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We enjoyed the gorgeous Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with
its Appalachian Homestead and Mingus Mill. Called Shaconage,
" We had the good fortune of finding out about the Museum of Appalachia: A Living Mountain Village in time to schedule it into our travels. It is a must see for anyone wanting an in-depth look at life in the Appalachian mountains. We were very impressed with this very personal look at distant and recent past of the people of this region. With the addition of stops to Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain, along with visiting long, lost relatives, our visit to Appalachia was complete. We're also including a stop at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. |
Susan's
father was born and raised in the hills of North Carolina (before
indoor plumbing and just after prohibition), so we had to stop and
learn about the back country. It's a beautiful part of our nation
with an interesting history and colorful people who have shown tremendous
stamina and creativity for mountain living.)
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John Rice Irwin's interest in the people of the Southern Appalachian mountains was sparked by his grandfather, who gave him relics from his ancestors three to four generations back and encouraged him to start a museum. He spent 25 years scouring the hills in search of items and the stories of the people who used them. Begun with one log house and two acres of land in the late 1960s, this living museum now consists of 65 acres and about 30 authentic wooden buildings containing tens of thousands of articles. It is truly an amazing and fascinating place. |
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"There was a man who had a business of sending things on wagons with mules. When trucks took over, he quit his business and sold all his mules. He had a lot of mule shoes still, so he made furniture out of them, like this rocking chair."--Amanda |
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"There were some very strange instruments in the collection at the Hall of Fame, such as this fiddle made from the jaw bone of a mule. The owner was grateful for the mule helping his family survive, that he had a friend make a fiddle out of it. I also found a banjo made out of a ham can and a fiddle made out of a gourd. One of my favorites was a dulcimer-walking stick, made by an old man who had a bad hip. He had lots of parties that he played the dulcimer at, but he couldn't carry it very well so he made one that could be used as a walking stick."--Harrison |
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"The legend of Blowing Rock is about a Chickasaw maiden who loved a Cherokee brave. When he felt he couldn't stay with her because he would let his people down, he jumped off Blowing Rock. The maiden prayed for him to return, and after a few days the wind blew him back into her arms."--Amanda |
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The highest, and some claim the oldest, peak in the Blue Ridge Mountain Range, with 16 different ecological zones created by altitude, topography and weather. It is one of 324 United Nations International Biosphere Reserves and home to 42 rare and endangered species. Amanda learned that, "Some of the rocks are more than 1 billion years old and Grandfather Mountain is 5964 feet tall." |
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We only had time for one of the many tours that the Park Service guides through some of the 350 miles of passages of the longest cave system in the world. We learned some history of the cave, including early Native American explorers and Civil War mining by African American slaves for saltpeter used in gunpowder. What nature started carving out 10 million years ago is an amazing labyrinth enjoyed by millions today. |
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For Younger Readers |
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