April 21, 22, 23

April 21

For our last day in the Great Smokeys we drove up to Gatlinburg and back down into the NP to drive the 5 mile Roaring Fork Auto Road. A guide book had stops for us to take in more of the history of the early settlers plus information on the natural environment. This five mile road was at one time more of a rocky trail than a road but the early settlers in this Roaring Fork community tried to keep it open to horse and wagon travel. In the early 1830 and 40’s this was a frontier. By the end of the 1880’s there were about a dozen families. This was enough to support a store, mill, church and school. It is really rocky soil and not a level place to be had. We took a walk through the this wild and beautiful terrain and couldn’t believe how they described areas that had once grown corn and was grazing land for cows, and pigs. The buildings that are still here helped us to see how these settlers managed to shelter their families and livestock, store food, protect their precious tools and equipment and earn a living. A quote from our booklet made it clear that, “When the European settler entered this place, the environment was clearly in control. Settlers had to cope with the world on its terms - not theirs.” One young man, Alfred Reagan was a farmer like the others in this community, but he had well developed manual skills and a business sense to do something with them. He used his trades as a carpenter and a blacksmith. By 1900, he had built a store right on the road making it easy on the customers. Next he added a mill. He donated land for a church, built it and became a lay preacher. The house and the mill are all that are left today. He was a mover and a shaker. With all there was to see, this five mile road took us a couple of hours to traverse. Many of the decedents of families who had settled in the Smokey Mountains still live nearby and return to Cades Cove for reunions to celebrate their heritage twice a year. These folks had a hard life to say the least but they built homes and communities that served their needs. I hope they had some time here and there to stop and enjoy this beautiful country.

A Bear Sighting!

Home on Roaring Fork Auto Road - 1830's

Wild flowers are beautiful!

Gorgeous Forests

Picnic by the Mill

Reagan Home by the 1920's

April 22 and 23

This was moving day. We drove up to northern the Kingsport area in the Northern part of Tennessee to spend a few days. This is Daniel Boone and Davy Crocket country. We had an “errand” day with some shopping. I had been seeing signs for Package Stores thinking they must be a mailing facility like a UPS store. Well, when we started looking to replenish our wine supply, we found out that Package Stores are the liquor stores. Maybe they are called package stores because liquor was put in a package during prohibition. Not sure. While we were there we found white lighting in a mason jar! The Ole Smokey Distillery in Gatlinburg is the first distillery to obtain a license to distill white lightning in 100 years. Of course we had to buy some and try it out. Maybe a little 7-up and cranberry juice will be just the ticket. I have a great story about getting a hold of some white lightning when I was in Georgia with Doris. She lived in the back wood in northern Georgia the first year she was married. I came with her to visit her in-laws in the mid 90‘s. She asked her brother in-law if he was still making white lightning. He just rolled his eyes and didn’t answer the question but had some for us the next day. He gave it to us in a mason jar wrapped up in an old dog food bag! Next problem was how to get it home. We bought some Evian water, emptied the bottles, refilled them with our treasure and put them in our suitcases. It was all very secretive. Strong stuff! Now it’s legal again, with a license that is.

Legal White Lighning Moonshine

It was a big day for me. I bought a new camera! Chris and Norm came up with the idea. We did some investigating and I ended up with the top of the line Nikon Coolpix. The workings are similar to what I have had so it should be pretty easy to learn how to make the most of it. My camera had been dropped, the lens cover wasn’t always working and the telephoto shots were a little blurry. I think they had a banner idea. It will be fun to try it out. I love taking pictures.

My New Camera