Swain tourism authority requests aquarium expansion

The Swain County Tourism Development Authority has approached the county about expanding the Appalachian Rivers Aquarium that just opened its doors in downtown Bryson City last summer. 

The aquarium is still working out some kinks and stocking the tanks with fish since opening in July, but already those operating the facility see the need for more functional space in order to keep growing it as a tourism attraction. 

Bryson City builds on fishing tourism with new aquarium

With fly-fishing tourism on the rise in Western North Carolina, a new attraction in Bryson City will bring visitors up-close and personal with up to 50 species of freshwater fish. 

Bryson gets fishy: Fly-fishing museum prepares for expansion

In its two years of existence, the Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians has shown a willingness to travel.

First, from the mind of fly fishing enthusiast Alen Baker to the wood-paneled space of the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce. Then to the sunny Swain County Chamber of Commerce building in downtown Bryson City. And, soon, to a new building on Bryson City’s Island Street, just across the road from the trout-stocked waters of the Tuckasegee River.

Swain County buys property to create fairgrounds

With the purchase of 8 acres in Bryson City, Swain County will now have an outdoor event area to host county fairs, kids carnivals and more. 

Fly fishing museum moves to Bryson City

Just one year after setting up shop in Cherokee, the Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians will be moving to Bryson City. 

Healing in the waters: Disabled vets find comfort, camaraderie in fly fishing

out frOut of Ed Norris’ 68 years of life, Vietnam accounts for just one. Those months he spent deployed with the U.S. Marine Corps are now almost half a century distant, but Norris’s time in the service changed his life forever, the emotional and physical evidence still apparent. 

“There were times when I worked at a job I wore a suit, and walking down the street a truck backfired,” he said. “I hit the deck. I turned around and had to go home and change clothes because I messed up my suit.”

Fly fishing museum aims to spur tourism, preserve angling history in Cherokee

coverIt’s been more than 10 years since Alen Baker decided, while recuperating from surgery, to pass the time by writing about what his Trout Unlimited chapter had been up to that year. Those 15 pages turned into a book, which turned into something even bigger — the idea that somebody should take it upon themselves to memorialize the Southern Appalachians’ fly fishing legacy in a museum somewhere.

SEE ALSO: A look inside the museum

A look inside the museum

out insidemuseumStep inside Cherokee’s newest museum, and the scent of freshly cut wood and tranquil lighting will immediately greet you with the knowledge that you’ve made the right choice.

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