November 21, 2024 • 36 mins
Bryson City, NC, is a mountain town in Western North Carolina that blends resilience, community spirit, and festive traditions. In this episode, Sarah Conley, Executive Director of the Swain County TDA, shares how Bryson City navigated the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. From using social media to keep residents informed to preparing for winter visitors, the town demonstrates its strength and ability to adapt in every situation.
As the holiday season approaches, Bryson City transforms into a cozy winter retreat. Highlights include the Polar Express train ride, a family favorite that brings holiday stories to life, and the dazzling Christmas Light Spectacular that lights up the town. Visitors can enjoy warm hospitality, stunning mountain views, and countless opportunities to make unforgettable holiday memories.
This episode dives into what makes Bryson City truly special—its resilience, holiday magic, and the way it welcomes visitors with open arms, no matter the season.
https://www.explorebrysoncity.com/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Everyone has a story to tell.
We connect and relate to oneanother when we share our
stories.
My name is Amelia Old and I amyour host of Voices of
Inspiration.
Join me as I share stories offriends, family and strangers
from my everyday life andtravels.
We will laugh, possibly cry orwalk away, feeling connected
more than ever to those aroundyou and ready to be the change
(00:24):
our world needs.
Everyone has a story to tell.
What's yours?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thank you so much for joining me today.
I know that things have beenvery busy your way, especially
over the last month, month and ahalf, and you're getting ready
to go into a very busy tourismseason, so I know things are
busy.
So thank you so much for takingtime just to share a little bit
about your story today.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So can you just start off by telling us a little bit
about your role in Bryson City'stourism development?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Sure, absolutely so.
I am serving as the SwainCounty TDA Executive Director,
so I work with a wonderful boardthat is basically.
Our goal is to promote BrysonCity, Swain County, and travel
and tourism within the state,within our popular region I mean
, obviously, anywhere we can.
(01:29):
It's a very exciting role.
It's like a quasi localgovernment, quasi community,
quasi PR marketing job.
So it's very, very differentthan a lot of the jobs that I've
had in the past.
But I've been in Swain Countyand Bryson City for a long, long
time so it seemed very natural.
I have a wonderful board that isjust very passionate about the
(01:53):
community and the tourismcommunity and the tourism
industry.
So it's very, very helpful tohave people that you're working
with who are just as passionate.
You're working with who arejust as passionate, and the fact
that these are, you know, localbusiness owners, local
community members themselves andthey're taking the time out of
their day to come and, you know,work for the whole of Swain
County.
So it's a really interestingjob.
(02:15):
Every day is different.
We'll just say that Every dayis different.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Never boring right.
Exactly, Yep.
What initially drew you toworking in tourism?
What?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
initially drew you to working in tourism.
Oh man, well, I actuallygraduated from UNC Charlotte in
2008.
And so obviously we can kind ofrecall the time frame.
Well, hopefully we can kind ofrecall We've been through so
much these last what 15 years.
I mean, it's been crazy.
But at UNC Charlotte my goal wasactually to go into NASCAR, and
(02:53):
so I had interned there atCharlotte Motor Speedway and,
you know, just really sort offell in love with the whole PR
aspect of NASCAR and I thought,hmm, this is a big industry, but
it seemed like a verytight-knit community.
And so I remember having aconversation with my dad and I
said, you know, I really ampassionate about PR, pr and
marketing, and I like thevibrancy of it, the excitement
of it.
And he said, well, you know,industries come and go, you know
they're up and they're down.
He said, but one industry thatI feel like is going to be here
(03:15):
forever is tourism.
And I thought, hmm, tourism andhospitality.
And I thought, yeah, you know,everybody wants to take a
vacation, everybody has to gostay somewhere, everybody needs
to enjoy, you know, time awayfrom work and real life.
And so it was just sort of alight bulb moment where I
thought, okay, I've had fun inNASCAR, but let me try something
.
You know, as I'm graduatingfrom college, let me try
(03:36):
something that I think is goingto be long lasting, and my focus
was to originally get somewherein Asheville.
I wanted to be in the AshevilleMountains.
My family is from Hickory, whichis the Piedmont area, but our
roots are in Swin County, and itwas just one of those keep
searching, keep searching, keepsearching until you can find
something.
And I landed a fantastic job atGreat Smoky Mountains where I
(03:58):
wrote in Bryson City.
And just to be an earlygraduate in 2008 and really land
a good job immediately wasinsane.
So, um, yeah, I packed up fromCharlotte and moved, you know,
up to to Bryson city and, um, Iwas with the railroad for 13
years.
And, um, after those 13 years,it was basically like, okay, I'm
(04:20):
committed to this industry.
So the people that I've met,the experiences I've had, the
places I've gotten to travel asa benefit of being in
hospitality and tourism havebeen fantastic.
And, you know, taking this stepinto an executive director role
with Swain County was just astep.
To say, you know, I worked forthe largest attraction in Bryson
(04:40):
City for so long Now I get toactually work for the whole
county and it just seemed like anatural progression, and the
excitement has not stopped.
I'll tell you that.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
How would you describe the spirit of Bryson
City and its people to someonewho's never been there?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Oh man, that is such a great question.
You know, I feel like we all,when you ask those kind of
questions about where you'reliving or working, you know we
all feel like it's unique.
Everybody's story, everybody'sanswer is unique to that
location.
And, you know, nobody else canexperience the things that
(05:19):
you're talking about unless theyvisit there or they're from
there.
And so, man to really tunnel itdown, if I'm explaining the
spirit, there's a closeconnection in that community,
where there's heritage, there'sroots, there's culture, but
there's also just a sense ofhardworking, a drive, a goal of
(05:40):
just always, you know, puttingthe best foot forward.
And you know, just in general,as far as a working community,
they're fantastic.
I mean, you have families thathave been there for years, I
mean hundreds of years, who youknow they still live in the same
area that their great, greatgreat grandparents lived in and
there's something to be said forthat.
(06:00):
I think a lot of peopleappreciate that groundedness,
that rootedness, to be exactlywhere their family's been for
hundreds of years.
As far as describing it as atravel and tourism destination,
it is such a unique town I don'tthink it's the best kept secret
anymore, because I think we'vedone a really good job of
putting ourselves on the map.
(06:21):
But there is still thattraditional small town mountain
getaway location in Bryson Citythat you feel like you're at
home, even though it's not yourhome we hear a lot of people
talk about.
Every time I go there, I wantto move here, I want to move
here, I want to move here andthat really is.
It's a place you can vacationand feel like you're coming home
(06:42):
, but also feel like you get theadventure and excitement of a
vacation.
You know you do things thataren't normally what you do in
everyday life.
So if you're looking for thatlike just quintessential small
mountain town experience, that'sBryson City and there's such a
warm connection that the townitself just holds and resonates
with visitors just holds andresonates with visitors.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Unfortunately, just back in September Western North
Carolina faced great devastationwith Hurricane Helene.
Can you share a little bitabout the challenges Bryson City
faced with Hurricane Helene andmaybe even your own personal
experience in those first coupleof days?
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Yeah, well, first and foremost, I will say that we
have, just as a community andjust personally, we've been
brokenhearted to see some of ourneighboring counties and what
they're going through.
The devastation is unimaginable.
You know, obviously, in thetravel and tourism world,
devastation is unimaginable.
Obviously, in the travel andtourism world we have close
(07:50):
connections business-wise, andso a lot of those places like
Asheville, chimney, rock, beachMountain, boone, bulling Rock,
grandfather Mountain, we allhave personal connections with,
not only on the business sidebut on the personal side, and so
just the stories and what we'veexperienced through their eyes
has been devastation, I meancompletely devastated, and our
hearts have broken and breakingfor them.
(08:12):
Fortunately for Bryson City,because the way that the storm
tracked it took a eastern turntowards I think that last couple
of hours, which was notanticipated, but because of that
, that last couple of hours,which was not anticipated, but
because of that, our far westernNorth Carolina counties like
Bryson City, swain County,graham County, clay, those
counties did not receive as muchdamage as our eastern neighbors
(08:34):
, but we did have flooding.
We had some flooding downtownand that was minimal and I say
minimal in comparison to whatyou saw everywhere else.
It was minimal and you know, asfast as the waters came, they
receded quickly.
This type of flooding wasdifferent because it brought in
so much of the mud and the siltand all the nastiness from the
(08:57):
rivers and so yeah, just it's.
It was something that I hadnever experienced, because you
think when you're in a hurricane, first of all you think of the
beach or the coast and you seethe palm trees, you know, bent
over sideways.
So a hurricane coming throughthe mountains and the terrains
of the mountains is somethingthat I have never experienced in
that way.
So you think of, you know theflooding and how that happened.
(09:22):
It wasn't a.
It wasn't a.
There were flash floods, but itwas a slow progression.
It was, you know, standingthere watching the rivers rise
and knowing there's nothing youcan do.
You just have to let it do whatit's going to do and then try
to regroup and figure out whatto do to clean up.
So, with Bryson, they knew theriver was going to flood, they
knew it was going to, theyfigured, okay, it's going to
(09:43):
come over its banks, it's goingto come and spill it into main
street.
So the business community,especially in downtown I mean
immediately acted.
We're banding together, we'reputting out sandbags.
Obviously, one of the biggeststories has been the lack of
communication.
That happened, you know, rightas the hurricane hit, and that
was 100% true.
The cell phone service andwifi-Fi was going out, you know,
(10:04):
intermittently.
You would have it, you wouldn't.
And so this really came down topeople being there on site in
the moment communicatingface-to-face about hey, we need
sandbags over here, hey, we needto go into this business and
get their stuff up off of theground, or you know how, we need
to go check on this person overhere.
So it was so interesting to seethat happen because you're, you
(10:26):
know, you're so used to justpicking up your phone and
shooting a text.
Are you okay, are you?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
there.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Well, when you can't do that, you've got to go
physically there and see that.
So the the downtown Bryson city, like I said, they, as quickly
as the waters came, they recededand, um, just as fast the
business community bandedtogether and said, hey, we got
to clean up, we got to figureout how we can help each other.
You know, what do you need?
Do you need shovels?
Do you need an HVAC, do youneed, you know, dehumidifier,
(10:54):
what do you need?
And so, really seeing thathappen, I think that it set a
tone for how Breslin City wasgoing to operate from that point
moving forward.
Their biggest concern was totake care of each other, take
care of their neighbors and then, you know, make sure they can
make Bryson City as safe aspossible.
You know, personally I don'tlive right in downtown Bryson
(11:20):
City, but I live in the area,and so just trying to
communicate with my own peopleand my own people that I worked
with was so difficult, and thenadapting to what we had to do,
just to get it done, ofcommunicate with my own people
and my own people that I workedwith, was so difficult, and then
adapting to what we had to dojust to get it done.
You know, driving 30 minutesoutside somewhere to go get cell
phone service, you know, tryingto ration your groceries,
trying to make sure you can savewhatever's in your freezer.
We, you know, we were all sortof dealing with it in our own
(11:43):
way.
But as far as just downtownBryson City itself, they really
were super reactive, superhelpful and fortunately, like I
said, we did not see thedevastation that our neighbors
saw After the initial cleanupbegan and things were starting
to roll.
I think the next turn was wewere all standing there going.
(12:05):
How can we help our neighbors?
How can we help Buncombe?
How can we help Old Fort?
How can we help Marion?
What can we do for Chimney Rock?
And again, that's just atestament to the Bryson City
spirit Once they know they'reokay, they're going to turn and
help their neighbors.
They're going to turn and helpthose people that they know they
need help.
So, yeah, it's, it's one ofthose experiences that I wish I
(12:27):
was a journaler, because I wouldlove to have journaled the
entirety of it so that I couldrecall it clearly, because I,
you know, I don't think I'llever see anything like that in
my lifetime.
I hope we don't ever see ahurricane like that again in our
lifetime, because it will be.
There will be lasting effects,absolutely, it will be.
There will be lasting effectsAbsolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, I agree.
I live just outside ofCharlotte, so I'm not terribly
far away and I've never seenanything like that either.
I've spent a lot of time in themountains and I've never seen
anything like that.
And to your point about thecell phone service and
communication for those thathave spent time in the North
(13:05):
Carolina mountains or anymountains, really there are a
lot of times where that servicecan be spotty anyway.
And so add this into it.
You know it makes sense as towhy it just was non-existent.
Through all of this, I'vespoken to a couple of people you
(13:29):
know about their experiencesand what they've gone through.
A couple of people you knowabout their experiences and and
what they've gone through, butalso other stories that they've
seen, maybe in their communitiesor nearby.
Is there one?
I know that there are many, butis there one particular story
that just really stands out toyou that in that moment you were
(13:51):
just really taken aback withfeeling inspired, having hope,
overwhelmingly, feeling justlike, wow, you know this,
watching everyone come together.
You know it's the one storythat sticks out.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
One of our business owners her name is Erin and she
owns Humanity Boutique and sheand I had been texting, and the
way that the storm came in inthe morning, the early hours of
Friday, it was like we had cellphone service for a good amount
of time and then all of a suddenit just went out.
You know, it just was veryrandom.
And so in that morning we hadbeen texting each other back and
(14:29):
forth and I had been trying topop on Facebook and figure out
what's going on.
And, um, there was a momentwhen the cell phone service went
out and and we were mid textingeach other, you know, and she
was saying, um, I've, I've gotto run downtown, you know, we're
(14:49):
going to check on thebusinesses, I'll let you know.
And I said, okay, great, justlet me know.
And she said, vice versa, youknow, I was teetering on what I
have to evacuate, not sure,waiting on those orders as well,
and then the cell phone servicejust went out, done, and there
was a good probably four or fivehours where I just kept
thinking what's going on, what'sgoing on, what's going on.
(15:10):
And so, after the storm hadcleared, going on, what's going
on, what's going on.
And so, um, after the storm hadcleared, interestingly enough
after the hurricane movedthrough, it was a beautiful day,
I mean, the blue skies were out, it was, the temperatures were
cool, I mean it was it was agorgeous day.
And so, you know, I thought,let me head out and try to find
cell phone service.
So I headed east, you know,towards towards Asheville, to
(15:38):
see if I could find some service.
And as soon as I got service,you know, my phone just started
paying immediately.
And I got onto Facebook and, um,you know, there was just post
after post after post of photosthat were coming in from people
downtown that were takingpictures.
And, um, you know, just not notedited photos, not perfectly
shot photos.
It was literally just, we'retrying to share information
because we know it's getting.
You know, communications aredown.
And I saw there was some photosabout Everett Street and Main
(16:01):
Street, specifically whereErin's business is at, and you
know she had posted and she saidyou know, we are getting out
there as fast as we can withsandbags.
You know, please just hold on,we're getting to you as quickly
as we can with sandbags.
You know, please just hold on,we're getting to you as quickly
as we can.
And then, right after that post,I saw another picture and it
was about three or four of thosebusiness owners, including Erin
(16:21):
and some of her staff, andthey're standing in the middle
of the road and you know, likeshin, deep water and they, they.
You have this photo and it'slooking out and you can see the
rest of the street flooded andthey're there standing there
with sandbags.
I mean not even payingattention to what's going around
them, and I knew in that momentokay, bryson City is going to
be okay because of people likeAaron, because of people like
(16:44):
Aaron's staff, because of ourtown, because of our mayor,
because of our aldermen andboard members, because they're
there and they're getting outthere immediately.
And even though I couldn'tcommunicate or text with them
because texting or cell phoneservice was down, I still could
get those glimpses of photoscoming in and just the amount of
people communicating back andforth via Facebook.
(17:05):
Um, it was super heartwarmingbecause, you know, typically
speaking, social media isn'talways the best platform to go
on and natural disasters arereally, honestly, every day,
because it can be so negativeand it can be so crazy with
people's opinions and just theway they talk to each other.
But in this moment, forprobably that good hour that I
was on Facebook, I got moreinformation in that hour and
(17:27):
more photos in that hour than Ihad probably gotten in the
following week, because peoplewere just trying to desperately
update.
And that sense of hope andseeing those people saying, you
know, our businesses areflooding, but we're still out
here on the street trying tohelp the other businesses as
well, was so heartwarming and soencouraging to know, whatever
is happening and until I canfigure out exactly what is
(17:49):
happening, they're taking careof each other and there's
something to be said for thatand I'm glad that that
positivity was on Facebook andwas shown in that way that it
was.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Absolutely.
I do think that that um itthroughout this social media has
been helpful in the beginning,especially in the beginning.
Um, it was really helpful forum, all of the communities that
were facing it to kind of shareinformation and because at times
, from my understanding, youcould access something like
(18:19):
social media but you couldn'tget text through.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
It was always so spotty, it was crazy, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah, so I think that that it was definitely really
helpful during that time.
What steps have been taken tomake sure that Bryson City is
ready to welcome winter visitors?
I know it's going to be.
It's a busy time of year foryou.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Yeah, absolutely Well , again, our first step
obviously was the initialcleanup and then really the
things that we had focused on,even in the following days and
really up, honestly, until lastweek, is trying to clearly
communicate to our audiencewhat's going on.
And again, this goes into thefeeds, into the whole social
(19:01):
media thing.
Everybody has an opinion,everybody has an assumption.
You know they can, and, again,freedom of speech, they can say
whatever.
But we really focused on we'regoing to report the facts, we're
going to, you know, clearlyshow and try to tell everyone
the current, you know, situationstatus of Bryson City.
And that really started withina couple of days when we knew,
(19:22):
okay, we've surveyed the damage,we are not hit as hard as the
other places.
So we need to make sure andbasically set the narrative
straight, set the narrativecorrect and at the time, within
those first, within that, well,honestly, within the first
couple of weeks, you know,generally as a whole West North
(19:42):
Carolina was not the place to befor a tourist.
You know, we had people whowere evacuating from Asheville
coming west to us and saying,you know, hey, they told us we
needed to leave.
Where can we go?
What can we do?
And so, you know, no, we shouldnot have had tourists, we
didn't want people there thefirst couple of days, within
those first reactive days,because people needed to get the
help, we needed to getemergency services in and then
(20:04):
we needed to survey the damage,you know in general.
And so you know, once again,after the couple of days, we
said, ok, we're OK.
Then it was let's connect withour state level and our DOT
levels and let's really figureout what roads are open, what
major interstates and highwaysare open, where is it safe to
travel through?
And then how do we make sureour guests know that?
(20:27):
And again, the reactivity ofpeople within the first couple
of days was a little concerning,because we saw people thinking
oh, you know, they're not goingto open at all this year,
they're going to be closed upuntil, you know, next year.
And although it could seem likethat, with the images coming
through, we really dedicatedourselves to saying we're going
(20:48):
to show real-time footage,real-time images, to show this
is what we look like, this is,you know, this is when we're
ready and we want our touristsand our visitors to take the
safest routes possible.
So, again, becoming that entitythat clearly and transparently
reports the ways to get here andthe appropriate ways to get
here.
You know, that's pretty muchhow we reacted and really
(21:11):
focused on that, and I will haveto say our state travel and
tourism visitancy did anexcellent job of really
corralling us all together.
You know, within the firstcouple of days, we those who
were able and had power and wereable to do it we were able to
jump on a call with each other.
So not only was the state awareof who is open or who can be
(21:32):
open and who cannot be open, andalso, you know, the ones that
weren't hit as hard were awareof the ways that they could help
, the ways that they could.
You know, if they needed tohelp their neighboring county or
community, they would knowimmediately who to contact, what
to do.
And then also we knew the waysin which we could appropriately
promote.
You know we wanted people tocome when it was time and ready,
(21:56):
but we want them to take theirroute and focus on going the
route.
Don't stop.
You know one of our majorinterstates runs through
Asheville, obviously, and sowith 40 being closed and, you
know, opened again, it was okay,you can travel, but please
don't stop in those countiesthat aren't taking visitors.
Please don't stop and use theirgas.
Please don't stop and get theirgroceries.
(22:17):
Come to us, we're ready.
But you know again, travelsafely, but travel straight to
your destination.
So those were some of the waysthat we were really trying to
prepare and again, the businessowners we had full confidence in
them.
They were very open and honestwith us about here's the
situation.
This is how long we think it'sgoing to take and fortunately
(22:42):
for us, it was a couple of days.
There were some other locations, like Darnell Farms is one of
our big agro tourism, culturalentities here and they flooded
there.
Some of their fields floodedand so they had crop damage and
things like that.
And so just them clearly andtransparently communicating with
us about, you know, this iswhat we're going through, this
is what our needs are, um, butwe can still do X, y, z.
That was super helpful.
(23:02):
So, um, again, it was justpreparing everybody, but also
making sure that we're clearlycommunicating.
I can't stress enough howimportant clear communication is
, especially with a naturaldisaster, and so we were.
There was some points where Iwas thinking, okay, I'm just
going to send like a letter, orI'm going to get a pigeon or
something because I can't get atext out, I can't get an email
(23:24):
out, I can't get there.
So let me try to figure outwhatever I can do to get
information out.
And I think that's one of thebiggest things I recall about
this whole experience is justhow difficult it is to try to
communicate with people whenyour main avenues of
communication is gone.
Yeah, so yeah, but like I said,we were very fortunate to be
(23:44):
opened and ready very quickly,but we wanted to be sensitive to
those around us who were notready.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
So to those around us who were not ready, and that's
one of the things that I reallyappreciated from you guys and
the others in Western NorthCarolina was the fact that
everyone was transparent andbeing very clear about what they
needed, whether they wereaccepting visitors or not,
(24:12):
because, especially as thingswent on, we all saw that there
was a lot of information sometrue, some not true that was
going around and coming straightfrom the tourism boards.
That was incredibly, incrediblyimportant to say.
This is what we need yes, youcan come here or no, you cannot
(24:35):
come here, and I think that thatwas very important and I think
everyone did a really great jobwith that.
Can you talk about why it'simportant for visitors to come
and see you and support BrysonCity right now?
I know that even still, there'ssome hesitation on some people
(25:00):
feeling uncomfortable travelingto certain areas.
Can you talk about why it'simportant to travel there and
how visitors can still comeenjoy a weekend there while
being respectful to neighboringcounties that might have been
affected?
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Right.
Well, you know, I think our,again our travel and tourism for
the state has taken a reallygreat approach that I think kind
of reflects all of our opinionsis the best way for our
communities to get back is forour visitors to be back, and I
think that that, you know, justthat thought alone is basically
(25:40):
what speaks.
You know, miles and miles andmiles.
It's we.
You know a lot of our counties,a lot of the counties in
Western Carolina obviously haveexperienced unimaginable
economic devastation, and notonly just that but
infrastructure and land andbuilding.
And, you know, obviously, withdeaths as well, they've just
(26:00):
experienced something that isunimaginable.
But what is even moreunimaginable is, you know, the
economic impact that will have.
And you know a lot of thecounties that again were able to
kind of get back up veryquickly on their feet.
They were very much aware ofnot only what was currently
going on but then also whatcould have happened or what can
(26:22):
happen if economically thingsbegin to take a turn.
And you know we all we're in arecessed economy.
We all know that.
You know we understand that theeveryday tourist guest is going
to be making decisions.
You know, hey, do I save forsix months to take a vacation,
or do I use that money within myown family budget for other
things?
(26:42):
We understand that that'shappening and so it's so
important for our communities tosay again the best way for us
to get back and the best way forus to help our neighbors get
back is to come back and tovisit and to support those
economies that can be supported.
You know travel with that inmind, knowing that you know we
(27:05):
welcome you.
These counties are welcomingyou, and even the counties that
aren't necessarily welcomingright now, they will be ready to
welcome you at some point,whether that is within 2024 or
within 2025, they will be readyat some point to welcome you.
You know the travel and tourismindustry is extremely resilient
.
They have weathered, you know,storms up and down, whether it's
(27:27):
hurricanes, tornadoes or youknow they've weathered those
kinds of storms, but thenthey've also weathered the
economic storms, and so when,again, you have a spirit like
Bryson City that's so focused onresiliency but also tight knit
connection, they are ready towork to make things better, but
then also work to welcome peopleto.
You know their vacation, and soI would understand and I do
(27:51):
understand people's hesitationand that's where I just
encourage people to you knownumber one don't get all the
information about traveling viaFacebook or social media.
You know.
Go to your destination'swebsite themselves.
You know, for example, theBiltmore.
The Biltmore is open inAsheville but there are certain
steps and ways that you wouldtake to get to Biltmore.
(28:12):
They have, you know, alteredsome of the entrance ways to get
in.
Don't go to Facebook to findthat out.
Go to the Biltmore's website.
Go to Asheville's website.
You know, especially eventraveling to Bryson City, don't
go to just a general Facebookpage about.
You know someone's opinion.
Go to ourExploreBrysonlincitycom and
(28:37):
check it out for yourself.
Find the direct link to it.
And again, it's it's asking theguests to be informed, to try
to be informed.
And we all know when you go onvacation you don't really want
to process any information, youjust want to go and be like
somebody else, take care of it.
I'm here, I want to take justlike a brain vacation day.
We get it.
But do a little bit ofpre-planning, you know.
Plan your trip and go directlyto those sources and find that
(28:58):
information.
And, you know, travel with thatin mind, knowing that you're
supporting not only thatcounty's economy but you're
inevitably supporting theirneighboring economies as well
Because, rest assured, all ofthe counties who are able to,
all of the people, thebusinesses within these counties
, not only are they using theireconomic success to support
(29:20):
their business but they're goingto, in turn, support other
people's businesses, otherpeople's livelihoods, because
you know they want that.
We all want everyone to succeed.
You know a rising tide raisesall boats.
We all want everyone to succeed.
You know a rising tide raisesall boats, all ships, and we
want to make sure that we cansupport that rising tide, not
only for our communities but forother ones as well.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Really great advice.
Let's talk about some of thefun things that Bryson City has
going on this winter.
What types of activities orattractions or traditions are
going on in the next couple ofmonths?
Speaker 3 (29:55):
Yes, absolutely so.
Bryson City, I think, is ahallmark town.
Honestly, I know that's atrademark, but I do.
I think it's a hallmark town.
We've called it the heart ofthe holidays because it really
has such a great Christmasspirit.
A lot of that is, um, due tothe Polar Express.
So the Polar Express is ourinsanely popular Christmas train
(30:18):
ride at the Great SmokyMountains Railroad and, um, you
know that always bringsthousands of people to Bryson
City, families and andgenerational families, which is
great, and it brings them all intheir PJs, which we love.
Because where else are yougoing to go to a small town and
see, you know, 500 peoplewalking around in PJs eating at
the pizza place or you know,grabbing coffee or a Danish at
(30:39):
the bakery.
So that itself is pretty coolto come in and see that.
So obviously, the Polar Expressis one of our biggest holiday
things to attract people.
But you know we have our.
The yard is one of the placeshere that we've opened up that
has ice skating, they do hotcocoa and cookies and that's
really cool, because you know,we wish we were in the mountain
(31:01):
areas that got snow all the time.
That's not necessarily possible, so anytime we can experience a
winter treat like ice skating.
That's really fun.
Bryson City also has adrive-thru light show called the
Great Smoky Mountains ChristmasLight Spectacular, which is a
fantastic thing to do in yourcar with your family or your
pets.
You know, bring your snacks,drive through.
(31:23):
We've got fun Christmas musicplaying and it's a really,
really, really fun light display.
And then, just in general, ourdowntown merchants.
You know downtown is lit.
We have our main countyChristmas tree area at our
county courthouse.
That's historic, that it reallymakes you feel like you've
stepped into a Hallmark movie.
You know the lights aretwinkling, the shops are open,
(31:45):
the restaurants are open and youknow people are milling around.
There's always activity and youknow, I think again, that's
part of the spirit that it holds.
It's just, we understand theimportance of Christmas and we
also understand the importanceof the spirit of Christmas and
for the most part we haveparticipated in that spirit year
over year over year and we justkeep building on it.
You know there's wonderfullodging as well.
(32:07):
I mean, if you want to comesomewhere where you have other
options besides just a hotel,we've got cabins, we have
glamping, we have really uniqueplaces that you would never like
.
An Airbus.
I mean, you would never thinkto say I'm going to stay in an
Airbus or an Airstream.
There's all kinds of options tostay that really make your
vacation unique.
So, yeah, christmas is ourseason and we are very excited
(32:29):
to finally be in it.
We can't believe it.
It's been so fast, but yeah,we're very, very excited about
Christmas.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
I do feel the same.
I cannot believe that we'realready at the holidays.
Yeah, it's crazy.
So I have one more question foryou.
I ask everyone this questionevery episode.
Do you have a favorite quote orany words of wisdom that you
would like to leave behind?
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Oh man, um, hmm, that is a really, really great
question.
Um, oh goodness, I'd say aquote.
This is, I feel like it's socliche and I don't.
I mean, yeah, I have a, um, avery interesting take on trying
(33:20):
to and this may just be becauseI've been working for so long
and my age or whatever, but Itried to um, you know, let
things come and go as they, asthey are, and so I've heard this
and we all say it, but it iswhat it is.
You know, it is what it is, andI don't say that in a cynical
or a negative way.
You know, we are especially inthis line of work, travel and
(33:40):
tourism.
It ebbs and flows.
You know, there's things thathappen that are out of your
control, and the good thing isis you can receive it, deal with
it and then move on, let it go,and that's good and bad, and so
, generally speaking, yeah, itis what it is.
You know we've had aninteresting season, but it is
what it is and we're going tomake the best of it.
(34:02):
Um, even if it's not what wewould love to see, we're still
going to do the best we can tomake it the best it is.
And, um, yeah, I think a lot oftimes I wake up in the morning
and I just think, well, this andthis and this could be better,
and we could do this, this, thisand better.
But you know what it is what itis, and most of the time it's
wonderful, it's perfect, it'sgreat, um, and so, yeah, that's
(34:24):
as far as a lasting legacy Iwould not want that to be it,
but as as far as the line ofwork that we're in, it is what
it is and it's okay, it's goingto be great.
You know, and I really havefelt so much pride for Bryson
City in this community and tosee how they've, you know, dealt
with this whole situationbecause, again, it was
(34:45):
unprecedented.
Nobody knew what to expect andjust to watch them respond and
then watch them take that aspectof, hey, we've had some, you
know, we had flooding, or mybusiness is flooded or there's
mud everywhere, but they said itis what it is and we've got to
clean it up and we've got tokeep moving forward and, you
know, we've got to open, we'vegot to keep moving.
(35:06):
And I think that there'ssomething to be said for that,
because they didn't dwell, theydidn't stop, they didn't say,
okay, this is it for us, we'redone, we can't rebuild, we can't
move, we just we're going tostay here.
They said, nope, we're going tokeep moving forward.
And they have really madeBryson City what it is and have
really.
I think there was a few coupleof integral days where they
(35:29):
could have lost, they could havelost the season.
They could have said, nope,we're just going to give up,
we're not gonna, you know, we'renot gonna, we're not going to
do anything, we're just going tosit here.
But they said, nope, we'regoing to capture the spirit,
we're going to keep on moving,we're going to get ready and
we're just, you know we're goingto trust each other.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
We're's been amazing to watch the community do that.
My husband always tells me toonly focus on what you can
control, and I think that BrysonCity has done a really
wonderful job of that throughthe last month.
Thank you so much for takingtime to be with me today and
sharing a little bit aboutBryson City, and I know that you
guys are gonna have an amazingholiday season and I can't wait
(36:16):
to come visit.
Yeah, I really appreciate youbeing with me today absolutely.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
Thank you for having me and, like I said, we're
welcoming everybody.
So, please, if you needsomewhere to travel for
Christmas, we have got you takencare of.
Come to Bryson City and you canvisit us at explore Bryson City
, comm.
And yeah, you come, just bringyour Christmas spirit with you,
because there's enough of it togo around.
Everyone has a story to tell.
We connect and relate to oneanother when we share our
stories.
My name is Amelia Old and I amyour host of Voices of
Inspiration.
Join me as I share stories offriends, family and strangers
from my everyday life andtravels.
We will laugh, possibly cry orwalk away, feeling connected
more than ever to those aroundyou and ready to be the change
(00:24):
our world needs.
Everyone has a story to tell.
What's yours?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thank you so much for joining me today.
I know that things have beenvery busy your way, especially
over the last month, month and ahalf, and you're getting ready
to go into a very busy tourismseason, so I know things are
busy.
So thank you so much for takingtime just to share a little bit
about your story today.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So can you just start off by telling us a little bit
about your role in Bryson City'stourism development?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Sure, absolutely so.
I am serving as the SwainCounty TDA Executive Director,
so I work with a wonderful boardthat is basically.
Our goal is to promote BrysonCity, Swain County, and travel
and tourism within the state,within our popular region I mean
, obviously, anywhere we can.
(01:29):
It's a very exciting role.
It's like a quasi localgovernment, quasi community,
quasi PR marketing job.
So it's very, very differentthan a lot of the jobs that I've
had in the past.
But I've been in Swain Countyand Bryson City for a long, long
time so it seemed very natural.
I have a wonderful board that isjust very passionate about the
(01:53):
community and the tourismcommunity and the tourism
industry.
So it's very, very helpful tohave people that you're working
with who are just as passionate.
You're working with who arejust as passionate, and the fact
that these are, you know, localbusiness owners, local
community members themselves andthey're taking the time out of
their day to come and, you know,work for the whole of Swain
County.
So it's a really interestingjob.
(02:15):
Every day is different.
We'll just say that Every dayis different.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Never boring right.
Exactly, Yep.
What initially drew you toworking in tourism?
What?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
initially drew you to working in tourism.
Oh man, well, I actuallygraduated from UNC Charlotte in
2008.
And so obviously we can kind ofrecall the time frame.
Well, hopefully we can kind ofrecall We've been through so
much these last what 15 years.
I mean, it's been crazy.
But at UNC Charlotte my goal wasactually to go into NASCAR, and
(02:53):
so I had interned there atCharlotte Motor Speedway and,
you know, just really sort offell in love with the whole PR
aspect of NASCAR and I thought,hmm, this is a big industry, but
it seemed like a verytight-knit community.
And so I remember having aconversation with my dad and I
said, you know, I really ampassionate about PR, pr and
marketing, and I like thevibrancy of it, the excitement
of it.
And he said, well, you know,industries come and go, you know
they're up and they're down.
He said, but one industry thatI feel like is going to be here
(03:15):
forever is tourism.
And I thought, hmm, tourism andhospitality.
And I thought, yeah, you know,everybody wants to take a
vacation, everybody has to gostay somewhere, everybody needs
to enjoy, you know, time awayfrom work and real life.
And so it was just sort of alight bulb moment where I
thought, okay, I've had fun inNASCAR, but let me try something
.
You know, as I'm graduatingfrom college, let me try
(03:36):
something that I think is goingto be long lasting, and my focus
was to originally get somewherein Asheville.
I wanted to be in the AshevilleMountains.
My family is from Hickory, whichis the Piedmont area, but our
roots are in Swin County, and itwas just one of those keep
searching, keep searching, keepsearching until you can find
something.
And I landed a fantastic job atGreat Smoky Mountains where I
(03:58):
wrote in Bryson City.
And just to be an earlygraduate in 2008 and really land
a good job immediately wasinsane.
So, um, yeah, I packed up fromCharlotte and moved, you know,
up to to Bryson city and, um, Iwas with the railroad for 13
years.
And, um, after those 13 years,it was basically like, okay, I'm
(04:20):
committed to this industry.
So the people that I've met,the experiences I've had, the
places I've gotten to travel asa benefit of being in
hospitality and tourism havebeen fantastic.
And, you know, taking this stepinto an executive director role
with Swain County was just astep.
To say, you know, I worked forthe largest attraction in Bryson
(04:40):
City for so long Now I get toactually work for the whole
county and it just seemed like anatural progression, and the
excitement has not stopped.
I'll tell you that.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
How would you describe the spirit of Bryson
City and its people to someonewho's never been there?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Oh man, that is such a great question.
You know, I feel like we all,when you ask those kind of
questions about where you'reliving or working, you know we
all feel like it's unique.
Everybody's story, everybody'sanswer is unique to that
location.
And, you know, nobody else canexperience the things that
(05:19):
you're talking about unless theyvisit there or they're from
there.
And so, man to really tunnel itdown, if I'm explaining the
spirit, there's a closeconnection in that community,
where there's heritage, there'sroots, there's culture, but
there's also just a sense ofhardworking, a drive, a goal of
(05:40):
just always, you know, puttingthe best foot forward.
And you know, just in general,as far as a working community,
they're fantastic.
I mean, you have families thathave been there for years, I
mean hundreds of years, who youknow they still live in the same
area that their great, greatgreat grandparents lived in and
there's something to be said forthat.
(06:00):
I think a lot of peopleappreciate that groundedness,
that rootedness, to be exactlywhere their family's been for
hundreds of years.
As far as describing it as atravel and tourism destination,
it is such a unique town I don'tthink it's the best kept secret
anymore, because I think we'vedone a really good job of
putting ourselves on the map.
(06:21):
But there is still thattraditional small town mountain
getaway location in Bryson Citythat you feel like you're at
home, even though it's not yourhome we hear a lot of people
talk about.
Every time I go there, I wantto move here, I want to move
here, I want to move here andthat really is.
It's a place you can vacationand feel like you're coming home
(06:42):
, but also feel like you get theadventure and excitement of a
vacation.
You know you do things thataren't normally what you do in
everyday life.
So if you're looking for thatlike just quintessential small
mountain town experience, that'sBryson City and there's such a
warm connection that the townitself just holds and resonates
with visitors just holds andresonates with visitors.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Unfortunately, just back in September Western North
Carolina faced great devastationwith Hurricane Helene.
Can you share a little bitabout the challenges Bryson City
faced with Hurricane Helene andmaybe even your own personal
experience in those first coupleof days?
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Yeah, well, first and foremost, I will say that we
have, just as a community andjust personally, we've been
brokenhearted to see some of ourneighboring counties and what
they're going through.
The devastation is unimaginable.
You know, obviously, in thetravel and tourism world,
devastation is unimaginable.
Obviously, in the travel andtourism world we have close
(07:50):
connections business-wise, andso a lot of those places like
Asheville, chimney, rock, beachMountain, boone, bulling Rock,
grandfather Mountain, we allhave personal connections with,
not only on the business sidebut on the personal side, and so
just the stories and what we'veexperienced through their eyes
has been devastation, I meancompletely devastated, and our
hearts have broken and breakingfor them.
(08:12):
Fortunately for Bryson City,because the way that the storm
tracked it took a eastern turntowards I think that last couple
of hours, which was notanticipated, but because of that
, that last couple of hours,which was not anticipated, but
because of that, our far westernNorth Carolina counties like
Bryson City, swain County,graham County, clay, those
counties did not receive as muchdamage as our eastern neighbors
(08:34):
, but we did have flooding.
We had some flooding downtownand that was minimal and I say
minimal in comparison to whatyou saw everywhere else.
It was minimal and you know, asfast as the waters came, they
receded quickly.
This type of flooding wasdifferent because it brought in
so much of the mud and the siltand all the nastiness from the
(08:57):
rivers and so yeah, just it's.
It was something that I hadnever experienced, because you
think when you're in a hurricane, first of all you think of the
beach or the coast and you seethe palm trees, you know, bent
over sideways.
So a hurricane coming throughthe mountains and the terrains
of the mountains is somethingthat I have never experienced in
that way.
So you think of, you know theflooding and how that happened.
(09:22):
It wasn't a.
It wasn't a.
There were flash floods, but itwas a slow progression.
It was, you know, standingthere watching the rivers rise
and knowing there's nothing youcan do.
You just have to let it do whatit's going to do and then try
to regroup and figure out whatto do to clean up.
So, with Bryson, they knew theriver was going to flood, they
knew it was going to, theyfigured, okay, it's going to
(09:43):
come over its banks, it's goingto come and spill it into main
street.
So the business community,especially in downtown I mean
immediately acted.
We're banding together, we'reputting out sandbags.
Obviously, one of the biggeststories has been the lack of
communication.
That happened, you know, rightas the hurricane hit, and that
was 100% true.
The cell phone service andwifi-Fi was going out, you know,
(10:04):
intermittently.
You would have it, you wouldn't.
And so this really came down topeople being there on site in
the moment communicatingface-to-face about hey, we need
sandbags over here, hey, we needto go into this business and
get their stuff up off of theground, or you know how, we need
to go check on this person overhere.
So it was so interesting to seethat happen because you're, you
(10:26):
know, you're so used to justpicking up your phone and
shooting a text.
Are you okay, are you?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
there.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Well, when you can't do that, you've got to go
physically there and see that.
So the the downtown Bryson city, like I said, they, as quickly
as the waters came, they recededand, um, just as fast the
business community bandedtogether and said, hey, we got
to clean up, we got to figureout how we can help each other.
You know, what do you need?
Do you need shovels?
Do you need an HVAC, do youneed, you know, dehumidifier,
(10:54):
what do you need?
And so, really seeing thathappen, I think that it set a
tone for how Breslin City wasgoing to operate from that point
moving forward.
Their biggest concern was totake care of each other, take
care of their neighbors and then, you know, make sure they can
make Bryson City as safe aspossible.
You know, personally I don'tlive right in downtown Bryson
(11:20):
City, but I live in the area,and so just trying to
communicate with my own peopleand my own people that I worked
with was so difficult, and thenadapting to what we had to do,
just to get it done, ofcommunicate with my own people
and my own people that I workedwith, was so difficult, and then
adapting to what we had to dojust to get it done.
You know, driving 30 minutesoutside somewhere to go get cell
phone service, you know, tryingto ration your groceries,
trying to make sure you can savewhatever's in your freezer.
We, you know, we were all sortof dealing with it in our own
(11:43):
way.
But as far as just downtownBryson City itself, they really
were super reactive, superhelpful and fortunately, like I
said, we did not see thedevastation that our neighbors
saw After the initial cleanupbegan and things were starting
to roll.
I think the next turn was wewere all standing there going.
(12:05):
How can we help our neighbors?
How can we help Buncombe?
How can we help Old Fort?
How can we help Marion?
What can we do for Chimney Rock?
And again, that's just atestament to the Bryson City
spirit Once they know they'reokay, they're going to turn and
help their neighbors.
They're going to turn and helpthose people that they know they
need help.
So, yeah, it's, it's one ofthose experiences that I wish I
(12:27):
was a journaler, because I wouldlove to have journaled the
entirety of it so that I couldrecall it clearly, because I,
you know, I don't think I'llever see anything like that in
my lifetime.
I hope we don't ever see ahurricane like that again in our
lifetime, because it will be.
There will be lasting effects,absolutely, it will be.
There will be lasting effectsAbsolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, I agree.
I live just outside ofCharlotte, so I'm not terribly
far away and I've never seenanything like that either.
I've spent a lot of time in themountains and I've never seen
anything like that.
And to your point about thecell phone service and
communication for those thathave spent time in the North
(13:05):
Carolina mountains or anymountains, really there are a
lot of times where that servicecan be spotty anyway.
And so add this into it.
You know it makes sense as towhy it just was non-existent.
Through all of this, I'vespoken to a couple of people you
(13:29):
know about their experiencesand what they've gone through.
A couple of people you knowabout their experiences and and
what they've gone through, butalso other stories that they've
seen, maybe in their communitiesor nearby.
Is there one?
I know that there are many, butis there one particular story
that just really stands out toyou that in that moment you were
(13:51):
just really taken aback withfeeling inspired, having hope,
overwhelmingly, feeling justlike, wow, you know this,
watching everyone come together.
You know it's the one storythat sticks out.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
One of our business owners her name is Erin and she
owns Humanity Boutique and sheand I had been texting, and the
way that the storm came in inthe morning, the early hours of
Friday, it was like we had cellphone service for a good amount
of time and then all of a suddenit just went out.
You know, it just was veryrandom.
And so in that morning we hadbeen texting each other back and
(14:29):
forth and I had been trying topop on Facebook and figure out
what's going on.
And, um, there was a momentwhen the cell phone service went
out and and we were mid textingeach other, you know, and she
was saying, um, I've, I've gotto run downtown, you know, we're
(14:49):
going to check on thebusinesses, I'll let you know.
And I said, okay, great, justlet me know.
And she said, vice versa, youknow, I was teetering on what I
have to evacuate, not sure,waiting on those orders as well,
and then the cell phone servicejust went out, done, and there
was a good probably four or fivehours where I just kept
thinking what's going on, what'sgoing on, what's going on.
(15:10):
And so, after the storm hadcleared, going on, what's going
on, what's going on.
And so, um, after the storm hadcleared, interestingly enough
after the hurricane movedthrough, it was a beautiful day,
I mean, the blue skies were out, it was, the temperatures were
cool, I mean it was it was agorgeous day.
And so, you know, I thought,let me head out and try to find
cell phone service.
So I headed east, you know,towards towards Asheville, to
(15:38):
see if I could find some service.
And as soon as I got service,you know, my phone just started
paying immediately.
And I got onto Facebook and, um,you know, there was just post
after post after post of photosthat were coming in from people
downtown that were takingpictures.
And, um, you know, just not notedited photos, not perfectly
shot photos.
It was literally just, we'retrying to share information
because we know it's getting.
You know, communications aredown.
And I saw there was some photosabout Everett Street and Main
(16:01):
Street, specifically whereErin's business is at, and you
know she had posted and she saidyou know, we are getting out
there as fast as we can withsandbags.
You know, please just hold on,we're getting to you as quickly
as we can with sandbags.
You know, please just hold on,we're getting to you as quickly
as we can.
And then, right after that post,I saw another picture and it
was about three or four of thosebusiness owners, including Erin
(16:21):
and some of her staff, andthey're standing in the middle
of the road and you know, likeshin, deep water and they, they.
You have this photo and it'slooking out and you can see the
rest of the street flooded andthey're there standing there
with sandbags.
I mean not even payingattention to what's going around
them, and I knew in that momentokay, bryson City is going to
be okay because of people likeAaron, because of people like
(16:44):
Aaron's staff, because of ourtown, because of our mayor,
because of our aldermen andboard members, because they're
there and they're getting outthere immediately.
And even though I couldn'tcommunicate or text with them
because texting or cell phoneservice was down, I still could
get those glimpses of photoscoming in and just the amount of
people communicating back andforth via Facebook.
(17:05):
Um, it was super heartwarmingbecause, you know, typically
speaking, social media isn'talways the best platform to go
on and natural disasters arereally, honestly, every day,
because it can be so negativeand it can be so crazy with
people's opinions and just theway they talk to each other.
But in this moment, forprobably that good hour that I
was on Facebook, I got moreinformation in that hour and
(17:27):
more photos in that hour than Ihad probably gotten in the
following week, because peoplewere just trying to desperately
update.
And that sense of hope andseeing those people saying, you
know, our businesses areflooding, but we're still out
here on the street trying tohelp the other businesses as
well, was so heartwarming and soencouraging to know, whatever
is happening and until I canfigure out exactly what is
(17:49):
happening, they're taking careof each other and there's
something to be said for thatand I'm glad that that
positivity was on Facebook andwas shown in that way that it
was.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Absolutely.
I do think that that um itthroughout this social media has
been helpful in the beginning,especially in the beginning.
Um, it was really helpful forum, all of the communities that
were facing it to kind of shareinformation and because at times
, from my understanding, youcould access something like
(18:19):
social media but you couldn'tget text through.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
It was always so spotty, it was crazy, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah, so I think that that it was definitely really
helpful during that time.
What steps have been taken tomake sure that Bryson City is
ready to welcome winter visitors?
I know it's going to be.
It's a busy time of year foryou.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Yeah, absolutely Well , again, our first step
obviously was the initialcleanup and then really the
things that we had focused on,even in the following days and
really up, honestly, until lastweek, is trying to clearly
communicate to our audiencewhat's going on.
And again, this goes into thefeeds, into the whole social
(19:01):
media thing.
Everybody has an opinion,everybody has an assumption.
You know they can, and, again,freedom of speech, they can say
whatever.
But we really focused on we'regoing to report the facts, we're
going to, you know, clearlyshow and try to tell everyone
the current, you know, situationstatus of Bryson City.
And that really started withina couple of days when we knew,
(19:22):
okay, we've surveyed the damage,we are not hit as hard as the
other places.
So we need to make sure andbasically set the narrative
straight, set the narrativecorrect and at the time, within
those first, within that, well,honestly, within the first
couple of weeks, you know,generally as a whole West North
(19:42):
Carolina was not the place to befor a tourist.
You know, we had people whowere evacuating from Asheville
coming west to us and saying,you know, hey, they told us we
needed to leave.
Where can we go?
What can we do?
And so, you know, no, we shouldnot have had tourists, we
didn't want people there thefirst couple of days, within
those first reactive days,because people needed to get the
help, we needed to getemergency services in and then
(20:04):
we needed to survey the damage,you know in general.
And so you know, once again,after the couple of days, we
said, ok, we're OK.
Then it was let's connect withour state level and our DOT
levels and let's really figureout what roads are open, what
major interstates and highwaysare open, where is it safe to
travel through?
And then how do we make sureour guests know that?
(20:27):
And again, the reactivity ofpeople within the first couple
of days was a little concerning,because we saw people thinking
oh, you know, they're not goingto open at all this year,
they're going to be closed upuntil, you know, next year.
And although it could seem likethat, with the images coming
through, we really dedicatedourselves to saying we're going
(20:48):
to show real-time footage,real-time images, to show this
is what we look like, this is,you know, this is when we're
ready and we want our touristsand our visitors to take the
safest routes possible.
So, again, becoming that entitythat clearly and transparently
reports the ways to get here andthe appropriate ways to get
here.
You know, that's pretty muchhow we reacted and really
(21:11):
focused on that, and I will haveto say our state travel and
tourism visitancy did anexcellent job of really
corralling us all together.
You know, within the firstcouple of days, we those who
were able and had power and wereable to do it we were able to
jump on a call with each other.
So not only was the state awareof who is open or who can be
(21:32):
open and who cannot be open, andalso, you know, the ones that
weren't hit as hard were awareof the ways that they could help
, the ways that they could.
You know, if they needed tohelp their neighboring county or
community, they would knowimmediately who to contact, what
to do.
And then also we knew the waysin which we could appropriately
promote.
You know we wanted people tocome when it was time and ready,
(21:56):
but we want them to take theirroute and focus on going the
route.
Don't stop.
You know one of our majorinterstates runs through
Asheville, obviously, and sowith 40 being closed and, you
know, opened again, it was okay,you can travel, but please
don't stop in those countiesthat aren't taking visitors.
Please don't stop and use theirgas.
Please don't stop and get theirgroceries.
(22:17):
Come to us, we're ready.
But you know again, travelsafely, but travel straight to
your destination.
So those were some of the waysthat we were really trying to
prepare and again, the businessowners we had full confidence in
them.
They were very open and honestwith us about here's the
situation.
This is how long we think it'sgoing to take and fortunately
(22:42):
for us, it was a couple of days.
There were some other locations, like Darnell Farms is one of
our big agro tourism, culturalentities here and they flooded
there.
Some of their fields floodedand so they had crop damage and
things like that.
And so just them clearly andtransparently communicating with
us about, you know, this iswhat we're going through, this
is what our needs are, um, butwe can still do X, y, z.
That was super helpful.
(23:02):
So, um, again, it was justpreparing everybody, but also
making sure that we're clearlycommunicating.
I can't stress enough howimportant clear communication is
, especially with a naturaldisaster, and so we were.
There was some points where Iwas thinking, okay, I'm just
going to send like a letter, orI'm going to get a pigeon or
something because I can't get atext out, I can't get an email
(23:24):
out, I can't get there.
So let me try to figure outwhatever I can do to get
information out.
And I think that's one of thebiggest things I recall about
this whole experience is justhow difficult it is to try to
communicate with people whenyour main avenues of
communication is gone.
Yeah, so yeah, but like I said,we were very fortunate to be
(23:44):
opened and ready very quickly,but we wanted to be sensitive to
those around us who were notready.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
So to those around us who were not ready, and that's
one of the things that I reallyappreciated from you guys and
the others in Western NorthCarolina was the fact that
everyone was transparent andbeing very clear about what they
needed, whether they wereaccepting visitors or not,
(24:12):
because, especially as thingswent on, we all saw that there
was a lot of information sometrue, some not true that was
going around and coming straightfrom the tourism boards.
That was incredibly, incrediblyimportant to say.
This is what we need yes, youcan come here or no, you cannot
(24:35):
come here, and I think that thatwas very important and I think
everyone did a really great jobwith that.
Can you talk about why it'simportant for visitors to come
and see you and support BrysonCity right now?
I know that even still, there'ssome hesitation on some people
(25:00):
feeling uncomfortable travelingto certain areas.
Can you talk about why it'simportant to travel there and
how visitors can still comeenjoy a weekend there while
being respectful to neighboringcounties that might have been
affected?
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Right.
Well, you know, I think our,again our travel and tourism for
the state has taken a reallygreat approach that I think kind
of reflects all of our opinionsis the best way for our
communities to get back is forour visitors to be back, and I
think that that, you know, justthat thought alone is basically
(25:40):
what speaks.
You know, miles and miles andmiles.
It's we.
You know a lot of our counties,a lot of the counties in
Western Carolina obviously haveexperienced unimaginable
economic devastation, and notonly just that but
infrastructure and land andbuilding.
And, you know, obviously, withdeaths as well, they've just
(26:00):
experienced something that isunimaginable.
But what is even moreunimaginable is, you know, the
economic impact that will have.
And you know a lot of thecounties that again were able to
kind of get back up veryquickly on their feet.
They were very much aware ofnot only what was currently
going on but then also whatcould have happened or what can
(26:22):
happen if economically thingsbegin to take a turn.
And you know we all we're in arecessed economy.
We all know that.
You know we understand that theeveryday tourist guest is going
to be making decisions.
You know, hey, do I save forsix months to take a vacation,
or do I use that money within myown family budget for other
things?
(26:42):
We understand that that'shappening and so it's so
important for our communities tosay again the best way for us
to get back and the best way forus to help our neighbors get
back is to come back and tovisit and to support those
economies that can be supported.
You know travel with that inmind, knowing that you know we
(27:05):
welcome you.
These counties are welcomingyou, and even the counties that
aren't necessarily welcomingright now, they will be ready to
welcome you at some point,whether that is within 2024 or
within 2025, they will be readyat some point to welcome you.
You know the travel and tourismindustry is extremely resilient
.
They have weathered, you know,storms up and down, whether it's
(27:27):
hurricanes, tornadoes or youknow they've weathered those
kinds of storms, but thenthey've also weathered the
economic storms, and so when,again, you have a spirit like
Bryson City that's so focused onresiliency but also tight knit
connection, they are ready towork to make things better, but
then also work to welcome peopleto.
You know their vacation, and soI would understand and I do
(27:51):
understand people's hesitationand that's where I just
encourage people to you knownumber one don't get all the
information about traveling viaFacebook or social media.
You know.
Go to your destination'swebsite themselves.
You know, for example, theBiltmore.
The Biltmore is open inAsheville but there are certain
steps and ways that you wouldtake to get to Biltmore.
(28:12):
They have, you know, alteredsome of the entrance ways to get
in.
Don't go to Facebook to findthat out.
Go to the Biltmore's website.
Go to Asheville's website.
You know, especially eventraveling to Bryson City, don't
go to just a general Facebookpage about.
You know someone's opinion.
Go to ourExploreBrysonlincitycom and
(28:37):
check it out for yourself.
Find the direct link to it.
And again, it's it's asking theguests to be informed, to try
to be informed.
And we all know when you go onvacation you don't really want
to process any information, youjust want to go and be like
somebody else, take care of it.
I'm here, I want to take justlike a brain vacation day.
We get it.
But do a little bit ofpre-planning, you know.
Plan your trip and go directlyto those sources and find that
(28:58):
information.
And, you know, travel with thatin mind, knowing that you're
supporting not only thatcounty's economy but you're
inevitably supporting theirneighboring economies as well
Because, rest assured, all ofthe counties who are able to,
all of the people, thebusinesses within these counties
, not only are they using theireconomic success to support
(29:20):
their business but they're goingto, in turn, support other
people's businesses, otherpeople's livelihoods, because
you know they want that.
We all want everyone to succeed.
You know a rising tide raisesall boats.
We all want everyone to succeed.
You know a rising tide raisesall boats, all ships, and we
want to make sure that we cansupport that rising tide, not
only for our communities but forother ones as well.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Really great advice.
Let's talk about some of thefun things that Bryson City has
going on this winter.
What types of activities orattractions or traditions are
going on in the next couple ofmonths?
Speaker 3 (29:55):
Yes, absolutely so.
Bryson City, I think, is ahallmark town.
Honestly, I know that's atrademark, but I do.
I think it's a hallmark town.
We've called it the heart ofthe holidays because it really
has such a great Christmasspirit.
A lot of that is, um, due tothe Polar Express.
So the Polar Express is ourinsanely popular Christmas train
(30:18):
ride at the Great SmokyMountains Railroad and, um, you
know that always bringsthousands of people to Bryson
City, families and andgenerational families, which is
great, and it brings them all intheir PJs, which we love.
Because where else are yougoing to go to a small town and
see, you know, 500 peoplewalking around in PJs eating at
the pizza place or you know,grabbing coffee or a Danish at
(30:39):
the bakery.
So that itself is pretty coolto come in and see that.
So obviously, the Polar Expressis one of our biggest holiday
things to attract people.
But you know we have our.
The yard is one of the placeshere that we've opened up that
has ice skating, they do hotcocoa and cookies and that's
really cool, because you know,we wish we were in the mountain
(31:01):
areas that got snow all the time.
That's not necessarily possible, so anytime we can experience a
winter treat like ice skating.
That's really fun.
Bryson City also has adrive-thru light show called the
Great Smoky Mountains ChristmasLight Spectacular, which is a
fantastic thing to do in yourcar with your family or your
pets.
You know, bring your snacks,drive through.
(31:23):
We've got fun Christmas musicplaying and it's a really,
really, really fun light display.
And then, just in general, ourdowntown merchants.
You know downtown is lit.
We have our main countyChristmas tree area at our
county courthouse.
That's historic, that it reallymakes you feel like you've
stepped into a Hallmark movie.
You know the lights aretwinkling, the shops are open,
(31:45):
the restaurants are open and youknow people are milling around.
There's always activity and youknow, I think again, that's
part of the spirit that it holds.
It's just, we understand theimportance of Christmas and we
also understand the importanceof the spirit of Christmas and
for the most part we haveparticipated in that spirit year
over year over year and we justkeep building on it.
You know there's wonderfullodging as well.
(32:07):
I mean, if you want to comesomewhere where you have other
options besides just a hotel,we've got cabins, we have
glamping, we have really uniqueplaces that you would never like
.
An Airbus.
I mean, you would never thinkto say I'm going to stay in an
Airbus or an Airstream.
There's all kinds of options tostay that really make your
vacation unique.
So, yeah, christmas is ourseason and we are very excited
(32:29):
to finally be in it.
We can't believe it.
It's been so fast, but yeah,we're very, very excited about
Christmas.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
I do feel the same.
I cannot believe that we'realready at the holidays.
Yeah, it's crazy.
So I have one more question foryou.
I ask everyone this questionevery episode.
Do you have a favorite quote orany words of wisdom that you
would like to leave behind?
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Oh man, um, hmm, that is a really, really great
question.
Um, oh goodness, I'd say aquote.
This is, I feel like it's socliche and I don't.
I mean, yeah, I have a, um, avery interesting take on trying
(33:20):
to and this may just be becauseI've been working for so long
and my age or whatever, but Itried to um, you know, let
things come and go as they, asthey are, and so I've heard this
and we all say it, but it iswhat it is.
You know, it is what it is, andI don't say that in a cynical
or a negative way.
You know, we are especially inthis line of work, travel and
(33:40):
tourism.
It ebbs and flows.
You know, there's things thathappen that are out of your
control, and the good thing isis you can receive it, deal with
it and then move on, let it go,and that's good and bad, and so
, generally speaking, yeah, itis what it is.
You know we've had aninteresting season, but it is
what it is and we're going tomake the best of it.
(34:02):
Um, even if it's not what wewould love to see, we're still
going to do the best we can tomake it the best it is.
And, um, yeah, I think a lot oftimes I wake up in the morning
and I just think, well, this andthis and this could be better,
and we could do this, this, thisand better.
But you know what it is what itis, and most of the time it's
wonderful, it's perfect, it'sgreat, um, and so, yeah, that's
(34:24):
as far as a lasting legacy Iwould not want that to be it,
but as as far as the line ofwork that we're in, it is what
it is and it's okay, it's goingto be great.
You know, and I really havefelt so much pride for Bryson
City in this community and tosee how they've, you know, dealt
with this whole situationbecause, again, it was
(34:45):
unprecedented.
Nobody knew what to expect andjust to watch them respond and
then watch them take that aspectof, hey, we've had some, you
know, we had flooding, or mybusiness is flooded or there's
mud everywhere, but they said itis what it is and we've got to
clean it up and we've got tokeep moving forward and, you
know, we've got to open, we'vegot to keep moving.
(35:06):
And I think that there'ssomething to be said for that,
because they didn't dwell, theydidn't stop, they didn't say,
okay, this is it for us, we'redone, we can't rebuild, we can't
move, we just we're going tostay here.
They said, nope, we're going tokeep moving forward.
And they have really madeBryson City what it is and have
really.
I think there was a few coupleof integral days where they
(35:29):
could have lost, they could havelost the season.
They could have said, nope,we're just going to give up,
we're not gonna, you know, we'renot gonna, we're not going to
do anything, we're just going tosit here.
But they said, nope, we'regoing to capture the spirit,
we're going to keep on moving,we're going to get ready and
we're just, you know we're goingto trust each other.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
We're's been amazing to watch the community do that.
My husband always tells me toonly focus on what you can
control, and I think that BrysonCity has done a really
wonderful job of that throughthe last month.
Thank you so much for takingtime to be with me today and
sharing a little bit aboutBryson City, and I know that you
guys are gonna have an amazingholiday season and I can't wait
(36:16):
to come visit.
Yeah, I really appreciate youbeing with me today absolutely.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
Thank you for having me and, like I said, we're
welcoming everybody.
So, please, if you needsomewhere to travel for
Christmas, we have got you takencare of.
Come to Bryson City and you canvisit us at explore Bryson City
, comm.
And yeah, you come, just bringyour Christmas spirit with you,
because there's enough of it togo around.
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