Tennessee Named in Southern Living's Best of Reader's Poll
Thursday, January 08, 2009 | 06:00pm
NASHVILLE – Southern Living Magazine has announced the winners of the Best of 2008 Reader’s Poll and Tennessee destinations have received high marks. The popular reader’s poll is published as part of the January issue.
The gateway cities to the Great Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, were voted the number one in the Best Weekend Getaway category. Several family friendly attractions such as Dollywood were highlighted in the article. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge also earned the number five spot in the Best Family Vacation category.
Taking the number one spot for Best Scenic View is Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tenn. Others in the top ten ranking scenic views include Rock City Gardens at number five, Cades Cove at number six, and Clingmans Dome at number seven.
Nashville shined taking the number five spot for the Best Southern City. Other middle Tennessee winners include the Loveless Café at number five in Southern Favorite Restaurant and Best Breakfast or Brunch. The Pancake Pantry in Nashville came in right after the Loveless at number six for Best Breakfast or Brunch. Green Hills took the number seven rank for best Neighborhood for Shopping and Franklin came in fifth for the Best Small Town. Cheekwood Botanical Garden in Nashville came in number ten for the Best Public Garden.
Two Tennessee hotels ranked in the Best Hotel category with Gaylord Opryland in the number two position; and the Peabody in Memphis in the number three spot.
"Southern Living is one of America’s best-loved magazines with a tremendously loyal readership," states Tourism Commissioner Susan Whitaker. "This lends credibility and prestige to their very popular annual reader’s poll and causes a positive ripple effect for the Tennessee sites that make the list. Tennessee is fortunate to have so many attractions in Southern Living’s Top Ten."
The mission of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development is to create and promote travel to and within Tennessee, to develop programs to encourage and support the growth of the state’s tourism industry, to manage a system of welcome centers that provides visitors with a positive impression of Tennessee and to encourage them to extend their stay, all of which contributes to the state’s economic growth, thereby enriching the quality of life for every Tennessean.
For more information, contact Cindy Dupree at (615) 741-9010 or by e-mail at Cindy.Dupree@state.tn.us.
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