Day #179 – Cades Cove

Gatlinburg TN

Today was a busy day.  Busier than I like, but probably about right for Kelly.  Our goal was to get out of the house and see some sights without making my tooth throb.  Not an easy task.

We started with the Gatlinburg Farm Market (http://gatlinburgfarmersmarket.com).  We’d seen signs for it all week and were very excited at the prospect of finding locally grown produce.  It seems the weather here, at least in terms of last frost, spring temperatures, etc., is close to Pittsburgh’s, so I expected to find greens and maybe some beets.  What we found was a gem, and a surprise.  This was not just their first market of the season – it was their first ever market.

It was small, but wonderful.  We apparently missed the local berries; there were no beets; we found lots of spring greens.  We bought some bread and brownies from the local bakery, some soap from the local soap maker, and some fresh greens.  We talked with a couple farmers about herb plants, but didn’t buy.  There was live bluegrass music.  I won a raffle – reusable-man-made-from-recycled-bottles-save-the-earth shopping bag from our favorite outfitter.  We helped a woman take down her tent – turns out she was on the market’s board.  She and I chatted about the market and how fantastic it was.  She had heard about the markets around Pittsburgh and was happy to see a tourist at this one.  I told her about our experiences with the Saturday farm market in Williamsburg VA and how they cater to tourists as well as locals.  I told her we would certainly be back next week.

On a lark, we headed over to the Roaring Fork motor driving tour (http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/autotouring.htm) within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  There were signs warning that the road was closed, but it wasn’t blocked off and the road was freshly paved.  So, we gave it a go.  We got pretty far.  Actually, the motor driving tour didn’t start until after the trailhead for the Rainbow Falls trail.  By the time we’d reached the trailhead, the road had narrowed to one lane.  The parking lot for the trail was full, so cars were parked along the road, alternating on either the left or right side.  It was very difficult for us to drive through that area – we were sure we’d either clip a car or fall off the mountain.  Kelly cursed the whole way.  And, naturally, just down the road a bit was an overflow parking lot, nearly empty.  I guess a sign pointing to the second lot was part of the upcoming construction.

The road for the tour really was closed, so we looped back and stopped at the Noah “Bud” Ogle nature trail.  The grounds around the house and the nature trail were practically deserted.  The Ogle family was one of the first to settle in the Smokies.  By 1879, when this 400-acre farm was started, the family was a powerful force in the community.  The house started small, but additions were added as the family grew.  The downstairs was used for living; adults and girls slept downstairs and the boys slept upstairs.  The spring house was located quite a ways from the house.  An open wooden flume was wedged into the stream and angled to carry water to a sink outside the house.  The sink, too, was wood – dug from a single massive tree trunk.  This plumbing was all very modern, and rare, for this time period.

A custom in these parts was the “weaner” house.  After a couple married, they moved to a “honeymoon” cabin, near one of the parental homes, for one year.  This gave them time to build and establish their own place while remaining close to their parents.  We saw the remains of one of these houses, now just a big pile of rocks.

Most families built and operated their own grinding mills.  The one on this farm was a tub mill – the water wheel was horizontal and enclosed in a tub-like box.  Families who did not have a mill would bring their grain to a mill and pay the “toll” of one gallon of meal per bushel of corn.  The tour notes indicated that widows and “other unfortunates” were not expected to pay.

The Ogles built a drive-through barn.  There were pens on each side, with a common roof over them and the center aisle.  The aisle was wide enough to accommodate draft animals pulling farm equipment.

On this tour we learned a lot about how plants were used for medicine.

• Hemlock trees: use the tea for boils.  Mix the juices from the bark with corn meal and spread the paste on burns.
• Wild black cherry trees: render the inner bark into cough syrup.
• Butternut tree: use the hulls and bark to dye cloth brown.

After our walking tour of the Ogle farm, we headed off to Cades Cove, another driving tour in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The road to the cove had been closed, so this was new territory for us.  The road was a twisty turny narrow two-lane that soon went down to one-way, one-lane.  The road is closed to all motor vehicles at certain times of the week so that hikers and bicyclers can enjoy the tour without risking life, limb, and respiratory system.

The tour had 18 stops along its way with opportunities to examine houses, churches, roads and lanes, and a mill.  The touring guide included this letter, addressing common problem encountered during the Civil War.  While Tennessee did secede from the Union, many people supported the Union.  “We the Primitive Baptist Church in Blount County in Cades Cove, do show the public why we have not kept up our church meeting.  It was on account of the Rebellion and we was Union people and the Rebels was too strong here in Cades Cove.  Our preacher was obliged to leave sometimes, and thank God we once more can meet.”

We saw lots of wildlife on the tour, some of it human.  At one point, all traffic stopped – a bear jam.  A mother and her cubs were wandering through a meadow.  We saw too many people, including children, way too close to them.  (Remember to click the photo to see a larger version - with bears!)  Later, we became particularly frustrated by the driver in front of us.  Despite numerous parking spots along the road, she insisted on driving well under the speed limit and stopping every now and then to gaze into the woods.  She never noticed the long string of cars behind her.  Several drivers honked their happiness when she finally turned off onto another road.

We finished the day with dinner at the Texas Roadhouse, hosted by the campground manager, Don.  We talked politics over steak and baked potatoes.  He is a wealth of diversity – a conservative man who did not support Mr. Bush, who does not like Mr. Obama, and thinks our country is going to the socialists.  He is a well-read man who reads from many sources and watches news on many TV channels.  Neither of us could keep up with him, but we had a great time listening.