From Bat Cave, North Carolina, get yourself a jug of apple cider from a roadside stand and sip it all along NC-9 North and Bat Cave Road. Follow it right into Old Fort. Old Fort is a tiny town of less than 1,000 residents located halfway between Black Mountain and Marion, and halfway between Bat…
We have diligently been trying to eat and sip our way through the town of Blue Ridge, Georgia this past year or so. I’m almost embarrassed to say that even after this much progress, there are so many places we still have not reached. In our defense, we do a lot of other things, but…
One of the first things I noticed in downtown Boone, North Carolina was this mural painted by local artist Peter Grant Catoe. The mural depicts the Tank Man protest on Tiananmen Square back in 1989 when the repressed students and citizens of China rallied for economic reforms and personal freedoms, among other changes. The Chinese…
Grandfather Mountain is among the most rough and rugged mountains in Eastern USA and at 5,946 feet (1,812 m), it has the highest peak on the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains. My song for this entry is a heavy cover of Edvard Grieg’s classic “Hall of the Mountain King” by Apocalyptica: Daniel Boone…
Blowing Rock is a small town in northwestern North Carolina near the Tennessee border known as the “Crown of Blue Ridge” with around 1300 residents in its three square miles. The land that became the town of Blowing Rock first belonged to Cherokee and Catawba tribes, and when white settlers moved in, they used it…
One of my favourite drives for viewing fall leaves in East Tennessee is the Cherohala Skyway, a National Scenic Byway that runs between Tellico Plains, TN and Robbinsville, NC. TELLICO PLAINS The tiny 1.6 square mile town of Tellico Plains currently has less than 1,000 residents in what used to be the Cherokee settlement of Great…
Tennessee’s oldest town was founded in 1779, nearly two decades before it officially became a state. Jonesborough, once spelled as Jonesboro, is part of the Tri-Cities region of East Tennessee that includes Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol. Jonesborough was named after Willie Jones, a politician from North Carolina who was known for his support of…
McMinn County, Tennessee includes Athens, Niota, Englewood, Etowah, part of Sweetwater, and several unincorporated communities. It was created in 1819 and named after Joseph McMinn, a Revolutionary War commander and Tennessee Governor of six years. McMinn was also a decorated veteran of previous wars and served in the Tennessee Senate, as justice of the peace…
I was thrilled already with the selection of plants in the garden and the interesting art, and then I saw it: a slow-motion wave of iridescent blue, a long train of green and gold feathers, and scratchy little feet.
The evolution of receiving, keeping, and changing names can be complicated, but some of us experience it multiple times throughout our lives.
Linville, North Carolina is an unincorporated community inside the Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was founded in the 1880s and known back then as the Clay or Porcelain town in Avery County. Linville is about 45 minutes southeast of Johnson City and an hour or so northeast of Asheville. The main…
National Allied Publications founder Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson was born in Greeneville, TN in 1890. Eventually his company became DC Comics, and Wheeler-Nicholson would be forever credited as the pioneer of American pulp comic books. My song for this entry is not a metal song but it is featured on the soundtrack for DC’s newest project, Dark…
Fernweh 