Welcome to Sparta, North Carolina Guest Post By Kermitt Ham In Northwestern North Carolina, in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is the under-appreciated gem of Sparta, the county seat of Alleghany County. Alleghany is one of the smallest counties in the state and Sparta NC boasts a population of less than 2,000 inhabitants. [...]
Blue Ridge Parkway Motorcycle Road Trip Guest Post By Deborah L Moore With summer here there is the feeling of wanting to break free, get on the motorcycle and take off. Time to get away from work, routine, and the have to’s in life. Across the United States there are mountain passes, desert land, ocean [...]
All the World’s a Stage in Shakespeare’s Staunton Guest Post By Elizabeth Pellicane If Shakespeare’s ghost decided to flee gloomy old England for a warmer home in the New World, he might well choose the city of Staunton. After all, Staunton is home to the Blackfriars Playhouse, a modern-day re-creation of Shakespeare’s original indoor theater. [...]
Guest post by Bob Robert Foster Most people sleep in the same bed each night. They shower in the same bathroom each morning, and brush their teeth at the same sink. While it’s true that people are creatures of habit, most of us don’t really have a choice about this-we have one bedroom, and if [...]
Bluegrass music and Flatfoot dancing go together like bread and butter. Go to any event where there is live bluegrass music, and someone will set up a dancing platform or throw a piece of plywood on the ground and start flatfooting. Flatfooting, also known as clogging, foot-stomping or buck-dancing, consists of dancing alone [...]
Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway – Hiking Trails in Virginia Continued By Nicole Munoz Continued MP 91.0 A moderate 1.9 mile portion of the Appalachian Trail, leading from the VA 695 to Sharp Top Mountain overlook. MP 92.5 The Sharp Top Mountain to Harvey’s Knob section of the Appalachian Trail is a 2.9 mile [...]
Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway – Hiking Trails in Virginia By Nicole Munoz The 469 mile long Blue Ridge Parkway is often said to be the most scenic drive in America. Beginning near Cherokee, NC, the parkway winds through the gorgeous Smokey Mountains and passes through the Pisgah National Forest, as well as the [...]
Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains just a little southwest of Roanoke is the town of Ferrum, VA. Ferrum is the home of Ferrum College, a 4-year liberal arts residence college sponsored by the United Methodist Church. Ferrum is also home to the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum. The Blue Ridge Institute & Museum was created [...]
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHLnmLKtsZY Every Labor Day, the population of the town of Hillsville, VA grows from 2700 to nearly 500,000 people. The entire town pitches in to accommodate the crowd. Residential yards are turned into parking lots ($5/day). Route 58 through the center of town is lined with food vendors for over a mile on both sides [...]
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU31AS69sJI&feature=related In England, the plants are known as ramson; in France they are ail sauvage. Native Americans in the Great Lakes area called the plants Chicagou, for which the city of Chicago is named. Elsewhere in the world they are known as wild leeks, wild garlic and spring onions. In the Blue Ridge Mountains and [...]