A little bedside reading …

 1 Response »
Sep 192011
 

At our house, reading is a non-stop activity.  It ranks right up there with breathing, eating and sleeping.  My wife reads more than I do – she devours books.  I don’t read as fast as she does, and tend to savor a book rather than gobble it down.  I’ve intentionally slowed myself down when I’m reading an exceptionally good book, simply to keep it from ending.  She typically reads three or four books (sometimes more) while I’m working through one.

I have a tendency to find an author I like, then proceed to buy everything that person has ever written.  For this reason, entire shelves are filled with John Irving, Ed Abbey, Truman Capote, David Sedaris, Ernest Hemingway, Barbara Kingsolver and Mark Twain.  My hope is that our children will grow to love these stories too (our oldest is well on his way).

People who come to our home are usually drawn to the 10-foot tall library wall in our living room.  It’s one of the first things you see when you walk in.  Usually, lengthy discussions about favorites follow.  Here are a few that have earned a permanent spot in our library and are the best of the best in my opinion.  If you find some you haven’t read, do yourself a favor and check them out:

A Prayer for Owen Meany (by John Irving) – Can’t go wrong with Irving, this is his best

The Poisonwood Bible (by Barbara Kingsolver) – Kingsolver’s absolute finest and one of my favorite books

In Cold Blood (by Truman Capote) – Probably the best-written book ever

Dakota (by Kathleen Norris)

Walden (by Henry David Thoreau)

A River Runs Through It (by Norman Maclean) – Great movie, even better book

To Kill A Mockingbird (by Harper Lee)

The Catcher in the Rye (by JD Salinger)

Tales of An Empty Cabin (by Grey Owl)

Huckleberry Finn (by Mark Twain) – Did Twain write anything that wasn’t great?

The Green Hills of Africa (by Ernest Hemingway)

The Wilderness Journals of Everett Ruess (by Everett Ruess)

The Stones of Summer (by Dow Mossman)

Anything by Walt Whitman – Take your pick, it’ll be great

The Moonlight Chronicles (by Dan Price)

Mark Twain on the Damned Human Race (by Mark Twain, a compilation)

Desert Solitaire (by Edward Abbey) – “Cactus Ed” did little wrong

A Christmas Memory and A Thanksgiving Visitor (by Truman Capote)

Into The Wild (by John Krakauer) – Better than his bazillion-selling “Into Thin Air”

Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight (by Alexandra Fuller)

Robinson Crusoe (by Daniel Defoe)

The Journals of Dan Eldon: The Journey Is The Destination (by Dan Eldon)

For Whom The Bell Tolls (by Ernest Hemingway)

When Your Are Engulfed in Flames (by David Sedaris)

An American Childhood (by Annie Dillard)

Indian Creek Chronicles (by Pete Fromm)

Dan Eldon: The Art of Life (by Jennifer New) – I absolutely treasure this book and have read it repeatedly

The World According to Garp (by John Irving)

Swiss Family Robinson (by Johann Wyss)

A Walk in the Woods (by Bill Bryson)

Heart of Darkness (by Joseph Conrad)

The Monkey Wrench Gang (by Edward Abbey)

As Far As The Eye Can See and A Separate Place (by David Brill) – Brill is a Knoxville guy

The Man Who Walked Through Time (by Colin Fletcher)

 Posted by Dad2Three at 7:25 pm

Ten years ago …

 2 Responses »
Sep 112011
 

For more than ten years, I lived in East Tennessee while working for a Chicago-based holding company.  Most of my work was in Washington, DC.  I spent time in airports and airplanes just about every week, traveling regularly to major business centers like New York, Philadelphia and Boston.  I averaged 75,000 to 100,000 miles every year with US Airways and another 30,000 to 40,000 miles with United Airlines.  Some years I did an additional 20,000 miles on Northwest Airlines.  I flew about every week.

I know every ticket counter, security checkpoint, bathroom, restaurant and gift shop at most major airports from Pittsburgh to Atlanta, D.C. to Dallas, San Francisco to Chicago and Denver to New York.  I can navigate the D.C. Metro system like the streets of my own hometown.  I have been in the World Trade Center, had bagels and coffee in the lobby from a vendor and met many times with a business partner who had an office on the 27th floor of the North Tower.

Ten years ago, on Monday, September 10, 2001, I worked from home.  I had an airline ticket in my briefcase for a US Airways flight from Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport to Washington, D.C. for the morning of Tuesday, September 11 at 6:15 a.m. – arriving at Reagan National Airport at 7:10 a.m.  At about 6:30 p.m. Monday evening, a co-worker called to tell me I didn’t have to go to Washington, DC the next morning.  The meeting I was scheduled to attend at the U.S. Postal Service Headquarters (just off the National Mall at Le Enfant Plaza) had a change of agenda and I didn’t need to be there. Canceled trips were always my favorite trips.

Tuesday morning September 11 was pretty mellow.  I didn’t really have a schedule because I was supposed to have been in Washington, DC – so I drank coffee and watched the morning news with Wife2Me and the kids.  At about 8:45 a.m., Wife2Me went in to take a shower.  Oldest Son2Me and I were watching the end of Good Morning America when we heard that something was happening at the World Trade Center.  I went in to tell Wife2Me.

We switched the channel to the Today show, which stays on the air longer than Good Morning America.  The Today show wasn’t even reporting it yet.  A few minutes later, they too started talking about what they said was a “small prop plane” that might have hit the World Trade Center.  Within a few minutes, they had video – and it didn’t look like it had been a “prop plane” — the hole in the Trade Center was far too large.  Once again, I ran to the bathroom to tell Wife2Me (still in the shower) what was going on.  Son2Me was trying to figure out how a pilot could make such an outrageous mistake.  Unlike my son, I never really thought it had been a mistake.

Sitting on my couch, with a warm cup of coffee in hand and my son on the floor beside me, I watched at a few minutes after 9 a.m. as the second airplane banked across my television screen and flew directly into the second tower.  Knowing that we were watching live television, not a tape, made this absolutely horrifying.  It hit quickly, but the after effect – the ball of fire and monsterous explosion – seemed to be in slow motion even though it was live television.  Any lingering hint of wishful thinking that this might be an accident flew out the windows on the far side of the South Tower with thousands of office memos, faxes, framed photos from people’s desks and shards of glass.

Later, we watched — live — as both towers fell.

All of these were things familiar to me.  The cities, the airplanes, the people simply trying to earn a living and make it back home to their wife and kids – hopefully before bedtime.  Although I would have been on the ground in Washington, DC that morning well before any of that happened, it could have easily been me.  I had been on hundreds of flights from the same airports the hijackers used and to the same cities they wanted to attack.  I sat with, talked to and joked with people exactly like the ones who were on those airplanes when they flew into those buildings.  Unlike some war in a far-off land, I could relate to every aspect of this.  I could smell the inside of the airplanes, I knew the lobby of the World Trade Center and I could hear the DC Metro conductor say, “Next stop, Pentagon … doors opening on the right.”

Later, we watched footage of the Pentagon taking a direct hit.  Had my trip not been canceled 15 hours earlier, I would have been in a conference room with an entire wall of windows overlooking the Pentagon across the Potomac – I would have been less than one-half mile away.  I would have seen – as many of my friends who were at that meeting that morning – the fire and smoke billowing from the Pentagon.

I don’t know how to end this entry.  There aren’t words that can adequately say how I felt that morning.  I took it personally.  I still take it personally.  There are indeed people out there who wanted to kill us simply for being Americans … and, ten years later, many of them still do.

 Posted by Dad2Three at 10:00 am

So you think you can write …

 No Responses »
Sep 052011
 

A person I follow on Twitter (actually, one of my childhood heroes — Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Hume Kennerly) posted a link this morning to a 10-year old New York Times column about writing.  It is solid, easy-to-follow advice for anyone who writes regularly.  It doesn’t matter if you are a blogger, a journalist, a letter writer, novelist, or simply someone who send emails … read this:

WRITERS ON WRITING; Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle

By ELMORE LEONARD
Published: July 16, 2001

These are rules I’ve picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I’m writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what’s taking place in the story. If you have a facility for language and imagery and the sound of your voice pleases you, invisibility is not what you are after, and you can skip the rules. Still, you might look them over.  (Read the rest of this column here.)

This common sense approach to writing should have been taught in English 101 your freshman year of college – but many of us get so unbelievably smart as we get older that we no longer adhere to the basics.  We should.

If you like this column, you would really enjoy Stephen King’s book “On Writing.”  If you’re looking for rabid dogs, frightening clowns, and the normal bizarre terror King is known for, you will find none of it.  If you would like some advice by one of our most prolific and bestselling contemporary writers, you owe it to yourself to check it out.  It’s a quick read and filled cover-to-cover with awesome information that, if you follow it, will make your writing more powerful.

 Posted by Dad2Three at 6:45 pm

Today Show and Reuters: GPS-driven app exclusive to Verizon customers makes navigating Walt Disney World a breeze

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Aug 242011
 

(from TODAY SHOW Travel via Reuters August 22, 2011) NEW YORK — Finding your way around the Disney’s Magic Kingdom and locating a favorite character can be a daunting experience but a new app aims to make it easier.

In the advertisements, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy always seem to be nearby and eager to pose for a picture, but sometimes families have a different experience.

Hoping to bring reality closer to the fantasy, Disney Parks has launched Mobile Magic, an app to enhance visitors’ experience with a GPS-tracking system.

The app helps find the locations of Disney characters, checks wait times for popular rides, finds a restaurant or the best shop to buy a souvenir and can track down your car in the parking lot after a long day.

“There are so many people who go to Disney time after time, and this a is very user friendly and practical app that everyone can use to make your trip more enjoyable,” said Rick Laney, a spokesman for Cellular Sales Verizon Wireless.

The app allows users to play interactive trivia games with other people in the park, sets reminders when a show is about to begin, gives the local weather and helps to reserve a table in a restaurant.

The free app is the only official app for Disney Parks and is compatible with most smart phones.  View the official Disney app here.

Reporting by Paula Rogo

 Posted by Dad2Three at 9:47 pm

Houston Chronicle: As nation’s most-visited national park, the Great Smoky Mountains draw traffic

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Aug 242011
 

(from the Houston Chronicle, August 22, 2011) NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — As you exit off Interstate 40 for the final 15 miles before the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the little voice from the back poses the eternal question: “Are we there yet?”

Not quite. And it may take longer than you expect.

The main route between the interstate and the park — which passes through the resort towns of Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg — is one of the most congested in the state.

Jack Baldwin, police chief in Pigeon Forge, says he’s heard horror stories about visitors needing three hours to drive six miles between Gatlinburg to Pigeon Forge during special events.

“At times it’s a six-lane parking lot,” he said.

Guy Jacob, the owner-operator of three wedding chapels in Gatlinburg and a member of the town’s Chamber of Commerce, says some visitors don’t anticipate how many vehicles are trying to get through.

“We’ve had wedding guests show up late because they didn’t anticipate the traffic,” he said.

These are extreme examples and sometimes traffic gets through without much trouble, but there’s little doubt it’s a popular area. And the tourists keep coming, drawn by mountain vistas and the chance to see black bears.

As many as 45,000 vehicles pass between the interstate and the park daily, according to figures by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

The 500,000-acre park has 9.4 million visitors annually, ranking as the most popular national park. The area accounts for about 20 percent of Tennessee’s tourists each year.

Mary Steadman of Blountville, Tenn. is a sales rep who drives to the area up to once a week. She says she’s been late to appointments because of the congestion.

“You just can’t gauge the traffic,” she said.

Rick Laney, a public relations consultant who represents businesses all along the route, says there are some back roads and alternate routes, “but people from outside don’t know them.”

Visitors coming from the east can take an exit before the main Tenn. 66 one, for instance. Those coming from the west can take I-140 off I-40 and go through Maryville and then into Pigeon Forge.

“It’s like when you go to Orlando or any other tourist town; you’re going to have traffic you’re not accustomed to,” Laney says. “No one likes sitting in it, but they do.”

And currently, motorists also are confronted by the dreaded orange and white barrels signaling road work. Tenn. 66, between the interstate and Sevierville, is being widened from four lanes to six. That will help eventually, but TDOT warns in its weekly update: “Motorists should expect potential delays and use extreme caution.”

Get through that and then it’s maneuvering through Pigeon Forge, lined with motels, restaurants, shopping malls, miniature golf courses, go-cart tracks, the Dollywood theme park and tourist attractions on both sides of the road.

“The highway just gets full,” Baldwin said. There are three lanes in each direction with a 35 mph speed limit.

“We have accidents like everyone else,” he said. “It’s mostly just fender benders.”

Then once you reach Gatlinburg, it can take 15 minutes during peak times to park or reach your motel.

“People grumble about the traffic, but they still come,” Laney says.

Ever the promoter, Baldwin, even in a police uniform, urges people to come on:

“Pigeon Forge loves company.”

Even Steadman vacations in the area despite the congestion.

“People love the Smokies too much to let traffic get in the way.”

 Posted by Dad2Three at 9:23 pm

“Best of all he loved the fall …”

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Aug 152011
 

The epitaph on Ernest Hemingway’s memorial quotes (roughly) from a eulogy he wrote for one of his friends.  It reads:

“Best of all he loved the fall
The leaves yellow on the cottonwoods
Leaves floating on the trout streams
And above the hills
The high blue windless skies
Now he will be a part of them forever.”

There is no more appropriate sentiment to wrap up my feelings about the seasons.  Of course, mine would have to say, “Best of all, he loved his family,” – but if it weren’t for them, I would wholeheartedly agree with Pappa.

The best time of year is looming just over the horizon.  I felt it this morning.  In the morning, there was a hint of moisture and coolness that said, “Just hold on a few more weeks, I’m almost there.”  Grab your tent, build a campfire and fix a steaming hot cup of coffee.  Hold your feet to the fire and breath deeply, because this is rare.

Some people live for spring and summer, and I’m not immune to the giddy joy that comes with hot days, blooming flowers, glaring sun, screaming kids and romps in the ocean.  But fall feels like the moment you hit the bed after an 18-hour work day.  Cold sheets when you first climb into bed.  It is the release of everything hectic and hard.  It is a big sigh of relief with a warm embrace.  It is a comfortable sweatshirt and cold dew on the grass that completely wets your bare feet and leaves that crunch and smells one-hundred times better than the most expensive perfume.  It is the violins that kick in after the first verse of “Yesterday” by the Beatles.  It is unshaven, grown up and mature … it signifies ends and beginnings.  It’s sad, but comforting.

Spring is happy and fun.  Summer is living and playing hard.  Winter is refreshing.  But fall, oh fall, it is the time to relax, release and renew.  It can be found on a hike, a hunting trip, a nighttime football game, a drive with the windows open and darkness that falls before dinner.  It surprises you when you’re least expecting it – and you know life gets no better than that.  It is orange and brown, crisp and cool and real.  It is bright blue skies almost entirely covered with huge, dark-bottomed clouds and a brisk wind blowing the leaves from the trees.

“Best of all, he loved the fall.”  Yes Poppa, you got it right one last time.  We should not be surprised.

 Posted by Dad2Three at 5:13 pm

And you thought the “Royal Wedding” was over …

 No Responses »
Aug 052011
 

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. – To honor the 12 honeymooning couples on board the RMS Titanic, the Titanic Museum Attraction and Star 102.1 FM will give away their own “Royal Wedding.”  The million-dollar Grand Staircase of the Titanic Museum Attraction creates a luxurious magic unlike anyplace else on earth.  Steeped in history and romanticism, the centerpiece of the world’s most famous ocean liner is exact in every detail to the one passengers walked on board the RMS Titanic – and it’s where the Titanic Royal Wedding will take place.

Couples wishing to enter the contest must complete an online form (www.TitanicAttraction.com) and submit a video introducing themselves, telling about their relationship, and explaining why they should win the “Royal Wedding.”  Once videos are submitted, three finalists will be selected and the public will be able to vote online beginning in December for their favorite couple after watching the videos.  One couple will win the Titanic Royal Wedding in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. and another couple will win a Titanic Royal Wedding in Branson, Mo.  Online voters will also select the bride’s gown, the wedding cake and the flowers for each of the weddings.  Winners will be announced on January 16, 2012.

The Titanic Museum Attraction and Star 102.1 FM’s Royal Wedding Contest is just one more special way the museum is honoring the 100 Year Anniversary of Titanic’s maiden voyage. It has been 99 years since a lookout in the crow’s nest shouted, “Iceberg right ahead!”  For the twelve months leading up to April 15, 2012, when it will have been a century since the RMS Titanic was lost, Titanic Museum Attractions will pay respect to and honor those 2,208 passengers and crew members with an ongoing series of special events, activities and ceremonies.

As the whole world remembers the world’s most famous luxury liner, Titanic Museum Attractions will continue to open the door to the past in it’s one-of-a-kind way – letting “passengers” experience what it was like to walk the hallways, parlors, cabins and Grand Staircase of the Titanic while surrounded by more than 400 artifacts directly from the ship and its passengers.  As visitors touch a real iceberg, walk the Grand Staircase and third class hallways, reach their hands into 28-degree water, and try to stand on the sloping decks, they learn what it was like on the RMS Titanic by experiencing it first-hand.

Each and every day, Titanic Museum Attractions provides a gateway to 1912, where First Class Maids and a variety of Officers and crew members bring the stories of the fabled ship and its fascinating passengers to life by retelling their stories in vivid, dramatic detail.  The priceless artifacts throughout the museum shed additional light on the lives of those passengers and crew members when guests see the actual belongings of those on board and artifacts that sailed on Titanic’s maiden voyage.

The Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. opens daily at 9 a.m.  Reservations are strongly suggested (many days sell out entirely). Or, passengers may purchase tickets online at www.TitanicAttraction.com or by phone at 800-381-7670.

Cedar Bay Entertainment, LLC owns and operates the Titanic Museum Attractions in Branson, Mo.  Titanic Tennessee, LLC owns and operates the Titanic Museum Attractions in Pigeon Forge, TN.  Both are privately owned-and-operated entertainment and development companies.  Cedar Bay is headquartered in Branson, Mo., the site of its first Titanic Museum Attraction.  Titanic Tennessee, LLC is headquartered in Pigeon Forge, TN.   Titanic Branson has welcomed more than 3 million guests, and Titanic Pigeon Forge boards approximately 100,000 “passengers” each month.

 Posted by Dad2Three at 8:23 pm

Nominate inspiring woman for free “Girlfriend’s Getaway” and she could be featured in national ad campaign

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Aug 052011
 

Sevierville, Tenn. – Do you know a woman who makes a positive impact everywhere she goes?  Right now, you could send that woman (even if she’s you) on a free, over-the-top Girlfriend’s Getaway and land her a starring role in a national ad campaign simply by telling us about her.

The Sevierville Chamber of Commerce has launched The Great Girlfriend’s Getaway Search, an opportunity to nominate an inspiring woman for a chance to win a Girlfriend’s Getaway to Sevierville, Tenn. (in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains) and a starring role in Sevierville’s new national Girlfriend’s Getaway advertising campaign.

The winner will share her Sevierville Girlfriend’s Getaway experience with three of her closest gal-pals from September 25-October 1, 2011 and be featured in the city’s 2012 advertising campaign.

“A Sevierville Girlfriend’s Getaway can be a high-end outlet shopping trip, a confidence boosting outdoor adventure, a golf excursion with the ladies, and so much more,” says Sevierville Chamber of Commerce marketing director Amanda Marr. “Our destination offers a tremendous variety of activities so your getaway can be whatever you love to do. We want to focus on that while also reminding women that it’s important to make time for themselves guilt-free.”

To nominate an amazing woman in your life, go to www.OfficialGirlfriendsGetaway.com.  Nominations may be submitted from now until August 15, 2011.

Sevierville is located in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, is Dolly Parton’s hometown and is The Official Destination for Girlfriend’s Getaways™.

 Posted by Dad2Three at 8:23 pm

New teen sensations Jenny and Ashley will shoot concert video at Wilderness at the Smokies resort July 16

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Aug 052011
 

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – Following in the footsteps of Disney superstars Miley Cyrus (“Hannah Montana”), Selena Gomez, and the Jonas Brothers, Jenny and Ashley Cooke, better known as “Jenny & Ashley,” will perform and shoot a video at Wilderness at the Smokies resort in Sevierville on Saturday night, July 16, 2011.

Jenny & Ashley

Not only will the video shoot be free and open to our guests and some members of the general public, but everyone who shows up for the video shoot will also receive a pass to come back and spend an entire day for FREE at Wilderness at the Smokies resort.  Although the resort has been open for three years, it has never been open to the general public (only resort guests can use the waterparks at Wilderness at the Smokies). During the concert, a limited number of outside guests will be permitted to watch the concert and participate in the shoot.

The concert / video shoot begins at 8 p.m. ET and those who wish to be in the video are asked to be at the resort by 7 p.m.  Special parking will be provided at Wilderness at the Smokies and those who wish to participate in the music video shoot will be directed once they arrive.

To get a free pass to participate in this event, you will need to make a donation to Soles4Souls, a charity group that gives shoes to those in need.  We will know in coming days where people can drop off new or gently used shoes in exchange for passes to the Jenny & Ashley concert event at Wilderness at the Smokies.  Please note that ONLY those who have obtained passes to this concert by donating shoes to Soles4Souls will be allowed to attend.

Jenny and Ashley’s complete touring band will be joining them at Wilderness at the Smokies and a production team and director are coming in to manage the music video shoot.  Rick Laney, vice president of Knoxville’s Ackermann PR who has also worked with National Geographic Television, MTV Productions, Travel Channel, and has produced live concert DVDs in the past, is serving as a production consultant to the project.

Those who come to the video shoot are asked to bring their swimsuits.  Although some people will be directed to be in the water during the video shoot, not everyone will be and many of our attractions (waterslides, Surf Rider, etc.) may be closed.  You may be asked to follow the direction and instructions of the production crew while the video is being shot.  After the shoot, Wilderness at the Smokies will show our appreciation for your involvement in this production by giving everyone in attendance a FREE wristband good for one entire day – from open to close – at our waterpark resort (to be used any time in the next two months).

Jenny (15) and Ashley (14) are originally from Wisconsin, but moved to Pleasanton, Calif. when they were in elementary school.  The sisters discovered their talents early while performing in a number of theatre productions and quickly made the move to acting and modeling. Jenny appeared as a model and cover girl for Kohl’s television and print advertising and also started acting.  Ashley quickly caught the bug too, and modeled for both Levi’s and Kohl’s in television and print advertising. They followed their dreams to Los Angeles, where Jenny and Ashley picked up work with Disney, Nickelodeon and Fox Television.

Quickly realizing their love and passion for music the girls switched gears and headed to Nashville to pursue music.  Jenny & Ashley caught the eye of some very important players in Nashville and soon found themselves in studio recording their first EP.  The EP, “Songs About You,” has songs the girls wrote as well as great songs from famous Nashville writers.  Darran Smith, Tim McGraw’s co-producer and lead guitarist, produced the entire product and Tim’s band, The Dance Hall Doctors, tracked every instrument you hear.  “Songs About You,” available now on iTunes, is an upbeat pop/country album which includes “Indescribable” co-written by Ashley and received national radio airplay.

Stay tuned to find out how YOU can join us for a FREE evening of music and fun while Jenny and Ashley shoot their music video on July 16 at 8 p.m.  We will also be announcing the drop-off location where you can donate shoes in exchange for passes to the concert.  Jenny and Ashley will stick around after the concert to meet our guests.  As our way of thanking you for helping with this video production, we want you to then bring your free passes and come back to Wilderness at the Smokies and enjoy all three of our waterparks for the entire day.  Visit www.AckermannWire.com regularly for all updates and more details as they are available.

 Posted by Dad2Three at 8:22 pm

The Eyes of the World Turn to Titanic Museum Attractions As The 100th Year Approaches

 No Responses »
Aug 052011
 

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. and BRANSON, Mo. – In May 1911, the RMS Titanic slid down Slipway No. 3 at the Queen’s Yard of Harland & Wolff and settled on the waters of the Victoria Channel in Belfast, Ireland while more than 100,000 people looked on. At the time, she was the largest movable manmade object on the face of the planet. In the coming months, RMS Titanic would complete numerous successful sea trials with Irish workers and crew members on board.

To commemorate Titanic’s Irish heritage, Titanic Museum Attractions in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. and Branson, Mo. will give away six 11-day trips for two to Belfast. The 12 winners of the “Back to Titanic 100th Year ‘Tour Ireland’ Sweepstakes” will cruise to Belfast where they will visit the birthplace of the world’s best-known, most luxurious ocean liner. Complete sweepstakes details can be found at www.TitanicAttraction.com.

It has been 99 years since a lookout in the crow’s nest shouted, “Iceberg right ahead!” For the twelve months leading up to April 15, 2012, when it will have been a century since the RMS Titanic was lost, Titanic Museum Attractions will pay respect to and honor those 2,208 passengers and crew members with an ongoing series of special events, activities and ceremonies.

As the whole world remembers the world’s most famous luxury liner, Titanic Museum Attractions will continue to open the door to the past in it’s one-of-a-kind way – letting “passengers” experience what it was like to walk the hallways, parlors, cabins and Grand Staircase of the Titanic while surrounded by more than 400 artifacts directly from the ship and its passengers. As visitors touch a real iceberg, walk the Grand Staircase and third class hallways, reach their hands into 28-degree water, and try to stand on the sloping decks, they learn what it was like on the RMS Titanic by experiencing it first-hand.

Each and every day, Titanic Museum Attractions provides a gateway to 1912, where First Class Maids and a variety of Officers and crew members bring the stories of the fabled ship and its fascinating passengers to life by retelling their stories in vivid, dramatic detail. The priceless artifacts throughout the museum shed additional light on the lives of those passengers and crew members when guests see the actual belongings of those on board and artifacts that sailed on Titanic’s maiden voyage.

With special Titanic events taking place around the world during 2011 and 2012, Titanic Museum Attractions will be the epicenter of remembrance for RMS Titanic’s passengers and crew. And, as the museum has demonstrated since its opening, the experience for guests will leave them amazed. The Titanic Museum Attractions will honor and respect the brave souls of the Titanic with the following events:

• To pay tribute to the birthplace of the RMS Titanic in Ireland, Titanic Museum Attractions will give away a total of six 11-day trips for two to Belfast, Ireland (where Titanic was built) at its Pigeon Forge, Tenn. and Branson, Mo. locations. The “Back to Titanic 100th Year ‘Tour Ireland’ Sweepstakes” begins June 13, 2011. All details are available online at www.TitanicAttraction.com and contestants can enter daily online. Winners will be announced Feb. 14, 2012.

• Beginning in July, Titanic Museum Attractions will allow every single guest who visits the museum to personally become involved in its special tribute to the passengers and crew by depositing a single rose petal into a container in the Memorial Gallery. On April 15, 2012 – exactly 100 years after the RMS Titanic was lost – each of the rose petals will be carefully laid onto the surface of the Atlantic Ocean directly where the Titanic sank.

• Beginning Aug. 1, 2011, couples will have the opportunity to have their wedding on the spectacular $1 million Grand Staircase of the Titanic. Future brides can enter to win their own “Royal Wedding” in April 2012. Titanic Museum Attractions will pay homage to the 12 honeymooning couples on board the RMS Titanic with its “Royal Wedding” contest. Online voting will select a winning couple to be married on the Grand Staircase.

• Many descendants of Titanic passengers and crew members will travel from all around the world to appear at Titanic Museum Attractions throughout 2011 and 2012, including descendants of Second Officer Charles Lightoller, the most senior crew member to survive the Titanic. Lightoller, whose family now lives in Ireland and Scotland, got away from the sinking ship in a collapsible life raft and was one of only four officers to survive.

• With the re-release of James Cameron’s blockbuster “Titanic” movie in 3D on Friday, April 6, 2012, Titanic Museum Attractions will open a new gallery (at both the Pigeon Forge and Branson locations) featuring props and costumes on loan from collectors around the world in advance of the movie re-release.

• A number of television shows and documentaries to air during the coming year are currently in production featuring the RMS Titanic and Titanic Museum Attractions. ABC Television has commissioned a four-part miniseries and John Joslyn, owner of Titanic Museum Attractions, will re-release his Titanic television documentaries.

• On April 14 and 15, 2012, a two-day tribute ceremony will take place at Titanic Museum Attractions in Pigeon Forge and Branson. The solemn ceremony will culminate with a candlelight service and the lighting of an eternal flame which will burn all year to remind every visitor to the museum of the 2,208 brave souls who were onboard the RMS Titanic.

More details about all of these spectacular commemorative events will be released in coming months.

The Titanic Museum Attractions in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. and Branson, Mo. open daily at 9 a.m. Reservations are strongly suggested (many days sell out entirely). Or, passengers may purchase tickets online at www.TitanicAttraction.com or by phone at 800-381-7670.

Cedar Bay Entertainment, LLC owns and operates the Titanic Museum Attractions in Branson, Mo. Titanic Tennessee, LLC owns and operates the Titanic Museum Attractions in Pigeon Forge, TN. Both are privately owned-and-operated entertainment and development companies. Cedar Bay is headquartered in Branson, Mo., the site of its first Titanic Museum Attraction. Titanic Tennessee, LLC is headquartered in Pigeon Forge, TN. Titanic Branson has welcomed more than 3 million guests, and Titanic Pigeon Forge boards approximately 100,000 “passengers” each month.

 Posted by Dad2Three at 8:21 pm
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