Judy Grillo
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Thanks, Ann Davis

10/28/2015

8 Comments

 
While I am more than a week past my days (and cold nights) in Tennessee, I have enough great photos to bring all of my memories of the Great Smokies back. I camped & hiked in the area of Cades Cove where you can explore historic cabins, churches and a grist mill; see white-tailed deer, turkeys and black bears (I saw 5!); and enjoy the gorgeous mountain scenery. You can supposedly take a leisurely bicycle ride around the scenic 11-mile loop road, too but I found that to be impossible during peak leaf peeping season.

Before the park was created, Cherokee Indians then European settlers lived in this valley as early as 1820. The first large piece of land purchased in 1927 for the park included most of the land in the mountains north of the Cove. Yet, some residents signed life-leases that allowed them to live on their land for the rest of their lives, with the last school closing in '44, and the post office in '47. 

So, who is Ann Davis? She's credited with suggesting a National Park in the Smokies when she and her husband returned from a trip visiting several Western national parks in 1923. Money to buy the land was raised by individuals, private groups, and even school kids who pledged their pennies. In addition, the Rockefellers donated $5 million to create the park. 

Up next, a brief stop in Asheville, NC. 
8 Comments
Barb
10/31/2015 11:40:55 pm

Hey Judy -- love the photos and hearing the Ann Davis story. Your red tent looks peaceful. Piled in grading and writing. I love straying to read your blog and wonder where you are headed next. Peace and Love.

Reply
Judy
11/2/2015 10:37:31 am

Barb,
Indeed, I was SO relaxed when I returned to my tent in Kentucky after 6 weeks at the Y community setting. Still catching up on the blog but now feeling too close to "real life". Stay tuned.

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Claudette
11/1/2015 03:27:39 pm

Absolutely gorgeous Fall foliage photos. I can understand why the traffic is so hectic.
Ann Davis was quite a woman. Don't know how she could live that isolated and care for that many acres.

How far away from you were all those Black Bears?

As usual, great to follow your blog. Thanks.

Reply
Judy
11/2/2015 10:40:09 am

Claudette, Indeed the traffic is heavy because this is also a FREE National Park, one of the few left. So I confused a few people with the Ann Davis (park founder) mention and Becky Cable (single woman caring for her brother's kids) story! Two different women of note.

Bears weren't close but most interesting sighting was when I was solo on the mountain hike. They didn't seem to care I was there!

Reply
chris
11/1/2015 08:28:22 pm

I bicycled through there about 35 years ago with my girlfriend at that time. We went all the way to the top.

Reply
Judy
11/2/2015 10:41:01 am

So, are you getting back on the bike? I'm pondering a ride through one or two of the Routes Verte in Quebec Province next summer :)

Reply
Anne-Marie
11/13/2015 10:29:16 am

Can't read this caption without immediately envisioning Ann B. Davis of Brady Bunch fame!

Reply
Judy
11/14/2015 05:48:38 pm

I detested that character, Alice? You can get a new picture in your mind here: http://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/historyculture/biographies.htm

No resemblance!?!

Reply



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