Townsend Spring Festival & Old Timer’s Day
If you looking for a time or reason to come to Townsend, TN, every spring the town holds its annual Townsend Spring Festival and Old Timer’s Day. And if you’re looking for a literal melting pot of bluegrass, clogging, arts, crafts, BBQ, storytelling, and woodcarving, then you’ve come to the right place. All come together […]
History of Sevierville
To fully understand the history of Sevierville and its beginnings, you must go back to time when the Native American Indians roamed the Great Smoky Mountains, more specifically those of the Cherokee Nation. What our history books tell us is that during the 1700s, the Cherokee Indian tribe was the only Native American group that […]
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
Above Gatlinburg is yet another entrance into part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the auto known as Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. This auto tour takes you through the Roaring Fork area of the GSMNP and gives you access to hiking, a several tremendous views of the Smokies and Gatlinburg itself. Roaring Fork […]
Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center
Want to learn more about life in the Smoky Mountains before the turn of the 20th century? Then you need to pay a visit to the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center (GSMHC). This museum and living history location teaches visitors about the people that settled the area and made their homes in the Smokies during […]
International Friendship Bell
During World War II Oak Ridge, TN was known as the Secret City. It was and still is the host city for a government lab that is dedicated to researching all things atomic. During the war, this research was designed to create the nuclear bombs that helped to end the war. The bombs that they […]
Thanksgiving in the Smokies
The humble mountain communities of the Smoky Mountains have been celebrating the fall harvest and Thanksgiving before there were established societies and towns. Groups of farmers would gather at someones house, they might eat in the yard by the barn if the weather was good or if it was too chilly to eat outside they […]
History of Waynesville, NC
Colonel Robert Love, an American Revolutionary War soldier, founded the western North Carolina town of Waynesville in 1810. Love is the one person to thank for donating the land that the courthouse and jail now stand on. It also makes up the town square. Waynesville gets its name from Love’s former commander in the Revolutionary […]
Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians
As I have been writing about various locations, cities, restaurants and other touristy concepts in the Smoky Mountains area, one thing that I have realized that I have not focused on is the people that inhabited the area before the European settlers moved in. To that end, let’s talk about the Native Americans that dominated both sides of the […]
Appalachian Trail – A History
Appalachian Trail A History The Appalachian Trail is one of the big draws for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Conceived in the 20s, this brain child of Benton MacKaye had the first section established in 1923 and now it is one of the three big trails in the United States. Starting in Georgia and ending in […]
Mountain Man Statue
“As you get older, remember to be yourself” And it is from this saying that the Mountain Man, Yosef, got his name. And of course, Yosef is the mascot for Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. Now, when you find the statue on campus, you might wonder: why does he look so angry and why […]