Why are they the Great Smokies? Because the region is actually a rainforest! A rainforest that boasts the greatest concentration of salamanders in the world. Ken Voorhis photo from the National Park website.
Lately I’m fascinated with Appalachia. I’m supposed to be planning this trip, but somehow my planning keeps circling around Appalachia. Maybe it’s because, even with all the time I’ve spent on the East Coast, Appalachia is one of the few areas of the US I’ve never visited. Never even sped through it on my way somewhere else. Turns out The Great Smoky Mountains are the most visited national park in America. We’ve scheduled two days there.
Okay, stop with the Dueling Banjos song from Deliverance. I know for a fact the movie and book took place in Georgia. The Smoky Mountain National Park is in Tennessee. And my Appalachia is a kinder, gentler place. My Appalachia comes from movies like Where the Lillies Bloom, The Dollmaker and Coal Miner’s Daughter. You know, good folk who do a lot of quilting and making baskets out of willow switches, and certainly, lots of singing. It’s a place where Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, the entire Carter Family and Sgt. Alvin York are all neighbors.
Now those are hillbillies I’d like to “set with a spell”. But from my research on The Smoky Mountain National Park, it seems the federal government forced all the hillbillies out of the park, seizing their land by eminent domain. Then they kept all the buildings intact, so apparently places like Cades Cove, which had been settled since the 1700s, are now Hillbilly Ghost Towns.
With so big a park, the first step was finding a base of operations. Although I think Bill Bryson is just an unimaginative whining slob who deliberately seeks out the tackiest towns and greasiest spoons, he’s a good guide for what to avoid. So anyplace near Dollywood, the outlet malls of Gatlinburg or the Indian casinos at Cherokee were definitely out. When I found an area that advertised itself as “The Peaceful Side of the Smokies”, I realized I was getting warmer. When I found the website featured animated waving raccoons and bears, I knew this was our place.
Now to tracking down those hillbillies. At least according to his travelogue Blue Highways, William Least Heat-Moon had great luck. It seemed he had only to pull off to the side of the road and some interesting character was inviting him into a tidy shack for moonshine, pot likker and cornbread. All the while dispensing homespun wisdom like some suspendered Socrates.
An example of the mysterious Melungeons -- who are apparently not so mysterious any more. There are two websites about them: www.melungeons.com and www.melungeon.org.
Anyway, the hillbillies I really want to meet are the mysterious Melungeons. Bill Bryson tried to track them down and felt he was inches away from being run out of the county with a load of buckshot. (Mind you, if Bill Bryson came nosing around my neighborhood, knowing the kind of sophomoric crap he’d put in his inevitable book, I’d meet him with firearms!) In any case, the Melungeons, are a greatly misunderstood and discriminated against people, thought to be a racial mixture of Indian, Black and maybe Portuguese, who moved up to the mountains and maintained a distinct and separate culture. Somewhere along the way, they become sort of the local boogiemen as the legends grew that they had six fingers and magic powers and still spoke Jacobean English. It would be great to set out on a hiking trail and stumble into a settlement of Melungeons. It could be like hanging out in the Elizabethan equivalent of the green room during the intermission of the premiere of Othello.
It’s more likely we’ll meet salamanders. Seems there are more different species of salamanders in The Smoky Mountains than anywhere on earth. In fact, it’s called The Salamander Capitol of the World. Which is going to make it a little difficult to hike without worrying about squishing the little suckers with every step.
I think I’ll keep researching more about those hillbillies.
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This is a golden oldie post from my first blog, RoadGals, which covered an epic cross-country roadtrip I took with my 24 year old niece two years ago. Since the original site was done with iWeb, I can’t automatically import the posts into this WordPress site. Which gives me a wonderful opportunity to recycle some of them into this site by hand whenever I’m too lazy to create a new post. Search on the Roadgals tag to find all the posts in the series.
There is a great guest ranch called Cataloochee. The family who owns it packed in in the early 1900’s and settled a place named Cataloochee Valley but when the park was established (I think) they had to move. They took the name and moved over a couple of mountains and there they have stayed. Many of their cabins are originals, taken apart and rebuilt on site. One of the owners, 2nd generation, is a member of the Haywood Cty Chamber of Commerce and a well of information about the area.
Asheville is also a very interesting town with a great music culture and lots of…oh…I hesistate to use the word “New Age” but can’t think of anything else. So, New Age-y culture. Ditto for Black Mountain. If you get there, buy chocolate. The owner of the chocolate shop is a bit on the flavorless side but she apparently puts it all into her truffles. Yum.
It’s not quite so hickish as you may suspect. I’ve spent a lot of time in the NC portion of the Smokies, my step-mom grew up hillbilly–barefoot in a log cabin and everything–and now my daughter is in college up there at Warren Wilson. There is an interesting mix of what you might expect and what you probably don’t.
Have a great time!
Enjoyed the post! I am a native Appalachian-living in western NC not to far from the park you spoke of. I have a blog-at http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com that is everything Appalachian. I celebrate our wonderful music, art, people, and lifestyle.
I hope you enjoyed your visit to Appalachia!!
Thanks for your suggestions Tina and Tipper. I loved my trip to the Appalachians, although I wish I’d had your advice beforehand. And two days is not enough to even scratch the surface of the area. I only saw The Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, didn’t even get to North Carolina.
the Melungeons look like a sweet people. Too bad they got such a bad rap!
More importantly, stop by my blog if you want to fight the frizzies before your next trip to a humid clime 😉
I, too, have a love affair with Appalachia. The only library books I ever stole was a three volume history of the folklore of the area. It sits on my bedroom shelf always and I don’t feel one bit guilty. Don’t tell the folks in North Carolina.
There are reportedly a couple of places there where the lightnin’ bugs flash in unison every year.
Lisa,
I linked to your website from your John Wayne post on Ebert blog. I am a lifelong Kentuckian but not fond of higher elevations, actually somewhat phobic of falling off the side of a mountain (or even a hillside) to be precise. I did venture as far as Knoxville TN this past February on a sisters weekend. I trusted my younger sister to keep the vehicle on the road unlike my maniac mountain-loving man at home. He is the one who tried to ditch us in Pigeon Forge when we were there for a wedding four years ago and I discovered my deepest fear. Damn near ruined a subsequent trip to Tuscany, but I digress.
Back to the point. We visited the art museum in Knoxville this past February and I learned that Tennessee yields some gorgeous marble. There was a piece there that was sculpted from Tennessee rose marble. Extremely beautiful stone.
I have seen two parts of a four part television series – The Appalachians. They were running the series on Kentucky Educational Television (KET.org website is very good source for many things). We loved the geological show. I suspect you would too.
Further aside. I spent part of the winter reading the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. I thought the Union army was never going to get out of Tennessee, but it was instructive to say the least. I knew that Knoxville was part of the Tennessee River Valley, a nice wide expanse of calm after the Cumberland Gap crossing.
You have an interesting blog. Thank you for doing it.
This is what I love about my readers. There aren’t hordes of them, but they come here and always add something interesting.
I never bid believe in that one.
Howdy, I stumbled on your web site a few weeks ago and have ploughed through all the posts and comments quietly. I decided might make my firstpost. Unsure of what to comment but anyway. Nice site. Will call back soon to see more of what you have to say.