From the pull-off near Rocky Knob, Rock Castle Gorge lies open below the Blue Ridge Parkway. Ridges step down into the valley where families once farmed and built their homes. Most visitors see only the view, not the community that once filled the hollow. When the Blue Ridge Parkway arrived in the 1930s, it changed…
The View That Cost Everything Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway on a quiet weekday morning, and it’s easy to believe it has always been this way: peaceful and polished. Each curve feels natural, as if the road simply followed the shape the mountains already offered. Beauty like this sometimes comes at a cost. Beneath the…
Mount Airy NC: A Town That Feels Like Mayberry The bronze statue outside the Andy Griffith Playhouse catches the last light of day. Sheriff Andy Taylor holds Opie’s hand, fishing poles slung over their shoulders, just as they did in the opening credits of The Andy Griffith Show. You half expect to hear that familiar…
The drive between Mount Airy, North Carolina, and Hillsville, Virginia, takes about twenty minutes today. Route 52 winds up and over Fancy Gap Mountain, a two-lane road that climbs up to three thousand feet before landing in Carroll County. The pavement is smooth, the grades are steady, and modern engines handle the climb without complaint….
A mist settles along a mountain road. The night is still until the sound of heavy paws keeps pace beside you. Step quicker, and the rhythm follows. Glance back, and a shadow slips into the trees. In the Appalachians, they call it the black dog legend; a tale of a restless canine spirit that walks…
Across the Atlantic The ship pitched hard in the swells of the North Atlantic. Below deck, young Johann Dahle gripped the rough wood of his bunk and tried to steady his thoughts. He was twenty years old, a soldier-for-hire from Hesse, one of the small German states that had agreed to rent out regiments to…
The stone arch cuts a clean curve into the mountain, framing the tunnel. At the entrance to the Blue Ridge Tunnel, faint drips and echoes are heard. The wind carries the smell of damp rock. Step forward, and the daylight behind you starts to shrink, the cool darkness pulling you in. Cutting Through the Mountain…
In 1938, the Blue Ridge Mountains still held pockets of people far from any public library. Roads were rough, mail was slow, and a borrowed book might pass through several hands before finding its way back to a shelf. Into this gap came the Packhorse Librarians: women on horseback or mule, carrying books into places…
In Meadows of Dan, Virginia, the Blue Ridge Parkway passes a weathered frame building that has stood since 1892. Travelers know it as the Mayberry Trading Post. The name catches the eye because it recalls Andy Griffith’s television Mayberry, but this place is real. Its story is one of change met with perseverance, a reminder…
A baby born blue was nothing new on Troublesome Creek. Neighbors had seen it before. The midwife knew the color would fade in a few days for some, but not for others. For certain families in this corner of eastern Kentucky, blue skin wasn’t a sign of sickness. It was a sign of kinship. The…