Town in Oscar-Winner 'Three Billboards' Posts Travel Guide
The movie "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" won big at the Oscars on Sunday night. The film scored statuettes for both Best Supporting Actor (Sam Rockwell) and Best Actress (Frances McDormand).
Want to visit the picturesque main street and mountainous landscapes where the film was shot (minus the dark plot)? Well, even though Ebbing, Missouri, is a fictional city, the tourism board of Sylva, North Carolina, has you covered. The quaint city of 2,644 set in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina was the real-life location of the award-winning movie.
North Carolina's tourist website has a three-day itinerary for diehard fans of the morbid blockbuster to see all the highlights of film's milieu. These include the local store, Sassy Frass, which was converted into the Ebbing Police Station, Jackson's General Store, which houses Red Welby's office and Sylva's Main Street.
The movie's writer and director, Martin McDonagh, spent three days scouting Sylva for shooting locations, The Guardian reports.
"Martin wanted to find that quintessential small town, somewhere a little sleepy, but a place that most people could identify with," Guy Gaster, director of the North Carolina film office, told The Guardian. "He also knew he needed a town with a main street where — slight spoiler alert — a character could believably throw something across the street and into another building.”
In addition to the sites from the movie's pivotal scenes, the travel guide includes suggestions for local restaurants and hotel accommodations around Sylva, and takes fans to the eclectic city of Asheville and nearby Maggie Valley, which is adjacent to Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Both locations were also featured in "Three Billboards."
Unfortunately, the actual billboards in the movie's title have been removed since shooting wrapped, but the guide does tell fans where to drive the scenic road, North Fork Left Fork Road, where the three billboards stood.
"Three Billboards" joins the ranks of other movies such as "The Fugitive," "Dirty Dancing" and "The Hunger Games" that have been filmed in Western North Carolina's rolling hills.
Photo courtesy Fox Searchlight Pictures
