📅 2023-09-19 | ⏱️ 13:44 | 👁️ 127.2K views | 👍 6.6K likes | 💬 1.5K comments
Pea visits Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee, trying activities that range from the unique (zorbing — rolling downhill inside a giant water-filled ball) to the wonderfully weird (Ripley's Believe It or Not museum). She describes Pigeon Forge as "the Las Vegas of the South" and highlights the area's abundance of dinner shows, amusement parks, and outdoor attractions.
Zorbing in Pigeon Forge
- Pea tries zorbing — getting inside a huge inflatable ball with water and rolling down a mountain — at the only zorbing facility in North America (the only other location is in Rotorua, New Zealand, where it was invented)
- She interviews the owner, Chris, who explains he tried zorbing in New Zealand and brought the concept to the U.S.
- Three tracks available: a two-to-three-person zigzag (red track, ~90 seconds), a single-person zigzag (orange track, ~90 seconds), and a fast straight track (~30 seconds)
- It's a family activity — ages 5 and up can ride (5-year-olds must ride with an adult, 6+ can go solo); the oldest customer ever was 93 years old
- They put 20 gallons of water inside the ball, which acts as a lubricant so you slide rather than tumble
- The facility operates year-round — in winter they use 90-degree water, so people come out steaming "like getting out of a jacuzzi"
- Chris says there have been zero accidents; everyone signs a waiver
- Pea jokes she signed her waiver "Donald Duck" and delivers mock last words before climbing in: "Nice knowing you folks, Ma I'm sorry for everything"
- After the ride, she quips about the exit: "It's like a scene in Aliens... giving birth to a Pea"
Parking in Gatlinburg
- Parking prices are steep — she saw lots charging $18–$20 for a couple hours
- She finds the cheapest option at $10 at a Methodist church that operates on the honor system: you put cash in an envelope and drop it in a mailbox
- The church even provides a pen, and nobody has stolen it — Pea marvels at the trust system
- She jokes about licking the envelope: "I'm leaving my DNA here and maybe someone can just grow another Pea"
Ripley's Believe It or Not in Gatlinburg
- The museum is massive — you take an elevator to the third floor to begin
- Headhunter exhibit with a head-shrinking simulation: "All that to get a little head"
- A Buddha statue made from a million dollars of shredded government bills
- Penis sheaths from tribal New Guinea — Pea reacts: "They're huge. I need to get to New Guinea"
- Robert Wadlow exhibit (tallest man in recorded history, nearly 9 feet tall) — she poses next to it and jokes about what it'd be like dating a short Filipina next to him; his shoe is displayed and she quips: "You know what they say, big feet... big toes"
- "Lighthouse Man" from China who stuck a 7-inch candle in a hole in his head and walked dark streets — Pea's commentary: "Of all the seven-inch things you can stick in your hole, why a candle? Maybe a cucumber, so when you get hungry..."
- Optical illusions, Lily Tomlin's rocking chair, and a wind tunnel exhibit she calls "the ultimate hair dryer"
- Someone spent three years and half a million matchsticks building a Hogwarts replica — "Pretty impressive, but why?"
- A dress made of toilet paper — "At least it'll last about as long as the marriage probably will"
Closing thoughts
- Pea says she barely scratched the surface and you could spend a month in the area without running out of things to do
- Standard outro encouraging subscriptions and Patreon support