USA/TN: Gatlinburg
Gatlinburg is the gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park from the Tennessee side and it draws crowds of visitors en route to the park and even bigger crowds just come to get entertained in the town itself – a bona fide tourist trap of the south. There is the Gatlinburg Space Needle in the heart of the town, rising 407ft and offering panorama of the Smoky Mountains from its observation platform. And the town is full other tacky attractions – arcades, rides, brewery, candy shops, country music shops, red neck t-shirt shops, and so on and so forth, even a pot dispensary. This is the heart of the Trump country and “trump kicks ass” “make America somehow greater again” merchandise is everywhere, nobody wears masks, everybody is overweight, everybody tastelessly dressed, everybody drives Harley’s and pickup trucks, and everybody wears country boots and blasts country music, and probably thinks COVID is a leftwing conspiracy.
