Byways Mountains & Valleys 2016

Featuring North America’s Leading Travel Destinations

Mountains & Valleys Pikes Peak in the Colorado Rockies

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Plan tto spend d more than th one day d when h creating your o Color l ado d Springs i . Include l d the S i itine itiner eraries v brancy of P kes Peak, Garden of the Gods, US vib Air Force Academy and US Olympic Trraining Ai Center e , and get ready to ele evate your experience.

United States Naval Academy

Undergraduate College of the U.S. Navy

Guided Walking Tours include the Naval Academy Chapel, Crypt of John Paul Jones, Statue of Tecumseh and the history and traditions of the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD.

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For more than 33 years, Byways has been covering the leading destinations along the highways and byways of North America. Some of the most well-known — and least known — destinations to discover in the United States and Canada.

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nspired by a trip to the summit of Pikes Peak, Katharine Lee Bates penned what has become the country’s most famous poem and song, America the Beautiful. Today, you can be inspired as well by traveling to the summit of this 14,115 peak just 12 miles from downtown Colorado Springs.

Pikes Peak headlines this year’s Mountains & Valleys issue of Byways. Amazingly, Pikes Peak is just one of 53 mountains that top 14,000 feet in the state of Colorado!

Traveling south to Texas, our next stop in the Rio Grande Valley. When I was invited to visit the border town of McAllen, Texas, I wondered if it was really a good idea to travel to this part of Texas.

From what I had read in the media, I thought I would be A hot air balloon with visiting a small, dusty border Pikes Peak in the town. But lets face it. News background. Photo reports of the type of people courtesy VISITCOS. portrayed crossing the border, and reports of their illegal activities, was a concern.

It didn’t take long to realize that McAllen is not so dusty, not so small, and not just any border town on the Mexican border.

In fact, before I headed home, every stereotype I had of McAllen had been completely altered.

I wondered how just about every reporter for publications like the New York Times, the cable networks and just about every Presidential candidate could come here and see something so different than what I saw?

In his Traveling the Highways & Byways column, Bill Graves takes to Pine Mountain, Georgia. It’s a town about an hour south of Atlanta on the western edge of Georgia. Its main street, Highway 27, is lined with small boutiques that define it as a place where city people escape to on weekends.

It’s also home to Callaway Gardens. Created 50 years ago, its founder intended that the gardens be a connection between man and nature. It has remained true to his vision, but it’s also a first-class resort, with two of the best golf courses in the state.

Next, we’re off to the Appalachian Mountains, which divide the eastern seaboard from the nation’s interior.

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PREVIEW

By Steve Kirchner, Editor & Publisher

Created 480 million years ago, these are the oldest mountains in North America. They also once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before they were eroded over time.

The Appalachians stretch from the Canadian provinces all the way to Alabama, and their importance to the development of the North American continent cannot be understated.

For a century, the Appalachians were a barrier to the westward expansion of the British colonies. The continuity of the mountain system, the bewildering multiplicity of its succeeding ridges, the tortuous courses and roughness of its transverse passes, a heavy forest, and dense undergrowth all conspired to hold the settlers on the seaward-sloping plateaus and coastal plains.

The Appalachian Mountains also helped to create a new industry in North America. An illegal industry, from the late 1800s to Prohibition (1920), moon shining centered around wood-fired turnip stills making apple brandy or corn whiskey. The bootlegger typically set up in a secluded wooded area beside a stream or spring. He bought grain from local mills and fruit from local orchards.

As immortalized in the film Thunder Road, revenue agents have long gone after moonshine as it is being transported to market.

Much has been made in popular culture of the connection between liquor haulers and NASCAR auto racing, but the real ties between the two activities took place in local garages where mechanics modified engines for speed and suspensions for handling.

Our final stop is the Platte River Valley of Central Nebraska, where more than 500,000 sandhill cranes converge on a narrow 90-mile sliver of habitat every spring.

This region is part of the Central Flyway, which is one of four North American flyways followed by waterfowl and shorebirds to their annual trek from winter habitats to northern breeding grounds and back again.

In What’s Happening, we learn about Eco tourism in a ghost town in Georgia, and visit a new room at George and Martha Washington’s Mount Vernon.

We hope you enjoy this issue of Byways.

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Volume 33, Issue No. 2 2016

Features

On the cover. Peeking through Aspen leaves at Pikes Peak -- America’s Mountain. Photo courtesy VISITCOS. Pikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. For more on Pikes Peak and Mountains and Valley, turn to page 8.

Mountains & Valleys 2016. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Colorado’s Pikes Peak Inspired America the Beautiful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Changing Perceptions of McAllen & the Rio Grande Valley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Pine Mountain, Georgia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 The Appalachians, America’s Oldest Mountains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Appalachian Moonshine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 A Nebraska Chorus of 500,000 Sandhill Cranes in the Platte River Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

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Georgia Outdoor Eco-Resort Rises from Ruins at Historic Banning Mills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Historic Mount Vernon Mansion Room Open After Renovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Coming in future issues of Byways ..... Rivers & Lakes, Great American Roads, Leading North American Tour Destinations, and much more!

Next Up: Ocean Views

The United States Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland.

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Mountains & Valleys

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The Pikes Peak Highway features numerous switchbacks on its way to the 14,115-foot summit.

Photos courtesy Colorado Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau. VISITCOS.com/tours Byways • 9

Colorado’s Pikes Peak Inspired America the Beautiful

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Pikes Peak viewed from the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. Inspired by a trip to the summit of Pikes Peak, Katharine Lee Bates penned what has become the country’s most famous poem and song, America the Beautiful.

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Snow covered Pikes Peak is one of 53 Colorado mountains that rise over 14,000 feet. ikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 14,115-foot mountain is located in Pike National Forest, just 12 miles west of downtown Colorado Springs.

The mountain is named in honor of American explorer Zebulon Pike who was unable to reach the summit.

Pikes Peak is one of Colorado’s 53 fourteeners, mountains that rise more than 14,000 feet above sea level. The mountain rises 8,000 feet above downtown Colorado Springs. Pikes Peak is a designated National Historic Landmark.

The first European-American to climb the peak came 14 years after Pike in the summer of 1820. Edwin James, a young student who had just graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont, signed on as the relief 12 • Byways

botanist for the Long Expedition after the first botanist had died. The expedition explored the South Platte River up as far as present-day Denver, then turned south and passed close to what James called “Pike’s highest peak.”

James and two other men left the expedition, camped on the plains, and climbed the peak in two days, encountering little difficulty. Along the way, he was the first to describe the Blue Columbine, Colorado’s state flower.

Gold Rush Gold was discovered in the area of present-day Denver in 1858, and newspapers referred to the gold-mining area as “Pikes Peak.” Pikes Peak or Bust became the slogan of the Colorado Gold Rush.

This was more due to Pikes Peak’s visibility to gold seekers traveling west across the plains than any actual significant gold find anywhere near Pikes Peak.

Photo courtesy Milan Suvajac.

In the 1890s, gold was discovered on the western slope of Pikes Peak, one of the richest gold strikes in American history. Almost overnight, the Cripple Creek Mining District grew from an isolated cattle pasture to the home of more than 50,000 people. As a result, by the turn of the 19th century, Colorado Springs was called “the city of millionaires.”

One of these millionaires was Spencer Penrose, who made his first fortune in Cripple Creek. He used his vast resources to build the Pikes Peak and Cheyenne Mountain Highways and to establish the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Will Rogers Shrine and The Broadmoor Hotel. He and his wife, Julie, created the El Pomar Foundation, which still supports many worthy causes in the Pikes Peak region and across Colorado.

America the Beautiful At the turn of the century, inspired by a trip to the summit of Pikes Peak, Katharine Lee Bates penned what has become the country’s most famous poem and song, America the Beautiful.

There are several visitor centers on Pikes Peak, some with a gift shop and restaurant. These centers are located

The Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway is a cog railroad operating from Manitou Springs to the summit. Photo courtesy Milan Suvajac.

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at the 6-mile, 12-mile and the summit itself, and there are several ways to ascend the mountain.

Getting to the Top The Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway is a cog railroad operating from Manitou Springs to the summit year-round, conditions permitting.

Motor vehicles can be driven to the summit via the Pikes Peak Highway, a 19 mile road that starts a few miles up Ute Pass at Cascade. This road, which until October 2011 was unpaved after the halfway point, was made famous worldwide by the short film Climb Dance featuring Ari Vatanen racing his Peugeot automobile up the steep, twisty slopes as part of the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race. The road has a series of switchbacks, treacherous at high speed, called “The W’s” for their shape on the side of the mountain. The road is maintained by the city of Colorado 14 • Byways

Just 12 miles from Colorado Springs, Pike’s Peak rises 8,000 feet over the city.

Springs as a toll road.

For additional information on Pikes Peak and Colorado Springs, visit: VISITCOS.com/tours

Pikes Peak viewed from the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center.

Photo courtesy VISITCOS.com/tours.

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EXPER RIEN NC CE To our inn Color C ado Springs Sp gs for exceptional p vviews and a group-friendlyy experiences.

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Plan to spend d more than h onne day when creating your o Color l ado d S Springs i iti itineeraries i . Include l d the v brancy of Pikes Peak, Garrden of the Gods, US vib Air Force Academy and US Olympic Trraining Ai Center e , and get ready to eleevate your experience.

CONTACT US TODA D Y DAY Y! Buuild your itinerary at

V VISITC OS.com/ttours orr call 800-888-47448 x135 o x

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Changing Perceptions: South to McAllen & the Rio Grande Valley

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Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center.

Photo courtesy City of McAllen.

eople from around the world travel to the Texas Rio Grande Valley to see birds they couldn’t catch a glimpse of anywhere else. 540 species have been documented in the McAllen, Texas area -- from the Buffbellied Hummingbird to the Great Kiskadee!

McAllen isn’t just for the birds however… nestled in this eco-wonderland, you’ll also find a burgeoning arts and historic district, shopper’s paradise and Tex-Mex dishes that’ll make your mouth water and forehead sweat!

From what I had read in the media, I thought I would be visiting a small, dusty border town, probably supported economically by agriculture, and probably by the U.S. Border Patrol.

But let’s face it. The type of people portrayed crossing the border, and reports of their illegal activities, was a concern.

I was on a birding tour. Yes, people come to this region to see birds, more than 50 percent of the 1,000 species of birds found in the United States are found in this area.

When my plane touched down at McAllen International Airport, however, I did a double take.

As we taxied to the gate, I looked out from the runway 16 • Byways

By Stephen M. Kirchner

Dancers in traditional Mexican colors outside Quinta Mazatlan.

at a shopping mall. Macy’s, Dillard’s, JC Penny and every other store you see at the malls in the wealthiest suburbs in America.

It didn’t take long to realize that McAllen is not so dusty, not so small, and not just any border town on the Mexican border.

In fact, before I headed home, every stereotype I had of McAllen had been completely altered.

I wondered how just about every reporter for publications like the New York Times, the cable networks and just about every Presidential candidate could come here and see something so different than what I saw?

A Booming Metropolis McAllen is a booming city of 140,000, a regional government center with first-class medical facilities.

Hidalgo County has a population over 800,000!

And did I mention shopping malls?

Just 7 miles south, across the border in Mexico, is the city of Reynosa, with a population of over one million.

Yes, the border patrol is here in force, and on our first morning visiting the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park World Birding Center, we saw them in action.

Helicopters hovering overhead, apparently searching for illegals who had crossed the border.

This is the story the media and the candidates were looking for, and yes, you will find it if you look for it.

But there is a bigger story here, one which is not being covered in the mainstream U.S. media, and it presents a rather different picture.

Those shopping malls I mentioned. They are the number one destination of legal Mexican Nationals who

The Green Jay does not fly north of McAllen.

Photo courtesy Texas Parks and Wildlife.

cross the U.S. border every day to shop in the United States.

Shopping Mecca And shop in huge numbers they do. McAllen averages 30,000 shoppers from Mexico every day. And those dollars account for 37 percent of the city’s $3.6 billion in annual retail sales.

These visitors legally enter the U.S. at one of 14 border crossings in the McAllen area, and the money they spend is the number one driver of employment in the area.

Most come by automobile, many by motorcoach, and entire families often stay for several days, filling up the local hotels.

They are middle and upper class Mexican citizens, and they look forward to returning home when done shopping.

Why shop in the U.S.?

According to Nancy S. Millar, VP and Director of the McAllen Convention & Visitors Bureau, the shopping experience in the U.S. is far different than in Mexico.

She says in the U.S. the consumer is treated with a respect that is not always seen elsewhere. In addition, she says the quality of the goods is better, and products purchased in the U.S. come with warranties from manufacturers that are honored wherever the product is used.

This is not always the case in Mexico. Finally, Millar adds, most stores in McAllen are bi-lingual, speaking both English and Spanish.

As a result, according to a recent study, McAllen has become the number one shopping destination of Mexican Nationals in the United States.

The largest market for McAllen, Millar says, is the prosperous city of Monterrey, Mexico, a city of 3.5 million, which is accessed by super highway to McAllen in about 3 hours.

Winter Texans The second major driver of the local economy are the Winter Texans who travel to South Texas to avoid the Byways • 17

The Hidalgo International Bridge crossing from Mexico into the United States over the Rio Grande River. It’s one of 14 entry points to the U.S. in the Rio Grande Valley.

Photo courtesy McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge. harsher winters in North Texas.

The climate is very similar to the tropical climate found in the winter months in Florida, and much closer to home. In fact, this area is about as far south as you can travel in the United States.

When you look at a map, you realize McAllen is on the same latitude as Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and enjoys the same subtropical climate.

We can assume that if this area has the problems portrayed in the media, few from North Texas would want to spend their vacation here.

While border towns can be dangerous, in the case of McAllen perception does not meet reality. It has one of the lowest crime rates of any city in America.

Birding And the third major driver of the economy is birding.

That’s right. People travel to McAllen to view 525 bird species, more than 50 percent of all birds found in the U.S. Of these, 39 species, including the beautiful Green Jays, do not fly north of McAllen at anytime during the year.

When a rare bird is spotted here, the word is flashed 18 • Byways

The Palms Crossing Shopping center is one of a number of malls serving both U.S. and Mexican customers. Photo courtesy City of McAllen.

out quickly, and people travel here not just from throughout the United States, but from throughout the world as well. It’s been estimated that one rare bird sighting can translate into $100,000 to the local economy virtually overnight!

Start your day with fresh air and birds chirping at Quinta Mazatlan, one of nine Valley World Birding Centers.

r Video Click fo When to Go Many people choose to visit in the winter since the weather is so pleasant. Many of the neo-tropical birds people travel here to see live here year-round, but to see the largest variety of species and migration, spring and fall are the best. Butterflies are easiest to see in October.

What to see McAllen’s historic Main Street Shopping District -discover the culture behind its unique collection of stores and interesting products. See why shoppers flock here from hundreds of miles away to go “McAllening” and shop for formal quinceñera gowns, wedding gowns or other formalwear.

A 1930s country estate nestled in McAllen, Quinta Mazatlan is an historic Spanish Revival adobe hacienda surrounded by lush tropical landscaping and native woodland.

Within this urban oasis you’ll find quiet trails that wind through more than 20 acres of birding habitat.

Enjoy a tasting of local specialties like mesquite muffins and prickly pear lemonade while catching a glimpse of many of the favorite “Valley specialties” found no place else in the country. Be on the lookout: Plain Chachalacas nest in the palms…you’ll know them by their deep, raucous “cha-cha-lac” call! www.quintamazatlan.com Byways • 19

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The 760-acre Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park is one of the top birding destinations in the country and the headquarters of the World Birding Center.

Byways photo.

International Museum of Art & Science A Smithsonian Affiliate, IMAS is the premier art and science museum of South Texas. View some of Picasso’s last works in a set of 29 lithographs, known as the Imaginary Portraits; be awed at “Sacred Visions: Stained Glass Windows from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Studios” featuring 20 stained glass works depicting various ecclesiastical scenes; check out “Science On a Sphere,” a revolutionary exhibit designed by NASA and the NOAA to illustrate planetary and celestial systems with stunning images from the Hubble Space Telescope, orbital satellites and space probes shown on a threedimensional, six-foot wide sphere.

Chachalacas at Quinta Mazatlan.

Photo courtesy John Brush and Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center.

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South Texas and Northeastern Mexico at Museum of South Texas History With ranching traditions of Spain and seasoned by the folklore of Mexico, the southern-most tip of Texas is rich in heritage, hospitality and cultural diversity.

The museum’s premier exhibition, Rio Grande Legacy, unfolds the region’s story with unique artifacts and state-of-the-art multimedia. You’ll see prehistoric fossils, ancient tools, Spanish colonial treasure, battlefield relics and artifacts from the region’s heydays as a steamboat route and, later, a cattle kingdom. A replica train station takes you through the century that transformed the region with artifacts that illustrate the arrival of railroads and irrigated agriculture, town-building, wars of the twentieth century, and the booming post-war years.

Edinburg Scenic Wetlands Discover a 40-acre wetlands oasis in the midst of a lively urban landscape with year-round wildlife viewing friendly to birds, butterflies and other water-loving creatures.

You’ll find winding paths and waterside observation platforms with access to the entire 40 acres, an Interpretive Center with educational exhibits on fish and aquatic life, and state-of-the-art interactive computer programs highlight birds and butterflies. www.edinburgwbc.org Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park One of the top birding destinations in the country and headquarters of the World Birding Center, more than 325 species of birds have been seen from birding blinds.

Known as a treasure trove of “Valley specialties” and tropical birds found nowhere else in the United States,

the 760-acre Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, together with over 1,700 acres of adjoining U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuge tracts, provide a year-round nature adventure in one of the richest birding areas north of the Mexican border. Two enclosed bird blinds and a birding wall allow visitors to see birds up close and watch their behaviors. Over seven miles of trails with bird feeding stations and water features offer a variety of opportunities to encounter wildlife inside the park.

The Visitors Center has a bilingual (English/ Spanish) exhibit hall and park store. Board the Trams transport visitors throughout the park. Photo courtesy Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. tram for an overview of the State Park with stops that include a bird feeder station, butterfly garden overlook and Green Jay bird blind, Hawk extends south into Central and South America. The Tower and Rio Grande Trail. refuge is right in the middle of all this biological diversiBe on the lookout: Green Jays, the official bird of ty, and the bird species are concentrated here, which is McAllen, congregate regularly at feeding stations within what makes this 2,088 acre parcel the jewel of the the park.

National Wildlife Refuge System.

For more on the McAllen area, visit Explore Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge http://mcallencvb.com Step into a rare tropical world where Spanish moss drips from trees, noisy Chachalacas welcome the morning dawn and malachite butterflies flit from the shadows.

About the Author. Stephen M. Kirchner has been The wildlife clientele is truly international here along the Editor & Publisher of Byways Magazine for the past 33 most southern stretch of the Rio Grande. years. He is based in Louisville, KY. Established in 1943 for the protection of migratory birds, Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is positioned along an east-west and north-south juncture of two major migratory routes for many species of birds. It is also at the northern-most point for many species whose range

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Traveling the Highways & Byways with Bill Graves

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Pine Mountain, Georgia

‘m in the Purple Cow Café eating ice cream and studying my map of Georgia. At the next table, a girl, wearing a University of Georgia sweatshirt, is engrossed in reading email.

I can’t see her computer screen, but she has the obvious signs -- eyes fixed, rhythmic mouse-hand motion, expression blank except for some private smiles.

This is Pine Mountain, a town about an hour south of Atlanta on the western edge of Georgia. Its main street, Highway 27, is lined with small boutiques that define it as a place where city people escape to on weekends and the rest of us stumble on in our travels.

The Purple Cow’s ice cream comes from Texas in 24 flavors and I am having “cotton candy.” Emily Bryant, the owner, told me that this used to be the Kimbrough Bros. General Store. It had been that since 1892, which,

22 • Byways

Photo courtesy Callaway Gardens.

for me, explains its beautiful hardwood floor. About that name, she said that the “cow” is for the ice cream, and the “purple” is for the Georgia wine they sell and offer tastings.

Looking at the map, I noticed that the Franklin D.

Photos courtesy Bill Graves.

Roosevelt State Park is just east of here in Warm Springs.

Roosevelt built a simple, vacation cottage there that became the Little White House during his presidency.

That’s where he died just before the end of World War II. “Excuse me, are you looking for Callaway Gardens?”

It was the voice of the e-mail reader, back from her cyberspace trip. She was getting up and stuffing her laptop in her backpack.

“Actually, just looking,” I said.

“It’s what most people come here to see.” She picked up her cup. “I’m going for a coffee refill, you want some?”

The openness of southern hospitality sure makes life simple and pleasant down here. I love it. She brought the coffee. I asked her to sit down and put the map away, figuring it had just been superseded. She said her name

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dens be a connection between man and nature. It has remained true to his vision, but it’s also a first-class resort, with two of the best golf courses in the state. It has several lakes -- one big enough for water skiing and wakeboard tournaments -- restaurants, an inn, cottages, a spa, pools, tennis courts, a gun club, even a woodland chapel where they have wedding almost every weekend.

Kim pointed me to Highway 18 and minutes later I was there. I spent the day absorbing the beauty of the garSpringtime at Callaway Gardens. dens, and would have spent the night Photo courtesy Callaway Gardens. had there been a campground.

I took a picture of a couple who were giving their dog its monthly tour of the was Kim and that she grew up near here.

We talked about things Southern, like “lumpy Coke.” gardens. The dog can’t walk much anymore so they It’s a Georgia thing -- pouring salted peanuts into a bot- push it in a specially-made, three-wheeled cart. Seeing tle of Coke. Kim suggests shaking it before drinking to the best side of humanity always makes for a good day, settle some of the fizz. And chocolate kisses, they’re and this is one. called “silver bells” by her Georgia-born grandmother.

She said the best ice cream down here -- but it’s hard to About the author: After seeing much of the world as a find -- is made from muscadine grapes. It’s a local grape career naval officer, Bill Graves decided, after he retired, to also used in wine. take a closer look at the United States. He has been roaming Kim works at Callaway Gardens during the summer the country for 20 years, much of it in a motorhome with his doing landscaping. A few miles south of here, it’s a dog Rusty. He lives in Rancho Palos Verdes, California and is 13,000-acre, private park. the author of On the Back Roads, Discovering Small Towns of Created 50 years ago, its founder intended that the gar- America. He can be reached at Roadscribe@aol.com.

24 • Byways

United States Naval Academy

Undergraduate College of the U.S. Navy

Guided Walking Tours include the Naval Academy Chapel, Crypt of John Paul Jones, Statue of Tecumseh and the history and traditions of the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD. HISTORICAL, EDUCATIONAL, JEWISH CHAPEL AND MILITARY REUNION TOURS

Naval Academy Gift Shop Restrooms, Exhibits, Film

U.S. Naval Academy Campus.

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o or Vide

Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center (410) 293-8687 (410) 293-3365 (fax) www.usnabsd.com/for-visitors Visitor Center Hours January-February: 9 am - 4 pm March-December 9 am - 5 pm Photo ID required, ages 18 and over

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Looking down from the Blue Ridge Parkway near Craggy Gardens in North Carolina.

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The Appalachians, North America’s Oldest Mountains Byways • 27

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The Cumberland Gap in Kentucky. Photo courtesy www.kentuckytourism.com.

he Appalachian mountains first formed roughly 480 million years ago and once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before they were eroded over time.

They are the oldest mountain chain in North America and have played a vital role in the settlement and development of the North American continent. The Appalachians combine a heritage of natural beauty and with a distinctive regional culture.

The name Appalachian comes from the Apalachee Indians. A stream of pioneers first moved to the mountains where woodsmen found valleys and large gaps which made it difficult to travel. Later roads and trains ran through the valleys and gaps and tied the nation together.

For a century, the Appalachians were a barrier to the westward expansion of the British colonies. The continuity of the mountain system, the bewildering multiplicity of its succeeding ridges, the tortuous courses and roughness of its transverse passes, a heavy forest, and dense undergrowth all conspired to hold the settlers on the seaward-sloping plateaus and coastal plains.

With the formation of the United States, an important first phase of westward expansion in the late 18th centu28 • Byways

ry and early 19th century consisted of the migration of European-descended settlers westward across the mountains into the Ohio Valley through the Cumberland Gap and other mountain passes. The Erie Canal, finished in 1825, formed the first route through the Appalachians that was capable of large amounts of commerce.

Divide Between East and Midwest The Appalachian region is generally considered the geographical divide between the eastern seaboard of the United States and the midwest region of the country. The Eastern Continental Divide follows the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania to Georgia.

The range is mostly located in the United States but extends into southeastern Canada, forming a zone from 100 to 300Â miles wide, running from the island of Newfoundland 1,500Â miles southwestward to Central Alabama in the United States.

The Northern Section The whole system is divided into three great sections: The Northern section runs from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador to the Hudson River.

It includes the Long Range Mountains and

Annieopsquotch Mountains on the island of Newfoundland, Chic-Choc Mountains and Notre Dame Range in Quebec and New Brunswick, scattered elevations and small ranges elsewhere in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the Longfellow Mountains in Maine, the White Mountains in New Hampshire, the Green Mountains in Vermont, and The Berkshires in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The Central Section The central section goes from New York’s Hudson Valley to the New River (Great Kanawha) running through Virginia and West Virginia. It comprises the Valley Ridges between the Allegheny Front of the Allegheny Plateau and the Great Appalachian Valley, the New York-New Jersey Highlands, the Taconic Mountains in New York, and a large portion of the Blue Ridge.

The Southern Section The southern section runs from the New River onwards. It consists of the prolongation of the Blue Ridge, which is divided into the Western Blue Ridge (or Unaka) Front and the Eastern Blue Ridge Front, the tion of being the nation’s longest marked footpath. Along Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, and the Cumberland the way, it crosses 14 states, 8 national forests, and 6 National Parks, following the ridge line of the Plateau.

Appalachian Mountains.

Some of the most prominent geological features of the The Appalachian Trail Appalachian range include the White Mountains, Black The Appalachian Trail is an approximately 2175- mile Mountains, Green Mountains, Allegheny Plateau, Mount long (or 2 million steps) National Scenic Trail (the first Mitchell, Great Smoky Mountains, Cumberland Plateau, one to be designated as such in 1968.) It has the distinc-

Avery Peak, Maine. View from the Appalachian Trail on West Peak in Bigelow Preserve, looking at Avery Peak and Little Bigelow Mountain. Photo courtesy Paul Mitchell.

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Mount Mitchell, viewed from Mount Craig, in the Black Mountains of North Carolina. Photo courtesy Brian Stansberry.

and Blue Ridge. Mount Mitchell, with a height of 6,684 ft., is the tallest mountain of the Appalachian mountain range.

While the climate in the Appalachians varies through-

out the year, it can be typically defined as cool and wet for the most of the part. With elevation coming into play, one can observe sharp contrast in the weather at higher and lower altitudes.

Mount Washington, viewed from Bretton Woods. The cog railway track is visible running up the spur to the left of the summit.

Photo courtesy W. Woods.

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Cliffs overlooking the New River near Gauley Bridge, WV.

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Leaving aside occasionally excessive snowfall and cloud cover, the weather in these mountains is quite pleasant and attracts hordes of tourists here every year.

The primary habitat of this region is mainly made up of temperate forests. The secondary habitat, on the other hand, is made up of mixed-deciduous and boreal forests.

The list of tree species found in the Appalachians include

trees like mountain ash, red spruce, black spruce, white pine, eastern hemlock, Balsam fir, and Fraser fir.

The Appalachians have played an important role in the American history. Their well-known natural resources and ecological diversity and natural beauty attract visitors from throughout the world to experience this vast and sweeping mountain chain.

Rocky Top and Patterson Ridges in the Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Photo courtesy Shenandoah National Park.

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Former moonshiner John Bowman explaining the workings of a moonshine still at the American Folklife Center.

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Appalachian Moonshine From the archives of Blue Ridge Institute & Museum of Ferrum College, Franklin County, Virginia.

he dense underbrush and forests of the Blue Ridge range of the Appalachian Mountains helped to create a new industry in North America.

An illegal industry that could reach customers as far away as New York and Philadelphia took nearly a century to develop, and it began in earnest in the late 1800s.

From the late 1800s to Prohibition (1920), moonshining centered around wood-fired turnip stills making apple brandy or corn whiskey. The bootlegger typically set up in a secluded wooded area beside a stream or spring. He bought grain from local mills and fruit from local orchards.

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, liquor was hauled by wagon to its market destination or a railroad stop. (Oral history in Franklin County tells of individuals making day trips by train to Roanoke with suitcases filled with jars of whiskey.) By the time Virginia voted to become a dry state (1914), moonshiners were using cars and trucks to deliver their whiskey. In that era the primary markets were regional industrial towns and cities -- Danville, Lynchburg, Roanoke -- and coal camps in Virginia and West Virginia.

Around World War I, Blue Ridge moonshining saw the rise of the large submarine-type still. More gallons of whiskey could be made with one still, and the bootlegger could increase his output dramatically. By the time Prohibition ended (1933), moonshining was a dynamic 34 • Byways

economic force in the southern Virginia mountains, and its vitality did not lag with the reintroduction of legal alcohol sales.

The Franklin County Conspiracy In the 20th century during Prohibition, local wits named Franklin County the “Moonshine Capital of the World,” as moonshine production and bootlegging drove the economy.

Blue Ridge moonshining found itself in the national spotlight with the so-called Conspiracy Trial of 1935.

Despite scores of busts by revenuers in the 1920s and early 1930s, the moonshining industry continued to thrive. In Franklin County officials were accepting protection fees from moonshiners, and the Sheriff himself oversaw the complex bribery system.

Between 1930 and 1935 local still operators and their business partners sold a volume of whiskey that would have generated $5,500,000 in excise taxes at the old 1920 tax rate.

A federal investigation resulted in 34 people being indicted. Those charged included 19 moonshiners, one corporation, and nine government officials.

At the time, the tense trial was the longest in Virginia history. The murders, the high-profile defendants, and the mystique of moonshining made the conspiracy trial front page news. Newspaper readers loved the tales of

whiskey making and hauling, including those of Mrs. Willie Carter Sharpe, “queen of Roanoke rum runners.”

The NASCAR Connection As immortalized in the film Thunder Road, revenue agents have long gone after moonshine as it is being transported to market. Historically the trip from still to buyer was uneventful in most cases. Yet if agents had a tip as to when and where a load of whiskey was being moved, revenuers might set up a roadblock or simply wait along the route for the “hauler” or “runner” to pass by. Prior to police two-way radios, a hauler could possibly outrun officers with a fast vehicle. Some of the resulting chases are the stuff of Blue Ridge legend.

Officers at times did shoot at the tires of their prey, and revenuers and liquor haulers alike suffered car crashes.

Haulers had no desire to draw attention to themselves by speeding or driving a conspicuous vehicle. Special springs and shocks were installed on cars and trucks to hold the vehicles level when loaded. At times drivers switched license plates to avoid identification. Packed with up to 132 gallons of whiskey, the 1940 Ford coupe was the “runner’s” vehicle of choice into the 1950s.

Much has been made in popular culture of the connection between liquor haulers and NASCAR auto racing, but in truth few Blue Ridge moonshine drivers dabbled in organized racing. The real ties between the two activities took place in local garages where mechanics modified engines for speed and suspensions for handling. The

mechanic’s skills were useful to both stock car racers and moonshine runners.

Today the celebration of Blue Ridge moonshining shows up in the region’s cultural expressions. Musicians write songs about the trade. Craftsmen build detailed models of stills. Local stores sell t-shirts emblazoned with phrases such as “Moonshine Capital of the World.”

Moonshiners still operate today making lower quality sugar liquor, although in much smaller quantities than in the past . The reality of the illegal whiskey trade, however, is far from pleasant. The work has always been hard manual labor, and today’s sugar liquor must be hauled in a risky trip to large urban centers. And it is just as illegal today as it was during its heyday during Prohibition.

This article was derived from the archives of the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum of Ferrum College, Franklin County, Virginia.

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Still on display at the Blue Ridge Folk Festival.

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A Nebraska Chorus of 500,000 Sandhill Cranes in the Platte River Valley

The Central Platte River Valley of Nebraska, a roughly 90-mile stretch from Lexington to Chapman, are important resting areas for hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes and other species during their annual migrations. The region is part of the Central Flyway, associated with the Great Plains. Here, sandhill cranes rest overnight on sandbars in the Platte River. View is from a blind at the Row Sanctuary near Kearney, Nebraska.

Byways photo.

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Sandhill Cranes on the Platte River near Grand Island, NE. Photo courtesy visitgrandisland.com

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ach spring, something magical happens on the Platte River in Central Nebraska, as more than 500,000 sandhill cranes converge on a narrow 90mile sliver of habitat.

“I traveled far and wide, and coming to Nebraska, and seeing and hearing the cranes always restores my soul,” says renowned anthropologist Jane Goodall.

The first sandhill cranes can be seen as early as mid February, but large numbers do not start arriving until March.

When to Go By mid-March crane migration estimates are up to a half-million birds in the central Platte River Valley. The first arrivals generally roost south of Grand Island and Alda. Later arrivals fill portions of the river to the west.

This region is part of the Central Flyway, which is one of four North American flyways followed by waterfowl and shorebirds to their annual trek from northern breeding grounds to wintering habitats and back again.

The others are the Mississippi and the Atlantic and Pacific Flyways. Flyways are lanes of travel for a particular species.

The Central Flyway is associated with the Great Plains, lying 38 • Byways

between the Rocky Mountains to the west and the Missouri and Mississippi River Valleys on the east.

The cranes will remain here for 2-3 weeks where they will feed on the harvested corn stalks in the Nebraska cornfields. Each crane will need to put on 5-8 pounds for the long journey north for the summer nesting grounds of northern Canada, Alaska and Siberia.

In addition to sandhill cranes, others using the Central Flyway include trumpeter swans, tundra swans, Canadian geese, greater white-fronted geese, and canvasback ducks. Also, bald eagles, herons, and whooping cranes.

View through a blind at Crane Trust Nature & Visitor Center. Byways photo.

By midMarch, 80 percent of the world’s half million sandhill cranes roost on islands in the channel of the Central Platte River, coming from Mexico, Texas and New Mexico.

The cranes use the sandbars in the river for nightime refuge and disperse to nearby fields to feed during the day. They leave the river shortly after sunrise and return at dusk.

This provides two prime opportunities each day to view the sandhill cranes in their natural habitat.

Rowe Sanctuary near Kearney on the Platte River is owned and managed by the National Audubon Society.

The property includes 1,300 acres of river habitat and adjacent wetlands. It offers viewing through blinds and

provides trained volunteer guides to walk to the blinds before sunrise.

The Crane Trust near Grand Island also provides viewing through blinds, and also provides trained guides to ensure you reach the blinds safely.

These two locations are two of the best places for visitors to view sandhill cranes during their annual spring migration.

Each also offers a visitors center which is open year round. There is no charge to visit the centers, but there is a per person charge for viewing in the blinds.

Individuals, families and group tours are welcome, but it is strongly recommended that advance reservations be made if you are planning to view through the blinds.

Rowe Sanctuary http://rowe.audubon.org/visit/crane-viewing Kearney Visitors Bureau http://visitkearney.org

Crane Trust Nature & Visitor Center http://cranetrust.org

Grand Island-Hall County Convention & Visitors Bureau www.visitgrandisland.com

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As the sun rises, sandhill cranes depart for the cornfields of Nebraska. They must gain 5-8 pounds for the long journey north to Canada, Alaska and Siberia. Byways photo.

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Georgia Outdoor Eco-Resort Rises from Ruins at Historic Banning Mills

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A girl prepares to zip line supermanstyle on “Flight of the Falcon.”.

Photos courtesy Historic Banning Mills.

H

istoric Banning Mills is an idyllic rustic resort and conservancy that was once a thriving mill town and now is home to a variety of outdoor activities for adventurists and nature enthusiasts alike.

Historic Banning Mills is located in Georgia’s only hidden gorge on Snake Creek, which is about an hour just west of Atlanta and easily accessible from major highways I-85 and I-20.

The mill town that was one of the first towns in Georgia to produce its own electricity and produce the paper on which the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was first published. The 501c3 conservancy was founded by Mike and Donna Holder in 1997 with the mission of protecting the ecosystem and history surrounding the mill while merging adventure, history, education and nature all in one place.

ordered to burn the mill down. However, when troops arrived the mill was not operational and spared.

The mill survived the war but changed hands again in 1880. Amis Mill was taken over by Arthur Hutcheson who dedicated his life to the town. Arthur Manufacturing became the soul of the mill town with a community of over 200 residents at its peak. Banning Mills became one of the first factories in Georgia to operate with electric power, even before Atlanta. It has been coined the birthplace of the modern paper industry.

When it closed in 1971, after several reopening and closures, the mill, which opened in the 1840s, had been in existence longer than any other regional mill.

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The eco-resort is home to more than 100 zip lines, 72 sky bridges and three aerial adventure parks. Guests are encouraged to walk along or fly above the old roads of the ghost town that were once the lifeline to the small, but innovative mill town, home to one of the first mills in the country to produce paper from wood pulp.

The mill town began as a manufacturing community built by four brothers who abandoned operations after a fire in 1851 and later became Amis Mill. Around this time the Civil War had begun and federal troops were

After years of switching hands, Mike and Donna Holder, purchased the land and began to transform the landscape. The area brimming with history unfolded over time as the Holder family began creating the adventure park in 1998 and they continue to build it into the unique adventure resort it is, while preserving the town’s roots.

The eco-resort allows guests to explore what once was, while also experiencing a different kind of adventure that is sure to leave a lasting memory.

Banning Mills holds two Guinness World Records, including one for the World’s Longest Continuous Zip Line Course and Eco-canopy Adventure Tour with six

Ruins of the paper mill on Snake Creek River.

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Ruins of Horseshoe Dam that operated the water wheels of the paper and pulp mill.

different adventure levels. Zip line canopy tours have In addition to the famous zip line canopy tour, Banning less impact on the environment than building a footpath Mills has the world’s tallest freestanding climbing wall, or bike trail, allowing guests to experience history with- standing at 140 feet. The Holders are pioneers in creatout making a mark on it. ing eco-friendly zip line adventures that have been repli-

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View from the zip line course “Flight of the Falcon,” where guests zip superman-style.

cated all over the Southeast in order to provide non-intrusive forms of entertainment and safer practices.

Guests looking to stay grounded can partake in hikes, horseback rides or kayak trips. Guests can indulge at the facility’s day spa or listen to the hum of the creek in rocking chairs that line the lodge’s wraparound deck. Guests can also learn about the not-so-human guests who share the area. Historic Banning Mills hosts one of Georgia’s few live “Birds of Prey” shows throughout the year.

Overnight accommodations include a variety of options, including aerial treehouses, on-site cottages and cabins, and lodge rooms. Banning Mills also offers a wooded RV park with graveled sites, full and partial hookups, two bath houses and laundry facilities.

Banning Mills offers group discounts and can accommodate group and teambuilding events, as well as planned activities and tours.

For more information or to book your group visit, call 770-834-9149 or visit historicbanningmills.com.

Aerial Adventure Course Group – A group takes on aerial challenges on the adventure course up in the trees.

Groups climb and jump off the tallest artificial climbing wall in the world.

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O

George and Martha Washington’s Mount Vernon mansion on the Potomac River in Virginia.

Historic Mount Vernon Mansion Room Open after Restoration

ne of the most richly furnished bedrooms in George Washington’s Mount Vernon mansion has reopened.

The Chintz Room, formerly known as the Nelly Custis Bedchamber -- a space that more than one-million visitors experience every year during their visit to George Washington’s Mount Vernon, has reopened to the public after being closed for almost two years.

Years of research and restoration work have led up to the space’s restored May debut.

“Right from its creation in 1758, the Chintz Room was the finest bedroom on the second floor,” said Mount Vernon senior vice president, Carol B. Cadou. “The careful research carried out by Historic Preservation and Collections staff is breathing new life into this space.

This room will give visitors a real taste of the vibrancy of the late 18th century.”

Tradition holds that this room was used by Martha Washington's granddaughter, Nelly Custis Lewis, who lived at Mount Vernon from early childhood.

Investigation of the room by Mount Vernon’s architecture team revealed evidence that radically changes our understanding and interpretation of this space. Forensic 44 • Byways

An original crib, given to Nelly Custis Lewis

by Martha Washington in 1799, has been returned to the Chintz room. Photos courtesy George Washington’s Mount Vernon.

analysis uncovered evidence for early repairs to the east wall that trapped a small fragment of the room’s first wallpaper. This fragment is one of the earliest-preserved wallpapers in Virginia, and its blue chintz or floral pattern was an important piece of evidence for the reinterpretation of the room by Mount Vernon’s curators.

Since 1876, the space has been interpreted as the “Nelly Custis Room,” but documentary evidence shows that during the Washingtons lifetime the space was referred to as the “Chintz Room.” In elite homes, the show stopper in the bedchamber was the richly-patterned textile that draped the bedstead, and the textiles Nelly’s Fan in the Washingtons’ Chintz Room would have been no exception. remarkable discovery of a second wallpaper fragment Mount Vernon’s curatorial staff discovered that the bed- beneath the floor provided the curatorial team with a hangings were most likely those purchased by direction for the room’s green verditer reproduction Washington in Philadelphia in 1774, made by none oth- wallpaper. er than Betsy Ross!

Mount Vernon visitors are able to view the Chintz Few of the original furnishings for this space survive, Room on a Mansion tour. Mansion tours are included in but thanks to the first president’s detailed records, cura- estate admission. Timed tickets (no additional charge) tors are able to furnish the bedchamber with period are required to tour the Mansion. For more information, objects and reproductions similar in nature to what the please visit mountvernon.org/chintzroom.

Washingtons would have used. An original crib, given to Nelly Custis Lewis by Martha Washington in 1799, Nelly Custis Lewis will return to the room.

In England, the term “Chintz Room” implied a specific and distinctive decorating scheme inspired by Asian decorative arts, particularly the exuberant designs of Indian textiles, known as chintzes. Chintz rooms reached their height of popularity in the 1760s-70s, making the Washingtons’ Chintz Room at the cutting edge of fashion at that time. In choosing to furnish this room as a Chintz Room, the Washingtons linked themselves with England’s fashionable elite. Only a few instances of Chintz Rooms in early America are known.

The room underwent several changes during the Washingtons’ residency, and would have received a fresh coat of paint and new wallpaper by 1799. Microscopic analysis of 20 layers of historic paint revealed that the last color chosen by the Washingtons was cream, a color meant to be secondary to a patterned wallpaper. The Byways • 45

Byways is published bi-monthly by Byways, Inc. and distributed electronically throughout North America.

Byways is emailed to more than 4000 tour operators /Travel Trade through the Internet. Subscriptions are complimentary. An iPad & iPhone version is available for consumers in iTunes in the App Store. An Android browser version is available at www.issuu.com/byways.

Byways’ distribution includes motorcoach companies, tour operators, selected travel agents, bank travel managers, school band and athletic planners, meeting planners and the travel trade. For advertising rates, editorial deadlines, or to place advertising insertions, contact: Byways Magazine at 502-785-4875. ©Copyright 2016 by Byways, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be duplicated in any form without express written permission of the publisher.

Editor and Publisher Stephen M. Kirchner

Advertising Director 502-785-4875

Internet bywaysmagazine.com byways@motorcoach.com Byways on Facebook Byways on Twitter

Advertisers Index Barbourville & Knox County Visitor Center, Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Bedford Visitor Center, Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

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Byways Magazine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Colorado Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau, Colorado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Lynchburg Convention & Visitors Bureau, Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Mystic Seaport, Connecticut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Randolph County, West Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Ross-Chillicothe Convention & Visitors Bureau, Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Silverado Casino/Franklin Hotel, South Dakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

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United States Naval Academy Visitor Center, Maryland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 46 • Byways

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