Fernweh, An Ache for Distant Places

Tellico Plains, Tennessee is a small mountain town of around 1.6 square miles in East Tennessee. It is part of Monroe County along with the cities of Sweetwater, Vonore, and Madisonville. Tellico Plains also includes the communities of Coker Creek, Mount Vernon, Belltown, and a few others.

Telliquah was the crossroads of two major Native American paths called the Trading Path and the Warrior Path. Additionally, what we now know as the Unicoi Turnpike was another major pathway that connected the village to the East coast.

You can learn all of this and more by visiting the Charles Hall Museum & Heritage Center.

Hall’s incredible legacy and collection of town memorabilia, photos, weapons, artifacts, musical instruments, household items, pottery, art, and more have created an enormous compendium of Monroe County and Cherokee history.

A few times now, I have attended the annual Cherohala Skyway Festival, hosted by VisitMonroeTN, which largely revolves around the Charles Hall Museum.

Live music and dobro performances, food vendors, antique farm equipment and demonstrations, horse wagon and hay rides, games and other activities filled the day.

Tiny as it may be, Tellico Plains holds great significance in the history of the Muscogee and Cherokee, who inhabited this land long before white folk arrived. Tellico Plains was called Telliquah and was a grand Overhill Cherokee village before the Indian Removal Act forced the Native people off their land.

Researchers believe that Hernando DeSoto’s crew once spent two days in Telliquah looking for gold and treasures in the 1500s before the Cherokee ran them off, but not before they could destroy parts the village.

In the 1760s, white hunters and traders showed up and began establishing settlements. A Smithsonian researcher documented finding more than a dozen Cherokee mounds in Tellico Plains in the late 1880s, but they were sadly destroyed during local farming practices afterward.

Tellico Plains was founded in 1911 and quickly became a logging and lumber town, specifically operated by the Babcock Lumber Company, which later sold the land to the US Forest Service to be rehabilitated.

Tellico Plains is most popular these days as the gateway to both the Cherohala Skyway and the Cherokee National Forest. Cherohala Skyway is a National Scenic Byway that runs between Tellico Plains, TN and Robbinsville, NC.

Tellico Plains also serves as the eastern terminal for the Trans America Trail for offroad vehicles that leads all the way to west to Oregon and the Pacific Coast.

Aside from the Cherohala Skyway Festival, another great annual event is the Tellico Trout Festival.

Trout fishing is huge in Tellico Plains, supporting its culture and its economy

Dozens of outfitting companies, fishing guides, and representatives from various conservation and ecotourism agencies set up live demonstrations and are available to talk to you about the history of trout fishing in Tellico Plains and tell you how you can experience it for yourself on different tours.

The Tellico Trout Festival showcases the region’s best arts, crafts, food trucks, and local live music.

During the festival, and on regular days, there are many places I enjoy visiting.

Trout Mountain Coffeehouse & Inn doubles as a boutique hotel with a slight lodge vibe.

Its large windows look out onto the patio and into the town’s square, so it is perfect for people watching without being right in the middle of a crowd.

There are not many murals in Tellico Plains, but Trout Mountain has one outside their patio.

Tellicafe is a long-time staple of Tellico Plains and the surrounding Monroe County. They have a special trout chowder during the festival that I would buy by the gallon.

Tellicafé is most famous for their green tomato and ham soup.

I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not right. This soup is a cream-based soup just like their loaded potato soup and trout chowder, but with the addition of green tomatoes and generous portions of chipped ham. I am already craving more of it.

I had ordered the potato soup because I HATE tomatoes, but was halfway through my cup before the waitress told me what it really was. Call it a happy accident.

We have had their burger and and Carolina brisket sandwich before and loved both.

On a different visit, we had trout cakes as a starter, a Reuben, and also fish (trout) and chips.

Check out Iron Works Grill and Tellico Beach Drive-In nearby.

Tellico Grains Bakery keeps the town full on bread, sweets, and savoury pastries. There is always a line out the door but it is so worth the wait.

Grow & Flow Yoga, Scott Street Gallery, Nice to be Kneaded Massage, and The Bookshelf are just a few shops on the main strip.

Wren Rock Mercantile, Tellico Outfitters, Tellico Secret Garden, and the Indian Boundary General Store are a few additional stores to be on the lookout for.

Conasauga Falls, Bald River Falls, and Tellico Lake are the most popular outdoor spots around Tellico Plains, but I have yet to make those hikes myself.

In the area for a while? Follow me along the Cherohala Skyway into Cherokee National Forest, or to Sweetwater and Vonore.

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