Backroad Portfolio | SPRING 2024

Take the long way home

PORTFOLIO

Botanical Royalty

Rocky shoals spider lilies

Rose Lane and Chuck Leavell

Backroad Cycling

There and Back Again: The Crooked Road

SPRING 2024

SOUTHEAST

Landsford Canal State Park in Chester County, South Carolina

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT CLARK

clearysbookstore.com

@clearysbookstore

Cleary’s is a brand new, women-owned independent bookstore located on historic main street in Mount Holly, North Carolina. Our mission is to cultivate and support a lifelong love of books and share in the joy of reading with our community. Our shelves are stocked to bursting with new and used genre fiction for adults, nonfiction, young adult and graphic novels, kids’ books, and more. We have monthly in-store events, book clubs, subscription boxes, and weekly kids and family story times. Whether you’re browsing our brick-and-mortar store in person or on our website, at Cleary’s you’ll find favorites for all ages! We can’t wait to read with you!

Mount Holly, North Carolina

“No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.”

// PROVERB

PHOTO COURTESY OF BRASWELL FAMILY FARMS

Nashville, North Carolina

SPRING

secrets

Intriguing places, mysteries, and recipes

14

evergreen

Destinations worth visiting any time of year

19

16 provisions

10 nostalgia

Historic events that have shaped our region

Must-have essentials for your backroad adventures

22 a tapestry of music, trees, and hearts

Rose Lane and Chuck Leavell weave beautiful life stories

32 the mountains are calling

Appalachia summons cyclists to her hills and backroads

40 botanical royalty

Rocky shoals spider lilies reign over a pre-European landscape

48 there and back again

Travel Southwest Virginia’s Crooked Road

55

conversation

Lessons from fourth-generation egg farmer Trey Braswell

66

60 creation

Tips for planting a culinary herb garden

76

bulletin

Seasonal adventures for your calendar

90

philosophy

A small-town guidepoint to great food and people

portfolios

Vintage Tailgate 8-9

Rosie’s Respite 12-13

Cades Cove Loop 20-21

Biking in Brevard 30-31

Anthony Shoals 38-39

Spider Lilies 46-47

preservation

A historic South Carolina church— abandoned but not forgotten

73

inspiration

Small-business treasures along the backroads

82

landscape

Captivating southeastern photo spots

92

contributors

This issue’s featured writers, photographers, and artists

Church of the Ridge 58-59

Middle Saluda River 64-65

Still Life Roses 70-71

Pastel Umbrellas 74-75

Gibbs Gardens 80-81

Huntington Beach 86

On the cover PHOTO BY ROBERT CLARK

Colonies of rare rocky shoals spider lilies bloom in late May each spring at Landsford Canal State Park in Chester County, South Carolina.

Volume 2 • Spring 2024

Backroad Portfolio covers North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Southwest Virginia, and East Tennessee

Published by EPS Media LLC and Summer House Creative, Inc.

© 2024

Backroad Portfolio is published quarterly.

Email hello@backroadportfolio.com for advertising, subscription, and submission info.

Staley, North Carolina

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM POLAND

Rusted trucks and an an old gas pump remind us of days gone by.

Something special happens each May in three southeastern river communities. It might be the region’s best kept secret.

Discover it at Stevens Creek in Plum Branch, South Carolina; Landsford Canal State Park in Chester County, South Carolina; and Anthony Shoals in Wilkes County, Georgia. What will you find? Gardens of rare rocky shoals spider lilies. So few of these vanishing flowers remain that many believe they should be listed as an endangered species. We share this beautiful bloom’s story with you in “Botanical Royalty” on page 40.

Rolling Stones keyboardist and musical director Chuck Leavell lives in a circa 1850s Central Georgia farmhouse with his wife, Rose Lane, where they manage 4,000 acres of sustainable forestland and hunting preserves. The legendary musician met the love of his life in 1969 at Capricorn Records, three years before joining The Allman Brothers Band. Tom Poland, Chuck’s biographer, shares the remarkable couple’s love story in “A Tapestry of Music, Trees, and Hearts” on page 22.

“The Mountains are Calling” on page 32. We invite you to travel them by bike for thrilling adventures among fraser firs, red spruce, and rhododendrons. Not far away, wind through Southwest Virginia’s Crooked Road, an established music heritage trail we journeyed for our “There and Back Again” feature on page 48. You’ll discover historic performance venues, annual festivals, innovative distilleries, scenic vineyards, challenging hiking trails, preserved country stores, and more.

If you haven’t yet, consider signing up for a print and/or digital subscription to Backroad Portfolio. New this issue, we’re offering Substack subscriptions for those of you who prefer reading our stories via weekly emails on your desktop computer or digital device. Learn more at backroadportfolio.com/subscribe.

We’re thrilled so many of you have accepted our challenge to take the long way home, and grateful for the opportunity to keep sharing extraordinary stories of the people, places, and events along the Southeast’s backroads with you. Let’s go!

backroadportfolio.com

Carolina

These old Ford tailgates are just a sampling of the vintage delights you’ll discover at Luna’s Trading Post off U.S. 64 in Chatham County, North Carolina.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELIZABETH POLAND SHUGG

Staley, North

SECRETS

Southern backroads are filled with secret places, views, recipes, stories, memories, and mysteries. Here, we share a few of them with you.

PLACE

Staley, North Carolina

Not many folks know about this 3.5-acre North Carolina roadside attraction bursting with nostalgia. Luna’s Trading Post, located at 129 Shady Grove Church Road in Staley, offers a vintage feast for the eyes. To find it, head west on U.S. 64 from Raleigh past Siler City until you see a field of rusted gas pumps, antique cars, wagon wheels, and metal signs. There are no price tags—just ask owners Danny and Meghan how much they want for the items you’re interested in. You might walk out with an assortment of rusted signs for your shop, a bench made out of car parts for your garage, or a carton of dusty RC Cola bottles for your bar. The photo opportunities alone make this one of our favorite backroad destinations.

MYSTERY

Lincoln County, Georgia

Mining at Graves Mountain in Lincoln County, Georgia, ended long ago, but it emerges from secrecy every April and October as picks send metallic rings into the air and rockhounds seek jewels from Mother Earth during the biannual Rock Swap and Dig, a free event. The mountain’s original rocks were deposited 300 million years ago, but continental collisions forced the region into Earth’s mantle, subjecting it to heat and pressure. This mystery of science caused new minerals to form and forced existing minerals to metamorphose into the erosion-resistant schists and quartzite we recognize today as Graves Mountain. Commercial mining of kyanite—a blue silicate mineral—exposed rutile, a lustrous yellow gem that is perhaps the mountain’s most coveted specimen. Folks also collect lazulite, iridescent hematite, pyrophyllite, pyrite, ilmenite, muscovite, fuchsite,

barite, sulfur, blue quartz, and quartz crystals with a hematite coating.

PHOTO BY TOM POLAND

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH POLAND SHUGG

RECIPE

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Built nearly 200 years ago, The Old Mill in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is one of the country’s oldest continually operating gristmills—as well as one of its most photographed. This recipe for White Mountain Cake— reprinted with permission by The Old Mill from its Forgotten Recipes of the Smokies series—was recreated from a cookbook authored by Malinda Russell, the first African American to write and publish a cookbook in America. The cake is iced with boiled white icing and is considered one of the first true layer cakes.

Note: As with many early American recipes The Old Mill researched, directions were not included. This is because most recipes and cookbooks from this time period were not intended for the home cook, but rather for an experienced cook who would have known what to do. Here is the recipe as The Old Mill interpreted it.

WHITE MOUNTAIN CAKE WITH BOILED WHITE ICING

CAKE INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of white granulated sugar

• 2 large whole eggs

• ½ cup of butter

• ½ cup of whole milk

• ½ teaspoon of baking soda

• ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar

• 2½ cups of Miller’s Choice Unbleached Flour

CAKE DIRECTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare three 8-inch round cake pans by greasing and flouring them, or by spraying them with baking spray and lining them with parchment paper.

• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. If you’re using a hand or stand mixer, cream the mixture on high for 3–4 minutes. If you’re creaming it by hand, push the butter into the sugar with the back of a wooden spoon or paddle until the they are well combined, then beat the mixture until it becomes fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the milk and beat the mixture until the milk is well incorporated.

• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture a little at a time until the flour is completely mixed in, then beat the mixture for 2–3 minutes with a mixer, or 150 strokes by hand.

• Divide the batter equally between the three cake pans. Bake for 18–22 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool on a baking rack for 10–12 minutes in the pan. Then remove the cakes from the pan and let them cool completely on the baking rack.

ICING INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of white granulated sugar

• ⅓ cup of water

• 4 egg whites

• Juice of 1 lemon (about 2–3 tablespoons)

• Lemon zest to garnish

This recipe makes enough icing for one three-layer cake. Store the cake in a cake dome or saver in a cool, dry place.

ICING DIRECTIONS

• In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil. Do not stir as it boils. Test to see if it’s ready by dipping a knife or fork into the mixture as it boils. If the drip is slow and spins off into a thread, it’s ready.

• In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, whip 4 egg whites until they are fluffy and firm. When the sugar syrup is ready, slowly stream the hot syrup down the inside of the bowl while continuing to whip the egg whites. The egg whites will begin to fluff up even more as you incorporate the hot syrup. Once all of the syrup is incorporated, add the juice of one lemon and whip until it is thoroughly mixed in. The icing will be very fluffy, shiny, and smooth.

• Beginning with the first layer, ice the top, adding each layer and icing until all three layers are stacked. Begin icing the sides, from the top layer on down, with swirling strokes to ensure the icing covers the cake all the way to bottom. The outside of the cake should be covered with a thick layer of icing with no visibility of the cake layers.

RECIPE AND PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OLD MILL

Somewhere on the Coast

“RESPITE”

PAINTING BY ROSIE MOLINARY

“Water has always been my refuge, a vital tool for soothing my soul. This abstracted acrylic waterscape is drawn from my imagination and inspired by my longing for time near and on the water.” —Rosie

EVERGREEN

No matter what time of year you venture out, picturesque southeastern backroads will transport you to these evergreen destinations.

NATURAL BRIDGE STATE PARK

Once owned by Thomas Jefferson, Natural Bridge State Park is designated a Virginia Historical Landmark and National Historical Landmark. This 215-foot limestone gorge carved out by Cedar Creek opens up to the James River Valley’s forested lands and rolling meadows. Visitors can access 6 miles of hiking trails that lead to the Monacan Indian Village and Lace Falls, where a 30-foot cascade awaits.

Natural Bridge, Virginia

6477 South Lee Highway naturalbridgestatepark.org

PHOTO BY WIRESTOCK CREATORS

VOGEL STATE PARK

Vogel State Park is one of Georgia’s oldest parks in the Chattahoochee National Forest, offering hiking, swimming, fishing, and camping. Choose from the 4-mile Bear Hair Gap Loop or 13-mile Coosa Backcountry Trail. During warmer months, swim in the 22-acre lake, which also provides an enchanting backdrop for photos at sunset.

Blairsville, Georgia

405 Vogel State Park Road gastateparks.org/vogel

PHOTO BY ANCHASA

ANCHASA

CHEROHALA SKYWAY

Take in sweeping mountain views as you travel this 43-mile National Scenic Byway that connects Tellico Plains, Tennessee, and Robbinsville, North Carolina. Discover scenic overlooks, challenging hikes, and mesmerizing waterfalls along the way. Completed in 1886, the Cherohala Skyway navigates 5,400-foot mountains, as well as the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests—for which it is named.

Tellico Plains, Tennessee

Cherohala Skyway Visitors Center

225 Cherohala Skyway cherohala.com

FORT SUMTER AND FORT MOULTRIE NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK

Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie are both located in Charleston Harbor, just 7 miles apart—close enough for the federal government to encircle them within one national park. Fort Moultrie, originally known as Fort Sullivan, was constructed in 1776 during the American Revolution. Construction began on Fort Sumter in 1829 as a consequence of Charleston Harbor’s vulnerability to attack. Both present memorable lessons in American history and are open year-round, closing only for New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Charleston, South Carolina

Fort Sumter

340 Concord Street nps.gov/fosu

PHOTO BY JAMES P

Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina

Fort Moultrie

1214 Middle Street nps.gov/fosu

PHOTO BY TAMAS

PHOTO AT RIGHT BY DIGIDREAMGRAFIX

PHOTO BELOW BY RAHUL

RAHUL –STOCK.ADOBE.COM

JAMES P –STOCK.ADOBE.COM

NOSTALGIA

Backroads transport us to the places that commemorate our country’s history. Learn about these events that occurred during southeastern springs of the past.

THE FOUNDING OF JAMESTOWN

May 13, 1607

In 1606, the Virginia Company of London was granted a charter to start a colony in Virginia. Thus, a group of settlers sailed to America on three ships: the Susan Constant, the Discovery, and the Godspeed. The settlers landed in Virginia on May 13, 1607 and founded the establishment of Jamestown. These early colonists battled starvation and Native American tribes, like the Powhatans. According to legend, Chief Powhatan was planning to have Jamestown leader John Smith killed when the chief’s daughter, Pocahontas, came to his rescue. She pleaded for her father to spare Smith’s life. He agreed and let Captain Smith go.

Jamestown, Virginia jyfmuseums.org

PHOTO

THE BATTLE OF MONCKS CORNER

April 14, 1780

The Battle of Moncks in Berkeley County, South Carolina, was a British victory that took place on April 14, 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. This win allowed the British troops to lay siege to Charleston by cutting off communication at swampy Moncks Corner, along with any escape routes outside the city via the Cooper River. This ultimately led to the fall of Charleston.

Berkeley County, South Carolina battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/moncks-corner

PHOTO BY MONICA LARA

MONICA LARA –STOCK.ADOBE.COM

BY SPIRIT OF AMERICA

SPIRIT OF AMERICA –STOCK.ADOBE.COM

TENNESSEE BECOMES THE 16TH STATE

June 1, 1796

The state of North Carolina formally ceded six western counties to the Continental Congress on December 22, 1789, leading to the eventual establishment of Tennessee, according to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The U.S. Census states that on April 12, 1790, the region that would become Tennessee was organized as a “territory” south of the Ohio River. On June 1, 1796, Tennessee was officially admitted to the union as the sixteenth state, with Knoxville designated as its first capital. Over the next thirty years, the capital of Tennessee alternated between Kingston, Nashville, Knoxville, and Murfreesboro, before being moved back to Nashville in 1826. Six years prior in 1820, upon resolution of a boundary dispute with Kentucky, Tennessee took on the same general state lines as it has today.

Nashville, Tennessee census.gov and dncr.nc.gov

THE FAYETTEVILLE AND WESTERN PLANK ROAD

April 1854

Fayetteville and Western Plank Road Company stockholders celebrated the completion of their wooden highway in April 1854. Considered the longest plank road ever built in North Carolina, the Fayetteville and Western wooden highway stretched 129 miles from the Market House in Fayetteville to the village of Bethania near Salem in Forsyth County. This road and a number of other plank roads chartered during the 1850s in North Carolina were built to improve the condition of the state’s overland transportation during the first half of the nineteenth century.

Fayetteville to Bethania, North Carolina blogs.lib.unc.edu

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

PHOTOS BY BILLY M C DONALD

tompol@earthlink.net

tompoland.net

Tom Poland travels southern backroads seeking evidence of how those before us lived, worked, and survived. Each day their farms, barns, outbuildings, stores, churches, and onceessential structures succumb to time and the elements. He photographs and writes about a forgotten land so that others can know it was there. A writer, author, and photographer, his books cover the backroads, vanishing cultural ways, and natural areas at risk. He and co-author Robert Clark document what is, a land that may well become what was.

Columbia, South Carolina

Backroad explorations require sturdy, useful products that enhance the experience of the journey. Here are a few suggestions for your supply list.

Modgy Expandable Flower Vase, $9.95 modgy.com/collections/myvaz

Modgy’s reusable vases pop-up easily for use and fold flat for space-saving convenience. Lightweight and infinitely portable, it’s easy to bring a burst of color and style to any setting, whether collecting wildflowers on nature walks and camping trips, or jazzing up your home decor. Available in eye-catching designs— from Louis C. Tiffany Daffodils to other mesmerizing patterns—these vases are as much a treat for the eye as the flowers you put inside of them.

SOMETHING YOU WANT Online

SOMETHING YOU NEED

NOCS Provisions Standard Binoculars, $95 wandernorthgeorgia.com

These waterproof/fogproof standard binoculars offer a wide field of view through fully multi-coated and scratch-resistant lenses with BaK4 roof prisms. Designed to pack easily, NOCS also feature twist-up eyecups that are compatible with glasses. NOCs come in five colors: manzanita red, pacific blue, sage green, sunset orange, and olive green.

Clayton and Tallulah Falls, Georgia

SOMETHING TO WEAR

Scout Day Pack, $85

diamondbrandgear.com/product-category/revival-rescue Heading out for a hike? Strap on this sturdy daypack from Diamond Brand’s Revival Tent Rescue line, which consists of products made from recycled tents or scrap tent fabric. Diamond Brand works with scouting partners to upcycle retired tents into functional, creative, craft gear—like this top-loading backpack featuring military-grade web straps, upcycled leather details, a padded back from aircraft cover scraps, and a water-resistant canvas bottom.

Fletcher, North Carolina

SOMETHING TO READ

Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast by Laura Cotterman, Damon Waitt, and Alan Weakley; $25.99 ncbg.unc.edu/2019/06/08/wildflowers-of-the-atlantic-southeast

This comprehensive guide to native and naturalized perennials, annuals, and bulbs across the region offers descriptions and illustrations of 1,250 species commonly found in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Published in partnership with the North Carolina Botanical Garden, the content is organized by flower color and includes explanations of the key plant parts and names, as well as range maps.

Atlantic Southeast

Photos provided by vendors or taken by the Backroad Portfolio staff

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUCE D E BOER

Cades Cove Loop winds for 11 miles through scenic Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Townsend, Tennessee

A TAPESTRY OF MUSIC, TREES, AND HEARTS

ROSE LANE & CHUCK LEAVELL WEAVE BEAUTIFUL LIFE STORIES

WRITTEN BY TOM POLAND

The Leavells live among pines and hardwoods. They call it Charlane, Char from Charles and lane from Rose Lane. Charlane Woodland sits square in the geographic heart of Georgia.

Charles “Chuck” Leavell came to fame playing the rollicking piano feature in “Jessica,” an Allman Brothers Band classic. His piano and keyboard work would go on to grace the works of Eric Clapton, John Mayer, The Black Crowes, George Harrison, the Indigo Girls, Blues Traveler, Train, Lee Ann Womack, and other famed musicians.

Rose Lane worked at legendary Capricorn Records, a studio synonymous with Southern rock. The Allman Brothers Band, Wet Willie, Elvin Bishop, and the Marshall Tucker Band recorded there. That’s where Rose Lane and Chuck met, a few years before the Allman Brothers Band asked Chuck to join them in 1972. Rose Lane and Chuck’s story would become an uplifting tapestry, a fabric of love, music, and trees.

For 42 years Chuck has played keyboards and served as musical director for the Rolling Stones. He’s played with David Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame, and when he’s back home, he dons his tree farmer hat.

Rose Lane, a woman of woods and fields, shared a telling quote with me. “Daddy taught me to hammer a nail in a tree and to shoot straight.” That tells you a lot about this strong southern woman.

On a cool January day she wore a black velvet jacket embroidered with roses, a gift from Mick Jagger—an appropriate and special gift to the First Lady of Charlane Woodlands, Rose Lane Leavell.

SHARED BEGINNINGS

In 1969, music introduced Rose Lane to Chuck Leavell at Capricorn Records in Macon, Georgia. Before that, and after, there had always been her connection with the land. This southern woman’s story, you see, goes back to a rural setting where family roots reach deep.

“I grew up on the farm, on a dirt road, as a matter of fact. I’m going to show you the painting of my farm where I grew up.”

She and I were in her studio, a place of brushes, books, beautiful wood, shades and tints, and curiosities; a place of mineral spirits and tubes of colors. She led me to an easel holding a painting of a barn beneath a radiant sun, a log outbuilding, a grazing hereford, and two trees.

“This is where I grew up. This was the barn. This was the dirt road. It was literally a white dirt road and this is where you kept the milk cow. And this was a log barn. And this is the cow pasture.” The barn is gone, but it lives on, a memory transformed into art.

“They tore it down in 1973. My brother asked me to paint it for him. That was back when Daddy died. My brother wanted it. So this is his painting.”

This Georgia girl who grew up on a farm and toured with The Rolling Stones tells a story of love, land, and the good fortune music generates.

ABOVE: PHOTO OF ROSE LANE SITTING ON THE CHARLANE HUNTING LODGE STEPS BY CHERRIE SMEAL ALEXANDER.

To chart the events that led Rose Lane to Capricorn Records and thus to Chuck, we must go back to the early 1960s when Phil Walden managed and represented R&B performers. Among them were Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Al Green, and Percy Sledge. After Redding’s death in 1967, Walden’s plan for an R&B-driven label lost its appeal. After consulting with Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records, Walden decided to found a record label. Plans included building a studio with a session band. Named for their shared astrological sign, Walden and Wexler formed Capricorn Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records.

Rose Lane had been working at a Chevrolet dealer. She sensed an opportunity. “I asked for an audition at Capricorn and they asked me to go to dinner. Frank got a writer from Blues and Soul magazine to come. We all went to dinner and that was it. I started working there for co-founder Frank Fenter.”

She met The Allman Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker Band, Atlanta Rhythm section, and Wet Willie. “Otis died before I got there. But Zelma (Otis Redding’s widow), she’s still my friend.”

Since those early days, Rose Lane has walked among rock greats, but she remains grounded. I asked Rose Lane a question. “If someone asked, ‘Are you a strong, independent woman?” What would you say?”

“I would tell them that I know what I’m doing, and I’m a woman of the world. I’m very honored to have the life I have. First of all, honored because my grandmother left the farm to me and she was a strong woman. My mother was a strong woman. Chuck is my nucleus.”

He’s her nucleus and she’s his. Rose Lane once ran a boutique women’s store in Macon called Cornucopia. It demanded her time and attention, as retail does. But then she fell off a horse.

“I broke myself really bad. Chuck came in the bedroom and said, ‘You’ve got to get rid of that store and start touring with me.’

“Oh, I can’t give up my store. I’ve had it for 20 years.”

She let go of Cornucopia and joined Chuck on the road, a road that crossed the world, as you’ll see; a road that began when Chuck was just thirteen years old.

PHOTOS OF ROSE LANE IN HER PAINTING STUDIO AND GARDENS BY ROBERT CLARK

THE PHONE RINGS, BIG TIME

“My first band, The Misfitz, played some original songs,” Chuck said. “I’m talking about when I was thirteen years old. But we played largely British Invasion—The Stones, Beatles, Zombies, Dave Clark Five—and so we cut our teeth on that music. I studied that stuff and was a fan long before I had any idea I would wind up in a position to play with the Stones.

“Through the years, I was very fortunate to get the position with The Allman Brothers Band. We had a few hits off of the Brothers and Sisters record. Brothers and Sisters record was our No. 1 record. ‘Ramblin’ Man’ topped the charts, and ‘Jessica’—the instrumental had a nice piano feature. But the band disbanded in 1976.”

After the dissolution Chuck formed a band called Sea Level.

“We recorded five records, four of them on Capricorn Records. In 1981, I was virtually unemployed. I had a small trio. I was playing clubs but the phone wasn’t ringing very much for session work.”

He came home frustrated one day.

“Listen, honey, I am never going to quit music, but things aren’t really going so great right now, and I am very interested in forestry, and maybe I should just not worry about it, leave music alone, and just pursue this forest interest.”

She listened patiently.

“That’s interesting, Chuck, but guess what? The Rolling Stones called you today.”

Chuck thought she was pulling his chain at first.

“Don’t do this to me,” he said.

“Here’s the number. Go to the phone over there and call.”

“I did, and within thirty-six hours, I was on a plane for an audition. My feeling and my attitude when I walked in for the audition, first of all was, “Hey, wait a minute, I played most of these songs when I was a kid, when I was thirteen or fourteen or fifteen years old. Enjoy yourself and have fun.”

The audition went great. Chuck didn’t get the gig immediately, but about six months later the Stones called and said they were going to tour Europe and wanted Chuck on board.

“What a great honor and pleasure because The Stones have a reputation,” said Chuck. Indeed they do—the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band of all time.

The Rolling Stones knocked on Chuck’s door at a good time. In 1972, Chuck had felt most fortunate to join The Allman Brothers Band. The band scored hits off the No. 1 Brothers and Sisters album.

“Ramblin’ Man” ranked No. 1 on US Cashbox’s top 100. “Jessica,” the instrumental featuring Chuck’s mesmerizing piano, made The Billboard Hot 100. Now he was making music with the Stones and soon to make something else—a documentary series for PBS.

Another opportunity grew from that Georgia soil. Trees. Chuck studied forestry by correspondence and did homework while riding a tour bus with The Fabulous Thunderbirds in the mid 1980s. It took time, but he and Rose Lane turned their land into a textbook tree farm. Their success would take them on the road; this time to film TV shows.

TREES, TV SHOWS, BOOKS, AND CONCERTS

Autumn 2018. Chuck and Rose Lane visited Moncks Corner, South Carolina, to film the third episode of “America’s Forests With Chuck Leavell.” The episode focused on a program to help African American landowners keep land in their families and better manage forested land they inherited or owned. While in Moncks Corner, Chuck accompanied the choir on piano at a local church. It seemed fitting. Pianos come from trees.

In addition to TV, Chuck shares his forestry knowledge in books. He wrote Forever Green: The History and Hope of the American Forest because he realized the general public misunderstood forestry.

“I wanted to write about that [misunderstanding] and cover not only the era when there was rape and pillage of the forest, but also the period of recovery. Gifford Pinchot, Carl Schenck, and Bernhard Fernow, another German, led the way, along with conservationists like John Muir and, of course, Teddy Roosevelt. I wanted folks to know about the Cradle of Forestry in America in Asheville, with Pinchot working for the Vanderbilts.”

He didn’t overlook the importance of educating children about forestry. “It’s so important to engage young people about forestry because that is the future. So, I did a children’s book, The Tree Farmer, about a grandson who visits his grandfather’s tree farm for the first time. The grandfather shows him what he does as a steward of the forest.”

His book, Growing a Better America, “arose from the concern that we have some 332 million people in our country now, and that’s a lot of pressure on our natural resources. How do we deal with that and how do we go forward and continue to see the growth in the population and not do too much damage to the land? That’s the theme of that book.”

And the woman whose ancestors have been in Georgia since the 1790s? An inch shy of 6 feet, Rose Lane cuts a striking figure. She’s modelesque, to coin a word. Her boutique clothing store on Second Street in Macon, Cornucopia? The eclectic and haute couture frequented it. That experience helped prepare her for backstage duties with The Rolling Stones, who considered her their band mother. She helped with wardrobe, hair and makeup, and something most helpful: mapping the enormous stages. On March 25, 2016, the Stones performed a free two-hour concert at Ciudad Deportiva in Havana. Rose Lane was there.

“You know how many people we had in Cuba? Over 700,000,” she said. “You couldn’t see. You couldn’t see anything.”

According to Billboard, half a million more could not get into the venue. The Rolling Stones were the biggest international act to play Cuba since the Cuban Revolution. The woman who could hammer a nail into a tree and shoot straight found herself at a most historic show. There she was touring with the world’s greatest rock and roll band and her husband—their keyboardist and musical director, light years from that day in 1981 when he had considered putting music aside.

CHUCK AND HIS ENGLISH POINTER PREPARE FOR A HUNT ON THE CHARLANE HUNTING PRESERVE.

PHOTO BY TOM POLAND

Today Chuck and Rose Lane embrace the woods. The circa 1850 farmhouse they live in, The Home Place, consists of pine harvested from their land. The acreage grew, and today the couple are stewards of 4,000 acres. Managing their woodlands as sustainable forestland and as a hunting preserve has been a labor of love for them both.

FAMILY AT THE CORE

“We’ve been together fifty years and we have a lot of fun together,” Chuck said. “We’re together just about every day.”

Rose Lane has friends all over the world today, thanks to music. Family, however, is never far from her mind. She reflected on her father, “The sweetest, kindest man ever, he wanted me to be able to take care of myself.” She reflected on her mother. “She could shoot a penny off a post.”

Rose Lane’s is a heritage of kindness and toughness topped by double blessings. She and Chuck find in each other their core. Chuck calls Rose Lane, “Rosie.” They have two daughters, Amy and Ashley, and four grandkids—two from each daughter.

Chuck and Rose Lane complement and balance each other out at a sustainable forestland and hunting preserve in the heart of Georgia, a fitting setting for their finely woven tapestry of family land, music, and matters of the heart

FOR CHUCK AND ROSE LANE, MANAGING THEIR FORESTLAND AND HUNTING PRESERVE IS A LABOR OF LOVE.

PHOTOS BY ROBERT CLARK.

Brevard, North Carolina

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EXPLORE BREVARD

Known as the “cycling capital of the Southeast,” Brevard offers plenty of daring opportunities for mountain bikers.

UPPER LEFT PHOTO BY TONY HALL, COURTESY OF THE VIRGINIA TOURISM ASSOCIATION

UPPER RIGHT PHOTO BY SCOTT K. BROWN, COURTESY OF THE VIRGINIA TOURISM ASSOCIATION

ABOVE PHOTO OF HIGH BRIDGE STATE PARK BY KYLE LAFERRIERE, COURTESY OF THE VIRGINIA TOURISM ASSOCIATION

THE MOUNTAINS ARE CALLING

Appalachia summons cyclists to her rugged backroads and hills

WRITTEN BY ELIZABETH POLAND SHUGG

Cyclists are explorers, seeking roads and trails less traveled. Mountains answer their call. Wrapped with wild, remote routes, they unveil forgotten landscapes where abandoned structures dwell.

A grand payoff awaits those who reach the summit. Red spruce, fraser fir, and yellow birch blanket the encircling ridges. Lenticular clouds cap mountaintops like pancake stacks. Unrelenting breezes rustle hobblebush flowers and blackberry bushes. Clarity, gratitude, and peace blossom with the rhododendron.

“Along with enjoying what nature has to share, I appreciate how riding across the countryside clears my mind, while also bringing focus to what is important in my life,” says Bob George of Raleigh, who has been riding since “mountain biking was one of the new ‘extreme’ sports and Greg LeMond was winning the Tour de France.”

Thirty-five years later, the Raleigh cyclist is still on his bike. He also sits on the board of directors for Raleigh’s Capital Cycling Club and its annual Firecracker Ride, which benefits the Multiple Sclerosis Society of the Carolinas. “I tend to ride on the road more often due to the amount of group rides and route options in the Triangle area, but I also ride my gravel bike on gravel, dirt, and paved roads to get away from cars and explore rural areas. I’ve seen old farmhouses, barns, and churches that are probably 100-plus years old—as well as historic plaques and markers.”

INVESTED AND CONNECTED

Cycling nets a high VO2 max and prodigious appetite, but those perks come at a cost. The sport requires expensive gear and clothing that clings, pads, and breathes; tracking devices that map routes and measure performance. And food. Lots of protein-packed, carb-loaded goodness.

A tight-knit community, cyclists ride in groups, races, festivals, and tours. They share recipes and data. A Garmin Edge computer can send routes and performance metrics to apps like Strava and Komoot, where riders deep-dive into details and discuss experiences.

Lemond, who won the Tour de France in 1986, 1989, and 1990, described the cycling community as “a great family, and with all sporting families, you suffer together.” Ascending Mount Mitchell in North Carolina or High Knob in Virginia aptly qualifies as “suffering.” But the rewards are worth the grind. And cyclists don’t seem to mind.

“Some of the best mountain biking trails east of the Mississippi are in Pisgah National Forest and Brevard, North Carolina,” Bob George says. And there are more. Mesmerizing routes guide cyclists to some of the Southeast’s most scenic summits. Let’s journey to a few and find out why they keep coming back for more.

Pisgah National Forest

1001 Pisgah Highway

Pisgah Forest, North Carolina

The Pisgah National Forest comprises 500,000 acres of hardwood trees, whitewater rivers, waterfalls, and trails. Its crown jewel, Mount Mitchell, is considered North Carolina’s hardest, highest, and most popular bike climb. Most routes, however, are ranked as moderate and range from as short as 2 to as long 24 miles. Visit fs.usda.gov and search for “Pisgah National Forest” to learn more.

Brevard

Multiple trail sites

34 miles southwest of Asheville

Brevard calls itself “the cycling capital of the Southeast,” and for good reason. The area offers enough trails to keep an avid cyclist busy every weekend of the year. Alltrails.com highlights fourteen trails—eleven of which are moderate. John Rock Trail Loop and Daniel Ridge Loop are favorites for many cyclists. Learn more at explorebrevard.com/the-great-outdoors/biking and alltrails.com/us/north-carolina/brevard/mountain-biking.

PHOTO OF CYCLIST IN CARVINS COVE NATURAL RESERVE BY SAM DEAN, COURTESY OF THE VIRGINIA TOURISM ASSOCIATION

Waterrock Knob

Blue Ridge Parkway, Milepost 451.2

Sylva, North Carolina 28779

At 5,820 feet, the Blue Ridge Parkway’s highest visitor center offers magnificent views of multiple mountain chains, and is known for spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Nearby Waterrock Knob trail is a half-mile long, considered moderately challenging, and takes about 45 minutes to complete, since it can be biked both directions. Visit nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/waterrock-knob-mp-451-2.htm to learn more.

Roan Mountain

527 Highway 143

Roan Mountain, Tennessee

This 5-mile mountain range known as Roan Mountain straddles the Tennessee-North Carolina border but has an official address in Tennessee. Cyclists can choose from eighteen trails that range from easy to strenuous and offer a variety of experiences. An added bonus is that the Appalachian Trail is only 8 miles away from the park. Visit tnstateparks.com/parks/roan-mountain to learn more.

High Knob

1256 Spruce Avenue NW

Norton, Virginia 24273

Located on the border of Virginia and West Virginia, High Knob is best for experienced cyclists accustomed to steep chutes, loose rocks, and high speed descents. Nearby High Knob Observation tower on Shenandoah Mountain was originally built in the 1930s, but burned down forty years later. In 1979, a new tower also met its demise, due to arson. Finally in 2007, volunteers partnered with the Clinch Ranger District to construct a new, fire-proof tower at 4,223 feet, from which a view of five states is possible. Learn more at virginia.org/listing/high-knob-observation-tower/6808.

PHOTO (LEFT) OF A CYCLIST ON DODY RIDGE MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAIL BY SAM DEAN, COURTESY OF THE VIRGINIA TOURISM ASSOCIATION

PHOTO (RIGHT) OF A CYCLIST ON A BREVARD MOUNTAIN BIKING TRAIL COURTESY OF EXPLORE BREVARD

Forks Area Trail System

Woodlawn Road (between Deepstep Road and FS-662)

Clarks Hill, South Carolina 29821

Located in the Long Cane Ranger District of Sumter National Forest, Forks Area Trail System combines high speed sections with plenty of mileage, making it a favorite among experienced cyclists. It’s also great for beginners, since the trails contain very few technical features. The system consists of six individual loops including Brown Wave, Skinny, Great Wall, Deep Step, Big Rock, and Tower.

In 2010 the Forks Area Trail System gained recognition by hosting the annual IMBA World Mountain Bike Summit. Learn more at sorbacsra.org/Trails/FATS.htm.

Aska Adventure Area

101–199 Shady Falls Road

Blue Ridge, Georgia 30513

Steep climbs and challenging downhills fill 17 miles of trails at Aska Adventure area in North Georgia. Cyclists can experience a range of technical rock and root systems, cross streams, and dip into lakeshores bordering national forest lands. The trails, which ascend nearly 3,200 feet and range in length from 1 to 5.5 miles, are divided into sections and offer expansive views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Learn more at askaadventure.com.

Visit these websites to learn about additional mountain bike trails across the Southeast. AllTrails – alltrails.com

Trailforks – trailforks.com

Mountain Bike Reviews Forum – mtbr.com

Southeastern Cycling – sadlebred.com

Parkways and Greenways

The Blue Ridge Parkway offers 469 miles of leisure roads designed for motor vehicles, so there are no designated bike lanes. Cyclists who prefer paved roads to mountain trails should exercise caution in these areas. Visit blueridgeparkway.org to map out your options.

The East Coast Greenway stretches 3,000 miles from Maine to Florida, connecting 450 cities and towns across fifteen states. It accommodates all ages and offers a safe place for cycling, walking, and running. Learn more at greenway.org.

A Starting Point

Ready to try out your mountain biking skills?

The Blue Ridge Bike Center at Explore Park in Roanoke, Virginia, offers dirt berms, log rumble strips, rock rollers, and rock gardens for novice and intermediate mountain cyclists seeking to build skills and practice trail techniques.

The center is located at 4082 Rutrough Road. Additional phases will be added over the next few years. Learn more about the center at roanokecountyparks.com/534/biking.

4082 Rutrough Road, Roanoke, Virginia

PHOTO COURTESY OF EXPLORE BREVARD

PAINTING BY PHILIP JURAS

This painting depicting Anthony Shoals spider lilies on Georgia’s Broad River is in the collection of the Telfair Museums in Savannah, Georgia, which was gifted by Danyse and Julius Edel.

The image is courtesy of Juras, whose book, The Southern Frontier, Landscapes Inspired by Bartram’s Travels, is available for purchase at the University of Georgia Press and Amazon.

Anthony Shoals in Wilkes County, Georgia

Stevens Creek Natural Area in McCormick County, South Carolina

Rocky shoals spider lilies reign over a pre-European landscape

WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY TOM POLAND

Approach with reverence and listen. Faint at first, you’ll hear Earth’s finest white noise. Water whispers, water murmurs as it purls, froths, and foams against bedrock. Milky-white filigrees twist and braid, a sound that begets inner peace as no other sound can.

Peering through trees you see rare botanical royalty. Lustrous green scapes topped by snow-white blooms move to swift water, a bobbing, weaving, mesmerizing dance. Accompanied by the sound of unfettered water you behold South Carolina’s most bedazzling display of nature. The spectacle unfolds each spring in Georgia and Alabama, too. Come May–June, white and green accents adorn rivers and creeks studded by brown rocks.

Seeing rocky shoals spider lilies the first time takes your breath away. “I’ve seen little old ladies weep at their first sighting of this plant,” said the plant’s foremost expert, Larry Davenport, a professor of biological and environmental sciences at Samford University in Homewood, Alabama. “The lily has become a symbol of the wild and free-flowing places of Central Alabama.”

Davenport’s words from Garden & Gun’s May 2019 issue apply to South Carolina and Georgia, as well. With so many shoals beneath lakes, this majestic plant has little habitat left.

If you take your grandmother to see the ballerina-like blooms, take tissues. And understand that you are viewing a species devastated by dams, dropping water quality, and development. It should be federally listed as an endangered species. Hymenocallis coronaria is exquisite, ephemeral, and perilous, in that much of its habitat lies beneath lakes. As the rocky shoals spider lily’s status goes, it’s a national plant of concern.

Dancing Blooms

Babylon had hanging gardens and South Carolina has billowing river gardens. You’ll find the world’s largest colony at Landsford Canal State Park in Chester County. One Sunday morning I drove up there. Kayakers darted in and out of majestic clumps, and women oohed and ahed from an observation deck.

See the dancing blooms and enjoy a concert of river song. Greenscapes support delicate flowers dancing upon a stage of rushing water—a performance you’ll not forget.

A magnificent yet difficult-to-access colony thrives on Stevens Creek in McCormick County, South Carolina. Funding from the South Carolina Conservation Bank and South Carolina Native Plant Society helped Naturaland Trust provide a 13-acre refuge for this stunning colony. Support came from Upper Savannah Land Trust as well.

A survivor from the pre-European landscape, shoals lilies prefer rocky rivers, plummeting elevation, and clean, free-flowing water. Translation, no dams. When you take in the shoals lilies at Stevens Creek and Landsford Canal you can glimpse what the Piedmont looked like before big dams rose like massive granite outcroppings.

A bit elusive, other shoals lilies exist in South Carolina. I’m told a colony exists along the Savannah River Bluffs Heritage Preserve near North Augusta. I hear, too, that Lockhart in Union County has shoals lilies on the Broad River, and I’ve seen places where people have tried to establish colonies. In Ware Shoals several clumps bring beauty to the Saluda River near

Rocky shoals spider lilies can only be found in specific river communities located in three southeastern states: South Carolina, Georga, and Alabama.

Irvin Pitts Memorial Park. You can see another human-assisted occurrence in Columbia where the Broad River approaches the Saluda River east of the Interstate 126 Bridge.

Duplicating nature isn’t easy. Davenport tried. “Over the years, I’ve been involved in several projects to establish, or reestablish, lily populations, either by seeds or bulbs. So far I’m batting an embarrassing .000.”

A Lemony-Sugary Fragrance

In 1783 William Bartram, the first botanist to observe this species, described it as the “odoriferous Pancratium fluitans which almost alone possesses the little rocky islets.” (The flowers are now known as Hymenocallis coronaria.) His sighting was at the cataracts of the Savannah River near Augusta, Georgia. Then, as now, the plant loves rocks in swift water. Alas, man’s dams did away with many rocky shoals. And now other troubles have arrived. “Two fairly new problems that ‘our’ (Alabama) lilies suffer from are invasive plants—especially elephant-ears or taro—and scouring due to trees uprooted by stream bank collapse,” Davenport says.

Each spring I make expeditions to the rocky shoals spider lilies in South Carolina and Georgia for a simple reason: They offer photographers, artists, writers, and nature lovers a dream. You lose track of time and worries in the presence of Hymenocallis coronaria, this aquatic, perennial flowering plant species endemic to the Southeast.

Last spring I visited Stevens Creek three times. The first time, heavy rains had the creek high and heavy with silt. Most lilies hid, submerged. A few days later a good many lilies tossed their beautiful crowns about. My third visit found the creek at normal flow but peak bloom had passed. Even so, beauty aplenty lingered. I waded out and leaned over a pristine bloom to take in its fragrance. A lemony-sugary perfume rose, subtle but heady. To see shoals lilies is to see butterflies and hummingbirds, too.

Exquisite and ephemeral, the blooms open at night and last but a day. Long, pure white tepals and staminal cup, green bracts, mint green accents, gold stamens, and bright-to-dark green stigma bring that arachnid moniker into play. I prefer crown. Even better, diadem. After all, we’re talking botanical royalty here.

The quiet, patient visitor will see osprey striking fish among the spider lily blooms.

Our Tampering Ways

Find shoals lilies and you’ll see man’s attempts to harness water’s power. Uphill from the shoals lilies at Stevens Creek stands an old mill a channel once fed. At Landsford Canal a beautiful stone canal rendered the river commercially navigable from 1820 to 1835.

In Georgia, a splendid colony survives four minutes as the osprey flies from the South Carolina border, and, yes, ospreys haunt the shoals. Long ago men dynamited a channel through its midst so Petersburg boats could get through. That the shoals exist is miraculous. This breathtaking colony beat not one but two dams—Russell and J. Strom Thurmond (Clarks Hill). Maybe you haven’t heard of it, but naturalists, botanists, kayakers, and artists have. Writers, too. Anthony Shoals, wild and accessible by land with great difficulty, draws me each spring.

Georgia artist Philip Juras painted Anthony Shoals in oil on canvas. (See pages 38-39). His essay in Bartram’s Living Legacy: The Travels and the Nature of the South, beautifully describes the setting and its significance. His words apply to Stevens Creek and Landsford Canal.

“There is no river scene in the Piedmont of northeast Georgia more stunning than Anthony Shoals on the Broad River. Perhaps there used to be. Perhaps the many great shoals on the Savannah River were just as glorious before they fell silent beneath the waters of the Thurmond, Russell, and Hartwell reservoirs, but I’m not quite old enough to have known any of them. Only the rapids above Augusta, my hometown, still show the beauty of the Savannah before it leaves the Piedmont. But the wildness of the river there is diminished by the new mansions looking down from the bluffs and the dams parceling out the flow from upstream. I think that’s why I love Anthony Shoals so much. This final stretch of the Broad, as it runs through the Broad River Wildlife Management Area, is the only place in the upper Savannah River watershed where the sound of a wild river still rises from such a wide swath of bedrock.”

Juras described the setting at the time of his splendid painting. “On the evening I captured this view, mountain laurel, snowbells, mock orange, Piedmont rhododendron, and fringe tree were in various states of bloom on the steep slopes next to the river. The main show, however, was being staged on the river itself, where one of the few populations of shoals spider lilies left in the Savannah watershed was catching the light of the western horizon with glorious full blooms.”

The Anthony Shoals spider lilies have beat not one, but two dams: Russell and J. Strom Thurmond. That they exist is miraculous.

A Lily—To Be or Not to Be

So, is the rocky shoals spider lily a true lily? No. These cousins of daffodils grow on similarsounding rivers, the Catawba and Alabama’s Cahaba. Folks in Alabama call it the Cahaba lily; elsewhere it’s the shoal lily. In Georgia, it’s usually called the shoals spider lily. Most botanists and conservationists call it the “rocky shoals spider lily,” a name arising from its preferred habitat: rivers where fast-flowing, oxygen-rich water runs over rocks, i.e. shoals. This stunning perennial grows three feet high in direct sunlight. Flowing water carries its seeds and bulbs away and when they land in a rocky crevice, a colony forms—if conditions are right. Man’s dams did away with many of the right conditions, i.e. rocky shoals.

Bartram saw, as you can, elegant white flowers arcing over dense greenscapes, their thick clusters festooning rocks. Each plant sends up one to three scapes with as many as six to nine flowers adorning each scape. (The plant’s beauty lures collectors—another reason it’s in danger.)

Doing my best to follow in Bartram’s steps I explore places where a world exists before dams and electricity changed it. When I find rocky shoals spider lilies, I’ve discovered such a place.

You can, too. But mark your calendar for adventure. The flowers are rare and only bloom a short while. It is, indeed, a transient spectacle, so don’t tarry. In late spring, head to Landsford Canal or Stevens Creek. Head to daunting Anthony Shoals, if you dare. You’ll come away with memories of a place Juras describes as a “watershed where the sound of a wild river still rises from such a wide swath of bedrock.” And you’ll never forget the showy, exquisite rocky shoals spider lilies that truly are botanical royalty.

HOW TO FIND THEM

Behold the world’s largest colony of rocky shoals spider lilies at Landsford Canal State Park. The colony at Stevens Creek on Highway 283 several miles east of Plum Branch, South Carolina, is easy to access. About an hour away off Highway 79 in Lincoln County, Georgia, Anthony Shoals hosts a large colony of lilies. Turn off Highway 79 at Thankful Baptist Church and make your way to Anthony Shoals Road. The long, dirt road leads to a steep bluff with a base that fronts a rocky shoals spider lily spectacle. Study a map. It’s easy to miss the one way into the bluff.

Plan a two-day trek and see all three. Landsford Canal State Park is 2 miles off U.S. 21 at 2051 Park Drive, Catawba, South Carolina. From Anthony Shoals take another way back via Highway 79 to Highway 72 in Elbert County, and take Highway 81 south to Mount Carmel, an 1880s railroad village suspended in time. Book a stay at nearby Hickory Knob State Park and Resort, and see the restored historic French Huguenot Guillebeau House and nearby Badwell Cemetery, just off Huguenot Parkway.

Learn more about organizations and efforts to preserve these precious blooms.

South Carolina Native Plant Society scnps.org/activities/rocky-shoals-spider-lily-preservation-project

South Carolina Conservation Bank Act sccbank.sc.gov/map-grants-region/piedmont/rocky-shoals-spider-lily-preserve

rare rocky shoals spider lilies are cousins of the daffodil and prefer rocky rivers, plummeting elevation, and clean, free-flowing water that is uninhibited by dams.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM POLAND

The

Stevens Creek in McCormick County, South Carolina

Backroad Portfolio’s exclusive guide to getting there the long way

CREATED BY THE BACKROAD PORTFOLIO STAFF

Backroads transport us to the places in between. This regularly occurring feature takes you to and from two southeastern destinations via winding rural roads lined with spacious farmland, historic sites, captivating overlooks, and locally owned businesses. Take one route there and another back to experience two unique journeys.

Our spring excursion follows a portion of The Crooked Road, an established music heritage trail in Southwest Virginia that offers more than just good tunes and live performances. It also leads to distilleries and vineyards where you can sample locally curated spirits; hikes to waterfalls and mountain overlooks; a country store that grows 600 varieties of daylilies and hosts cruise-in style music jams; and much more.

Start your journey in Rocky Mount, Virginia, then travel four hours and forty-three minutes to Bristol on the border of Virginia and Tennessee. The return to Rocky Mount takes four hours and thirty-three minutes. We recommend booking an overnight stay in Bristol to ensure enough time for maximum enjoyment of these intriguing destinations.

TIP: Our “There and Back Again” routes always take the road less traveled. Set your GPS options to “avoid highways” for a more scenic experience.

GET THERE

Rocky Mount to Bristol

BACKROAD ROUTE:

4 hours 43 minutes, 215 miles • 6 stops

Rocky Mount to Ferrum to Pembroke to Wytheville to Marion to Bristol

STARTING POINT:

Twin Creeks Distillery (read more about this stop on page 53)

140 Franklin Street, Rocky Mount

The Blue Ridge Institute & Museum at Ferrum College

215 Ferrum Mountain Road, Ferrum

Ferrum College created this institute to celebrate the region’s folk heritage and history. Its farm serves as the site for the Blue Ridge Folklife Festival each October and hosts concerts throughout the year. In 1986, it was designated “The State Center for Blue Ridge Folklore.” Learn more at blueridgeinstitute.org.

Cascade Falls Trailhead

2068 Cascade Drive, Pembroke

Stretch your legs during a scenic hike to Cascade Falls in Jefferson National Forest. This 4-mile round trip hike to a 66-foot waterfall is low-to-moderate in difficulty, and offers picnic areas and fishing opportunities at Little Stony Creek. Restrooms are available at the trailhead, and parking costs $3 per vehicle. No bikes or horses are permitted. Visit virginia.org/listing/cascades-national-recreation-trail/6927 to learn more.

Mountain Lake Lodge

115 Hotel Circle, Pembroke

A few miles away in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains sits Mountain Lake Lodge. The site of several important scenes in the 1987 hit movie Dirty Dancing, the lodge is located right in the center of a 2,600-acre nature preserve and offers accommodations ranging the Main Stone Lodge’s well-appointed rooms, to cabins and cottages. Enjoy farm-to-table fare and events such as themed Dirty Dancing weekends April 26–28 and June 21–23. Visit mtnlakelodge.com for details.

Big Walker Lookout

8711 Stoney Fork Road, Wytheville

The highest point on the Big Walker Mountain National Scenic Byway, Big Walker Lookout is the only place on this journey where you can climb a lookout tower that offers an expansive view of the Blue Ridge Mountains’ natural splendor, and experience an old-fashioned country store that serves up hand-dipped ice cream and fresh fudge. Located on U.S. 52 between Wytheville and Bland, Big Walker Lookout hosts live music performances on-site May through October. Learn more at scenicbeauty-va.com.

The Lincoln Theatre

117 E. Main Street, Marion

In the 1920s, a successful furniture factory owner in Marion named Charles C. Lincoln Sr. set out to build what is believed to be one of the last remaining Mayan Revival-style theaters in the world. After visiting a grand movie palace in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Lincoln invested $150,000 in the project ($2 million in today’s currency), and hired New York’s Novelty Art Studios to design interiors that would evoke the feeling of walking into an ancient Mayan temple. Lincoln died in 1928 before construction was complete, but his sons continued building it, and on July 1, 1929, The Lincoln Theatre officially opened with Close Harmony starring Buddy Rogers and Nancy Carroll. Find a show to attend this spring—it’s an experience you won’t forget. Learn more at thelincoln.org.

The Henderson

293 North Church Street, Marion

Before you leave Marion, stop by The Henderson, also known as the Wayne C. Henderson School of Appalachian Arts. Named for a famed southwestern Virginia luthier who has crafted guitars for the likes of Eric Clapton, Doc Watson, Dave Neal, and other famous musicians, the school includes a three-story brick building known as the 1908 Schoolhouse—also considered an important local landmark due to its location on the highest point in Historic Downtown Marion. In years past, this structure housed a high school, elementary school, library, school board, parole office, and historical society. Learn more at thehenderson.org.

Birthplace of Country Music Museum

101 Country Music Way, Bristol

Bristol’s expansion across the border of Virginia and Tennessee gives both states bragging rights to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, a nonprofit Smithsonian Institution affiliate that celebrates the story of the 1927 Bristol Sessions—recordings that triggered what many in the industry refer to as the “big bang of country music.” The museum offers immersive experiences and hosts annual festivals. It also serves as the broadcasting and streaming site for WBCM Radio Bristol, which broadcasts music with vintage and modern roots.

PHOTOS ABOVE COURTESY OF THE LINCOLN THEATRE FACEBOOK PAGE AND THE HENDERSON PHOTOS ON PAGE 50 COURTESY OF CONNOR SHUGG AND MOUNTAIN LAKE LODGE

PHOTOS OF THE BRISTOL RHYTHM FESTIVAL COURTESY OF THE BIRTHPLACE OF COUNTRY MUSIC MUSEUM

AND BACK AGAIN

Bristol to Rocky Mount

BACKROAD ROUTE:

4 hours 33 minutes, 173 miles • 5 stops

Bristol to Abingdon to Mouth of Wilson to Floyd to Rocky Mount

STARTING POINT:

Accommodations of your choice

Bristol, Virginia

Virginia Creeper Trail

Trail terminus: 300 Green Spring Road, Abingdon | Trailhead: 331 Douglas Drive, Damascus

Start your return trip with an invigorating hike on the Virginia Creeper Trail terminus—the closest access point from Bristol. You’ll reach a spot on the trail where you’re only a half-mile from the next stop, Abingdon Vineyards. From Abingdon, this rails-to-trails venue stretches 34 miles to Damascus. You can also ride it on bike or horseback. The trail winds along the Whitetop Laurel River and reaches its highpoint at Whitetop Station near the North Carolina state line. It also passes through Mount Rogers National Recreation Area and the Virginia highlands. Stop for a bite to eat at 7 Trails Grill or Wicked Chicken, both in Damascus. Map it out at vacreepertrail.org.

Abingdon Vineyards

20530 Alvarado Road, Abingdon

Abingdon Vineyards is just a half-mile from the Virginia Creeper Trail, so you won’t have far to go before you can enjoy delicious reds, whites, and rosés made from nine grape varieties that grow on the vineyard’s 13 acres of vines. In addition to sampling wines in the tasting room, enjoy a glass or two with cheese, crackers, salami, and other charcuterie delights by the South Holston River. Sit at a picnic table or bring a blanket for the lawn. Kids and dogs are allowed, and the vineyard hosts events featuring live music and food trucks. Learn more at abingdonvineyards.com.

PHOTO AT LEFT OF THE VIRGINIA CREEPER TRAIL BY DAVID CARILLET

PHOTO AT RIGHT OF ABINGDON VINEYARDS COURTESY OF THE ABINGDON VINEYARDS FACEBOOK PAGE

DAVID CARILLET –STOCK.ADOBE.COM

Grayson Highlands State Park

829 Grayson Highland Lane, Mouth of Wilson

Feast your eyes on unforgettable views at this Mouth of Wilson park—well worth the 45-minute southeastern drive from Abingdon. In addition to hiking across 4,502 acres of breathtaking vistas, you’ll encounter herds of wild ponies that graze between the rock outcroppings. The Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival & Guitar Competition, which has taken place there since 1995, features performances by the region’s best traditional and bluegrass musicians. This year’s event on June 15 will be the thirtieth and, unfortunately, final festival. Henderson, a world-renowned luthier and National Heritage Award recipient (who is also mentioned in our section on The Henderson in Marion), always performs live at the festival. Learn more at dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/grayson-highlands and waynehenderson.org.

Wildwood Farms General Store

2380 Floyd Highway South, Floyd

As you make your way back to Rocky Mount, stop by Wildwood Farms General Store in Floyd where, in addition to 600 varieties of daylilies available for purchase, you can enjoy a cold drink and hot dog from the kitchen; shop for unique gifts; and listen to traditional, classic rock, or bluegrass music jams every first and third Saturday April through October, 1–4 p.m. These events are referred to as “cruise-ins”—so you can attend them from the comfort of your vehicle. Learn more at wildwoodfarmsdaylilies.com.

Twin Creeks Distillery

140 Franklin Street, Rocky Mount

Complete your trip with a taste of the spirits that once provided a way of life and means of survival for many residents of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Chris Prillaman opened Twin Creeks Distillery in 2014 to honor the traditional practice of whiskey-making. Located in the “moonshine capital of the world”— Franklin County—the distillery recently moved from 510 Franklin Street just down the street to its new location, and is expected to reopen in April. Products include 90-proof First Sugar Moonshine and Apple Brandy, 100 proof Copper Corn, and 86 proof Peg Hatcher’s Straight Whiskey. Some of the distillery’s spirits are also sold at Virginia ABC stores. Learn more at twincreeksdistillery.com.

PHOTO AT LEFT OF WILD PONIES GRAZING AT GRAYSON HIGHLANDS STATE PARK BY ADAM

PHOTO AT RIGHT OF WILDWOOD FARMS GENERAL STORE COURTESY OF THE WILDWOOD FARMS GENERAL STORE FACEBOOK PAGE

ADAM –STOCK.ADOBE.COM

919.523.6385

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DeBoer Works LLC produces still photography and digital films for businesses. The process includes preproduction, shoot days, editing, and digital post production. We are commissioned for both print and motion assignments by editorial, advertising, collateral, promotional, and web clients. We find our clients at advertising and design agencies, large and small businesses, institutions, print and online magazines, stock agencies, and film/video houses. We’ve worked in categories that include travel/leisure, fashion, education, financial, professional/business, retail, resort/hospitality, beverage, and pharmaceutical.

Filling Egg Cartons and Easter Baskets for Four Generations

A conversation with Trey Braswell of Braswell Family Farms

INTRODUCTION BY ELIZABETH POLAND SHUGG PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF BRASWELL FAMILY FARMS

Trey Braswell, the fourth generation owner and “Chief Executive Steward” of Braswell Family Farms in Nashville, North Carolina, puts faith and family first. We talked to him about what it’s like to be the leader of a successful egg farming and feed mill operation that has been in business since 1943.

Now that Braswell Family Farms has turned 81, what lessons and traditions from the farm’s first generation do members of the fourth generation maintain today?

Over four generations there has been an overabundance of knowledge gained. The greatest legacy that’s been passed down through the generations is generosity. I can’t speak to the heart of each generation’s generosity, but I can for myself. My life is not my own. Christ paid a ransom for my own life with his. This business is his, and it’s his to be used for his glory.

Secondly, in my experience, it’s always better to tell the truth, regardless of the consequences. If you always tell the truth you don’t have to remember what you said. I heard that from my dad and long-time team members over and over when I came back to join the business. Mistakes happen. Let someone know right away and there is plenty of grace, and often time to fix it. But if you wait and try to hide it, it becomes a problem, and that’s a problem.

My great Uncle Gene (retired at the time) was a very good steward who worked long and hard. He surprised me when he once said, “Trey, when I was your age, I thought I needed to work, work, work, and then I could enjoy myself when I retired. But, Trey, by the time you retire you’re too old. Make sure to have some fun and don’t let work be the only thing you do.”

Lastly, I’ve learned you cannot turn everything around at once. Progress takes time and effort. Be intentional to look back and see how far things have come. When you see progress, don’t fail to celebrate.

Which Braswell generation made the most impact on how you farm today?

Each generation of Braswells has had a significant impact on the company but it’s hard to say one was more impactful than another. However, all of their decisions have shaped us into who we are today. We started out as a grist mill, gradually evolving from feed, to chickens, to eggs, to specialty eggs. It didn’t happen overnight, and every one of the generations played a part in becoming who we are today.

How did Braswell Family Farms get involved with Eggland’s Best, and what led to the creation of the Natural Choice Brand a few years later?

I was a wee rooster back then. My dad says that purchasing the EB franchise was Ronald’s (“Papa”) parting gift to him. Sadly, Papa died in the early ’90s, shortly after the purchase of the first franchise, and he never got to see the success of Eggland’s Best. It was a tough time back then. Eggs had a bad reputation, and the concept of a healthier egg wasn’t going over too well. Thankfully, the next generation at Braswell had the foresight to give it a try. I always heard, “There’s got to be a better way,” and they found it. The industry as a whole thought a nutritionally superior egg was a crazy idea. Now EB has a huge market share and unbelievable distribution. Thankful for a crazy idea!

The desire to innovate and always be thinking of the next best thing led us into Eggland’s Best; and it was that same desire that led to Natural Choice. It’s actually the brand that came when we purchased a long-time business partner, Glenwood Foods. They had been a first in the organic egg business, and when we brought them into our family in 1997, we were one of the first few to go organic in an exciting way. After adopting that as our in-house brand to support our EB line, we have expanded the options within Natural Choice to include everything from cage-free to pasture-raised organic.

What farming practices do you feel are important in producing the best possible product for consumers?

Well, here is the scoop from the coop. What is most important is the focus on the quality and safety of the egg, as well as of all the resources used in its production journey. If you focus on that, it leads to good decisions throughout the entire process. We want to produce good food for humans and feed for animals, and we want to nourish people beyond just their bellies. We prioritize caring about our folks and our hens, and they care about what they do and doing it well.

What led to the donation of eggs to the White House Easter egg roll in previous years, and what was that experience like?

Providing eggs for the White House’s Easter Egg Roll has been such a cool opportunity. Our family supplied eggs to the event more often than not since we purchased Glenwood Farms in Virginia in 1997. In the beginning, we delivered the eggs to a kitchen in Washington, D.C., where they were

hard-cooked, dyed, and delivered to the White House. It was neat but we really didn’t get to be much involved in the process. Then, in 2022 and 2023, due to changes from the COVID era, the request changed for the eggs to be received already boiled and dyed before delivery. It was awesome, because our team got to be a part of the process from start to finish. It was so exciting to see the joy and pride our team members had knowing the eggs we produced and packed were going. We were even able to deliver the eggs in our own truck last year!

It’s always exciting when we get to be a part of it, and an honor to represent America’s egg farmers in this capacity. We take great pride in the opportunity to be trusted to supply the eggs for our nation’s most “egg-citing” event!

What kind of relationship do you have with the community around you?

Because my family has been in this area for so long, the Nashville, North Carolina, community is more like family. Braswell Family Farms has employed—and still does—many members of this community over the years. Our employees are our greatest assets, and we couldn’t be in business without them. Something really cool we were able to do in the community a few months ago was put on the first ever Braswell Family Farms New Year’s Eve Egg Drop. It was a family-style event at The Nashville Junction with live music, face painting, food bank donations, food trucks, and more. The night ended with an 8-foot egg constructed of steel and polyurea being lowered down by a giant crane provided by Edwards Construction out of Spring Hope, North Carolina. We had several other community partners who helped make the event happen. It was egg-stremely humbling how many members of the community came to enjoy the festivities; but it’s also a testament to the relationships we have built in this community—not only as businesses but as individual people supporting others.

Tell us about some of your favorite backroad destinations in North Carolina.

I’m a North Carolina fanboy. I was born here, raised here, have been to a lot of places, and am thankful this is home. Blowing Rock, Boone, Banner Elk, Nashville, Whitakers, Enfield ... Wrightsville Beach and Morehead City is where my saltwater heart longs to be.

braswellfamilyfarms.com

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM POLAND

The Our Saviour Episcopal Church of the Ridge sits on property adjacent to where a vibrant field of lavendar once grew.

The lavendar is no longer there.

Trenton, South Carolina

Sanctuary, Oh Sanctuary Who’s going to save you?

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM POLAND

Some linger in woods. Some sit by a dirt road. Some hide among trees. Some haunt the edge of villages. Some appear abandoned but caretakers tend them. They’re seldom, if ever, used. They’re lonesome, the old churches waiting here and there. Waiting for someone. Waiting … waiting ...

For me.

Perchance you.

I go to shuttered churches more so than the church I call my own. I can’t explain my reverence for churches long past their prime. Maybe the answer’s akin to these lines I wrote elsewhere: If you want peace, go to a graveyard. All those worries laid to rest. And now I write—If you want peace, comfort a lonesome church. Sit in her pew and take in all those years of song, prayer, joy, and grief.

Driving backroads one day I turned onto a dirt road. I saw an old church whose steeple leaned. I parked on a carpet of pine needles. Dust hung like smoke … the church door opened with a push and nudge of my foot. Pews, pulpit, piano, and one hymnal. That’s all. I stood at the pulpit and looked over empty pews. That’s when the old church spoke to me.

ST. SIMON’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN PEAK, SOUTH CAROLINA (ALSO SHOWN ON PAGE 63)

“We get lonely. Why don’t you tell people about my sisters and me?”

Like a stone in my pocket, I carried her plea for a long time. When I could ignore her no longer, I decided to write about old churches for the churches’ sake.

Some wear tattered boards; some serve as trellises for Virginia creeper, and some wear curling tin combed back by winds. Rains soak carpets and quarter-sawn longleaf floors. The steeple leans on some, if it’s there at all. Windows fall asunder, and boards cling to a nail. A steel cable runs from one old church to a tree. “To keep the church from keeling over,” said a former minister. Come spring, nesting birds flit through broken windows. The congregation for some is storage—bric-a-brac, detritus, worthless things people nonetheless value. Sanctuary, oh sanctuary … from where cometh your salvation?

An Integrated School, Storehouse, and Treasure

A photo of St. Simon’s Episcopal Church in Peak, South Carolina crossed my desk. I could tell she had been a beauty because she’s a beauty still. Finding her wasn’t easy as her friend, Bill Segars, discovered. “Of the hundreds of church buildings I have found, none proved more difficult than St. Simon’s.”

You have to know just where and when to look or you’ll miss her. I missed her. Missed her more than once. I parked to “figure some.” Then I spotted a pillar of Peak. Dr. Carroll Pinner led me to her.

High grass flanked her. A frayed blue tarp covered the steeple. Lightning, I heard, struck it. A green, leafy gutter of vines ran along the attached parsonage-school. Vines dead and green climbed the church. Stuff hard to part with cluttered the church’s front entrance. Pray tell, what’s the story here?

First there was an African American Episcopal congregation, 1889, under Rev. G.E. Howell’s guidance. In the late 1890s, the St. Augustine’s League of New York helped the church establish a building fund. The Carpenter Gothic structure went up in 1900, as the cornerstone attests.

As Peak prospered, so did St. Simon’s. As Peak’s population dwindled, attendance fell. By the 1920s, regular services were a thing of the past due in part to economic collapse. During the 1920s falling cotton and tobacco prices and the boll weevil brought hard times to South Carolina earlier than elsewhere.

Time passed. In 1952 Rev. Edwin B. Clippard, rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Newberry, tried to breathe new life into St. Simon’s Episcopal Church. Exterior and interior repairs were made, and a fresh coat of paint blessed the structure. A new holy altar table, organ, carpet, altar cross, candlesticks, and communion linen dressed up the interior. By 1954, the church had fourteen communicants.

Segars wrote, “the written history goes cold again,” but we know that after 1954 the property reverted back to its original owners. A brother and sister inherited the church and the brother lived in the church a while. “Preacher,” folks called him.

When Preacher died, his sister, Miss Thelma, stored possessions in the church. Descendants of Preacher’s sister live in front of the church.

A Civil Rights Connection

The day I photographed the church, her pale blonde-gray-dark mottled boards evoked a graying woman yet to dye her hair. Two Gothic arch windows peered east over tall grass toward the Broad River. And what did her eyes see? Her connection to a civil rights pioneer who marched on a drug store in 1960, and an astronaut who piloted space shuttles, one of which deployed the Hubble Telescope in 1990.

Astronaut Major General Charles F. Bolden’s great grandmother, Sara Martin, taught at St. Simon’s Episcopal Mission School, which aimed to teach black children when public schools taught white children only. Nonetheless, white families enrolled their children in her school, and Martin had to erect a partition to segregate the children. Wrote Historian Nancy Hayes Washington: “This school may be South Carolina’s first integrated school.”

A civil rights icon spent boyhood weekends close by the church. Rev. Simon P. Bouie’s great grandmother lived on River Street. Buddy Johnson, loyal friend of St. Simon’s Episcopal Church, drove me to Bouie’s home where the reverend told me how he and an Allen University student led a 1960 sit-in on Columbia’s Main Street.

“Five to 600 of us went to Eckerd’s to ‘try out’ a sit-in. We got down there and the question was ‘who’s going in?’” Bouie and his friend went inside. Refused service, they were then arrested for trespassing. Of the iconic moment, Bouie said, “I was abused but wasn’t hurt. People called us names and spit on us.”

Bouie and his friend were convicted of trespassing, a typical charge for African Americans attempting to be served at lunch counters during the 1960s. In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Bouie’s conviction, a landmark ruling used in other sit-in cases around the country.

Bouie remembers the church at Peak as “a community of law-abiding people who loved each other and worshiped together.” Today the old Carpenter Gothic church is ailing. Mourning, too.

As my Grandmother Walker faced the inevitable, she told me more than once that all her friends were in the ground. That’s how this old church must feel. She’s done her part though. Her halo’s spacious; within it is much—a man who touched the stars, salvation, learning, integration, freedom, and history. Why not honor her full life for that?

Peak, South Carolina

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT CLARK

The rambling Middle Saluda River courses through Jones Gap State Park in northwest South Carolina.

Marietta, South Carolina

PLANT YOUR OWN HERB GARDEN

No matter if you live in a city apartment, a suburban home, or a sprawling rural farmhouse, gardening is a thoughtful and intentional way to welcome spring. Author and nature therapist Kathleen McIntyre shares inspiration for cultivating your own gardening practice, as well as resources for easy-to-grow perennials that not only nourish your system, but also the environment around you.

Kathleen McIntyre

Gardening is a creative and experimental process that connects us with the rhythms and cycles of the natural world ... Many people still sow seeds, tend to plants, and harvest by the moon’s cycles. We can enter back into this relationship right in our backyards and patios, and receive the gifts of nourishing our bodies and the therapeutic benefits of restoration to our nervous systems and spirits.

When in the garden, we enter the sweet relationship of tending to, listening deeply, and flowing with the next right thing. With any type of gardening, I always recommend growing what you love—whether it’s flowers, herbs, fruit trees, berry bushes, vegetables, or a mix of all of it. A garden is a very intimate way of relating with the natural world because you‘re co-creating. You help create a vibrant soil population of diverse microbes and invertebrates, which in turn helps to nurture healthy, vibrant plants. You have the honor of tending to the soil and the plants, which has the added benefit of supporting pollinators, wildlife, and nourishing food and medicine for you.

One of the easiest ways to get started is by growing perennial herbs. On page 69 you’ll find a chart listing easy-to-grow perennials and how they support your body and your backyard ecosystem. Hopefully, this will inspire you.

For a practical and powerful guide to restoring your nervous system, rekindling creativity, and reclaiming flow—both in body and spirit—check out McIntyre’s new book—The Nature Reset As of March 2024, the book is available at independent booksellers in North Carolina and on Amazon.

naturesoma.com

An excerpt from The Nature Reset by

TIPS ON GARDENING

From The Nature

Reset by Kathleen McIntyre

There is a reason we have so many gardening metaphors for life. It is an engaging adventure full of trial and error, but one where you receive the benefits of nature connection, whether you produce a bumper yield or not. Make a commitment to grow anything you are interested in. There are countless resources on gardening, but one of my favorites is Toby Hemenway’s book, Gaia‘s Garden. Below are my distilled tips to help you get started growing.

What types of plants are you interested in growing?

• Plants that benefit pollinators

• Culinary herbs

• Medicinal herbs (often herbs that benefit us benefit the pollinators as well)

• An edible landscape, such as berry bushes and fruit trees

• Food—vegetable plants do best when interplanted with aromatic herbs. Many herbs help deter garden pests.

• Tough, resilient plants for beginners—many culinary and medical herbs are incredibly resilient, making them great plants to start with.

Location: What locations are available to you?

Plants’ needs are tied to sunlight exposure, so this is your first consideration. After that, location is more about what works for you to provide care and easy access.

• Most herbs and vegetable plants need full sun—at least five to six hours of direct sunlight.

• As long as you have enough light, you can grow plants in window boxes, containers on patios, or garden beds.

• If growing herbs or vegetables, locate your garden as close to your kitchen door as possible. This placement will enhance your connection with your garden, as it will inspire you to harvest fresh herbs to cook with.

• If you are growing in containers, set them away from your house in the summer to prevent them from drying out too quickly. Materials such as brick hold heat (think thermal mass) which can become too much for the summer. In cooler weather, however, move them closer, as the thermal mass can help extend your growing season.

• If you live in an old house that might have had lead paint, set your edible or medicinal garden further away from your home.

• Look out for neighboring pesticide or herbicide use. If you are downslope from your neighbors, when it rains, whatever is on their grass will end up on your property. If this is the case, try to locate your garden away from this runoff or plant a buffer of ornamental plants to slow the flow of water.

• Community gardens are a great option for those without enough sunlight or space.

CREATION

Water considerations:

• You need access to water.

• If you are growing in containers, the plants will dry out much quicker than planting in the ground. During the summer, they may need watering every day or every other day.

• A layer of mulch around your plants, and even in your containers, can conserve a significant amount of water. Compost, wheat straw, and dried leaves work well for mulching.

Soil considerations:

• Soil is the foundation. Without nutrient-rich soil, you will not have healthy plants. If plants are healthy, they will be more resilient to pests. The best way to add the full range of nutrients to your soil is through compost and other organic matter, such as decayed leaves. Feed your soil, and it will feed you!

• If you are planting in containers, you can purchase premade potting soil or easily make your own. Do not fill containers with native soil (soil that you dug up); it behaves differently in containers and won’t drain well enough. There are many recipes online for creating well-draining, nutrient-rich potting soil for containers.

• For creating a new garden bed, techniques such as lasagna gardening or sheet mulching are excellent strategies for creating healthy soil. These methods just require planning ahead a season (the first time only).

Plants:

• Read about the needs of the plants you are interested in growing. What are their light and space requirements? For example, make sure your taller plants, such as tomatoes, don’t overshadow smaller plants in your garden bed or container. Look at how the sun is traveling across the sky. If your garden bed is aligned from east to west, you will plant taller plants on the north side of the bed.

• Planting calendars are great tools to help you plan your garden. You can find these in local garden shops and online. Most state extension services have online planting calendars that tell you the best time of year to start specific food plants. This changes from region to region, so be sure you look for a planting chart specific to yours.

• In the Southeast, fruit trees and bushes tend to get the best start when planted in the fall.

PHOTOS BY ERICA DE FLAMAND

EASY-TO-GROW PERENNIALS THAT SUPPORT YOU AND THE ECOSYSTEM

From The Nature Reset by

Kathleen McIntyre

HERB/PLANT

elderberry

Sambucus canadensis

echinacea

Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea angustifolia

lavender

Lavandula angustifolia

lemon balm

Melissa officinalis

motherwort

Mentha piperita

peppermint

Sambucus canadensis

oregano

Origanum vulgare

rosemary

Rosmarinus officinalis

thyme

Thymus vulgaris, Thymus serpyllum

yarrow

Achillea millefolium

ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION

wildlife habitat; supports pollinators

nectar source for butterflies and supports other pollinators

supports honeybees and other pollinators

supports honeybees and other pollinators

MEDICINAL SUPPORT

immune system support

immune system booster

PART + FORM USED

ripe berries: tea, tincture, syrup

root and leaves: tincture or tea

calms nervous system, heals burns, antiseptic

antiviral; calms nervous digestion

supports honeybees and other pollinators

nectar for butterflies and supports other pollinators

supports beneficial insects, bees, and pollinators

supports honeybees and other pollinators

supports honeybees and other pollinators

supports butterflies and other pollinators; attracts beneficial insects such as ladybugs and predatory wasps

calms irregular heartbeat; calms nervous system

digestive aid— eases nausea and stomach cramps

immune support; digestive support

antioxidant; immune and digestive support; circulatory support

winter immune support; digestive support; antibacterial and antiseptic

antimicrobial; anti-inflammatory; amazing for stings of all types

flowers: tea, tincture, skin salve

PLANT PREFERENCES

full sun/partial shade; moderate water; well-drained soil

full sun; low water

full sun; low water; well-drained sandy soil

leaves: tea, tincture

full sun/partial shade; well-drained soil; spreads rapidly—best in contained area

flowering parts and

leaves: tincture and tea (bitter)

leaves: tea

leaves: culinary, tincture, tea

leaves: culinary, tincture, tea

leaves: culinary, tincture, tea

flowering parts and leaves: tincture, skin salve, powdered for wounds, tea (bitter)

full sun/partial shade; low to moderate water

full sun to shade; spreads rapidly—best in contained area

full sun/partial shade; well-drained soil

full sun; well-drained soil

full sun/partial shade; well-drained soil

full sun/partial shade; low to moderate water; well-drained soil

Please

Raleigh, North Carolina

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUCE D

E BOER

This fine art still life photograph is one of a collection available at deboerfineart.com/still-life.

336.793.6549

StateOfGraze.com

State of Graze is a small, locally owned and operated charcuterie company based in Downtown Mount Airy, North Carolina. Offering everything from artistically designed grazing tables to your favorite deli salads and sandwiches, we have something to offer everyone. Using the freshest, most in-season meats, cheeses, fruits, and veggies, our products are sure to be pleasing to the eye and stomach. We serve grab-and-go lunch and charcuterie boxes Tuesdays through Saturday every week, or you can order large charcuterie boards online at StateOfGraze.com.

Planning a special event? Inquire about our mobile charcuterie trailer!

Mount Airy, North Carolina

Historic sites, country stores, artisans, and entrepreneurs offer unique products that reflect the Southeast’s culture. Here are some we love.

MOONSHINE CAKE

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

One of the country’s oldest continually operating grist mills is carrying on a longstanding southern tradition: soaking classic butter cakes in spirits. The Old Mill General Store in Pigeon Forge offers Moonshine Cake drenched in Old Forge Distillery’s award-winning 1830 Original Moonshine. The 8.5-inch loaf serves six to eight people and costs $17.99. Pick one up in person at 175 Old Mill Avenue, or order it online at shop.old-mill.com. While you’re there, visit Old Forge Distillery, also located onsite. Choose from bourbon whiskeys, moonshine, gin, cream liqueurs, and other craft distilled spirits. Learn more online at oldforgedistillery.com.

MOLASSES AND MORE

Vass, North Carolina

Moore County, North Carolina’s “largest and oldest country store” is located in Vass at 5456 U.S. Highway 1, near Southern Pines. Dunrovin Country Store offers homemade soups, fudge, ice cream, baked goods, Amish foods, organic foods, and more. Pick up a jar of Golden Barrel Unsulfured Blackstrap Molasses for $4.79—a perfect addition to your next marinade or batch of ginger cookies—and you’ll feel as though you’ve gone back in time. Dunrovin Country Store also offers garden and Christmas decor (year-round), and even operates a nonprofit exotic animal sanctuary. Learn more at dunrovincountrystore.com.

HANDCRAFTED GUIDES

Richmond, Virginia

The Wild Wander is an illustration and design studio created by founder and hand illustrator Clara Cline, who specializes in hand-illustrated letterpress field guides for all fifty states, as well as for trails, parks, and regions. Printed on richly textured off-white cotton paper, the guides pay tribute to beloved states you grew up in or live in now. Each guide costs $40, and you can purchase three for $100. The Wild Wander is located at 425 Strawberry Street in Richmond’s historic Fan District. Learn more at wildwanderco.com.

SUSTAINABLE SEEDS

Asheville, North Carolina

Green thumbs up if you can’t wait to start your spring garden! Sow Tru Seed—an Asheville-based, employee-owned cooperative committed to making gardening approachable for everyone—provides high quality, open-pollinated seeds in support of sustainable food production and regenerative agriculture. The company also seeks to help reconnect humankind back to nature, food, and community. Choose from vegetable, herb, and flower seed packets; as well as bulbs, live plants, and specialty gifts like custom seed packets. Prices range based on the number and type of seed packet you choose. Learn more at sowtrueseed.com.

Photos provided by vendors or taken by the Backroad Portfolio staff

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

PHOTO COURTESY OF DOLLYWOOD

View hundreds of colorful umbrellas at Dollywood during the park’s annual Flower & Food Festival April 19–June 9. You’ll also see more than a million blooms and sculptures of a playful peacock, mischievous bears, a busy beekeeper, and other creatures made from living plants.

BULLETIN

Journey down a backroad to one of these southeastern events this spring.

NORTH CAROLINA AZALEA FESTIVAL |

Downtown Wilmington, North Carolina ncazaleafestival.org

April 3–7

Join Wilmington’s annual community celebration of azaleas in April. Founded in 1948, the Azalea Festival is the largest of its kind in North Carolina, and features concerts, fairs, and special events that are attended by an estimated 300,000 people. The fun kicks off with the arrival of Queen Azalea and continues for five days in honor of this popular spring bloom.

TOUR OF HISTORIC HOMES AND PLANTATIONS | April 5–6

Georgetown, South Carolina princegeorgeplantationtours.com

Founded in 1729, this tour of the Lowcountry region’s historic homes and plantations from the 18th and 19th centuries offers guests the opportunity to see properties preserved by Georgetown’s present-day residents that are usually closed to the public. Single day tickets cost $60/person and two-day tickets cost $110/per person. All money raised by the tour is allocated to community outreach and the preservation of historic church buildings.

HOT SLAW AND ART Y’ALL FESTIVAL

Downtown Cleveland, Tennessee hotslawfestival.com

| April 6, noon–8pm

Enjoy food and activities centered around hot slaw, a unique side dish, and a topping familiar to folks in Cleveland. Activities include live music, artist exhibitors, pop-up street performances, family games, contests, food vendors, and, of course, hot slaw.

SOUTHERN ROOTS, A BBQ REUNION

Trailblazers Park in Travelers Rest, South Carolina southernrootsreunion.com

| April 20, noon–4pm

Experience delicious barbecue prepared by thirty-plus pitmasters and chefs, live music, an artisan market, and a variety of beer, wine, and spirits. Tickets start at $80. Purchases help support IDefine, a nonprofit created to help families and children with the rare genetic disorder Kleefstra Syndrome.

PHOTO OF AZALEAS BY PAPII; PHOTO OF ESTHERVILLE PLANTATION COURTESY OF TOUR OF HISTORIC HOMES AND PLANTATIONS

PAPII –STOCK.ADOBE.COM

From flowers to bluegrass, you’ll discover plenty of fun off the beaten path.

DOLLYWOOD FLOWER & FOOD FESTIVAL | April 19—June 9

Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Celebrate spring blossoms and dine on unique foods at Dollywood during the park’s annual Flower & Food Festival. View more than a million blooms as well as sculptures of a playful peacock, mischievous bears, a busy beekeeper, and more made from thousands of living plants. Enjoy seasonal bites while listening to live music on Dollywood’s streets and stages.

DEL MCCOURY BAND CONCERT | April 26, 8:00pm

Newberry Opera House in Newberry, South Carolina newberryoperahouse.com/event/del-mccoury-band

Enjoy toe-tapping classic and contemporary Bluegrass tunes as the Del McCoury Band—led by Grammy award-winning singer and guitarist Del McCoury—blends traditional and modern sounds. The band has 50-plus years of experience in the industry, and has become a regular performer at the Newberry Opera House. Ticket prices range from $80–$90, not including a processing fee of $7 and one-time handling fee of $5.

SHENANDOAH APPLE BLOSSOM FESTIVAL | April 26–May 5

Various locations across the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia thebloom.com

Experience more than forty events across the Shenandoah Valley during this nearly 100-yearold festival. Enjoy ten days of celebrations ranging from an artisan and crafter show in Old Town Winchester, to a carnival and apple pie baking contest across the region. Other events include a 10K race, pickleball tournament, dance party, and more.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DOLLYWOOD AND THE DEL M C COURY BAND

BULLETIN

Celebrate moonshine, strawberries, pickles, and marigolds across the region.

8TH ANNUAL MOONSHINE HERITAGE BASH & CAR SHOW | April 27

The Blue Ridge Institute & Museum in Ferrum, Virginia blueridgeinstitute.org/event/8th-annual-moonshine-heritage-bash-car-show

View more than 100 vehicles that were used, or would have been used, for hauling liquor during the Prohibition days of our past. This free event is open to the public and will also feature music, moonshine tastings, food, and vendors. Register your moonshine vehicle by calling 540.365.4412.

GEORGIA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL | April 27

Downtown Reynolds, Georgia ga-strawberry.org

Head to “the sweetest spot in Georgia” to enjoy strawberries in a variety of delicious ways along with a strawberry patch, arts and crafts, food vendors, a parade, an Elvis contest, an antique tractor show, a 5K race, a photography contest, a Weenie dog race, live music, a petting zoo, and more. Admission is free. Check the website for the festival schedule.

NORTH CAROLINA PICKLE FESTIVAL | April 27

Downtown Mount Olive, North Carolina ncpicklefest.org

Celebrate your love for pickles at this annual street fair sponsored by the Mount Olive community and Mount Olive Pickle Company since 1986. Participate in a Cuke Patch 5K, pickle eating contest, recipe contest, pickleball tournament, and Tour de Pickle. Listen to live music and see dancers perform on stage. You can also enjoy a beer and wine garden, and check out a car show.

WINTERVILLE MARIGOLD FESTIVAL | May 11

Pittard Park in Winterville, Georgia marigoldfestival.com

This festival was conceived in 1970 but took a hiatus from 2003–2009. Winterville adopted the marigold as the town’s official symbol in 1971 due to its hardiness, versatility, and vigor, and because it serves as a symbol of friendship across the world. The festival features a parade, live music, kids’ area, car show, 10K run, and a variety of vendors. Check the website for additional information and a schedule of events.

PHOTOS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT COURTESY OF THE BLUE RIDGE INSTITUTE & MUSEUM, GEORGIA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL, AND THE NORTH CAROLINA PICKLE FESTIVAL.

2024 BREWRIDGE MUSIC FESTIVAL |

Mountain Lake Lodge in Pembroke, Virginia mtnlakelodge.com/blog/brewridge-music-festival

May 18

Celebrate Virginia’s finest craft breweries while listening to local Appalachian and bluegrass musicians. The BrewRidge package includes one night’s lodging, a tasting pass, and breakfast.

GEORGIA PEACH FESTIVAL

May 31–June 1; June 8

Fort Valley and Byron, Georgia gapeachfestival.com

The Georgia Peach Festival annually celebrates peach growers for their contribution to Georgia’s economy and the national food industry. More than 800,000 peach trees are involved in this event. The week-long event takes place May 31–June 1 in Fort Valley, and on Saturday, June 8 in Byron. The festival has attracted as many as 10,000 visitors, and offers events ranging from the Peachy Parade to the world’s largest peach cobbler. See this year’s Georgia Peach Queens, enjoy peach delights, listen to live music, and more.

WAYNE C. HENDERSON MUSIC FESTIVAL AND GUITAR COMPETITION |

June 15

Grayson Highlands State Park in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia waynehenderson.org

Celebrate some of Southwest Virginia’s best traditional musicians at this 30th annual—and final— festival named for National Heritage Award recipient Wayne Henderson, a musician and luthier. Henderson has performed at Carnegie Hall, in three national tours of Masters of the Steel-String Guitar, and in seven Asian nations. He has built guitars for Eric Clapton, Doc Watson, Gillian Welch, and Peter Rowan. Admission is $20 (ages 12 and younger are free) and parking is $10 per vehicle.

Savor craft brews, sweet peaches, and the end of a musical tradition. BULLETIN

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE GEORGIA PEACH FESTIVAL FACEBOOK PAGE AND THE MONTY COMBS/WAYNE C. HENDERSON MUSIC FESTIVAL AND GUITAR COMPETITION.

Gibbs Gardens in Ball Ground, Georgia

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY GIBBS GARDENS

Capture the splendor of spring blossoms in full color at Gibbs Gardens, just 60 miles north of Atlanta. Stroll through 220 acres filled with daffodils, azaleas, cherry blossoms, daylilies, dogwoods, tulips, hydrangeas, and roses. You’ll also find Japanese and Waterlily sections, among other specialty gardens. Learn more at gibbsgardens.com.

LANDSCAPE

Barrier islands, rhododendron blooms, and more await you this spring across the Southeast. Here are some of our favorite vistas.

SAPELO ISLAND

Darien, Georgia

Sapelo Island Visitor Center 1766 Landing Road sapelonerr.org

Discover a multitude of rare photo opportunities at Sapelo Island in Georgia—accessible only by ferry. This state-managed barrier island is the fourth largest between the Savannah and St. Marys rivers along the Georgia coast. Book an island tour and visit a marine sanctuary, estuarine research reserve, and historic homes.

WALTER

Hike a mountain trail to capture beautiful photographs of nature’s seasonal beauty along the way.

Black Mountain, North Carolina 364 Blue Ridge Parkway blueridgeparkway.org/poi/craggy-gardens

Splendid rhododendrons bloom along the Blue Ridge Mountains at Craggy Gardens this time of year. Pink and purple rhododendrons peak in June, along with vibrant violets, blackberry, and Turkscap lilies. Exit at milepost 364.4 to access the gardens’ trails and 367.6 to reach the picnic area.

CRAGGY GARDENS

Photography by Mark Alan Howard

MARK ALAN HOWARD

LANDSCAPE

Be sure to wear the proper attire—and protect yourself from ticks, snakes, and other critters that may be present.

CONGAREE NATIONAL PARK

Hopkins, South Carolina 100 National Park Road nps.gov/cong/index.htm

Explore 20,000 acres of wilderness and biodiversity by foot, kayak, or canoe in South Carolina’s Congaree National Park—the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwoods in the Southeast. Nutrients and sediments from the Congaree and Wateree Rivers nourish the park’s ecosystem and tree growth, creating a lush landscape for memorable photos.

Photography by Jason Yoder

Timing is everything if you hope to capture a sunrise or sunset. Research the best view, and arrive early to set up your gear. LANDSCAPE

ROAN MOUNTAIN

Roan Mountain, Tennessee

527 Highway 143

tnstateparks.com/parks/roan-mountain

Rhododendrons bloom across Roan Mountain around the third week of June, luring visitors from all over the Southeast to Roan Mountain State Park in East Tennessee. Explore 2,000 acres of hardwoods, hollows, and ridges, as well as the Doe River, which flows right through the park’s center. Catch glimpses of wildflowers and wildlife throughout the park as you search for the perfect landscape to photograph.

Photography

by SKISERGE1

SKISERGE1 –STOCK.ADOBE.COM

ROBERT CLARK

A

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

Huntington Beach State Park’s beach and wetlands are inhabited by sea turtles, alligators, and birdlife.

wooden walkway takes visitors to the sea.

Huntington Beach State Park in Murrell’s Inlet, South Carolina

With over 50 years of experience, South Carolina travel photographer Robert Clark explores the Southeast in search of dynamic imagery. Robert’s fine-art collection is available for purchase as custom-printed artwork for your home or business. To see more of Robert’s artistry, view his Instagram page at @robertclarkphotography. If you’re interested in attending Robert’s photography workshops, email him at rcphoto@yahoo.com for further information.

rcphoto@yahoo.com

@robertclarkphotography

Stanley, Virginia

Cori and Jason Cave

Voice/Text: 540.999.1LOG

jason@shenandoahwoods.com

shenandoahwoods.com

Nestled in the foothills of the Blueridge Mountains in Stanley, Virginia, Shenandoah Woods is a private 200-acre estate spanning from one ridge line to the next and the valley between. We offer romantic log cabins perfect for couples, lodges for larger groups, and a wedding venue with fantastic views of Virginia’s iconic Shenandoah Valley.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELIZABETH POLAND SHUGG

North Star Restaurant

A guidepoint

to

great food and people

BY ELIZABETH POLAND SHUGG

There’s a modest restaurant off scenic U.S. Route 11 in southwestern Virginia that feeds a regular group of natives and out-of-towners. Located just outside of Buchanan, Virginia, North Star Restaurant delivers good home cooking and prompt, friendly service in unpretentious surroundings. Owner Ashley Clark—a former employee who purchased the restaurant from longtime owner Debbie Painter in 2021—has continued the restaurant’s practice of charging incredibly low prices, a bonus to the affable atmosphere that nets generous tips for the restaurant’s hardworking staff. (North Star only accepts cash. An ATM is onsite.)

The food is wonderful. But what I enjoyed most about my recent pancake breakfast there was watching the North Star regulars pitch in and help out. One older gentleman came around with a coffee pot and filled up everyone’s cup. Another customer bussed a table, then wiped it clean. The small dining room held happy faces, full bellies, and plenty of “See ya tomorrow!” departures.

As a member of the local high school’s class of 1991, I can vouch that North Star Restaurant is where we James River “Knights” enjoyed the best cheeseburgers and onion rings in town. From first dates to family dinners, it was—and is—the place to get a delicious, home-cooked meal.

The name is fitting. Thanks to the celestial North Star’s fixed position relative to other stars, it symbolizes direction, guidance, stability, and purpose. No matter how much other stars move around, the North Star always remains at exactly the same point. Likewise, North Star Restaurant steadfastly guides locals and out-of-towners to 15898 Lee Highway on Route 11 to good food, great service, and kindhearted dining companions who might just refill your cup—and become a lifelong friend.

The restaurant’s success comes not from a food critic’s praise or Facebooker’s post as she passes through town. Rather, it comes from a community of neighbors who enjoy each other’s company and, in many cases, have known each other all their lives. It comes from travelers who regularly stop by for a bite to eat on their way to a Virginia Tech football game; from a restaurant owner who worries more about how fresh the coffee is than how much she will charge for it; and from kind-hearted, small-town customers who spend their hard-earned dollars in a place that feels like home.

U.S. Route 11 in Buchanan, Virginia

To join our growing list of contributors from all over the Southeast, submit your photography, visual art, or writing. Learn more at backroadportfolio.com.

Elizabeth Poland Shugg

Chapel Hill, North Carolina EDITOR AND CO-CREATOR

Born in Lincolnton, Georgia, Elizabeth grew up in nearby Athens exploring 200 acres of woods and farmland originally purchased by her great-great-grandfather in 1910. At age 13, she moved to rural Botetourt County in Southwest Virginia after her mother remarried, but spent her summers in Columbia, South Carolina with her father. She now lives on 3 acres in rural Chatham County, North Carolina, and enjoys exploring the region’s backroads and small towns. Elizabeth has thirty years of experience as a professional writer and editor, and has served as editor of seven magazines, four of which she helped launch. She and her husband enjoy spending time with their three adult children; hiking with their Brittany, Luna; and traveling backroads to unique destinations.

Erica de Flamand

ART DIRECTOR AND CO-CREATOR

Olin, North Carolina

Erica attended the School of Fine Arts at UCONN, and since graduating, has worked as a designer, photographer, and creative director for more than two decades in industries including adventure travel, conservation, finance, national security and defense, and signature event planning. She has been a featured artist in over a dozen gallery installations, received numerous industry awards, and spent four semesters as an adjunct college professor. In addition to cultivating her studio, The Summer House, she launched a nonprofit organization that provides nature-based mental health services and alternative therapies to an underserved area of North Carolina. Erica currently resides off a backroad in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband, two dogs, and a herd full of horses and donkeys.

Tom Poland

WRITER AND PHOTOGRAPHER

Columbia, South Carolina

Tom Poland writes about the South, its people, its culture, and its natural features. His interests include nature, music, writing, and photography. Tom’s weekly column appears in more than 65 newspapers and online journals, where he reaches 100,000 readers a week. His work also appears in magazines and literary journals. Among his traditionally published books are Georgialina, A Southland As We Knew It; South Carolina Country Roads; and Carolina Bays—Wild, Mysterious, and Majestic Landforms. Tom is an oft-requested speaker, and gives talks throughout Georgia and the Carolinas. In 2018, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster conferred upon Tom South Carolina’s highest civilian order, the Order of the Palmetto, and stated: “His work is exceptional to the state.” Learn more about Tom at tompoland.net.

Kathleen McIntyre

WRITER

Davidson, North Carolina

For the past 25 years, forest ecologist-turned-nature therapist Kathleen McIntyre has been leading therapeutic and life-enriching experiences in nature. After receiving a masters in forest resources, she began the journey of fusing her passion and knowledge of land conservation and restoration with nature’s wisdom for profound personal healing. In addition to completing a masters in social work, Kathleen is the co-founder and director of Mindfulness and Outdoor Leadership at the Davidson Green School in Davidson, North Carolina. She is also the author of The Nature Reset, which has just been released. Backpacking, trail running, traveling, gardening, spending time with friends, and spending time in nature keeps her fired stoked. Learn more about Kathleen at katmcintyre.com.

Rosie Molinary Davidson, North Carolina PAINTER AND WRITER

A radical self-acceptance champion, Rosie Molinary, MFA, uses profound questions and wholehearted connection to empower people to treat themselves well so they can connect with their talents and passions to authentically and intentionally live their purpose and help heal the world. The author of Beautiful You: A Daily Guide to Radical Self Acceptance (Seal Press) and Hijas Americanas: Beauty, Body Image, and Growing Up Latina (Seal Press), Rosie offers workshops and speaks to groups around the country on self-acceptance, burnout prevention, self-care, the Latina experience, and intentional living. Additionally, Rosie helped found HAMMERS, a nonprofit initiative to provide emergency home repair for low income families, and Circle de Luz, a non-profit that radically empowers young Latinas by supporting their transformation through extensive mentoring and scholarship funds for further education. Rosie taught herself how to paint during the COVID pandemic, and has become a prolific artist in watercolor and acrylics since. She sells her paintings and hand-painted gifts on Instagram @rosiemolinary.

Robert Clark

PHOTOGRAPHER

Columbia, South Carolina

A resident of Columbia and native of Charlotte, Robert Clark’s photography has appeared in National Geographic books, Newsweek, Smithsonian, and photographic awards annuals such as Print and Communication Arts. He has specialties in architectural/interior photography, editorial, advertising, and fine art photography. He has photographed seven books on South Carolina—the latest of which is Carolina Bays, published by the University of South Carolina Press in 2019—and he is also a Professional Photographers of America (PPA) member. View Robert’s work on Instagram at @robertclarkphotography.

Bruce DeBoer Raleigh, North Carolina PHOTOGRAPHER

Bruce has over 40 years of experience directing people, managing brands, and creating visual stories through photography and digital filmmaking. After discovering photography at age 12 on Long Island, New York, Bruce went on to earn a bachelors of science in advertising photography at Rochester Institute of Technology. He has worked in Boston, Kansas City, Chicago, and now Raleigh, and logged time at Hallmark Cards, Erickson Productions, Synthesis Creative, and Torque, Ltd. He’s a founding partner at Stone Soup Productions and, currently, his commercial studio, DeBoerWorks Photographic Productions. Additionally, Bruce creates fine art photography and abstract painting for DeBoerFineArt.com and galleries.

Philip Juras Athens, Georgia LANDSCAPE PAINTER

Philip Juras’ paintings convey the rich aesthetics of a wide range of ecologically intact environments. The Athens, Georgia, artist has had solo exhibits at the Chicago Botanic Garden and Illinois State Museum; the Telfair Museums; Morris Museum; Marietta Cobb Museum of Art in Georgia; and the Biblioteca Virgilio Barco in Bogotá, Colombia. He has published three books in conjunction with those exhibits and has been the featured speaker at numerous events. Philip holds degrees in fine art and landscape architecture from the University of Georgia, and volunteers as a wildland firefighter type 2, or “ecoburner,” with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and The Nature Conservancy.

“The sun has come out ... and the air is vivid with spring light.”

// BYRON CALDWELL SMITH (1849-1877) IN A LETTER TO KATE STEPHENS (1853-1938)

Corolla, North Carolina

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERICA DE FLAMAND

Minutes from Downtown Durham and Research Triangle Park, a world-class distillery is hidden on a 22-acre farm. Mystic Farm & Distillery was crowned the winner of 2023’s Best Small Batch Bourbon at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition for its five-year-old Broken Oak bourbon. Like all of Mystic’s bourbons, Broken Oak is carefully crafted from grain Mystic grows nearby, water from the aquifer below the distillery, North Carolina oak, and the superior aging climate of the Piedmont. Mystic offers tours, tastings, and unforgettable experiences that delight bourbon enthusiasts and occasional drinkers alike. Learn more at WhatIsMystic.com.

Durham, North Carolina PHOTOGRAPHY

WhatIsMystic.com

@mysticfarmdistillery

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