Tennessee Mountain Home

I have always loved Dolly Parton. Love her music, love her tacky clothes, love her cute personality. And, every September after our choir retreat, we'd head over to visit Dollywood in hopes of getting a glimpse of her in the park.  

This particular year we invited our close friends, Lois and Clay, to come along with us. While we were in Dollywood, we decided to see a show that showcased Dolly’s relatives. And who was performing in this show? 

None other than Dolly’s Uncle Bill – the uncle she credits with getting her started in the country music business (sitting with her through auditions and watching after her while she was on the road). 

We were sitting on the front row at the show with our son John next to us in his wheelchair. Since he is legally blind, he needed to be close to the stage to view the show.  

After our visit to the park that day, David suggested that we might try to locate Dolly’s childhood home. We all jumped at the chance to go on a little “side-trip.” Locust Ridge shouldn’t be hard to find and we were sure that everyone in Sevierville would be able to direct us. 

Boy, were we wrong!    

We couldn’t count the number of places where we stopped for directions only to be “directed” to the wrong location. After all, we were tourists - not blood kin! After hours of searching, we finally realized that the residents of Sevierville would not give up the info we needed to get to Locust Ridge. They were protecting her from “people like us”.  

So, the heck with them! We ventured out on our own headed in the direction where we thought Dolly’s homestead might be.   

Aha! David spotted a local gas station/convenience store along the way and decided to run in to find out any info he could. 

In a few minutes he came back to the car very excited and said, “You’ll never guess who I ran into in there!” 

“Who,” I said. 

“Uncle Bill, Dolly’s uncle. He’s gonna take us up to Dolly’s place on Locust Ridge. He said it would be very difficult to find on our own. He is headed home in that direction anyway.”  

Hallelujah! Are you kidding me? What an opportunity!  

So, off we went, following Uncle Bill through miles of scary, winding roads going higher and higher up the mountain until we came to a church up on top. 

We pulled off into the parking lot behind Uncle Bill. He got out of his van and explained that that was as far as he could go because his van wouldn’t make it down the steep hill to her property. We got out of our cars and stood there talking and laughing and taking pictures for about forty-five minutes. He was the nicest man. He told us he remembered John from the previous day’s show. I guess that was why he decided to help us.   

We had the nicest visit... but all good things must come to an end. 

He told us that his wife had supper ready and that she would kill him if he was late. After he told us where the entrance to Dolly’s property was, we parted ways with a great big thank you for the help - leading us to Locust Ridge when no one else would - and the stories he blessed us with.  

We decided to head down the road to the steep hill that led down to the property. 

No problem!  

Once down the hill there wasn’t much to see. The property was surrounded by a wooden fence that must have been twelve feet high with a huge double gate secured by a massive lock. You could peek through the fence but you could only see a very large manicured lawn with the driveway leading to the house hidden somewhere behind all the trees. 

The excitement of it all! 

We were thrilled to be standing outside her homeplace on Locust Ridge and getting the chance to spend time with Uncle Bill. We took more pictures to commemorate this special event.  

But now, we had to get back up the hill! 

Getting down the hill was no problem – driving back up proved to be a little more trouble. Lois and Clay headed up first and with a much bigger engine they made it up with only a little struggle.  

Now it was our turn. Did I mention that the driveway was covered with crushed rock? Didn’t think so.   

We started up the hill – all of us leaning forward and rocking – like that was really going to help. How dumb could we be?  

Our tires were spinning and spinning and we felt like we were going to slide back down the drive. 

"We may have to camp out down here! Was this really a good idea?” I thought. 

Then, all of a sudden, with a mash of the gas, we lunged forward and we were up and out! Yep - we had made it! Maybe we should have thought that through a little more.  

Well, it was done. Was it worth it? Would we do it again? Sure.  

What an exciting day we had and how unexpected was it that we would meet and spend time with Uncle Bill. And when we talk about it with John, he gets the biggest grin on his face. 

We have seen Dolly in concerts and in her parade, and we have had the pleasure of conversation with her family at the park. We have also toured the costume department and had conversations with her personal costumers. This was EXTRA special!  

Who knows what adventures await you? Whatever your idea is of a great adventure, or wherever it might be, just keep your eyes open so you can enjoy it when you FIND it! 

~ Jeannie Joyner