Time to fill up and hit the road for Labor Day weekend.
Matt Tanner topped off his tank at a Fastop gas station in Kodak, on his way Wednesday to the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration Grounds in Shelbyville, Tenn.
“It’s a lot better than it was last year,” Tanner said about gas prices in East Tennessee, which are hovering around $2 a gallon for regular unleaded.
He said he’ll head back to Charlotte on Sunday after the horse celebration ends.
“We go most years,” he said.
Tanner is part of the expected 35.5 million motorists that AAA expects on U.S. roads this Labor Day weekend, the most since 2008. Paired with cheap fuel, the three-day weekend gives the opportunity for many Knoxvillians to travel as much as it does for others to come visit.
On Saturday Nashville will host the highly anticipated opener for University of Tennessee football. And Boomsday will go bust after its last run Sunday — which could draw 100,000 or more to downtown Knoxville.
“We anticipate a big crowd, because it will be the final countdown,” Visit Knoxville President Kim Bumpas said. “It will be a beautiful, special show.”
Motorists coming to and from Knoxville are expected to contribute to the AAA figure, a seven-year peak.
“This is an exciting weekend,” Bumpas said. “The game being in Nashville is a unique opportunity to go to the game, then come back for Boomsday.”
Air travel is expected to rise too.
Airlines for America estimates that 14.2 million Americans will fly this weekend, a 3 percent increase from last year.
Friday is expected to be the busiest travel day, according to the airline advocacy group.
That’s also when Brenda Eckenrole, manager at the Faststop in Kodak, starts to see business pick up from motorists.
“Friday, after work,” she said. “And Monday will be busy with everybody leaving.”
Eckenrole has been at that store for 11 years, off exit 407 by Winfield Dunn Parkway.
“We get a lot of people that are not just going to Gatlinburg,” Eckenrole said. “They’re going to I-75 or 81. It’s a really diverse clientele.”
Interstate 40, I-81 and I-75 bring motorists through East Tennessee and deliver visitors to the area.
Emily Whaley, assistant director of the Sevier County Economic Development Council, said that Labor Day weekend gives her an idea of what the fall tourism season may look like.
“We anticipate a very, very busy weekend,” she said.
She said the weekend is indeed one last chance for a family trip before other family weekend activities take up the fall. Two new hotels have opened in the past week, according to Whalen, and their occupancy could be high.
“Hopefully that will follow suit for the rest of the fall quarter.”
Next in Sevier County, she said, are two big car shows, various gospel shows and leaf season. From summer, right into fall. Such is Labor Day weekend, which marks the end of summer for so many.
“From here on out there is something big going on every weekend,” she said.
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