Things have been a little crazy for me lately. Amid a terrible heat wave that I was sure would kill me off, I spent a week welcoming our new international students to the university with a lot of activities and workshops and tours that I was in charge of.
We also celebrated my daughter’s birthday with a bunch of neighbors and friends braving the heat to come and play games with us in our backyard.
But at the end of that week came the end of my current job and the beginning of a new one. My new position will be working with the study abroad part of the office instead of the international student services part. I’m excited to learn and grow in different ways, but there is a lot to learn in this new position.
Along with my new job, I was asked to teach a course at the university focused on international students wanting to learn more about US culture and education. So this fall I will also be working as an adjunct professor in the Global Studies department. My class is made up of mostly students I was working with during the orientation week which helps to then step in and continue working with them in this capacity.
All of that is to say that my mental bandwidth has been a little stretched thin lately. So with a long weekend ahead of us, we decided to get out of town and go find some balance in the mountains. And there is no better place to do that than the Appalachian Mountains.
For this visit, we decided on the northeast corner of Tennessee that also touches Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky.
Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park & Carter Mansion {Tennessee}
We drove 4 hours to the northeast corner of Tennessee to the base of this part of the Appalachian Mountains. This mountain range goes about 2,000 miles down the east part of the country.
Our first stop on our Appalachian weekend was to Sycamore Shoals State Park that sits on the banks of the historic Watauga River. The first permanent settlement in this area was in 1770 and was one of the first west of the Appalachian mountains. The settlement started with the fort and then spread out from there after the Revolutionary War.
Visitors to the park can walk through a recreated fort that gives an good look at what it would have looked like at the time. The park offers demonstrations and tours for a deeper understanding of the complicated relationship between the settlers and the Native American tribes that lived here.
During the Revolutionary War the fort here served as a defense post and also a gathering area for the Overmountain soldiers fighting in the war. Overmountain men were frontiersmen who came from what was then the wild west territories and crossed over the Appalachian mountains to come and fight in the war.
They were an important part of the revolution because they brought their knowledge of the land and fierce belief in freedom. The park honors those men with a statue at the entrance of the visitor center.
While we were at the park, the trees were buzzing loudly with the ruckus sound of hundreds of cicadas. We happened to see one of these musical bugs on the tree and were amazed at how big it was. Nothing says summer in the south like the buzz of cicadas.
After the park, we drove a few minutes down the road to see the Carter Mansion. A little while ago, my blogging friend The Travel Architect and I were talking about the oldest buildings in the states we live. I couldn’t pass up the chance to see Tennessee’s oldest building. The mansion was home to the Carter family who were prominent businessmen, political leaders, and military soldiers when the settlement was first established.
Beech Mountain Resort {North Carolina}
After enjoying the state park, we drove a ways until we found ourselves in North Carolina. We pulled into Beech Mountain Resort and were amazed at the incredible mountain views everywhere we looked.
Beech Mountain is the largest and most popular ski resort in the south. Since the south doesn’t really get a lot of snow, the fact that there is any ski resort is something of a wonder. Obviously, we visited in the off season where the ski trails serve for mountain bikers and hikers. Watching the mountain bikers swoop down those trails was incredible. I think next time we visit I want to take the trails like that.
During the off season, visitors can purchase an all day lift pass for $17/person. Whether that is for biking or just to take the scenic tour, it is a great way to see the mountain. We opted instead to hike up the main trail and learned just how out of practice those hiking muscles are. But even then, it felt so good to move and hike and breathe in the mountain air.
The Blue Ridge Parkway & Linville Falls {North Carolina}
We were pretty excited when we turned onto the legendary Blue Ridge National Parkway. The parkway goes from Smokey Mountain National Park in North Carolina to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with a total of 469 miles to cruise between them. This parkway is one America’s most popular roads that offers incredible scenic views of the mountains.
Most people are surprised to learn that a lot of the Blue Ridge Parkway is not some big massive road, but only a two lane road that winds itself through the mountains and valleys at a slow pace that is perfect for a scenic tour.
We pulled off from the parkway so we could go and hike to Linville Falls. As we crossed the river from the visitor center we could see the first signs of fall beginning to pop out in the trees.
The hike to the falls is not difficult and it takes you through some beautiful rock ways and past lines of rhododendron bushes. The hike is about half a mile to the falls and the path is a gentle hike so people of all ages can enjoy it.
We reached the end of the trail and could look out to the falls where the peaceful river we had crossed earlier was cascading over the rocks. Even though there are signs posted everywhere about not crossing the wall and swimming in the water, it didn’t seem to stop all the people from doing that.
Just after the falls, the water goes around a small bend and becomes a rushing river down through the rocks of the gorge. It was amazing to see it change in such a short span from slow and smooth to fast and wild just by facing a different direction.
The Cumberland Gap {Virginia, Kentucky, & Tennessee}
It was as we were leaving the parking lot of the falls that we noticed a terrible thumping noise and vibration coming from our car. We were a couple hours from our hotel and all the more from home. We decided the best thing to do was take it slow back to the hotel and get it in the shop first thing in the morning at a local mechanic.
In the morning we were at the shop as soon as they opened. They were so gracious and said they would move us to the first of the days projects since we had to get home. We waited for a few hours while they looked over the car, ordered the parts, and replaced the things that were needed. Our car is pushing 400,000 miles and has taken us all over the country. We have had to replace some parts here and there but we are determined to reach 400K if not 500K.
The car trouble had us leaving hours later than we originally planned, but still we decided to take the detour up through the tail of Virginia so that we could see the Cumberland Gap. The Cumberland Gap has served as a natural break in the Appalachian Mountains and thereby a traveling path from one side of the mountains to the other.
This path has been used by people for thousands of years and was considered the first gateway to the west. Beginning with Native Americans following the bison herds, to frontiersmen and settlers, the Cumberland Gap has seen over 300,00 people throughout its history.
The Cumberland Gap sits on the borders of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia and from the highest peak visitors can see out to all those states. With 85 miles of trails in the 14,000 acres of land, there is not end to opportunities to connect with the legacy of all the people who have come here before.
Sadly, the car repairs had put us too late to really get out and hike some of the trails. With 4 hours of driving ahead of us to get home, we would have to come back another time to really see the Cumberland Gap.
Even with the car and the delay, the weekend had been the perfect mountain escape for a few days. There is nothing better than hiking in the mountains to soothe the soul and steady the mind and it was the restorative I needed after a crazy few weeks.
Need some more places in the Appalachians? Then you may be interested in these places:
Smokey Mountain National Park- Tennessee
Thanks for coming to this weekend in the Appalachian Mountains. May paths and rivers take you through the mountains.
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