Charleston as a Muse

            You never know what will spark someone’s creativity.  Justine Post says of her childhood growing up on Sullivan’s Island, “I would sometimes open the freezer to get some ice cream and a frozen bird carcass would fall into my lap.”  Her ornithologist father and artist mother surrounded the family with nature and creative experiences.  A poetry workshop at Creative Spark with poet laureate Marjory Wentworth and an elementary school classroom visit from Jack Tracey began her interest in poetry but it wasn’t until she attended a Piccolo Sundown Poetry reading by Mark Strand as a teenager that she discovered her own creative voice.  “I had been reading the classic poetry in high school but seeing a poet that was living and that I responded to writing in a contemporary voice opened up my eyes.  Oh! Poetry can be written in the Charleston:  “The water rises with the feel of clasping, the familiar bit of salt…” Having published her first book “Beast” to critical acclaim, she’s thrilled to be a featured poet on May 27 at the Sundown Poetry Series at the Dock Street Theater courtyard this year. “Poetry is to be read aloud, off the page which gives it different meanings.  It transforms the poetry and gets the audience excited about it,” she says.    

language we speak in today instead of being antiquated,” she remembers thinking.  Birds and sea creatures populate her poems which tell of her connection to

          

  Piccolo Spoleto was created to celebrate local talent, but don’t let that make you think “second rate”.  Several local artists have catapulted to national fame.  The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art will welcome home prodigal son Shepherd Fairey for his first major exhibition in his hometown.  His new body of work is on the subject of power.  Many remember his ubiquitous “Andre the Giant Has a Posse” project consisting of enigmatic stickers that were posted everywhere.  From that humble beginning he’s launched a successful career as a graphic designer, illustrator, activist and artist including his controversial and iconic “Hope” portrait of Obama.  It’s easy to imagine Fairey’s irreverent, edgy, political images igniting artistic fires in developing minds of young viewers who may relate to Fairey’s background as a local skateboarder.  He’s sharing the bill with one of the country’s most prominent artists, Jasper Johns who was long-time friends with William Halsey for whom the gallery is named.

            Another local art celebrity will be exhibiting nearby on the peninsula.  Mary Edna Fraser’s batik Our Common Thread: Environmental Awareness” in cooperation with the local Sierra Club.  Mary Edna’s art depicts our area’s fragile natural beauty and her activism supports local environmental causes.  An avid patron of the arts and musician herself, she never misses the Sunset Serenade at the US Customs House, a free performance by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra on May 23.  

exhibit at Ann Long Gallery is based upon thousands of aerial images she’s photographed.  Her batiks have appeared in over 100 solo exhibitions including at the Smithsonian Institution.  A large one graces the ceiling at the Charleston International airport concourse.  She’s also presenting a free slide show of her work “

            Charleston has long been a center for jazz and the scene is now thriving.  Locally cultivated trumpet player Cameron Harder Handel developed her chops in Wando High School’s band program and has toured the world including a current gig with Michael Bolton.  Catch her in the big band at one of the many Charleston Jazz Orchestra concerts at the Music Hall or at Kiawah.  Repertoire ranges from Latin to swing to Duke Ellington. Want more jazz?  The jazz cruises are not just for tourists.  Catch Lonnie Hamilton’s  grooving sax or Franklin Ashley’s smokin’ piano rendition of “Summertime” while cruising under the Ravenel Bridge in the moonlight.  These are “Chamber of Commerce moments”.  They make you fall in love with Charleston.

      What could be more inspirational than stepping out of the heat and humidity into one of Charleston’s majestic churches to hear magnificent music played by stellar musicians? Local actress Dana DeMartino recommends attending one of the dozen Spotlight Concerts. “I absolutely love organ music and the experience of being in a church and hearing this instrument resonate off the walls of a large cathedral reminds me of my youth in Paris so this is always a must.” A highlight this year is The Choir of St. Martin-in-the-Fields on a world tour from England. They’re stopping at Grace Episcopal Church on June 6 to present a diverse program inspired the British Isles with music ranging from Vaughn Williams to George Shearing.
Piccolo Spoleto will have over 700 performances in seventeen days beginning May 23, 2014. Many are free. There’s theater, comedy, drama, music, children’s activities and literature. The festival is a toast to Charleston, the muse. It’s a celebration of our city’s engaged audiences, its stellar talent and of those who carry the city in their hearts as they rise to artistic success.

For more information:  www.piccolospoleto.com

Follow the Arts Mavens to Spoleto

           

       

        Transcendent moments: a hushed audience before the curtain goes up, time-traveling on music from centuries ago, immersing yourself in a character until you forget he’s an actor; art that brings tears, memories, laughter or insight.  Beyond entertainment, we’re all hoping our Spoleto tickets bring enlightenment and joy.  That’s a tall order.  Over 150 performances with such claims as  “a spellbinding thriller”, “breathtaking feats”, “revolutionary instrument techniques” and influences ranging from Brazilian choro music to South African ancestors, not to mention ticket prices up to $100 can be intimidating. To cut through the confusion, I’ve polled arts mavens for their suggestions.

        As the purveyor of fine instruments all over the city, Charles Fox of Fox Music recommends the opening ceremonies.  Free, lively and short, this is a perfect splash of culture to begin the 17 days of artistic experiences.  He says, “I dearly enjoy the feel and connection of the opening ceremony at city hall.” And there’s always an artistic surprise.  One year it was a composition played on car horns, once an elephant.  I hear this year involves opera. Catch it on Friday, May 23 at noon outside City Hall, the corner of Meeting and Broad Streets.

        Judy Vane, long-time arts supporter and former Spoleto board member is looking forward to the Leoš Janáček opera “Kat’a Kabanova”.  The themes of freedom and guilt set to shimmering 20^th century music promise a provocative evening. “We had a whole weekend dedicated to Janáček a few years ago so I learned to appreciate him” which you can also do by attending the free artist’s talk with the opera’s director Garry Hynes on May 24. Judy’s also a big fan of the Gate Theatre.  “They’ve become friends of mine,” since they’ve performed in the festival several times.  “My Cousin Rachel”, a play by Daphne du Maurier is a new production by the company this year.
        Another fan of the Gate Theatre is Dana DeMartino, a local actress who trained at conservatories in music, dance and theatre.  “One thing that keeps me returning to festivals like Spoleto is their commitment to present new works or old works that are brought to life within a new concept.” She says of the Gate Theatre, “I love the company and find whatever they’re doing exciting to watch. They have often taken a very dated piece of theater and turned it into a gem.”  

        Ellen Dressler Moryl, the retired director of Charleston’s Office of Cultural Affairs says, “The older I get the more I need excellent choir music to sustain my soul.” She recommends the Westminster Choir and especially Handel’s “Te Deum”.  She also describes John Adams as “a groundbreaking composer in every way” and is looking forward to his opera “El Nino” with its mixture of Mexican poetry, the nativity story and female voices. 

       

        Music lovers recommended the Chamber Music series. As local flutist Susan Kraybill said, “I always like the Dock Street Chamber series, but then, who doesn’t?” Charles Wadsworth’s able protégé Geoff Nuttall curates these twice-daily programs that always include familiar gems beside unfamiliar works.  Composers may premier new pieces while listening from the audience.  It’s an intimate, often humorous and casual way to hear the country’s best small ensembles play their hearts out.  Many of the musicians are rising stars following the path of such luminaries as Jean-Yves Thibaudet who performed here before he became an international sensation. 

        Dance lovers have much to anticipate this year.  Eliza Ingle, a local dancer, choreographer and College of Charleston dance professor suggests that you not miss Hubbard Street Dance. “… a beautiful and powerful company showing the best choreography of today.”  But she has a hot tip for us:  “I’m told the sleeper is the solo work from Gregory Maqoma from South Africa doing a full evening dance/storytelling

evening.”  A reviewer said of this show “a runaway triumph in terms of artistic excellence, aesthetic sorcery and responses…” It does what Spoleto does best: showcase an exotic culture through a compelling mixture of artforms. Dottie Ashley, journalist and dance expert also recommends them as well as Dorrance Dance which she says is on the cutting edge of the tap dance revival she’s noticing on Broadway.

        It’s very unusual for a local group to play Spoleto venues, but the finale this year features Shovels and Rope who have catapulted from Lowcountry stages to fame. They’ve been touring extensively since winning the Americana Music Honors and Award’s Emerging Artist of the Year in 2013. “I’ve been in and out of town for months,” says Cary Ann Hearst who performs with her husband Michael Trent in the duo.  A large crowd is sure to welcome back their mixture of honky-tonk, country, folk and rock as it fills Middleton Place on June 8 for the all-day party of picnics, beer and fireworks amidst the beautiful gardens. 

Ellen Moryl admonishes that it’s easy to become a “jaded voluptuary” and take for granted this world-class festival with its stellar experiences.  So choose carefully but choose.  You will undoubtedly find yourself transported, enlightened and entertained.   

 For more information, see www.spoletousa.org

This story originally appeared in Lucky Dog Publications:  The Island Eye and Island Connection

            

Artfields Revitalizes Lake City

           

                 

             Until 2013, T.OD Johnson’s place on Saul Street was Lake City’s singular art gallery. His storefront window is a hodge- podge of cheap Asian cups and knick-knacks surrounded arts and crafts (portraits, Eskimo and Indian motifs, hanging mobiles of spiraling cardboard and collaged cereal boxes) that he’d accumulated after years of teaching art in schools.  “When I retired my wife wouldn’t let me bring it home.”  In six years he’d sold three pieces.  His son teaches karate in the front room.  Count him among the doubters that art could revitalize the town.

            Lake City, S.C. is tiny, with a population under 7,000.  On the two hour drive from Charleston highlights included vultures eating road kill and signs for “Dan’s Car Crushing”. “Artfields will be the premier art event in the Southeast,” Lake City native and millionaire businesswoman Darla Moore boldly predicted before last year’s premier event.  She aimed to revitalize the entire town through a unique combination of art competitions and celebrations over ten days.  Huge cash prizes totaling $100,000 for winning artists, funded by Moore herself, would attract the talent.  Crowds would come for free.  There were plenty of skeptics and doubters of course.  Who would have thought that there would be 45 minute waits for tables in the restaurant?  On a Tuesday!  Or a racially diverse crowd discussing paintings in the African American barber 

shop?  The shoe store’s sales went up 75%.  The mattress store even made some sales to arts patrons.  In fact, the economic impact of last year’s event was $5.4 million dollars.  Attendance exceeded 22,000.  Galleries were reclaimed from old warehouses, hotels broke ground, an inventive mini-movie theater was built from a shipping container, restaurants and shops rushed to open in time.  Artfields is “the best thing since the invention of grits,” said Lake City gift shop owner Sophia Powell as she wrapped another purchase.

             “Try to show us something we haven’t seen before.  Share new ways of thinking of the world and be so good at it that it’s impossible to ignore.”  This is advice to artists from Jim Arendt, last year’s $50,000 Top Prize Winner for his cut-denim piece “Jamie”. It catapulted his career.  “Since winning Artfields I’ve had a chance to share my art with people all over the world.”   He was among the over 770 artists who   registered from 11 Southeastern states.  The 400 works that were selected were displayed among 40 downtown venues, all within walking distance.  Many of the artists were present to discuss their work including John Whitman with his sculpted life-size wooden torso.  He lovingly explained how “she”, the sculpture, was created from a downed tree and sanded to accentuate the grain.  Austin Grace Smith stood beside her abstract painting and explained, “The movement of light across sky and water and how that affects color is the focus of my work.  It balances me. What moments balance you?” she asked me.  We spoke like old friends. “The reason I paint is to have these conversations about deep issues,” she said.

 In a beauty shop window another deep issue was depicted as Leanna Knapp displayed the 500 pound sculpture she’d spent a year creating from her unworn wedding gown and plaster.  Viewers were captivated by the poignancy of her story which was awarded the $25,000 Juried Second Place Prize.  Everyone is a judge at Artfields through a cellphone based voting system that determines the winner of the $25,000 People’s Choice Award and weighs the juried prizes too.  As the deadline for voting approached on the last day of the event, nearly everyone in town was punching their cellphones to get in on the action. 

            The interactive “Before I Die” wall turned everyone into an artist and elicited such inscriptions as, “Before I Die I will….stand under the Eiffel Tower…be loved by a good man…dance with the stars…”  The portrait contest drew a large audience as 24 artists were pitted against each other to create a portrait of a local farmer within one hour.  Four rounds ended with Joe Begnaud’s painting of Butch Rodgers winning the $1,000 first prize.  “This was the most athletic thing I’ve ever done,” said the artist.  “It feels like an endurance sport.  The idea of art as sport is funny.”           

            “Look around you.  See how our town is changing.  It’s buzzing with new life, replete with masterworks of artists,” a triumphant Moore asserted.  This year’s Artfields will include music, dancing, community art, food, workshops and contests throughout the ten days and $100,000 in prizes.   Perhaps best of all, almost everything is free to attend, no tickets necessary.  If you doubt that art can change the world, or at least a small town in South Carolina, come to Artfields.  You’ll become a believer too. 

If You Go:

Artfields will be held in Lake City, SC on April 25 to May 4, 2014.  For more information: www.artfieldssc.org

For more images, please see Artfields

           

           

           

Big Laughs in Myrtle Beach

      My parents raised me by example to not mind making a fool of myself which was a big asset on a recent trip to Myrtle Beach.  It was the off-season and the town’s garishness and crowds were dialed down.  My girlfriend and I were not entirely disappointed at not being able to chomp on turkey legs while watching jousting horsemen or hit a golf ball past dinosaurs at one of the dozens of miniature golf courses.  They were all closed.

            But because it was winter we could book an inexpensive 2-bedroom cabin complete with a little kitchen and a screened porch at the Myrtle Beach State Park without much notice.  Horsemen were galloping their picturesque steeds through the waves, a winter privilege. There was no need for the assigned fishing spots on the pier and the pompano and whiting were still biting. The park bills itself as “The Last Stand on the Grand Strand”. Its 312 acres are the only undeveloped maritime forest left in the area. We rode bikes in the park’s extensive nature trails and strolled along its undeveloped beach.

            While returning from a walk up the pier, our ears caught the piercing sound of a familiar but unexpected horn.  “That sounds like a shofar!” I said.  Previously I had only heard one during Jewish religious services. Following the sound, we came upon Steven Smith with a table full of different sizes of ram’s horns.  “You called the Jews?” I asked.  “Well here I am!”  He was practicing for his Shofar Ministry and explained that the pattern he was sounding meant “Wake Up!  Something major is underway.  Make yourselves ready!”  That was a good segue for our other Myrtle Beach experiences.

            We woke up our taste buds at Redi-et Ethiopian Cuisine.  The nearly empty dining room was simple and colorfully decorated.  The menu required some translation:  doro wat, ye beg wat, alicha, shire, atkilt… but the exotically spiced split peas, collards and chicken were all delicious.  When I asked the beautiful Ethiopian waitress for a fork she kindly acquiesced but the injera, a flatbread, proved to be a better way to scoop up the morsels and eat with our hands. 

            You can’t go to Myrtle Beach and not do something cheesy.  It’s a rule. Rich and Beth Wild’s “Wild for Hypnosis Comedy Show” sells out throughout the tourist season but the winter audience was much smaller.  We sat next to a young woman with a “Bite Me” t-shirt and waited with expectation. “With hypnotism, we go into the mind to find what’s in there” Rich began.  He used to be a cow foot doctor but began his two-year study to become a hypnotist over 18 years ago and has been performing ever since.  “It’s kind of a truth serum” he explained. I didn’t need much encouragement to volunteer with about a dozen others and submit to Rich’s power of suggestion.  Over the next hour or so I was convinced that a puppy had licked my face then messed in my lap, that I’d milked a miniature and then a giant cow; I danced enthusiastically, got extremely hot and then freezing cold, and held my nose when Beth sang because we’d been told she stank.  When Rich commanded “Sleep!” in between each bit, the young woman next to me collapsed into my lap.  One woman catapulted out of her chair and sprawled onto the floor, still sleeping.  A skimpily dressed teenage girl belted out “I Kissed a Girl” complete with choreography. Then Rich planted a post hypnotic suggestion that every time we heard a particular song in the future we were to jump out of our seats, slap our butts and yell, “Who’s your daddy?”  It was a mysterious experience.  “The biggest thing is to see smiles on the people’s faces and know I did it” Beth said.         

      Our spirits woke up again at the rollicking House of Blues Gospel Brunch. Fortified with our make-your-own Bloody Marys, we heartily sang with the grooving house band “I’ve Got a Feelin’ Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”.  We   so believed it.  Even without rock ‘n roll shows or the abundant Sunday brunch it’s worth a visit here because of the 55,000 square feet of art that encrusts every surface.  Isaac Tigrett built all 13 of the House of Blues venues before selling to Live Nation.  His collection of outsider art rivals museums and includes Al Capone’s bar and a “God Wall” made by Andrew Wood that covers the ceiling with plaster casts of dozens of Blues legends.  Much of the building’s materials and art are reclaimed and found objects, like the bedazzled shoes that encircle the entry.  “Praise the Lord and pass the biscuits” is a good start to Sundays in Myrtle Beach. 

        We’d received religious messages, eaten exotic food and made complete fools of ourselves, all within a couple hour drive.  And so….WHO’S YOUR DADDY?...hey what made me do that??

If You go:

Myrtle Beach State Park:  www.myrtlebeachsp.com

Redi-et Ethiopian Cuisine:  www.redi-et.com      

Wild for Hypnosis Comedy Show :  http://big-laughs.com

House of Blues:  www.houseofblues.com/MyrtleBeach‎

Dropping in on the Neighbors

            In the spirit of visiting a neighbor who’s suffered a hardship, my girlfriend and I made a call on Georgetown.  Just four months earlier, a devastating fire had ripped through the downtown. Seven buildings on the scenic boardwalk were destroyed, 130 people put out of work and 13 residents lost their homes. I thought of the boardwalk as the only reason to stop in Georgetown since the gritty industrialized route up Hwy 17 past the hulking steel mill hadn't enticed me.  But I had missed something. 

             John Cranston hadn't missed it.  Unaccountably he recognized opportunity when his friend Peter Scalise suggested that there was a market for a sophisticated menu amidst the fast food and Calabash seafood.  And they were right.  Their boardwalk eatery Zest with views of the harbor and Sampit River was immediately successful.  But one fateful night John got a call from his landlord.  “The restaurant is on fire,” he was told.  Rushing downtown, he stood with a somber crowd in the dark and watched his enterprise burn.  This was the part of our visit where stories of resilience and resolve first emerged and kept coming up.  “By 11 A.M. the morning of the fire, we were drawing up the lease to open a restaurant on the 900 block,” said Scalise. “We named it Seven Hundred Modern Grill+Bar, in honor of the 700 block of Front Street.” More tragedy lay ahead as their sushi chef was killed in a motorcycle accident just weeks later.  But they persevered.  Each dish is homage to what was lost. Art created from burned rubble is now decor.  “We just spread our wings and the community pushed us,” John said. 

            Just ten minutes outside of town is another epic story, The Mansfield Plantation.  The oak tree-lined driveway passes the partially restored slave quarters as it meanders to the main house.   Looking like images from Southern Living, a bride a groom were staging a photo shoot under the Spanish moss-draped trees as we arrived.   Stephanie and Greg Farbo met as pilot and co-pilot while flying commercial airliners all over the world but they chose Mansfield for their picturesque wedding photos.  Many romantic occasions are celebrated there but its background is more of a Gothic novel than a love story. 

            After a restful night in the former kitchen cottage that has been converted into two adjoining luxurious guestrooms, we joined innkeeper Kathyrn Green in the formal dining room for a lavish breakfast.  No stranger to tragedy herself, Kathryn came to Mansfield after a series of personal hardships that devastated her family and left her unemployed.  It was a place where she would recover and rise to become an essential part of the bed and breakfast enterprise the 1,000 acre Plantation has developed. She loves sharing its story, especially about the Parkers, their ancestors and their newly discovered relatives.   

           

       The Plantation began in 1718 as a land grant and became one of the largest producers of rice in the country. In fact, when the Dr. Francis Simons Parker married into the dynasty in 1836 he relinquished his medical degree from the College of Charleston to concentrate on rice cultivation, a much more profitable enterprise.  Using his scientific background, Dr. Parker experimented with different fertilizers on the soil (bat dung proved to be the most effective) and increased the production from 375,000 pounds in 1850 to 1,440,000 pounds in 1860.  The remnants of the rice fields provided us with terrific bicycling terrain to tour the Plantation.  But after the war when slave labor was gone, the rice cultivation ended and eventually the Plantation was sold as a vacation home and hunting lodge to rich industrialists, ending the Parker family’s ownership in 1912.  Eighty two years later John and Sallie Parker realized their lifelong dream and bought their ancestral Plantation back.  Sally said, “The first time I saw Mansfield, I said ‘John I’m home’”.  They weren’t the only ones drawn back to Mansfield.  Dwight Parker had been assiduously researching his ancestry for years and discovered that he was the descendant of slaves from the Plantation.  “I’m drawn here,” he said when he visited and made fast friends of the owners. Together their foundation is restoring the slave cabins, school house and church as well as the cemetery.  It’s a daunting task but John Parker explains that it’s nothing compared to the work of the 100 slaves who dug the rice fields by hand. 

            Back downtown we slowly toured the tree-lined streets.  Graceful 18^th and 19^th century homes with broad verandas and giant columns are abundant.  On Front Street, cars jockeyed for parking spaces and restaurants and shops were busy.  Plenty of pleasure boats and commercial fishermen crowded the still picturesque boardwalk and optimism filled the air.  It was good to see our neighbor recovering from its hardship. 

More photos: Georgetown, SC 

If You Go:

Mansfield Plantation:  www.mansfieldplantation.com

Georgetown County Tourism:  www.hammockcoastsc.com

Seven Hundred Modern Grill + Bar:  916 Front Street 843-520-5720

 

Matzo Balls in the Land of Magnolias

Once a year in Savannah, Georgia the aroma of corned beef fills Forsyth Park as Shalom Y'all, one of the country's largest Jewish Food festivals takes place. 

Read the whole article on page 13 here: 
 Reform Judaism Magazine, fall 2013

In The Footsteps of Len Foote

             Here’s a plan for future fun:  put a trip in your pocket.  Even if you think you have no time to travel, once it’s on your calendar months away, your life will mysteriously clear a path.  Some of the Southeast’s most popular adventures require advance planning anyway.  I booked our trip to Len Foote’s Hike Inn six months ahead to coincide with the fall colors.  The moderately easy five mile trail to reach one of our country’s few hike-to inns passes through a forest of hickory, pine and oak trees and across some pretty little streams.  It’s Georgia’s most popular hike and one of the 36 best hikes in the country according to Backpacker Magazine.  After about three hours of walking, my husband and I caught sight of our destination peaking through the fall leaves like the candy house from Hansel and Gretel. 

            The Hike Inn provides food, bedding, towels, heat and hot showers so you don’t have to carry in much.  Its beautiful architecture includes roomy porches with rockers, a sunny “Sunrise Room” with games and a large dining room with long tables.  We’d struck up a conversation with a hiker coming down as we went up who aptly described the bedrooms as “closets”.  They’re just large enough for a bunk bed, stool and shelf, hence the opinion of one hiker who described her stay as “one of the most unusual anniversary trips ever.”  Romance is not the idea here.  “Just look around,” said Robert Smith the general manager “We’re here for a reason.  We want to educate and recreate.”  Robert shares the passion of Len Foote himself, a conservationist in the 1950’s who inspired the cartoon Mark Trail. Foote built his own solar heater in the 1970’s which makes his namesake lodge a fitting legacy since they pride themselves on conservation and stewardship.  The showers are solar powered, the toilets are compostable (and odorless) and the leftover food is fed to red worms in a vermiculture program that creates compost.

            The tight-knit staff accommodates 9,000 overnight visitors a year.  Like the others, Terrance the cook, was attracted to Len Foote’s vision of stewardship.  “I quit the computer world, hiked here one day … asked if they had an opening and took the job.”  He’s up early and working late to cook big batches of stews, baked goods, soups, roasts and other hearty food.  To discourage waste all the uneaten food from plates is combined after each meal, weighed and posted on a big sign.  Rachel, the staff naturalist has a degree in biology and ecology.  She delighted in showing us a rattle from a dead rattlesnake she’d found.  When asked about snakes in the vicinity she said, “we caught a fair amount, copperheads mostly” which they removed to another location. 

            Sunrise is the big event.  The Adirondack chairs with the best view filled first as everyone got up early to watch the spectacle of the sun rising over the Blue Ridge Mountains and especially to view it through the “Star Base”.  This huge granite construction was built by Atlanta’s Fernbank Science Center to commemorate the two yearly equinoxes.  During those events, the rays of the sun are channeled to a cave wall through a cylinder in the sculpture.  But every morning you can peer through the sculpture’s rock window as it artfully frames the rising sun.

            Most folks stay overnight at the picturesque Lodge at Amicalola Falls right at the trailhead before or after their hike but we wanted to explore nearby Dahlonega. In the 1830’s this little town was swarmed by 15,000 newcomers who’d heard that the streets were paved with gold.  They weren’t entirely wrong.  The streets glistened from the trailings of the area’s numerous gold mines which were mixed into the pavement.  For almost 100 years the area mined gold commercially.  Today the town’s draw is recreation.  A huge bicycling race was going on, dozens of waterfalls beckoned, wineries dot the area and optimistic folks still pan for gold. 

            We rewarded ourselves with a stay at the historic Smith House.  The roomy villa guestroom was a welcome contrast to the bunkroom we’d shared the previous night.  One of the Historic Hotels of America, Smith House began life as a private home but was converted into a quaint guest house in the 1920’s.  Each comfortable room has a unique character.  The original owner, Corporal Frank Hall, struck a rich gold bearing vein several feet wide while excavating the site in 1899. Local restrictions prevented mining the shaft but it remains as a glass-enclosed curiosity under what is now the hotel’s popular restaurant.  Just off the town’s pretty little square, Smith House provided a great location for strolling around the small town.

People often exhaustively plan all kinds of things but balk at planning fun.  The Southeast if full of adventure.  Put a trip in your pocket. 

 

 More photos are at

  https://plus.google.com/photos/108681117979420618131/albums/5956874010718403185         

If You Go

Hike Inn:  www.hike-inn.com  Reservation are available up to 11 months in advance.

Smith House:  www.smithhouse.com

The Lodge at Amicalola Falls: www.amicalolafallslodge.com