Southern Road Trip
Justiceiro
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Skyline/ Blue Ridge Parkway
The first two days of The Great American road Trip were spent playing Call of duty 4 in an apartment in Arlington Virginia with the my Marine buddy. Then I departed for points south. A quick hop to Front Royal Virginia brought me to the entrance to Skyline drive, the road that travels along the crest of the Shenandoah ridge. In Southwest Virginia it turns into the Blue Ridge parkway, which eventually takes one down to the great smoky mountains national park (pics of Clingman's dome, hopefully, tomorrow). Anyway, here are some of the shots that I got thus far:
The first two days of The Great American road Trip were spent playing Call of duty 4 in an apartment in Arlington Virginia with the my Marine buddy. Then I departed for points south. A quick hop to Front Royal Virginia brought me to the entrance to Skyline drive, the road that travels along the crest of the Shenandoah ridge. In Southwest Virginia it turns into the Blue Ridge parkway, which eventually takes one down to the great smoky mountains national park (pics of Clingman's dome, hopefully, tomorrow). Anyway, here are some of the shots that I got thus far:
Cave ab homine unius libri
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How did you get so close to the deer??
The deer in the Shenandoah National Park,not being hunted, aren't especially freaked out by people. I literally drove up to her on the Skyline drive.
Clingman's Dome/Cherokee Reservation
Off the Blue Ridge parkway, I drove to Cherokee, North Carolina. This is the home of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation, descendants of the few indians who hid in the smoky mountains rather than endure the trail of tears to Oklahoma. The reservation abuts the Great Smoky mountain national park, boasts one very low key casino, and a number of indian run businesses. It's a lot more prosperous than the typical rez out west, although it is still poor (pretty much on the same level as non-Indians who live in Appalachia). If you get off I-40 onto the two lane roads, it can get pretty remote.
It was a lot more difficult to get a picture of the "smoke" for which the mountains get their name than I had thought. Overnight, clouds and fog often gather in the valleys of this area, particularly where there are lakes. It is usually burned off by the sun, but if you happen to find a good view at sunrise, you can get a nice picture of "the smokies." Finding an unobstructed view, however, isn't actually that easy. These roads were built with a shocking lack of overlooks, and are rather treacherous.
Shady Valley Country store: The Store has a "memorial wall" displaying parts from the wreckage of motorcycles who failed to negotiate on of the 489 curves on State Route 421
Driving by yourself is a handicap. If you find a good spot in the evening, perhaps you should stake it out until the next morning. Even then, the weather here can be unpredictable.
When crossing over from North Carolina to Tennessee, on route to Gatlinburg, on reaches Clingman's dome- the highest peak in this section of the Appalachians. It has spectacular views.
Descending from Clingman's dome runs you through the rest of the Cherokee National Forest, along a pleasent sun dappled parkway. The area abounds in creeks.
After Gatlinburg, I drove down from the Mountains to Oak Ridge Tennessee, in order to see the coolest non-natural, and least known, roadside destinaton in East Tennesee; the K-25 nuclear site. This, in the sealed in "secret city" that hosted some 75,000 people, is where the US built the fuel for the Atomic bombs we dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You can actually get guided tours (US Citizens only) of the facility- unfortunately these only start June 2nd. Also, the city still hosts an ultra-secret giant facility called "Y-12", which sprawls over several square miles. So be careful with the photos.
The local "museum of energy" is a must see, however. I am definitely going back one day to see that reactor.
More tomorrow!
The K-25 is
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Kingsport is my hometown, so on the way back to New York I stopped by to visit some friends and to take some photos. All in all, it is a rather unremarkable town, being most well known today as the site of the Tennessee Eastman Chemical plant. If you used film, back in the day, most of the ingredients for the developing chemicals were likely made here, perhaps even by some fo my relatives.
The historical center of Kingsport, the "long island of the Holston river" is where the state got its name. The Cherokee called this island the Tana-See, or "meeting place." The center of power and authority in Tennessee ultimately shifted from the east to the center (Nashville) and west (Memphis) and East Tennessee declined into eventual poverty and relative powerlessness. In 1796 the Capital of the state was nearby Knoxville, by 1843 that distinction belonged to Nashville, and the state had become dominated by "deep south" pro-slavery economic and cultural elements. The people of Appalachia remained small farmers, and were overwhelmingly pro-Union during the civil war- Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Union army than any other southern state, and occupying confederate forces were constantly harassed by guerillas. The 1st through 5th Tennessee volunteer infantry (USA) regiments were formed in Kentucky by Mountain men and hillbillies who had crossed over the mountains to Union territory.
"Exchange Place"- an early trading center for Appalachian colonists
Barns at Exchange Place
The loyalty of the Appalachian people during the civil war was not repaid in kind, and the collapse of reconstruction left them vulerable to the depredations of Nashville elites and Northern corporations, who isolated them, bought out the mineral rights under the farms, displaced them, and generally despised them for being poor and ignorant. "Appalachian" became a byword for all that was backward in the south, and in America generally.
This area languished in extreme poverty until the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1930's, and the war, brought a measure of jobs to the area, making Knoxville and the tri-cities once again prosperous. Extreme poverty is still visible in the more remote regions, however.
Antietam
Almost back home in Jersey, I spent the night in Winchester Virginia, and the next day arrived at the Antietam National Battlefield Park at about 6:30 AM. I was the only person there, other than a few park rangers doing maintenance work.
Monuments outside the Antietam visitor's center
Antietam was the bloodiest single day of conflict in American history, with 23,0000 people killed on September 17th, 1862.
General Lee wanted to bring the war to the north, and possibly break the will of the Union to fight, as well as to relieve Union pressure on the Confederate capital of Richmond- so he decided to mount the first Confederate invasion of the North. The Army of Northern Virginia moved across the Potomac river and headed north, threatening to encircle Washington.
General McClellan and his 87,000 strong Army of the Potomac confronted General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, with 45,000 soldiers, near the town of Sharpsburg, along the Antietam Creek.
After some skirmishing on the 16th, Action began at dawn on the 17th, Near a German Baptist church.
Elements of Hooker's first corps (Pennsylvania Infantry, Vermont Sharpshooters, and New Jersey Artillery) advanced across an open cornfield at 6:30 AM (the same time of day I was there), opposed by Stonewall Jackson with 7700 men from Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, and Georgia.
The action quickly turned into a stalemate,with musket and grapeshot literally mowing down corn and men. According to witnesses, not a single stalk off corn remained after the battle, all having been "cut down as with a scythe." Starke, commanding CSA artillery, was the first of the six generals to die during Antietam.
Jackson's men were eventually dislodged by a flank attack of the "Iron Brigade", from the Ohio Valley, at hideous cost. During this action, the Texas Brigade suffered a casualty rate of 82.3%.
The Cornfield, as seen from Jackson's position. Union troops advanced directly across this field against Confederate artillery
Artillery at the cornfield, dawn
monument to a Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment
Vermont Sharpshooters
14th Brooklyn Infantry Monument
New Jersey Artillery Monument
Texas Monument
"The Bloody Lane"
Approaches to the confederate center
At mid day the action shifted from the confederate left (the cornfield) to the confederate center.
Union Artillery facing the Confederate center
Here, New Hampshire Infantry and the "Irish Brigade" assaulted D.H. Hill's division, who had entrenched a sunken lane. So many bodies filled the ditch that, by the end of the action, it was essentially "filled in" with corpses.
the fortified depression, and the field over which Union infantry advanced. This was the worst fighting of the day
The first Union assault on the bloody lane failed, and General Lee rushed up reinforcements to bolster Hill. At one point, it seemed as if the Confederates were about to flank the Federals, but a desperate counterattack by the 5th New Hanpshire pushed them back. The confederate line broke, and it seemed as if the Army of Northern Virginia was about to be split in half, when General Longstreet directed his artillery to hammer the advancing 5th New Hampshire.
"Burnside's Bridge"
The last major action of the day took place on the southern edge of the battlefield. After three failed assaults, General Burnside's 51st New York and 51st Pennsylvania stormed a Bridge across Antietam creek, bumping into two Georgia divisions, which had been weakened in order to reinforce the center. They had been promised their Whiskey ration should they take the bridge.
After taking the bridge, Burnside's men stormed the opposite heights and drove Toomb's Georgia divisions off. (The Georgians were in the process of pulling back at the time). At this point it seemed as if Burnside could cut off the Army of Northern Virginia's only escape route. Only the sudden arrival of Confederate General A.P. Hill arrived at Antietam with a light division, in the south (including three Tennessee regiments.)
As Darkness fell, the opposing forces disengaged and Lee began withdrawing the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac river. Thus ended the first confederate invasion of the North. The second invasion, the next July, would also fail, ended at Gettysberg.
I had an erie feeling looking at the cornfield.
All I can say is "WOW"
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This is also called the "Dunker Church". Your photo is one of finest I've seen of that building.
Great series, BTW. We took a similar trip a few years ago. We drove down to Charleston and then returned to Pennsylvania by way of Lynchburg, Shepherdstown, Harpers Ferry, Antietam, and Gettysburg.
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Very nice trip indeed!
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