Saturday, November 29, 2014

A Little Southern Americana

Traveling through the Southern Appalachian area of North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, and  driving through the back roads and small towns in these states, I was reminded of the word, "Americana."  

To me, that term is appropriate to describe American culture in many forms,  but most often I think of that word describing the more simple and charming aspects of American life.

It was so much fun for me to take my camera and try to capture some of the flavor of what I call Americana.

A foggy mountain top, outhouse and hay bales in a field outside of Townsend, Tennessee

Turning around and looking in the opposite direction I spotted this field of Goldenrod still in bloom.

The Heartland Little River Wedding Chapel
7765 River Road
Townsend, Tennessee

What a charming little chapel.

Entrance into Blackberry Farm Hotel
A 4,200-acre Luxury Hotel
Walland, Tennessee

Guests of the Blackberry Farm Hotel touring the property.

Walnut tree.

Have you ever seen a Walnut Tree?  When my husband and I spotted this tree,  at first we thought it was a lemon or possibly even an apple tree.

While I was trying to get a picture of this unusual tree,  a lady and her two children walked by where we had parked the car.  My husband asked her if she knew what kind of tree this was.   She told him that it was a Walnut Tree.


According to Mr. Google walnut trees grow well in hardiness zones 5 through 9.


We live in hardiness zone 8, but I have never seen one in our area.


Fall photo at the mountain cabin.

Mountain view from the front porch of the cabin.

A view above the clouds from the front porch.

Sugar Maple leaves in the mountains.

Hard to spot our mountain cabin in the middle of nowhere,
located in the second mountain range,  to the right.
You can barely see a little white dot which would be the tin roof.

McGuire Valley in Robbinsville, North Carolina



Hunting Boy Wood Carving in Robbinsville, North Carolina



A carved horse with wooden wagon all decorated for Fall.

Chainsaw art.

This chainsaw wood carved chicken was almost life-like.

Carved wooden statues.



There are many Cherokee Indians living in and around Robbinsville, North Carolina.  This particular woodcarver is one of the Cherokee Indians living in this area.  He told us he worked at a lumber mill for many years and then one day discovered he had a wood-carving chainsaw art talent. 

In the below photo we see an owl wood carving in progress.

Historic Episcopal Church of the Messiah
Established between 1896-1897.
Murphy, North Carolina

Pretty Fall decorations on the door.

A lovely stained glass window in this old historic church.

A charming old home in Blue Ridge, Georgia
Blue Ridge, Georgia is considered the Antique Capital of Georgia.

Blue Ridge Scenic Railway
Blue Ridge, Georgia

We ended the back roads portion of our trip in Blue Ridge.  We traveled on the Interstates through Atlanta and continued on back home.

It is so much fun trying to capture the beauty all around us with my camera and never knowing what we might spot just around the bend.

I'm so glad you traveled along with us and wish you a very nice weekend.


1 comment:

  1. What a beautiful trip! I've never seen walnut trees along the Gulf Coast areas, but they grow in North Alabama and North Georgia.
    You captured some beautiful scenes!

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