Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Don’t get me wrong. We love Pigeon Forge and the surrounding areas. There’s plenty to do there and keep you entertained. In fact, many of the businesses there don’t seem to care who you are, but only if you have money to spend. That’s typical of any tourist region you visit these days, so not a big deal. But…be warned. As a black person, some places will sell anything to anyone because all they see is green. If you walk into a store (the smaller, the more likely), don’t be surprised if has Confederate flags, Trump-propaganda T-shirts, mugs, flags, etc. In fact, we walked out of a store on the main strip (I can’t remember where it was exactly) that had an entire wall dedicated to Trump. Don’t be fooled by Island of Pigeon Forge either when it comes to the souvenir shops either. We came across a couple of stores that seemed to sing the Trump praises there, too. If that’s your thing, then it’s your thing. It wasn’t ours, so we left. On our last full day, there was a Trump rally where people were driving down the main street proudly blowing their Klansman horns and brandishing flags with Trump and “Let’s Go Brandon” on them. I don’t know if this is something new or we just happened to pick the wrong time to go there. With all of that being said, I want to be clear about something. Dollywood does not have ANY of this going on at the parks, and is the only reason why Traveling While Black gets two stars instead of one. No Confederate flags, no political statements, nothing that would make a family feel fear or discomfortable. We love Dolly and Dollywood because it’s truly a safe space for all to enjoy! I can say the same about places like Wonderworks, Ripley’s Believe It or Not and Pigeon Snow. But because of our last experience, it’ll be a long time before my family goes back.