Lake Superior

 From Mackinac, Trish and I drove to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and stopped for a couple of days at Munising on the shore of Lake Superior.  This massive lake is more than 1,300 feet deep at its deepest point and contains more water than all the other Great Lakes put together.

We stopped at Munising because it is the access point to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, a National Park we have never visited.  You have to see the shore from the Lake itself, which means a boat ride.

Both days we were there the winds were high and the entire tour could not run.  We only got to see the beginning of the beautiful Pictured Rocks on this trip…maybe again sometime.

 

Our big trip there was a glass bottom boat trip over to Grand Island where we were to see shipwrecks underwater there.  We say the restoration of the first lighthouse there where the keeper got $400 a year plus a cow for his service.  

Our boat had large glass panels in the bottom where we could all look down at everything underwater.  It was remarkably clear as we floated around over the Schooner Bermuda, a nearly perfectly preserved wreck of an iron ore carrier that was overloaded and didn’t survive its journey in 1870.

This stop was a bit off the beaten path, but we enjoyed coming here immensely.

Mackinac Island, Michigan

 After visiting Trish’s ninety-six year old mother in Lake Orion, Michigan for several days, we came on up to Mackinac Island for a few days.

We took the passenger ferry from Mackinaw City on a twenty-minute crossing to the island where we have been in a century-old inn right on Main Street for a few days.

There are no cars allowed on the island and the ways to get around are walking, biking, or horse-drawn vehicles.  

We spent most of our first day relaxing and reading on our front porch.  It was also a good place to watch pedestrians, bikers, and horse-drawn vehicles including the UPS delivery wagon! 

The second day we took an extended carriage tour of the island.  The first held of the ride was in a two-horse carriage and mostly around the town on the island.  The second hall was on a wonderful troika, a three horse carriage that took us all through the State Park woodlands.

On our tour we made a stop at Arch Rock for a unique view through the arch itself.

Perhaps the loveliest thing about being here are the magnificent flowers!  The Mackinac Garden and Landscape Company brings over to the island thousands of flats of flowers each year.  They plant all of the public spaces and also do private property plantings.  Right now the flowers are at a late summer peak.  We could wander forever looking at endless plantings everywhere!

What a beautiful few days before we travel on west from here.

Cataloochee Homecoming Reunion

 In 1837 the first settlers of European descent began to settle in Cataloochee Valley.  They were mostly of Scots/Welsh/English descent.  They were homesteading farmers with a population that at its peak was well over a thousand.

Almost 100 years later, 1934 to be exact, Cataloochee Valley became part of the new Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  By that year, all those residents had been bought out and only a few with lifetime tenancy remained there.

In 1937, one hundred years after first settlement, Jonathan Woody, himself born in the Valley of a long-time family there, led the organization of the first Cataloochee Reunion gathering both people born in the Valley and their descendants.  Except for WWII and COVID, the Reunion has been held every year on the second Sunday in August.  As usual, Trish and I were in attendance as I have ancestors who came out of this Valley.

To get to Cataloochee, you have to drive across the Cataloochee Divide from Waynesville on an unpaved road.  Trish and I arrived fairly early and there were already nearly a hundred cars and a swarm of people gathered.  At 11:00 the Palmer Chapel bell rang and the sanctuary filled.  Only a little more than a hundred can fit into the church, so others gather outside, some by the open windows, as the service begins.

From the 1937 start, Jonathan Woody presided at the gatherings for  nearly thirty years.  Since that time, his son, Steven (in the white shirt and tie) has been in charge for another sixty years. At the pulpit we see Charlie Sellars, Acting National Park Superintendent, giving the annual report from the National Park.

The sermon was delivered by my old friend, David Reeves, minister of the Crabtree United Methodist Church, where many of those gathered are members. (I have been very privileged to preach at this event on three occasions.)

One important part of the service is the roll call of families with someone present.  It usually begins with a call for anyone born in the Valley to stand.  Last year Harley Caldwell was present.  Since then, Harley has died, and there are no people left who were actually born in Cataloochee.

Then there is a roll call of all family members and descendants who have died since last year.  After each name, the church bell rings for them.  This year there were eleven.

It’s not far from the church to the food and a season of eating is underway!

After the meal, many families visit old home places, old family cemeteries, and some even

fill up jugs with water from the springs that supplied their ancestors.

It is amazing that, with all the original settlers gone, hundreds of their descendants still gather in sacred memory.  Now that Cataloochee is part of a National Park, it forever belongs to everyone.

(By the way, the name “Cataloochee,” is a Cherokee word that means “land with fringed edges.”

Look up at the top of the ridges surrounding the Valley and you will see that the ridge top trees, many of which are conifers, indeed look like the edge against the sky is fringed.)

Canning Time

 Trish and I both grew up helping our mothers with canning in the summertime.  Trish still loves to can to this day, and, this week saw the perfect opportunity.

We were coming home after the LaGrange, Georgia, workshop when we stopped (as usual!) at the N.C. State Farmers’ Market in Raleigh.  The peaches looked great, and, we could buy bulk canning tomatoes as well.  We went on home with treasure.

After both ripened for a couple of days, Trish got to work.  My job was to stay out of the way!

She makes this wonderful peach sauce that is excellent on anything from ice cream to French toast.  This batch made enough to last at least through the winter.

The tomatoes came next.  Then,  taking turns, all the jars went through the processing step.  

After everything was processed and cooled down, we both got to admire Trish’s work.  We will have tomatoes to use and peach sauce to enjoy all winter!  What a good day’s work.

July Fourth Ocracoke Parade

 Ocracoke Fireworks happen in July 2 each year as they are the kickoff to three full days of celebrations. Unfortunately the fireworks show had to be cancelled this year due to a large weather front that moved over the island through the day and evening.  We measured 4.23 inches of rain at our house. The good thing was that we didn’t have to water the flowers for several days after that. (We expect more rain this week as Tropical Storm Chantal makes a visit!)

This made the Ocracoke Fourth of July parade more important than ever.

We decorated our mini-truck (A 1991 Suzuki) and entered it in the parade as a salute to the 249th birthday celebration of the USA.

There are several categories: walking, bicycles, gold carts, wheels (for street legal vehicles), and towed floats.  Though we are small, we are highway legal, so we ended up in the wheels division. (A funny moment came when u was signing us up. They told us to put our number…10…in the windshield on the driver’s side of the vehicle. I told them that, in the little truck, the driver sits on the right.  They then corrected the instructions to the “ left side!”

The practice here is for the parade entry’s to toss candy out to all the watchers along the way. Since Trish’s daughter, Betsie, and her son, five year old Beckham, are with us this week, we set them up in the bed of the truck to be candy throwers.  They threw to the right side and Trish threw to the left. We had four large buckets of wrapped candy and it all disappeared on the route.

Since we were in the parade, we could not get photos of other entries. Our friend and neighbor, Doug Tanner, took photos of us as we passed and so we got a view of how we looked.

You see Trish sitting on the left side where people expect to see her driving.  Sometimes she holds both hands up so the truck seems to be under its own control.

The parade is always lots of fun and we are already thinking about next year…when our country will be 250 years old!

Tomato Time!

 Mostly, Trish and I grow just flowers in our yard.  But, one thing, beyond flowers, we can’t so without: tomatoes!

For the past weeks our plants have been rewarding us with abundance!

We grow several varieties, both determinate and indeterminate, to keep the season starting early and then lasting over a long time.

The Early Girls and producing multitudes of pound sized fruit; perfect for Caprese salads with fresh mozzarella! A lunch time treat.

The Big Boys are even larger: just the right size for a single slice to more than cover the bread for a great sandwich.  We are also having a wonderful crop of Cherokee Purples, so sweet and tasty.

Then, there are the little babies, about half dozen varieties and colors here.  They make a great snack to just pop in your mouth. Each variety has a different flavor that makes them so interesting.

Not counting these little ones, it looks like we will be picking about two dozen today!  What delicious fun.

At The Swag

 This week Trish and I are at The Swag, The Great Country Inn Of The Smokies.  For the past twenty years I have been coming here two weeks each year to tell stories and lead hikes.

The Swag is located outside my home town of Waynesville, North Carolina.  Its property runs right up against the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and is an area where I roamed, camped and hiked when growing up here. There was no inn here in those days, just wild mountain land.

There are twenty total rooms and cabins here.  It is a destination with rooms including three gourmet meals each day and a variety of activities.  My activities are storytelling each afternoon and what they call “walk and talk” at another time each day.

Almost all the rooms have their own fireplaces which are supplied with plenty of wood each day.  There are also gardens and beautiful views everywhere.

If you want to take a really restful break, check out The Swag.