Becky Bullard was en route home to Austin, Texas, when she heard the news.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as I heard about Dolly, I thought of you,\u201d read a text from a close friend while she waited for her flight home from Albany, New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I was like: \u2018Heard what?\u2019\u201d Bullard recalled in an interview, her eyes widening.<\/p>\n
She had a connecting flight through Charlotte, North Carolina, and decided to rent a car and drive nearly four hours to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, to pay homage to Dolly Parton, the larger-than-life country music superstar who died on 25 August<\/a> at 80, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n Bullard knew she needed to go all out. She already had white cowboy boots, but she was missing that signature Parton sparkle. She found a gold-sequined dress at an antique shop, and added red lipstick and gold earrings that said \u201cDOLLY\u201d in script.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything I wear usually is like sequins and fringe and rhinestones and all the things,\u201d Bullard said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t think that I would have given myself permission to express in that way [without Dolly].\u201d<\/p>\n Bullard, who said Parton\u2019s unapologetic nature helped her demand to be taken seriously as a woman in the world, was among thousands who flocked to the songwriter\u2019s 160-acre (65-hectare) theme park on Wednesday to pay tribute to the icon.<\/p>\n Dollywood, which opened in 1986 just miles from Parton\u2019s hometown, draws more than 4 million visitors annually.<\/p>\n Parton, who grew up in poverty in east Tennessee\u2019s Great Smoky Mountains, told Barbara Walters in a 1982 interview<\/a> that she intended to open a theme park, \u201ca fantasy city, sort of like Disneyland, but like a mountain Disneyland\u201d.<\/p>\n She was successful in that vision. In addition to roller coasters and other rides, the park is filled with vendors dedicated to Appalachian craftsmanship, including leather workers, herbalists and bakers. A small chapel is set aside for anyone who wants a quiet moment to reflect. There are museums dedicated to Parton\u2019s musical career and her philanthropy, and butterfly iconography at every turn. The park is a manifestation of the Dolly Parton<\/a> ethos that bigger is always best, but at its heart, it\u2019s a love letter to the region that raised her.<\/p>\n \u201cI always thought that if I made it big or got successful at what I had started out to do, that I wanted to come back to my part of the country and do something great, something that would bring a lot of jobs into this area,\u201d Parton said in an interview with the Associated Press marking the 25th anniversary of the park in 2010.<\/p>\n A memorial wall for Dolly Parton stands outside the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, on Wednesday. Photograph: Camden Hall\/AP<\/p>\n On Wednesday, a memorial at the park\u2019s entrance held bouquets of flowers, letters, drawings and other tributes to Parton. A pair of Velour-brand false eyelashes in their packaging were tucked behind a jar of sunflowers; in Sharpie, a mourner had written: \u201cCried these off! From Texas.\u201d A letter from a family, presumably written before news of her death broke, described the mother\u2019s decision to name her newborn Parton for the woman who \u201cexude[s] warmth, integrity and grit\u201d. A photo of the baby was included.<\/p>\n Dollywood is the largest employer in Sevier county, with about 4,000 people on the payroll, according to park president Eugene Naughton. \u201cEveryone\u2019s worried about, oh, what\u2019s going to happen now that Dolly\u2019s gone, and I can assure that we\u2019re carrying her light forward,\u201d Naughton said. \u201cShe taught us how to dream big, so we have very ambitious plans on a moving-forward basis that I know she\u2019ll be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n Savannah Duncan, a 19-year-old Dolly Parton fan, said the park atmosphere Wednesday was solemn. \u201cI walked in, and you could just feel it,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone\u2019s been hit hard here.\u201d<\/p>\n Duncan, who is pursuing a degree in psychology, said Parton inspires her as a girl who\u2019s grown up in Appalachia. \u201cThe over-the-top, the wig, the rhinestones \u2013 it inspires you to be yourself,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd she\u2019s very proud of Appalachia \u2013 we\u2019re underappreciated, a very poor region, and she\u2019s never strayed from her pride.\u201d<\/p>\n Duncan admired Parton\u2019s rebellion against the gendered expectations of the conservative south.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, in this area, they try to tone you down, tell you what you can be and what you can\u2019t be,\u201d she said. \u201cEspecially living in Appalachia, people underestimate you and your intelligence, but she proved we can do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n The Robert F Thomas chapel at Dollywood. Photograph: AM Stewart\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Ashley and Cynthia Pandolfo were visiting the region from Philadelphia, taking a \u201cmountain vacation\u201d at their six-year-old son\u2019s behest, and they weren\u2019t initially sure they would venture into the theme park. But when they heard about Parton\u2019s death yesterday, they felt compelled to visit.<\/p>\n As they made their way through the park, their son asked why they kept seeing people who were crying. \u201cWe told him it was just, you don\u2019t meet, you don\u2019t see a lot of truly nice people,\u201d Ashley Pandolfo said. \u201cIt\u2019s sad to lose a really nice person.\u201d<\/p>\n The women appreciated Parton\u2019s unrelenting support of the queer community and her dedication to a spirit of acceptance.<\/p>\n As a gay couple, they were a little nervous to travel to the south. \u201cWe were like: \u2018This is one place that I feel like we would feel OK,\u2019\u201d Cynthia said, referring to Dollywood.<\/p>\n