“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” [Jim Bishop]

The fall trees around the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee where I live are especially beautiful right now. Every drive takes us past hillsides and mountain ranges blanketed with a rich array of russet reds, vivid oranges, and golden yellows.  Looking out over the landscape, I often find myself wishing I knew the names of the trees I see. Even walking along a scenic pathway in the park or around the neighborhood near my home, I find myself looking up at a colorful tree and trying to remember its name.

As a girl I learned to identify trees around my home and community with the help and instruction of my parents, school teachers, and scout leaders. Over time, however that knowledge has slipped a little, so I decided to pick up some tree identification guides and study some internet sites to refresh my knowledge. For my blog this month, with the trees still a glory, I thought you’d enjoy sharing in some of the knowledge I picked up about identifying trees from a distance and up close.

There are more than 20,000 different kinds of trees, making knowing and remembering them a challenge even for experts. Trees come in three main types: (1) Coniferous or evergreens, (2) Tropical like palms, and (3) Broadleaf, most of which are deciduous and shed their leaves in fall. It is the colorful Broadleaf Deciduous trees we see spread across our fall landscapes. Their leaves are flat and broadly shaped in a variety of sizes and patterns. A few reminders are helpful in knowing how to recognize and identify different trees.

First, all tree leaves are either “Simple”, with one single leaf, or “Compound” with multiple leaflets branching off the same stem. Redbuds are” simple” leaf tree with a simple recognizable heart shaped leaf. In fall, they turn yellow, making them easy to recognize up close. Cherry tree leaves are “simple” leaves, too. There are about 14 species of cherry trees found in the U.S. Most flower and fruit in spring and their leaves turn yellow and yellow-orange in the fall. In contrast, Sumac trees are a good example of “compound” leafed trees, with several leaflets on their stem. In fall they turn bright red and are often one of the earliest trees to turn. Hickory trees have alternate and “compound” leaves, too, with five to seven leaflets and the trees bear hickory nuts.Up close, some tree leaves are “Smooth Edged” or entire, around their sides, while others are zig-zagged or “Tooth Edged.” Dogwood trees and Crabapple trees, familiar to most, are good examples of “smooth-edged” trees, although the Crabapples do have tiny teeth around their edges. Beech trees are a more obvious example of “tooth-edged” trees. There are several different types of Beech trees but the American Beech is particularly stately and beautiful, often growing into a tall, giant of a tree. Elm trees, too, are “tooth-edged” trees and the well-known American Elm is often a large shade tree with wide spreading branches. The elms and beech in our neighborhood turn a golden yellow and then brown.After you begin to study more about tree leaves, you will find that many are recognizable in the fall not only by their color but by their shape. Also, some trees have different shaped leaves on different varieties, like on Sassafras trees. In our neighborhood is a giant red-leafed Sassafras with long simple leaves with no lobes. It turns crimson red in the fall. Also in the neighborhood is a Sassafras tree with three-lobed simple leaves. This shorter sycamore tree’s leaves turn a rich yellow in the fall. I often think these sycamore leaves look sort of like mittens in shape and often the leaves only have two lobes instead of three, looking even more like a mitten.Often you can recognize trees not only by their leaves but by their nuts, seeds, or berries. The Sweetgum tree is one of those. Its pointed lobed and toothed leaves are somewhat star-shaped. Sweetgum leaves turn red and purplish-red in fall and you can often find the tree’s round, spiny “sweet gum balls” nearby, the tree’s fruit, containing the seed. Young Sweetgum trees don’t produce Sweetgum balls at first but the trees start producing them later as they age.The Chestnut tree not only has distinctive leaves, easy to identify, but it produces sticky “Chestnut Burrs” in fall. The leaves on a Chestnut tree are often big, too, like magnolia leaves. My neighbor has a big Chestnut tree in her back yard and it’s her hand you see in the photo holding one of the tree’s burrs.

Many trees have berries, making them easier to identify. The Serviceberry tree, a small deciduous tree often called Shadbush, has white blossoms in spring, followed by pretty red fruits popular with birds. In the fall its leaves turn a brilliant, showy red orange. The Hackberry, a relative of the elm, comes in many different species. Its leaves turn yellow in the fall and its small, hard purple fruits are enjoyed by birds and wildlife.

One of the most common trees across the fall landscape is the Oak tree. Oak trees come in a multitude of varieties and kinds but most are easily recognized as oaks by their “lobed “leaves with rounded or pointed projections. The deep lobes on many Oaks, around a central stalk, almost look like a feather or a set of fingers. Oaks turn many colors, depending on type –bright red, crimson, yellow-orange, deep dark orange, and various shades of gold and yellow. Big trees, Oaks usually stand out in the fall landscape, and Oaks make up one of the largest groups of native trees in the United States with 50-75 species, mainly in the East. They have a distinctive fruit we all know as the “acorn.” The White Oak is probably the best-known Oak, turning a glorious orange in fall.

The other best-known tree in the autumn landscape is the Maple tree. There are over 60-80 species of this beloved tree in the U.S. and the lobed projections of most Maple trees are more pointed than most oak leaves. According to each Maple tree variety, the leaves can turn shades of yellow, orange, or red in the fall and blanket the ground in rich color. In spring Maples produce a winged seed we always called “helicopters” when I was growing up because of how they whirl and swirl down from the tree. Possibly the best-known Maple is the big, rounded Sugar Maple, which turns a rich golden yellow orange in the fall and usually stands out from the trees around it. Large red and yellow Maples catch our attention in the landscape, too.

A tree I love in the fall landscape … and in my own backyard, too… is the beautiful, often towering, Tulip Poplar, which is also Tennessee’s State Tree. A common, big, straight-growing tree, it has leaves that are easy to recognize because they form a “tulip” shape, somewhat flat across the top with two side lobes. The tree produces pretty greenish-yellow flowers in spring, followed by cone-shaped fruit clusters, and in the fall the leaves turn a rich yellow, gradually deepening to yellow orange. In the parks around our home, and in the Smokies, the Tulip Poplar trees often create a yellow wonderland to hike through in the fall, often growing thickly together.Two less common trees to watch for in the fall landscape are the yellow Gingko tree, with its green leaves gradually turning a vibrant yellow and the Red Dawn tree, sometimes called the Dawn Redwood tree, a deciduous tree with leaves that look much like an evergreen Christmas tree. The Ginkgo tree, also native to East Asia, is one of the oldest known living tree species in the world. The leaves have a distinctive “fan” shape, making it easily recognizable. I remember several beautiful Gingko trees on the University of Tennessee campus and we are blessed to have a lovely Gingko in our neighborhood, a beauty of yellow color right now. Another very old tree, you might spot because of its unique leaflets, is the Dawn Redwood. My neighbor has one in her yard and as fall wanes it turns a gorgeous orange. This tree is actually now an endangered species and like many redwoods can grow to a great height.As you look out across the hillsides at the fall colors, when you’re stopped along the way or driving, many of the yellow  trees you see are most likely to be beech, birch, and yellow tulip poplars, while the lush rich orange and yellow-orange trees you spot are probably sugar maples, oaks and sweetgums. The reds scattered and clumped on the hillsides may be mainly maples, dogwoods, sassafras, and oaks.  The colors of fall are always a delight and I love knowing that I’ll know more now about what kind of tree I’m seeing as I enjoy them. To learn more about the trees near your home, pick up a “tree guidebook” to help you identify the trees you see, read about identifying trees on the internet, and possibly download one of the “tree identification” apps to help you learn more about the trees in your fall landscape….And enjoy the fall!

Happy November. See you next month! … Lin

Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act.

“To know your future, you must know your past.” – George Santayana

With the weather a little cooler around the East Tennessee area, J.L. and I decided to take a day and visit seven of the best-known historic homes in our hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. Most of the sites we had visited in times past but others we hadn’t explored at all, so we had a fun day traveling around Knoxville, visiting all seven sites in the chronological order in which they’d been built. I hope you’ll enjoy sharing in our journey, with a photo of each site and a few brief notes about it, and I hope this post will make you eager to look into historic sites you can visit in your own hometown and community. I think you will find it more interesting than you might imagine, helping you learn more about your city’s past—and your own past. As David McCullough once wrote: “History is who we are and why we are the way we are.”

The city of Knoxville began in the 1700s on a point high above the Tennessee River, on wilderness land once a part of the hunting grounds of the Cherokee Indians. What we know today as “downtown Knoxville” started with the first pioneer home built by James White in 1786 on Hill Avenue. White is called the Founder of Knoxville and he came from North Carolina to settle on a 1000-acre land grant given to him for his service as a Captain in the Revolutionary War.  He soon built a fort around his home and gradually other outbuildings were added, a smokehouse and well, weaving house, blacksmith, and guest house, soon making it a hub for travelers and for trading. James White negotiated several treaties with white settlers and with the Cherokee.  In 1791, working with President Washington’s Secretary of War, Henry Knox, White and his son-in-law Charles McClung divided a part of his downtown land into lots to help develop a town, which they called Knoxville after Henry Knox. In 1790, White’s fort was restored and opened to the public, and today visitors can take a tour of the grounds and learn about life in these early days in Knoxville.

Across the street from the James White Fort is Blount Mansion, built by William Blount in 1792. William Blount, a signer of the United States Constitution, chose Knoxville as the area’s first territorial capital. He built his home for his wife Mary Grainger Blount and their children, and their fine home was also used for business and state meetings. Few pioneers, and especially the Indians of that era, had ever seen a home like the Blounts’ with glass windows and refined furnishings. Blount played a leading role in helping Tennessee to become a state and he became one of Tennessee’s first United States Senators in 1796. I wrote about Blount Mansion in an earlier post in November of 2022 if you want to read more about this site and see more photos.

Our next visit was to Marble Springs State Historic Site, the last home of John Sevier. The 350-acre farmstead on John Sevier Highway contains the cabin homestead of John Sevier and his second wife Catherine.  Sevier was a Revolutionary War soldier, a frontier militia commander, a hero of King’s Mountain, and later the first governor of Tennessee, serving six terms as governor in total. He lived at Marble Springs from 1790 to 1815. Visitors can take a “self-guided tour” around the grounds to see the Sevier cabin, with an added kitchen, nearby herb garden, smokehouse and spring house. On the grounds are other outbuildings made into an office and gift shop, plus an old tavern, moved to the site from West Knoxville. Many events and reenactments are held at Marble Springs and several hiking trails can be enjoyed on the property.

After leaving Marble Springs we drove to east Knoxville, crossing the Holston River, to historic Ramsey House on Thorngrove Pike, built in 1797. I’ve toured this house several times and have been to events here as an author. It’s a lovely old home to tour, on the National Register of Historic Places, and has been beautifully preserved. The stone house was constructed with marble and limestone and often called the “finest house in Tennessee” because of its architecture. The house was built by Colonel Francis Ramsey (1764-1820) and his wife Peggy, and the Ramseys were among the earliest families to settle in the Knoxville area. Colonel Ramsey was a leader in the military, a surveyor, a plantation owner, and a statesman. With John Sevier, James White, and William Blount, Ramsey was involved in the establishment of Knoxville and played many roles in the city’s early history.

Crossing the Holston River again, we next visited the Mabry-Hazen House on Dandridge Avenue. Also listed on the Register of Historic Places, the house, built in 1858, is located atop Mabry’s Hill on an eight-acre site. The two-story Italianate house was constructed for Joseph Alexander Mabry II. Mabry was a wealthy Knoxville merchant and importer who helped the Confederate army during the war, with forces once occupying his home. His daughter, Alice, and son-in-law, Rush Strong Hazen, inherited the house which later passed to their daughter Evelyn. After Evelyn’s death the house opened as a museum. The day we visited, a group of homeschoolers had just taken a tour of the house, learning more about Knoxville’s early history and how people lived in past times.

Knoxville developed first in areas close to its downtown. Many old homes like the Mabry-Hazen house and Ramsey House can be found in the East Knoxville area, where the Chilhowee Park was also created in the late 1800s. Other prominent homes developed to the North in Old North Knoxville in the last half of the 1800s, as did other fine homes heading West of downtown beyond the new University of Tennessee on Kingston Pike. The Pike was only 30 feet wide when first created in the 1790s, created to connect downtown Knoxville to Campbell’s Station further west. Crescent Bend is thought to be the oldest residential structure on Kingston Pike, built by Drury Paine Armstrong (1799-1856) and his family in 1834, on what was then a large tract of 600 acres of land. The big two-storied white house has lavish interiors and a commanding view of a bend in the Tennessee River behind it. Today the grand house can be toured but it is best known as an event site for lovely weddings and gatherings. The home has a beautiful tiered garden on its grounds, with nine terraces, five fountains, and lovely statuary, and in the spring the grounds are lush with flowers and masses of tulips.

The next historic home on our list, Bleak House, was built by Drury Amstrong’s son Robert Armstrong and his wife Louisa in 1858 on a part of the family’s land they were given. Beautiful portraits of the couple hang inside the house in the front parlor. An antebellum Classical Revival style home, it also is on the National Register of Historic Places. The house was used as a Confederate headquarters during the Battle of Knoxville and two cannonballs are still imbedded in the walls. The home, now called Confederate Memorial Hall, belongs to Chapter 89 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It is rich with Civil War history. Tours can be arranged, and like Crescent Bend, many weddings and events are held at this elegant white house on the hillside. It, too, has lovely grounds and gardens.

The final visit on our historic house tour was to Westwood, also on Kingston Pike, built in 1890. This Queen Anne brick home with its ornate exterior touches and Romanesque stone elements was built for John Lutz and his wife Adelia Armstrong Lutz. This is another home linked to the Armstrong family, the land given to the couple by Adelia’s father Robert Armstrong of Bleak House. Westwood house once sat on a large estate property with extensive grounds. The house stayed in the Lutz family until 2009 and was later given to Knox Heritage to restore in 2013. The interior of the home is beautiful and one of its special distinctions is that there is still a painting studio and art gallery in the house, with over 30 of Adelia Armstrong Lutz’s paintings. The studio is stunning to see with red walls and gorgeous architecture. Adelia was a prominent and well-known artist of the day and is considered to be the first professional woman artist in Knoxville. Her home, Westwood, was inducted into the prestigious Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios (HAHS) network in 2002.

Knoxville is my home town, surrounded by beautiful natural scenery, and I do love it.  Knoxville had the first state newspaper in Tennessee and it is the home of one of American’s oldest state universities, The University of Tennessee, started as Blount College in 1794. Knoxville was the first capital of the state of Tennessee, and Knoxvillians have run for president, won Pulitzer prizes, served in famous military roles, been recognized as conservationists, scholars, and industrial leaders. I’m sure your home town is full of rich history, too, and I hope you’ll take some time to visit some of the historic sites and buildings where you live. Robert Penn Warren said: “History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future.”

See you next month and note:  I am not a history scholar and thus might have gotten a fact or two wrong in my account. … Lin

Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act.

“Festivals are happy places.”

A festival is an event, celebrated in a town or community, that centers on some aspect of culture. Festivals can be associated with agriculture like an apple festival, linked to area cultural arts or crafts, or linked to a historical event, or commemorating a holiday like a May-Day or a Christmas festival. The history of Festivals dates back to the 14^th or 15^th centuries in time and these celebrations are found in virtually every country of the world. Festivals are often spread over several days and may combine music, entertainment, parades, shows, local arts or crafts, sports or skills demonstrations. They are as varied in kind and characteristic as the cultures they are found in. Today, festivals are often categorized by specific type, such as arts, literary, storytelling, music, reenactment, or historical festivals. Some festivals completely revolve around holidays or religious occasions or around food or drink like Barbeque or Wine Festivals.

As an author I have participated in many different types of festivals—and I’ll be spotlighting some of these festivals we’ve attended in this blog with past photo collages in illustration.  One more unique type of festival, that I have often been a part of as an author, are Literary Festivals and writing conferences or events that spotlight writers, where they sign their books and talk with readers and often speak about their work as well. I’ve attended festivals like these in North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Two examples, you’ll see in illustration, would be the Kentucky Book Festival and the Rose Glen Literary Festival in Sevierville, TN.

My favorite festivals are the Regional Festivals held around the Appalachian and southeast area where I live. These festivals also include juried Arts and Crafts Shows, where participants submit their art or show items to be judged for inclusion. We have attended many of these, like the Home Craft Days Festival in Big Stone Gap, VA, the Foxfire Mountaineer Festival in Clayton, GA, and the Townsend Spring Festival in the Smokies. We also enjoy the annual spring Artisan Market in Lenoir City, TN, sponsored by the Foothills Craft Guild, and full of wonderful fine artists. Many times in past. we have also attended the Wilderness Wildlife Week festival, held in Pigeon Forge every year, where J.L. and I give presentations during the days of the event. This festival, continuing for several days, has vendors, speakers, hikes, and excursions.

Often local and regional festivals extend for several days to a week. One of these longer festivals we’ve been attending for several years is the Great Smoky Mountain Arts & Crafts Community show held in Gatlinburg before the Easter holiday. It is always held in downtown Gatlinburg at the Convention Center. This show is usually three to four days in length and we enjoy meeting people there from all over the U.S., who travel to the Smokies for Spring Break and come to the show to see the crafters and vendors. I’m sure we’ll be at this show again next spring!

As the summertime kicks in, with its warm weather and with children out of school, many festivals are held outside all around the U.S. We can attend only festivals where there is some “indoor” space since we have a multi-book display to protect from the weather. This year we traveled to the Mountain Artisans Summertime Arts and Crafts Show in Cullowhee, North Carolina, for a two-day show and then in July to the annual Grainger County Tomato Festival in Rutledge, Tennessee. We’ve been attending the Tomato Festival for over twelve years now … and it is one that we always enjoy. At the Tomato Festival are vendors, entertainment, artisans, crafters, and vegetable farmers from around the Grainger County area with their wonderful Grainger County Tomatoes the festival is named for.

Coming up for us at the end of August is one of the many historical festivals we love to participate in each year – the Cades Cove Museum Homecoming held on the grounds of the old Thompson-Brown House, built in the 1700s. The old historic house contains the Cades Cove Museum with pioneer relics and furnishings. This event is coming up this month on Saturday, August 26^th, so make plans to stop by if you can! We’ll be on the porch of the old house, like in the picture at the beginning of this blog post. If you’ve missed reading some of our books, we’ll have all of them there with us … and you’ll enjoy visiting with the wonderful vendors, historians, and entertainers at this festival event. You can also have lunch under one of the big shade trees.

In September we’re also privileged to be attending another unique historic festival, the 32^nd Annual Cherokee Festival at the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore, TN. The museum is just down the street from Fort Loudon State Park. This is a great festival put on by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee who will be at the festival both days with Cherokee arts and crafts, storytelling, dancing, native costumes, and more. You can sample Cherokee food with the many food vendors and learn about Cherokee history in the museum. J.L. and I will be inside the lobby in the museum, next to the gift shop … and, of course, our highlight book for that event will be my new novel SEEKING AYITA set in Cherokee.

Starting in October, J.L. and I have back-to-back signing events every weekend through October, November, and into December, not only in Tennessee, but in North Carolina, Kentucky, and Georgia. Some festivals are still being finalized … but most are already on the Appearances page of my author’s website with specific dates, places, addresses, and times… We’ll be going to Frozen Head State Park’s Heritage Festival October 14^th, to  the Treats, Crafts and Vendor Show in Rock Spring, Georgia, on October 21^st. Later in October, we’ll be attending  the Annual Mountain Makins’ Festival in Morristown, TN, October 28^th and 29^th and participating in the Foothills Craft Guild’s fall show on November 3^rd and 4^th. Note the photo college illustrations are from past events we attended … so be sure to check the dates and times on my website for when these events will occur this year.  What is always fun about all of our fall events is the variety at the festivals … the different crafters, artists, photographers, entertainers, the special activities for the kids, food vendors, and lavish fall decorations.

As November moves in the shows and festivals we attend become more “Holiday-Oriented”  and linked to Christmas themes. We’ll be heading to the Christmas Connection Show in Kingsport the 10^th and 11th of November, and then to the Christmas Bazaar Festival in Corbin KY on November 18^th at the Civic Center Arena. Next, we travel to North Carolina to the Hard Candy Christmas Show at WCU’s Ramsay Center in Cullowhee November 24^th and 25h on the Thanksgiving Weekend, and then to the Women of Service’s annual Christmas Show and festival on November 30^th at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN.  In early December on Saturday Dec 2 and Sunday Dec 3, we’ll have a last holiday festival event at the 7^th Annual Dandridge Christmas Show or Shopping Expo at the Field of Dreams Activity Center – a great time to pick up Christmas gifts! We look forward to see many of you at some of these lovely festivals before we stop for a break for the holidays.

I hope talking about all these festival events in my blog post will encourage you to look for festivals you can attend in your own home area, if you don’t live near us in the Southeast. In most all parts of the U.S. and abroad, there are an abundance of year-round festivals you can visit and enjoy.  Most of the ones we attend are Free to the public or only charge a small entrance fee to help offset parking – and are full of family fun for all ages. Long before we became authors … J.L. and I loved visiting festival events, always offering a great getaway from the house and an entertaining day. Our memories are packed with good remembrances of beautiful crafts, great food, rich entertainment, and the additional joy of meeting new friends along the way.  As for me … “I am going to keep having fun every day I have left, because there is no other way of life. You just have to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore.” [Randy Pausch]

For ongoing details of all our Festival and other signing Events, check in often at the Appearances Page of my author’s website at: www.linstepp.com/appearances/

See you again in September … LIN

Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act.

On July 8^th, J.L.’s and my fourth regional guidebook publishes, titled VISITING NORTH CAROLINA STATE PARKS. As with our two other state parks books, J.L. and I visited every single state park in the state to write this new book. We started our journey on North Carolina’s Atlantic coast and worked our way gradually west in week long trips. We had a glorious time visiting and exploring every park so we could share all the fun things to do and see in each one with our readers … lakes to enjoy, trails to hike, campgrounds and amenities available, historic spots not to miss, and much more. We also added the NC national parks and historic sites in our book, too. In many other states, like in Tennessee, these are governed by the state parks system …and they were too pretty to leave out of our guidebook! We delighted in journeying across the state over the last two years, and I hope you will enjoy reading our new guidebook and planning some trips of your own.

We laid out our North Carolina parks guidebook in four main sections: (1) The Tidewater area near the state’s coast; (2) The Coastal Plain area, moving west from the coast; (3) The Piedmont in the center of the state; and last (4) The Mountains Region in western North Carolina. We researched each section in general and then each park individually, planning our trips before setting out. We read extensively about historic sites, hiking trails, park history, and especially about unique features we didn’t want to miss on our visits.

In North Carolina with the 42 state parks and 12 national parks so spread out, we traveled more getting from one park to the next, staying in motels or lodges we scouted out in advance. J.L. and I usually visited two state parks each day on our trips and occasionally, when the parks were small and near each other, we could visit three before dark began to fall. We seldom needed a fancy place to stay while traveling since after walking, hiking, and exploring out-of-doors all day we were usually happy to fall into whatever bed we found!

On our first trip, of nearly two weeks, we visited all the Tidewater Area along North Carolina’s coast. It had been years since J.L. and I had been to the North Carolina coast and the Outer Banks area. We stayed in a charming historic town called Edenton on the Albemarle Sound as our first base camp and from there visited many parks before moving south. In all, we explored twelve Tidewater parks including Fort Raleigh on Manteo, Jockey’s Ridge on the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout, Carolina Beach State Park, the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Fort Fisher, Moores Creek National Battleground, Fort Macon, and Hammocks Beach, plus inland parks like Goose Creek and Pettigrew. I was shocked at the tourism growth on the Outer Banks but we loved the National Seashores and the lighthouses we visited along the way. J.L. and I both learned a lot about the Revolutionary War visiting Confederate forts like Fort Fisher at Kure Beach, Fort Macon on Atlantic Beach, and Moores Creek battlefield inland at Currie.

Our next travel trip to North Carolina took us traveling inland from the ocean to the Coastal Plain Region. There we visited another eleven state parks scattered from north to south. Many of these parks centered around lakes, rivers, or swamps in lowland areas, while others took us into mountainous regions to hike steep trails to waterfalls and lovely views. The Coastal Plain parks we visited were Dismal Swamp, Merchants Millpond, Carvers Creek, Raven Rock, Cliffs of the Neuse, Lake Waccamaw, Weymouth Woods, Lumber River, Medoc Mountain, Jones Lake, and Singletary Lake. We enjoyed learning about the unusual Carolina bays, or shallow round lakes, typical in this region, many thought to be 10,000 to 15,000 years old. Because the lakes are shallow, you can walk far out into the the lake to play in the water – which gave us a shock the first time we saw swimmers standing in the middle of the lake! In contrast, mountainous parks like Raven Rock reminded us of the Smoky Mountains near our home.

North Carolina’s Piedmont Region sprawls across most of the middle of the state and we visited thirteen parks there during two travel visits. Many of the parks centered around glorious lakes with vast acreage like Kerr Lake, Falls Lake, Jordan Lake and Lake Norman. Others celebrated rivers or cites on rivers like Eno River, Haw River, and May River. We found William B. Umstead State Park right in the middle of busy Raleigh and Guilford Courthouse Military Park in Greensboro. Showing us the diversity of the area, other parks sat in mountainous areas like the small Occoneechee Mountain park, Morrow Mountain in the Uwharrie Mountains, Hanging Rock State Park in the Sauratown Mountains, and Crowders Mountain nestled among the craggy peaks of The Pinnacle and high Crowders Mountain. These latter parks had many steep trails winding to stunning overlooks.

Moving on to the Mountains Region, closer to our home in Tennessee, we discovered another broad array of parks to enjoy. Here among the eighteen parks we visited, on several trips in fall and spring, we explored not only state parks but many national parks and historic trails and sites. In the northern area of this region we visited high Pilot Mountain, Mount Jefferson, Rendezvous Mountain, Stone Mountain, New River State Park, and Elk Knob. Stone Mountain State Park was especially interesting with so many things to do and see, beautiful trails to hike, a gorgeous lake, waterfalls, and more. While in this upper region we visited points on the Overmountain Victory Trail, the Appalachian Trail, and then drove much of the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway – a National Parkway with stunning points and views all along its route. We visited Mount Mitchell State Park while high on the Parkway, one of our favorite parks in North Carolina, and also went to both sections of Grandfather Mountain State Park. Moving south we enjoyed Lake James State Park, a large park with two unique sections and lots of camping, South Mountains, Carl Sandburg’s national historic site, and Chimney Rock State Park not far from Lake Lure, another favorite on our travels. Starting into the far western region of North Carolina we visited Gorges State Park, hiking the trails and seeing the waterfalls, and then moved on to finish our travels checking out points on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and exploring North Carolina sections of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Cherokee.

All in all, it was a great adventure, and we can truly say we know much more of the state of North Carolina, its cities, parks, and history than we did before. So often visiting the parks takes you back into less populated, beautiful parts of a state you might normally miss and not visit on a trip. The parks are seldom crowded like other major tourist areas so you can take your time exploring without worrying about traffic or crowds. And there is such beautiful scenery in our state and national parks. How blessed we are to have them preserved and saved for our joy and pleasure.

J.L. and I love the state parks. We have visited all the parks in our home state of Tennessee and in South Carolina and North Carolina now … and I imagine we’ll soon be ready to start visits to yet another nearby state. We hope you’ll enjoy our brand new North Carolina guidebook … and our past books, too, if you’ve missed them.  Summer is a wonderful time to visit the parks when the weather is warm, when the grass and trees lush and green, and the days long,

Order our new NC book through any of your favorite bookstores or online at your favorite Indie store, Barnes & Noble, or at Amazon.  If you want an autographed copy, you can also order our North Carolina guidebook or any of our guidebooks or my novels on our Online bookstore at: https://linstepp.com/order-autographed-books/

And remember John Muir’s wise words: “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

See you in August… Lin

Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act.

A botanical garden is a unique type of garden devoted to the study and conservation of plants, the garden often open to the public so they can see and learn about plant species. Usually, plants grown in a botanical garden are chosen because they grow well in the garden’s region, and most are labelled with their botanical names. Botanical gardens help us become more aware of native plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees, and acquaint us with plants’ names, purposes, and unique characteristics.

The first known botanical garden dates back to an early Chinese dynasty, but the modern concept of a botanical garden first originated in Europe when the Padova Botanic Garden was built in Italy in 1545. Today approximately 2,500 botanical gardens can be found around the world and they cultivate over 6 million plants. People today do not recognize and know as much about plants as in past generations. This phenomenon is called “plant blindness,” and the changes in our culture, that have created this lack of awareness, are unfortunate because plants are, and always have been, crucial to our survival as a species.

J.L. and I visited one of the botanical gardens in our hometown recently, the University of Tennessee Botanical Garden. The gardens developed for horticultural study at the UT agricultural campus and visitors can walk the one-mile trail of lovely pathways that wind throughout the sections of the garden. In April 2013 Governor Bill Haslam signed a bill designating UT Gardens as the official State Botanical Garden of Tennessee. The overall garden includes the garden at UT Knoxville plus the gardens at the Ag Research and Education Center in Jackson and at the Ag Research location in Crossville.

The UT Knoxville garden is open sunrise to sunset with free admission and parking. It is a treat to visit. To get to the garden, travel from Kingston Pike down Neyland Drive beside the Ag Campus. Then turn left on Jacob Drive by the Veterinary Medical Center. Park across from the garden entrance in one of the designated parking spaces set aside for visitors to use.

The pathway into the garden begins at the Welcome sign across from the parking area. The crushed gravel path soon leads into an open plaza with picnic tables and then along scenic. pathways from one section of the garden to another. Signs along the way identify the plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees, often with information about them. The plants you see at the UT Garden are predominantly ones that grow well in the East Tennessee region, offering ideas for plants you might want to try in your yard, garden, or property.

We enjoyed strolling along the walkways, stopping to study the different plants, like at the Hillside Perennial Garden and Woodland Garden. Tucked along the walking route were artifacts like an old truck and gas pump, sundials, rest benches, gazebos, ponds, memorial markers, and a large labyrinth, with iris all around it, for those seeking a meditative walk. The UT Botanical Garden has a large Kitchen Garden area, full of seasonal vegetables and herbs in over fifty raised beds. We enjoyed learning the produce is donated to area food banks.

I especially liked walking through the sculpture garden where sculptures made by UT art students could be found. J.L. and I liked the big metal flower sculpture, and he took my picture in the heart-shaped sculpture—the perfect setting for a romance writer. One garden section was dedicated to trillium, with a multitude of interesting species, while another was abundant with a wide variety of hosta.

Not far from the sculpture garden we discovered the Children’s Garden full of whimsical statuary, playhouses, treehouses, tunnels, and a plant zoo. We talked at length with one of the many volunteer gardeners there. They give hours and hours of their time to work in the garden so others can freely enjoy it. One nearby garden area was filled with species of plants that draw migratory Monarch butterflies. There is a butterfly bench and Monarch sculpture there and information about how UT captures and releases Monarchs for study.

In several areas nearby and scattered around the garden are Annual Trails, filled with more familiar plants to us like petunias, white alyssum, vinca, sedum, coneflowers, pansies, and more. Tucked around the garden paths were many flowering trees and shrubs, like dogwoods, azaleas, and rhododendrons, beautiful lush groundcovers, and unusual trees like Japanese maples and bald cypress.

Toward the end of our journey through UT’s botanical garden, we lingered in the sumptuous Beall Family Rose Garden. A big gazebo sits beside the garden, with a shady table underneath.  Across from the gazebo are two waterfalls, that tumble over the rocks into koi ponds.The Beall rose garden is a lovely spot to explore. There are over 120 rose varieties, labeled for you, like hybrid teas, miniatures, and grandifloras, all in a multitude of lush colors. Many were just blooming in late May and you can continue to enjoy the roses into the summer.  So visit soon!

There are a wide variety of gardens, in and around Knoxville, you can visit and enjoy, most free of charge. If you don’t live in Tennessee, take time to do some research for gardens near you. Also, when you travel, tuck a “garden visit” into your travel itinerary. Especially in summer, the shady trails are such a pleasure. You may not  have time, space, or the ability to do a lot of gardening at your home, but you can always take a walk in a garden nearby. You’ll find it wonderful therapy to the soul.

Before we left the garden, I couldn’t resist taking J.L.’s photo with UT’s “Smokey” mascot since we are both UT graduates. We both plan to return for more walks in this garden not far from our home, and another day want to take one of the continuing trails leading from the garden. One winds its way behind the UT greenhouse and along Third Creek all the way to Tyson Park. Another, the Neyland Greenway, starts at the back of the botanical garden and travels along the Tennessee River to the Volunteer Landing Park. There are so many treasures for us to enjoy right in our own backyards … if we’ll just seek them out.

“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir

See you again in July … Lin

Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act.