A Busy Thanksgiving in Pigeon Forge

If you were out and about in town on Black Friday or over the weekend, you likely heard an array of sounds that went some thing like this: “Cha-ching”!

Pigeon Forge enjoyed quite a busy Thanksgiving weekend in the retail department as businesses saw long lines and packed stores throughout the long weekend for most. But that wasn’t all, hotels, cabin rentals, and restaurants also felt the rush of tourists and tourist dollars this past holiday weekend. Many local restaurants were on an hour wait as shoppers rushed to get in a quick meal before hitting the shops again.

Officials with the Applewood Farmhouse Grill even served turkey to its guests on Thanksgiving – enough to account for almost half a ton of popular Thanksgiving white meat. In all, the Farmhouse and its neighboring Grill reported to having served around 4,000 people over the weekend.

Whether it was the wait at area restaurants, the booked cabins and hotels, or the long lines at store cash registers, this was a shopping season to remember in Pigeon Forge. Experts expect that it will continue through December.

According to a recent study done by the University of Tennessee, more tourism dollars are expected to be spent in the area this year as compared to last year following a good start to 2012. The study showed that Sevier County’s hotel earnings jumped 8.4 percent during the first three quarters of the year as compared to the first three quarters of 2011. With the busy holiday season in full swing don’t expect those numbers to drop off.

Lost among the long lines, large brand-marked bags, and weary feet, was Titanic Museum attraction’s Thanksgiving fireworks celebration. It was a great way to close out the holiday weekend and looks to be cementing itself as a new Pigeon Forge tradition. The 100th anniversary celebration of the Titanic’s journey was accompanied by a number of well-known Christmas carols, as well as machine-made snow, and was said to honor the 2,208 passengers that died aboard the Titanic that fateful night.