First came “9 to 5.” Then came the business empire, rooted in the place Dolly Parton called home.
Parton, who died Tuesday, was instantly memorialized for her country music fame, glitzy glam and humanitarian touch. At The Old Mill Restaurant in East Tennessee, Tim Fulton was in his office, trying to gauge how many devotees would pour into Dollywood in the coming days.
His restaurant serves up corn grits, barbecue and blackberry cobbler in Sevier County, Tenn., the center of Parton’s sparkly empire. Typically, the last weekend of August brings a bit of a lull – right after a popular Jeep expo and just before the Labor Day rush.
Now Parton was gone, a loss he said felt like mourning a family member. He looked up search traffic for flights to nearby Knoxville and expected hotel rooms to book up fast. Indeed, as of midday Wednesday, search interest for “dolly hotel” was up 650% over 24 hours, per Google Trends.
“It may unfortunately turn out to be more of a sad, busy weekend,” Fulton said.
