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What is this bear roadside attraction?


Slache
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From DH:

To say that my memory is hazy would be a gross understatement. I recall at some point during my childhood stopping at what I can only describe as a bizarre roadside attraction. I recall a building, inside of which was a path leading through a large floral display. I believe there may have been cartoonish, possibly animatronic bears throughout the vast floral arrangements. I also seem to recall being told that many of the flowers were actually artificial flowers from President Kennedy’s funeral. I remember thinking at the time that it was a bizarre attraction and being confused as to why exactly we had made the stop. There may have been a gift shop, and possibly a restaurant attached, as well.

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8 hours ago, Heatherwith4 said:

That sounds like something that would be in Pigeon Forge/Sevierville, TN.  I don’t know that for certain, though. 

Smokey Mountain Knifeworks in Sevierville apparently has an indoor river/waterfall and animatronic bears.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g55328-d1018189-i120769128-Smoky_Mountain_Knife_Works-Sevierville_Tennessee.html

 

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1 minute ago, Slache said:

Not it. Nice try!

What?!? How many strange bear and floral displays can there be in one area? The mystery deepens.

The 70's and 80's were weird. Animatronic bears everywhere, I guess. Showbiz Pizza. Disney World. Mystery locations. 

It wasn't a Cracker Barrel, was it? 😉 A Cabela's? Off to Google.

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11 hours ago, MercyA said:

What?!? How many strange bear and floral displays can there be in one area? The mystery deepens.

The 70's and 80's were weird. Animatronic bears everywhere, I guess. Showbiz Pizza. Disney World. Mystery locations. 

It wasn't a Cracker Barrel, was it? 😉 A Cabela's? Off to Google.

  There is a lot of that kind of stuff in Severville/ Pigeon Forge.  It is almost beyond parody.  😂 

 Before anyone thinks I’m dissing the area, we love to go there.  We just avoid the cheesier attractions.  

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We traveled a lot in the 80-90s (West coast, so no help to your search) and I remember so many places that had that style of entertainment. They were places that made sense like Showbiz pizza. Once they seemed to loose their novelty, I remember them showing up in the oddest of places and thinking that they must have been old ones that people sold and these locations bought.  Due to that, I can imagine that some small quirky roadside place could have had a room set up like that. 

The plant life makes me wonder if it was part of a zoo, refuge, beach or forest tourist area.

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Could he have gone to a couple of different places and mixed them up in his mind?

Like maybe at Disney he saw the Country Bears Jamboree, and then the Epcot American Adventure, plus the flower gardens?

Or he went to a botanical garden followed by Chuck-E-Cheese?

We have Clark's Trading Post down the street, with real live bear shows - but that's different...

 

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My dh and I live in NC.  Moved here decades ago.  When I learned of the bear about 10 years ago I wanted to go but fall comes and October is such a busy month and then we miss the "window of time" the bear is seen.  Probably won't drive to see the bear in Feb/March because of possible snow-covered roads which we're used to as we're originally northerners but NC does not have the resources in manpower or equipment.  

We drove the 2 1/2 hours to see the bear this past Saturday even though the forecast called for clouds and cloudy it was.  I had hoped the clouds would part and allow the sun to part, which it did and then clouded over again.  We went ahead to the destination and saw the location of where the bear would be seen but it was cloudy so he didn't appear.  We'll go back another time.  Spring if clear roads or next fall.  We like the mountains and go when we can so even though it was cloudy we enjoyed our day trip.

https://www.discoverjacksonnc.com/attractions/shadow-of-the-bear/

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Is it possible it was a grocery store? This one in Cookeville, TN has been around for 50+ years and has animatronic bears:

http://www.springstmkt.com/our-story.html

Cuffy's t-shirt shop in Cape Cod?

http://cuffysofcapecod.blogspot.com/2011/12/cuffys-story.html

There were a TON of animatronic animals in pizza places in the 80's. For your viewing pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9Zua4OMr62_UGvNA2NcioV7qdnymwhv5

Yeah, this is driving me crazy. 

GOOGLE MUST HAVE THE ANSWER! 

Edited by MercyA
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1 hour ago, MercyA said:

Is it possible it was a grocery store? This one in Cookeville, TN has been around for 50+ years and has animatronic bears:

http://www.springstmkt.com/our-story.html

Cuffy's t-shirt shop in Cape Cod?

http://cuffysofcapecod.blogspot.com/2011/12/cuffys-story.html

There were a TON of animatronic animals in pizza places in the 80's. For your viewing pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9Zua4OMr62_UGvNA2NcioV7qdnymwhv5

Yeah, this is driving me crazy. 

GOOGLE MUST HAVE THE ANSWER! 

You are trying so hard! I'm sorry!

39 minutes ago, Thatboyofmine said:

I've googled, too.    When I read the first post, I thought country bear jamboree immediately.  Obviously, that's not it, but it really sounds like it.    

@slache any chance his parents or sibling would know?  
 

No one does! I think he's been making it up for 14 years just to mess with you guys.

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