Inspired by Dolly Parton, these Minnesotans celebrate Christmas in the Smoky Mountains

True story: My partner Sabrina and I were sitting on the couch watching Dolly Parton's campy "Mountain Magic Christmas" in 2022, when Sabrina went into labor.

Two years later to the day, Sabrina and I — and our young daughter — were at Dollywood, peering into a glass case at the same skintight "reindeer" unitard that the then-76-year-old Parton had squeezed into for that TV special. Complete with antlers.

No one does Christmas quite like Dolly. And Dollywood and eastern Tennessee's Smoky Mountains are a great place to experience the holidays.

The country legend's signature theme park comes alive with its Smoky Mountains Christmas festival (running until Jan. 5). There's a holiday train, dozens of Christmas trees, holiday performances and literally millions of lights.

We've experienced the down-home mirth two years in a row now, thanks to a budding extended-family tradition of spending Thanksgiving week in a cabin in the Smokies, not far from Dollywood in Pigeon Forge. In that time, we've scratched the surface of Dollywood, the mountains and nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

As theme parks go, I was impressed by Dollywood on the brisk 40- and 50-degree days we visited. It makes great use of its geology, with the main concourse wrapping through a gully around a woodsy bluff. It's got the requisite thrill rides — Lightning Rod, Tennessee Tornado — but we took our almost-2-year-old to the Country Fair neighborhood, featuring functional vintage kiddie rides from carnivals of yore.

Every evening during the golden hour, crowds line up to ride the Dollywood Express steam locomotive, which loops through the park and past Christmas lights and giant luminarias in the woods. On select evenings, the day ends with a lighted drone show full of airborne holiday imagery, ending with the words: "Merry Christmas, Love Dolly."

Dolly fare

More than any theme park I've been to, Dollywood has an intimate, personal touch. You feel like Parton herself could come strolling down the promenade at any time. There's a two-room replica of Parton's often-referenced childhood "Tennessee Mountain Home" (the real property is off-limits some 10 miles to the east). And of course, there are blocks of Dolly-themed shopping. Among other finds, we picked up a Dolly coffee mug with a classic portrait and a delicate guitar-shaped handle.

New this year is the Dolly Parton Experience. We started with a short tour of Parton's 1990s "Home-on-Wheels" (tour bus), tricked out with a queen bedroom and a "Dolly-sized" bath. An entire building is devoted to the fashion exhibit "Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones," featuring that reindeer suit and much more from seven decades of iconic looks. Across the way is "Songteller," a walk-through experience highlighting her music and career. We took in priceless footage, images and artifacts like her bedazzled "Coat of Many Colors" guitar. Our toddler danced in circles in a room of immersive projections set to "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You."

Parton, the richest country star with a reported net worth of $650 million, has built a veritable entertainment empire around Pigeon Forge. There's a sweet statue of the hometown heroine outside the nearby Sevier County Courthouse.

Pigeon Forge's main strip is admittedly a congested eyesore, with corny attractions like MagicQuest, the Titanic Museum and Alcatraz East (and, incongruously, an REI). There's also a 200-foot-tall Ferris wheel, and the overall vibe is similar to folksy vacation towns like Branson, Mo., or Wisconsin Dells. Dollywood and its Splash Mountain waterpark are on the outskirts, along with Parton's two four-star resorts, DreamMore and HeartSong (theme park packages are available).

One Pigeon Forge family attraction we can endorse is Dolly Parton's Stampede, a variety show and dinner theater in an indoor arena. Parton stripped the former Dixie Stampede of uncomfortable Civil War references in 2018. The current Christmas show has horses, acrobats, pyrotechnics and a four-course Southern meal that drops a whole rotisserie chicken onto every plate.

Planning a Smokies trip

Delta Air Lines resumed service from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Knoxville, Tenn., an hour from Pigeon Forge, in 2024. It's a 2.5-hour flight on a no-frills regional jet, but flight times are inconveniently early or late.

Other than Dolly-themed outings, we spent most of our time in the hills, away from the glitz of Pigeon Forge. Those steep Smoky foothills seem endlessly covered with deluxe rental cabins; the mountain-style abodes often have multiple levels, wrap-around decks with hot tubs, and regular black bear sightings. We've rented from Aunt Bug's and Fireside Chalets. Our Thanksgiving dinner? Catered by Tennessee-based Cracker Barrel, of course.

Pigeon Forge and the more quaint Gatlinburg are also the gateway to the wildly popular Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where deep autumn reds were hanging on even at Thanksgiving. A modernist observation tower on 6,643-foot Kuwohi straddles the border of Tennessee and North Carolina (the road to the peak closed for the season on Dec. 1). We explored the abandoned 1900s luxury lodges of the park's historic Daisy Town.

For those seeking an easy taste of the park, the 22-mile Foothills Parkway is a scenic drive with countless broad vistas.

Southern cuisine

Dollywood's big HeartSong resort appeared warm and inviting, and a Southern meal at its Ember & Elm restaurant (fried green tomatoes and jambalaya for me) was fine.

We had the most success, though, in taking our chances with restaurants along Hwy. 321 while exploring. After an afternoon in the national park, Sabrina and I were seated at the bar at Dancing Bear, an "Appalachian bistro" in a boutique resort in Townsend. I was floored by a bouillabaisse of shrimp, mussels and scallops followed by cornmeal-dusted rainbow trout and grits — and a full list of bourbons.

A few nights later outside Gatlinburg, we wandered into Three Jimmy's roadhouse on the backside of a Family Dollar-anchored strip mall. The place was a straight-up dive with a serious kitchen: Southern-fried catfish, maple bourbon chicken and barbecue, with Gatlinburg craft beer.

As we enjoyed our final night in the Smokies at Three Jimmy's, I finally thought to myself: Welcome to Tennessee.