I’m so proud to announce Tennessee Tourism Commissioner Susan Whitaker will tomorrow officially open the Sunny Side Trail, a mapped driving route starting in Sevierville and covering 12 East Tennessee counties—including nearly 300 points of interest.
The trail unveiling ceremony will be held at the Robert A. Tino Gallery in Sevierville, where attendees can view the artist in action, hear country music group Mountain Ruckus play “Keep on the Sunny Side” (and more!) and enjoy good local eats from Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant. There’s so much excitement around the trail that the mayor is even declaring May 13 Sunny Side Day!
Of course, yous truly—Sunny Pickens—will be there with the Sunny Side Trail Jeep to open the trail. I’ll be driving through a starting ribbon and heading east to more trail opening festivities in Greeneville at 10 am Friday, March 14 in the lobby of the General Morgan Inn and in Bristol at 3 pm the same day at Bristol Motor Speedway’s main entrance. I will be blogging, posting tweets and updating Facebook along my trail journey. Please follow along…or join us at one of the event locations for some exciting announcements, food and a tune or two!
Sunny Side Trail is the second of 15 regional trails launching over the next several months as part of a statewide tourist development initiative, “Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways.” The effort is the result of multiple agencies working together to showcase local gems such as wineries, historic main streets, quaint restaurants, and scenic spots for outdoor adventure.
The Tennessee Departments of Tourist Development and Transportation worked in partnership with Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association and tourism organizations in Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington counties to develop and launch Sunny Side Trail.
