BRISTOL, Tenn. – Everybody knows about the NASCAR drivers who zip around the “world’s fastest half mile” during its twice-yearly cup races and the crowds of music fans who pack the downtown streets for the Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival.
But what about the Twin City Drive-In Theater, a 61-year-old outdoor movie theater that’s tucked between those two landmarks and has its own potential to be a tourist draw?
“There are only so many of those left across the country,” Bristol Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Matt Bolas said of the Twin City Drive-In on Friday. “You don’t see that part of Americana any more.”
Bolas said the family-run theater is one of the Twin City’s many hidden gems, or smaller, less-promoted destinations that could bring crowds of people to the region, where they can spend their hard-earned money before heading home.
It also is one of about 70 destinations in Sullivan County featured on the SunnySide Early Country Trail, a scenic driving path that cuts its way though 12 Northeast Tennessee counties that state and local tourism officials christened during a Friday news conference.
Part of the state’s Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways initiative, the trail is the second in a series of 15 proposed driving trails that will link the state’s metropolitan areas and tourism destinations with their surrounding communities, said Commissioner Susan Whitaker with the state’s Department of Tourist Development.
“This trail shows people exactly how they can get out into the smaller communities and find all of those hidden gems,” Whitaker said. “People are going to be coming into your communities and you want to be ready for them.”
Managed by Whitaker’s department, the trails and byways initiative will eventually link destinations in each of the state’s 95 counties. Its 15 driving trails will feature a wide variety of state parks, agri-tourism sites, historical markers, museums, restaurants, sports stadiums and entertainment venues, she said.
The SunnySide Trail alone covers 328 destinations, including South Holston Lake, Ridgewood Barbecue, the Old Deery Inn and the Rocky Mount Museum. People can learn more about these spots by visiting the trail’s website – www.sunnysidetrail.com – where they can find a map of the trail and a 26-page guidebook. In addition to developing the trail, Whitaker said her agency has promoted it and its website with a commercial featuring Rascal Flatts that’s been airing in several nearby metropolitan markets for the past few weeks.
Already, this advertising effort is bringing people to the region who may not have known these places existed, said Shelia Steele-Hunt, director of Sullivan County Department of Archives and Tourism.
“This will be a boon for tourism in Sullivan County,” Steele-Hunt said, adding that her office has already received hundreds of calls from people who saw the Rascal Flatts ad, went to the website and wanted to know more about what the county has to offer.
gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518
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