Arrive To: CHECK-IN: Please arrive at the hotel between 3:00-5:00pm. Check into your room at the front desk and then register with Road Scholar staff in the Main lobby. At this time you'll be given a welcome packet containing your name tag, up-to-date itinerary and other useful information.

Dinner: Dinner is included at the Music Road Hotel

Evening: ORIENTATION: After dinner we will have our Orientaion. This will provide you with information about the hotel, program itinerary, instructors, venues and on site staff.

Lodging: Main Stay Inn Suites

Meals Included: Dinner

Lectures: History of Pigeon Forge, Evolution of Music in Pigeon Forge, Comedy Shows

Breakfast: Breakfast is served at the inn

Morning: PRESENTATIONS: Meet with local historian and discuss the transformation of Pigeon Forge. Learn why this small mountain town has become the entertainment capital of the Smokey Mountains. Learn what has drawn these entertainers with their many varieties of showmanship. Evolution of Music in Pigeon Forge Mountain/Bluegrass/Country Music is as timeless as the majestic Appalachians themselves. When our great country was young, shipload after shipload of immigrants came to her shores from points far and wide, and many of them found themselves trying to eke out a meager living in the hills and hollows of Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia and North Carolina. Back then times were hard, days were long and entertainment options were very few. One of the most common forms of entertainment in those days was music, and since there were no recordings - or even radio for that matter - families spent much of what little free time they had making their own music. They sang a bevy of songs that they brought with them from their native countries, and over time a new form of music took root that was influenced heavily by a mixture of Irish, Scotch and African rhythms. This "Mountain Music" has endured for hundreds of years, giving birth to what we now know as Bluegrass and Country music along the way. Singers and musicians from the middle Appalachian region have contributed enormously to the rise and perpetuation of Mountain Music, Bluegrass and Country, including many within a short drive of the official Birthplace Of Country Music: the twin cities of Bristol, VA-TN. This program will include demonstrations and performances of each music.

Lunch: Lunch is included at the hotel.

Afternoon: PRESENTATION:This session will be produced by the staff of the Comedy Barn. Lecture will include information on comedic entertainment, comedy routines and the production of a comedy show. The Comedy Barn Theater, located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is the award winning family comedy variety show in the Smoky Mountains. The show features magicians, fire-eaters, jugglers, ventriloquists, clean family comedians, live country and gospel music as well as fun barn yard animals. The Comedy Barn® in Pigeon Forge offers clean comedy for an enjoyable evening of family fun. You'll laugh until you can't laugh anymore. Behind the Scenes – Comedy Barn This afternoon we visit the Comedy Barn for a behind the scenes look at putting on their production. Here we meet with the producers and entertainers at the facility.

Dinner: Dinner is included at a local restaurant

Evening: PERFORMANCE: This evening we enjoy a performance at the Comedy Barn Theater.

Lodging: Main Stay Inn Suites

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Behind the Scenes at Dollywood, Lecture with Dixie Stampede Performers, Dixie Stampede Dinner Show

Breakfast: Breakfast buffet is served at the hotel

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Behind the Scenes of Dollywood. Join us for a trip to Dollywood where we will meet with different staff members and learn the history of this entertainment park. We will take a look at many different aspects including the entertainment, park attractions and history of the park.

Lunch: Lunch is on your own at Dollywood

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: Meet Performers of Dixie Stampede. Enjoy lectures from different staff on performing and operations of the Dixie Stampede Dinner Show. Learn about this successful Dolly Parton attraction, The Dixie Stampede.

Dinner: Dinner show at the Dixie Stampede

Evening: FREE EVENING: Evening is free to relax

Lodging: Main Stay Inn Suites

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast buffet is included at the hotel.

Morning: Oak Ridge was established in the early 1940s as a base for the Manhattan Project—the massive U.S. government operation that developed the atomic bomb. Scientific development still plays a crucial role in the city's economy and culture in general. Oak Ridge's nicknames are the Atomic City, the Secret City, the Ridge and the City Behind the Fence. Oak Ridge Program will include visits to Jackson Square, the Emma Spray Gardens and the Graphite Reactor. In an effort to bring an end to the war, three cities were chosen to be part of the top-secret “Manhattan Project” which would produce the world’s first atomic weapons. Those cities were Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which was built specifically for the war effort. In 1942, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bought 59,000 acres of rural farm land. A city and three manufacturing plants of unprecedented scope were constructed to develop a technology that ended the war. The land on which the town and plants were built met military requirements for isolation, electric power from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Norris Dam, water, labor and accessibility to nearby highways and railroads.

Lunch: Picnic lunch is served.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: Museum of Science and Energy. Enjoy a scientific program on the Manhattan Project.

Dinner: Dinner is included at a local restaurant.

Evening: FIELD TRIP: This evening we visit the new Titanic Museum

Lodging: Main Stay Inn Suites

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Lectures: Smith Brothers Musical Lecture, Terry Evanswood Illusionist, Performance: Grand Illusions of Magic, Smith Brothers Dinner Theater

Breakfast: Breakfast buffet is included at the hotel

Morning: PRESENTATIONS: Smith Family Singers Our lecture this morning will include the Smith Brothers who operate a long running Pigeon Forge Theater. You will learn about their careers, their theater and the music that they perform. Terry Evanswood – Grand Illusionist & Magician This morning we learn about the world of magic and illusion. Terry Evanswood is a professional magician who has appeared in live stage shows and on television throughout the United States as well as on international stages. He has performed professionally since the age of ten. Early in his career, Evanswood was awarded an entertainment scholarship to attend the Chavez College of Magic. In 1991, Evanswood became the youngest illusionist in history to perform at Hollywood's famed Magic Castle. Evanswood was presented with the Certificate of Excellence award, which was the first and only honor given by the American Museum of Magic. Evanswood is a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Lunch: Lunch is served at the hotel

Afternoon: PERFORMANCE: Enjoy the Wonders of Magic Show at Wonderworks starring Terry Evanswood

Dinner: PERFORMANCE: This evening we enjoy a dinner show at the Smith Brothers Theater

Lodging: Main Stay Inn Suites

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast buffet is served at the hotel

Morning: FINAL PRESENTATION: Morning lecture with area historian that will feature the history of this area in the Smokey Mountains. Following lecture you will check out and depart for home.

Meals Included: Breakfast