Famous Guests at the Buckhorn Inn

What do you have in common with former Second Lady Tipper Gore and with the late actress Patricia Neal?  You all have been treasured guests at the Buckhorn Inn!

The Buckhorn Inn has hosted many important guests, including you!

Tipper Gore was a Buckhorn Guest

Tipper Gore served as the Second Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001.  She was encouraged to visit the Buckhorn by our regular guest Lucia Gilliland, a member of her staff.  Longtime friends of the Gores, Lucia served as an official advisor to them in the White House.  Her husband, Jim, served as Chief Legal Counsel for the Department of Agriculture.   As related in the book The Buckhorn Experience, Tipper came during her husband’s time in office.  Therefore she brought with her a round-the-clock coterie of secret service officers as well as several staff members and every level of law enforcement.  At the time the only internet connection at the Buckhorn was in the kitchen.  So every morning Tipper’s chief of staff came down in his pajamas, set up his computer on an ironing board, and got to work.  No word on whether the breakfast chef slipped him any special treats!

Tipper is an author, photographer, and social issues advocate.  You will see the lovely letter she wrote to us framed in the Buckhorn Inn office.  For more on Tipper Gore’s current work, please visit http://www.tippergore.com.

Patricia Neal also Enjoyed the Buckhorn Inn

Born in Kentucky coal country, Patricia Neal grew up in Knoxville and attended Knoxville High School.  She was known as Patsy Louise Neal back then.  She began to go by “Patricia” when she began her long and successful acting career in New York City.  She never forgot her Tennessee roots, once saying “We Tennessee hillbillies don’t conk out that easy”!  She won a “Best Actress” Oscar in 1964 for Hud in which she played opposite Paul Newman.  In 1978 the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center opened at the Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center.  The center cares for patients suffering from disabilities and such traumas as stroke and spinal cord injuries.  Patricia visited the center in Knoxville every year until her death in 2010.  The Buckhorn Inn served as a wonderful escape for Patricia.  The Inn was a place where she could relax, drink in the calmness, and revisit the natural beauty she so loved about Tennessee.