Monday, July 13, 2009

Museum of Appalachia


Every year on the kids fall break we always spend the week camping in the Smoky Mountains. On the way there or the way back we generally stop at the Museum of Appalachia and spend a day, in the fall they have a homecoming every year and a couple of years ago we spent the day at homecoming. If you ever get a chance it is a great way to step back in time by touring their grounds, it has indoor museums but also a farm area with log cabin homes, church, school etc.. During the homecoming they have a lot of booths, exhibitions of making soap, split rail fence, sorghum etc. They also have bluegrass music all weekend long on several stages with some well known artist.

You can check them out at http://www.museumofappalachia.org/


Removing the syrup from the sugar cane to be cooked down into Sorghum Molasses


Cooking down the syrup


Making Purses out of tree bark



Making cedar canes with a replicator lathe power by tractor


Doodlebugs and Friend


Making cedar split rail fence rails using cedar mauls and dogwood wedges


Hit and miss engine 5 horsepower


Bubby and Doodlebugs at the sheep paddock

Here is a interesting video of the area http://www.wbir.com/video/default.aspx?mid=1133187138&cat=Heartland&maven_playlistId=7f81651ea579bf46c28856b9cb677a7e8193da20

Until next time....



Tim




5 comments:

  1. Lots of nifty projects going on there. Kiddo made a purse at a Girl Scouts thing the other day, out of empty juice containers. The modern equivalent, I suppose. :)

    Ron

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  2. This is like going back in time. Wow!!!
    SG

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  3. Ron, my dad always cut the top out a gallon milk jug and threaded his belt throught the handle so he could use both hands when picking blackberries, who needs to buy a pail...

    Tim


    SG, You are a long way from here but if you ever get a chance it is a great place to step back.

    Tim

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  4. Yep, I was just there, 3 yrs. ago in Oct. Man, I love it up there. My favorite area is Townsend and Cade's Cove. Use to vacation a lot there, as a kid.
    v.

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  5. V. I love that area, except the traffic. I'm like you I love Townsend and Cades cove as well. A few years ago we camped at Little Pigeon Campground in Townsend, the Little Pigeon river runs right through the campground, you can go up river and tube back down to the campground. My son was about 5 at the time, we put in where everybody else was putting in at, we got flipped of the tube the very first little rapid, my son was screamin and crying..it sounded so bad people were jumping in to help. When we flipped out I hit my leg on some rocks and lost one of my shoes in the process, needless to say my son wouldn't get back on the tube. It was about a three mile walk back to the campground and you had to walk down the highway (Wears vally road) to get there. It was in the middle of July and about 95 degrees out. We walked up the hill, I was carrying the tube in one hand and him in the other, the blacktop must have been about 130 degrees. I stopped because there was know way I was going to be able to walk on the blacktop without blistering my feet, I said a little prayer and about that moment a truck drove by and something blew out the back of the truck, he stopped, backed up to pick it up and said, would you all like a ride somewhere. It was a great vacation.

    Tim

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