower garden with enough rides and shows to rival The Magic Kingdom at Disney World.
Until last year, I had not been back to the park since Dolly took over in the early days when it still felt like Silver Dollar City 2.0. Well, it’s changed a LOT–doubled in size, including two resorts and a water park. Dennis fell in love with the place. It’s only a three-hour drive, so we now alternate our Disney vacations with trips to the mountains. I don’t mind. It allows me to revisit where I grew up. The symmetry it brings to my long life makes me smile.
I’m a Dolly fan, mind you, but only from the periphery. Never was much for her music, but I admire her strength, talent, intelligence, and tenacity. I don’t have enough time to talk about David Farmer, my best friend who died of AIDS 23 years ago. However, I will say David was the biggest Dolly fan I have ever known. I know what you’re thinking. Yes, he was gay. Yes, Dolly has bushels and bushels of gay fans. But it goes way beyond that. David was a native East Tennesseean, watched her locally growing up, had all of her albums on vinyl in a room wallpapered with her posters, impersonated her in our 7th grade talent show (he lip-synched to Here You Come Again, and, afterward, Mr. Bean, our science teacher, popped one of his balloon boobs with a pin), and he worked at Dollywood its first year opening just to get a picture with her which hung proudly in his home until he died.
I have many stories of David that will eventually seep into some of these newsletters, I’m certain. But for now, I’ll stop as this one is growing a little long. What can I say, it’s October. Fall is here. I always find myself reflecting when the leaves begin to change color and descend. What memories does fall bring your way?
|
