Last Sunday, me and my friends decided to borrow a Mini-Van and get away to the mountains for our annual pilgrimage along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It takes about 30 minutes to reach this fall spectacle where autumn lights up the land of a thousand mountains. From an altitude of about 5,000 feet, the trees were saturated with orange, yellow, red and brown. Mark Peacock had found the sweet spot a weekend before and we were a little late for the “peak” but it was still spellbinding and along the way and we discovered “The Snake.”
This wasn’t the first trip along the curved roads of Highway 421 South that leads out of Bristol, TN, over South Holston Lake, The Holston Mountains and glides into a 4 way stop in Shady Valley, TN and back up the mountains to Mountain City, North Carolina and the Blue Ridge. This is one of favorite mountain trips in the Tri-Cities. It’s not for the weak either. If you experience motion sickness, you’ll want to stay away from this mountainous cork-screw.
When we left shortly after lunch on Sunday, the sky was a deep azure blue. A few white cumulus clouds were scattered across the sky and the long shadows of autumn lay in jubilant contrast to the bright colors that make East Tennessee a great place to live. It was a good day for a road trip too. I had been saving a bottle of Shiraz just for an occasion like this and today was the day to uncork a treasure as I road shot-gun all along the way.
Just outside of Bristol, we rounded a corner before reaching South Holston Lake and we all were silent and stunned as we saw how low South Holston Lake’s water had fallen with the lack of rain this year. We heard the stories about some of the big boats having to be lifted out of the lake because of this year’s shortage, but it’s even more drastic when you walk down to the bottom.
Noone else seemed ready to jump over the edge and walk to the bottom of the lake, but a get a thrill at standing on land that I’ve never seen. A few years ago, Steve Thompson and I walked to the bottom of Warrior’s and can claim that territory so I wasn’t gonna pass by on this lake. Seriously, the lake has dropped close to four stories. Walking down into the slippery shale required a bit of focus, but the view from the bottom of the lake made for some unique photos.
If you’ve never traveled Highway 421 to Shady Valley or Mountain City, TN, be warned. This is not the road for people who experience car sickness. The curves in this road are venomous to the queasy. If you persist, then bring a bottle of Dramamine because that have a nickname for this stretch of highway. They call it “The Snake.” Probably due to the fact this gorgeous trek of Tennessee highway has over 489 curves and it’s the altitude and switchbacks that make it an alluring destination for bikers.
Our friend Scott had trouble with the twists and turns and as the filtered light switched from side to side in an amber and orange light show, he was quiet in the back of the mini-van nursing his stomach. Fortunately, the road eases into a straight two-lane road as it descends into the small mountain village of Shady Valley – home of the Cranberry Festival in early October.
At the four-way stop in Shady Valley, the Old Country Store is a memorable destination. Out front, a group of 20 some Harleys were parked out front – shiny new bikes groomed and telling of the baby-boomers that had made the stop for the day.
The Old Country Store had plenty of personality too – lots of old road signs all over the front of the store and a porch than the distance on two sides with seats and a picnic table to watch the day go by and one of the town’s only traffic lights at the base of Holston mountain.
Inside the creaky wooden door there was a warm pot-belly stove that seemed to throb with heat and was a welcome spot for a cool autumn afternoon. The store had variety of convenience sundries and the store was also home to the “Snake-Pit Eatery.” We were all hungry from our drive over the mountains and sampled their barbecue and their celebrated “Shady Dog.”
We sat a a small table with a red-checkered tablecloth. Nearby was a white fence that kept two pet Boxers at bay. These full-gown pups hung their paws over the top of the pen and seemed entranced with the smell of food and activity of people walking in and out the door. These two sisters are evidently part of the family and they looked at our food with calm adoration as we sat a short distance in front of them with a NASCAR race blaring on the television monitors above our heads.
An old 8×10 black and white photo was tattered in the frame behind us with a small tab that read, “My grandfather’s old country store.” Evidently, this was a family affair as all the help seemed interested in our party and all the more eager to talk about the place they call home. I bought a commemorative “Snake” bumper sticker for my keyboard case and rated their barbecue at 6.5 on the “Dave Scale.” Nice chopped flavor with a zesty spice that worked up a gradual sweat like an aerobics workout.
Back on “The Snake” we drove to the little town of Mountain City and made our way up to Boone, North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Parkway. The colors were fair, but the sun started to set, so we stopped to ease up on Scott who was still swimming in the back of the van. From our vantage point of about 4,600 feet we caught the last flicker of sunlight and the deep orange glow turned to lavender around 6.30. We stood silent and I smoked a new Cigar to celebrate the end of another great day.
It took longer than we wanted to get back from our mountain excursion. I think it was a wrong turn at Little Switzerland. Eventually we came into familiar territory on the other side of Black Mountain near Interstate 40.
One of my favorite spots along Interstate 26 just inside the Tennessee State Line is an overlook near Sam’s Gap. In the mountains, the stars tremble with a diamond brilliance. I’ve stopped here many times for not only the view, but the silence is a thrill. There’s a small concrete path that leads up to a small round amphitheater and we watched the moon come up in the autumn shade. The temperatures had dipped into the forties and the Milky Way was strung out like pearls across the night sky as the moon brightened the mood.
“The Snake” is another great motor-tour near the Tri-Cities. I’m not a native, but I call these mountains home and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the season with a trip to the Parkway. We got a great set of pictures too and this beauty will continue to beckon me year after year.