by Mike Steely | Oct 8, 2018 | Columnist, Steely
By Mike Steely Sometimes you just have to get away for a day or two. My wife and I did that recently after both of us were stressed out and neither of us in good health. We hooked up our little pop-up camper, reserved a camping spot on the Little Pigeon River,...
by Mike Steely | Oct 1, 2018 | Columnist, Steely
By Mike Steely “So much fun it’s a crime” is the motto of Alcatraz East, an unusual attraction in Pigeon Forge. It looks very much like a prison on the outside and inside are several floors with displays on just about every crime and major criminal and victim you can...
by Mike Steely | Sep 17, 2018 | Columnist, Steely
By Mike Steely We are so blessed to live in an unusual part of our nation. You may not think of it but there’s lots of places within a day’s drive where you can encounter oddities of nature and man. For instance, Cumberland and Pine Mountain in Tennessee, Virginia and...
by Mike Steely | Sep 10, 2018 | Columnist, Steely
By Mike Steely So much violence, sadness and history is woven into the place but it’s a place you’ve got to visit and experience for yourself. Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary opened on August 4th as a tourist attraction and if you’ve ever wondered what prison life...
by Mike Steely | Aug 27, 2018 | Columnist, Steely
By Mike Steely Looking for an afternoon drive? How about heading south along what was once the Old Federal Road? The route was first developed in a treaty in 1805 and improved in 1819 as a toll road. Today we know the basic route as Highway 411. The highway skirts the...
by Mike Steely | Aug 20, 2018 | Columnist, Steely
By Mike Steely When I was a child the courthouse square in my small town was a hub of activity with trials during the week and also on weekends. Whittlers sat around the square on benches, trimming wood back to nothing or making axe handles and shavings...
