Beautiful North Carolina: 07/25/06

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Highlands

So much history in North Carolina, it was like making an x on the map to figure where the heart of the Blue ridge Mounatains was, but in a way that is how the Popularity of the highlands came to be.

Since this North Carolina town arranges itself on a ridge 4,000 feet above sea level, the "high" in Highlands is entirely justified.Yet it has taken more than altitude to uphold this town's reputation as a favorite summer refuge for more than a century. It's the related gift of remoteness that's key. Getting to Highlands requires intent. You don't pass through on the way to somewhere else.On approachYou go slowly. You pay attention to the road as it narrows and winds upward. The air feels cooler. The light changes. And when prudence allows, you take in the views: the pastures, the pines and towering tulip poplars of the Nantahala National Forest, the dramatic drop-off into the Cullasaja River Gorge. Lake Sequoyah was created in 1927 by damming the Cullasaja, and its tree-lined shores and vintage cottages suggest the Adirondacks.

CNN.com - N.C. mountain town blends rustic charm, rich history - Jul 14, 2006

Appalachian Dancing Called Clogging

As long as I can remember Clogging has been a free spirited dance, with its history going back to Irish river dance style, I am not sure just how and when it came to North Carolina, but it was brought in by Irish and Scottish settlers.
So when you ride though Beautiful North Carolina mountains, and you hear a Banjo or a fiddle or both, Look out you will see some cloggers.

COAL MINERS do it. Librarians do it. Politicians do it. Some keep their feet barely on the floor, heels and toes thumping with dizzying speed, torsos virtually motionless. Others skip and stomp, or slap their thighs.They’re clogging, and carrying on an old Appalachian tradition. “You don’t need fancy clothes or fancy steps. It’s not important what you do, just that you keep time,” says Jane George, who spent decades teaching clogging and other mountain dance in rural schools. Clogging and its kin are becoming more popular because of standardized steps and increasing interest in southern Appalachian heritage. The dances are no longer relegated to barns and back porches.

Clogging