Reviewed by Jeanne
Did you know that Kingsport claims to be the birthplace of Long
Island Iced Tea? Or that Kingsport
claims Sensabaugh Tunnel to be one of the scariest places around? How about
those stories of Al Capone in Johnson City, or the hidden cemetery at
Tri-Cities Airport? Remember where the
movie “The River” was filmed in the area? Did you know that the “Copperhead
Road” from the song is real and in Johnson County, Tennessee? Author and journalist
Robert Sorrell has gathered nearly 200 interesting stories and places to visit,
making this book a browser’s delight.
I was familiar with many of the entries—Hank Williams and the
Burger Bar, for instance, and the early history of Mountain Dew—but others were
new: Granny February of Elizabethton,
the Gray Quarry, and the Tiffany window in Abingdon. There are also suggestions
of fun places to visit, making this a great summer guidebook. I have never made it to see the dinosaurs of
Backyard Terrors, but that has been on my list and while I knew about drowned
Butler, Tennessee I didn’t know there was a museum I could visit. There’s also information on where to walk
across a swinging bridge (I’ll pass, thanks) or visit wild ponies or the Devil’s
Bathtub. I was delighted to see
information on Bank Street in Bristol where there is a glorious mural, as well
as the Caterpillar Crawl and information on The Channels. Some of the entries
are very timely: one is about Big John,
the Indian Statue at Pratt’s BBQ which has just announced that it is closing.
The entries are brief, but that makes it all the more tempting
to read just one more. The book features beautiful full color photographs as
well. It also makes me want to visit a lot of these places, like the General
Shale Brick Museum or the Woodbooger statue.
Sorrell provides addresses, contacts, and other information on
each entry. This is a gem of a book
packed with information and best of all, there’s an index!
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