Sightseeing at random
The next day was devoted to sightseeing
with Cherokee as the starting point. Originally I had planned a visit to the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, but as the shutdown was still in progress and there was not much
to look at along highway 441. I decided to do something else. Starting from
Cherokee I would take the Blue Ridge Parkway south from Cherokee to Ashville.
Although the road mainly goes in a northern direction from Cherokee, the very
first stretch between Cherokee and Asheville forms an arc to the south. It was this
arc that I had last visited in 2000, that I would
now drive once more. There are quite many things to see along the Blue Ridge Parkway,
but on this stretch there are not many famous attractions, apart from the
road itself and the nature around it, so there weren't as many tourists than
further north. On the other hand there are many pull-outs where
you can enjoy the landscape, for example at Water Rock Knob, Richland
Balsam where you reach the highest point on the entire road at more than 6.040
feet above
sea level, and finally I made a stop at the Mount Pisgah look out. I drove the stretch
slow and easy - slow is a must as the speed limit never exceed 45 mph on the
parkway and often are down to 35. Unfortunately the weather was
not the best for enjoying the views, misty, drizzly and cloudy. I managed to
take a few pictures though.
At Asheville I left the parkway" to drive at random for a while. By that I mean
that I turned off the navigation unit, and headed for small secondary roads, that I switched between when I met one who looked interesting for some reason.
As I didn't know which direction I took and for how long, I had absolutely no
idea where I was. It was quite fun, and if I got really lost, I could turn the
gps back on again - or better, ask somebody the way. This random driving meant
that I got further and further into North Carolina's rural areas and saw a lot of places that I had not previously seen and probably
will not get
to see again, as I have no idea where I was. At one time though I met the to
Blue Ridge Parkway once again, and decided that I might as well take it back to
Cherokee once more, and take another drive from there. I therefore turned southwest (according to the
built-in "compass" that was in the car - the navigation unit was still off), and
then I headed forward. The different areas near the BRP looks much alike on this part of the
parkway, so I couldn't really tell if I had previously seen the
landscape, but I realized after a while that I had not. This became clear to me,
when I saw a sign for Mount Mitchell State Park, which is located around 25 miles north of Asheville, not south
of it, where I thought I was at the time.
Mount Mitchell was on the next day's
schedule, but since I was here anyway, I
decided move forward the visit, so I left the parkway and drove up to the
state park. Mount Mitchell is the highest point in the United States east of the
Mississippi and was the highest point in the United States until 1845, when
Texas joined the Union. 6.684 feet the mountain protrudes, and on the top
there is an observation deck - and I wanted to go there. Oh silly me! From BRP
there is about 5 miles along the small North Carolina Road 128 up to a car park at the foot of the
summit!
From there a 1.000 feet long path leads up to the summit and the observation
deck. The path is said to
be wheelchair friendly, and it is paved, I have to admit that, but it must be built for people
in electric wheelchairs - or people with extremely strong arm muscles, as it is quite
steep in places. Well, I finally fought my way up to the summit and climbed up
to the observation deck, only to discover that it was time and effort wasted.
The fog hung so low that there was absolutely nothing to see when I
finally got up there. I tried to take a few pictures, but when I came back to
the hotel and saw them in a larger format on my tablet, they showed not
so much as a silhouette. Only gray-white fog. I therefore didn't stay long on top,
but went back to the parking lot, which was under the cloud level, and the
view was therefore much better although not too good either. I took some
photos though before heading down once more.
Instead, I returned to the parkway and headed home - now I knew
what direction I was going to take. But after a while I saw a sign pointing
to "Zebulon
Vance Birth Place". That chance I wouldn't miss, so I left the parkway again to return to the small secondary roads. I followed the signs, and
even though the route was not marked perfectly, I managed to find the place. I could tell
you a
long story of Zebulon Baird Vance, but I shall refrain from that. I will only say
that he was North Carolina's governor during the Civil War and
once again later. He
ended his days as a U.S. Senator and is immensely popular in North Carolina. He
was defending Tom Dooley in the trial against him, which was the main cause of
my interest. A bit more about Vance can be read in the article
Supporting Cast on the Tom Dooley page. Now I was
at his birthplace, which was supposed
to be an ordinary home of the well-off in rural North Carolina in the years around the turn of the
19th century. Not big as the "palaces" often seen in movies of that time, but they
belonged to rich cotton or rice planters and were typically situated somewhat further
south, such as in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and and Louisiana.
Anyway, contrary to what some people believe today, Vance's parents were not poor rural working class
people. His father owned 18 slaves who lived in three slave cabins, some
distance away from the family's own home. One of these slave cabins can still be
seen in the area, although it has been moved somewhat closer to the main building.
This is in turn a replica from the early 20th century, as the original house was so
ramshackle, that it had
to be demolished. In the area you can also see an old smoke
house, where meat were smoked for conservation in addition to various
other buildings. In addition, a "fridge " in the form of a spring
house built over a small creek. Here the family could get water, and the creek
was lead through a trough, where milk and butter and other foods could be kept
cool. In addition to the different buildings, there is also a small
museum with an exhibition about Vance and his time. Especially the photographs
from the period wwere interesting, and as it was all free, I can only add say that it was
worth every penny.
When I was done with Vance it was mid afternoon, and now I really set
sail homeward bound. I turned on the navigation unit to tell me the way back to the hotel,
and it took me for some more miles on very small roads in the area with new exciting
sights, but eventually it lead me to I-40, "The Mother of All
Interstates", as we call it, because we've run it on all road trips in the United
States except one. I took the freeway a short distance south before I switched
to NC Route 19 to Cherokee through Lake Junaluska and Maggie Valley as the day
before. In the short piece on the highway, I started a "game", that
we had spent time with before, when driving on interstates. The game is simply
to notice how many trucks from the recognizable major U.S. carriers we
met. On previous trips, the Arkansas-based company J. B. Hunt, had been dominant in the eastern states , but
on this occasion I
didn't see a single one, neither that day or later. On the other hand, I saw some of its competitors
like Schneider,
Swift, Werner and Knight.
Well back in Cherokee, I relaxed at the hotel for a while, and then went out to look at the city before I returned to the same diner, as the day before - this time with something other than fish on the plate. Ham and a salad was the menu before I took a walk along the river, enjoying the evening, and finally returned to the room and a well-deserved cup of coffee. As I sat here, I used the time to look at the internet for things to do in the morning, as Mount Mitchell already had been taken care of. Statesville and Brown Mountain were some of the places that flowed into my mind, but more on that in the next article.