Gretchen

Thursday,, I think I've seen other posts that the South is often not your cup of tea. . But, anyway, squash casserole (or scalloped potatoes?) is a great side dish YOu don't have to "sin" food wise every day. HOw about a wonderful tomato pie!!!

Four, Costco often has their seafood road shows and at Christmas it is THE place to get oysters. They usually have whole snapper. They are west coast Villepoints and very reasonably priced. And Costco usually has good fish--steelhead and other.
We have Harris Teeter and Publix here with excellent seafood counters. I've forgotten what the chains are in Knoxville--it's been a LONG time since being there. My grandparents lived there. And Whole Foods certainly is a source. The other good source for seafood is your Asian groceries. If you're lucky to have a Super G you can get anything!! But even a regular Asian supermarket here has an excellent fish counter. We rarely see snapper in the supermarket and it is a treat. I happen to really like tilapia. And catfish (!) is good for an occasional outing. OUr DSIL has 2 seafood/oyster bar restaurants here and one of their best sellers (and delicious!!) (wait for it) a catfish reuben!!
Their oysters come from a farm in Sea Level, NC and that is the name of one (downtown) restaurant. Delicious briny oysters which we were giffted 3 dozen on the half shell for my Mother's Day gift!! And the two of us ate EVERY snotty one of 'em!! They have a TDF mignonette sauce they serve with them.
This week Harris Teeter is selling bushels of oysters but that is not often. They almost always have mussels, our favorite of all. Salmon is always availiable of course.
And you know, thinking about it, clams are not often seen--I think it is a southern thing that you don't get clams from our waters like you do up north so not as popular. I used to prefer clams until I found oysters!!

NeoPatrick

Few people seem to know the reason for Dollywood. Did she build it to make yet another fortune? Did she do it to glorify her name? Did she do as some sort of ego trip? No to all of these. She built it as a project to provide hundreds (thousands?) of jobs for the people in her area who suffered extreme unemployment, and knew it was a place where lots of people who lacked education or special training could work. Her project was successful. It literally transformed the economy of Pigeon Forge and surrounding area. Dolly is a national treasure!

starrs

True. Her philanthropy is well known, although much of it is silent.

When the fires burned through Gatlinburg and businesses were lost or closed and people lost their homes, Dolly started writing checks. She knew that the working poor would have no reserves so she promised $1000 per month for six months so people didn't have to worry about food and rent. They could not work, if businesses were burned down or closed. Donations came in and she was about to increase the last month's payment to $5,000. She's amazing and as nice as can be. She's the real thing. She started writing money out of her own (foundation) money and more donations came in.

"Dolly Parton's My People Fund gave more than $8 million to people who lost their homes in the deadly Tennessee fires last year. Preliminary results of a study of that funding indicate it provided the right money at the right time.

The fund, administered by the Dollywood Foundation, was handed out to 875 Gatlinburg, Tenn.-area residents in the form of $1,000 checks, one each month over the six-month period after the Nov. 28, 2016, fire. Because of the incredible amount of money raised, the last check was increased to $5,000, meaning the total received by each was $10,000.

The funds were raised through donations, more than $9 million coming from a telethon Parton held. So successful was the campaign that Parton still had more than $3 million left after the checks were dispersed. She gave that money to the Mountain Tough program to help further the recovery effort.

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/...und/873593001/

There's talk of replacing the confederate monuments that are coming down with Dolly statues! .

Gretchen

I remember an interview she gave when the movie Steel Magnolias came out. Someone asked her how she felt being in a movie with those stars (can't remember them all but it was a LOT). She was SO humble saying she would never have thought it possible in her life. Those others were lucky to be in her presence!!
Great movie too.
Those statues would have to have extra brass in them, Starrs!! LOL

fourfortravel

Picked up this sticker at Dollywood.