Pearl, Droop, and Beartown, Oh My!

I had big plans for Saturday the 3rd.  We were going to go all the way up Droop Mountain and back, all before lunch.  We did it, but then again, lunch was at 3 pm.  Still!  The first challenge of the day was rousing my roommates in order to meet my parents for breakfast.  Emily and Kat are more averse to looking like a bum than I am (spend some time as a dog-walker and you'll feel the same), but fortunately they agreed that a Saturday morning at the Greenbrier Grille didn't warrant dressing to the nines (at least as compared to my daily -4) and we were there plenty early.  Bellies full, we went our separate ways for the day.

First up for the parents, dogs, and me was the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace in Hillsboro, which happens to also be where Emily is a VISTA.  We had a lovely tour of the house (one which I'll happily recommend, and not just because Emily pays a third of the rent), then trundled on through Hillsboro.  We made a quick stop at the newly opened "Brier Patch," where I picked up a plate made by Eric Stahl, a local potter.  I've taken to eating off of it almost exclusively, which certainly cuts down on the number of dishes in the sink!

From Hillsboro, we continued up Droop to the Battlefield, where we checked out the museum and lookout tower, than paused for some family photos with the view.

Next stop: Beartown!

I had a feeling I would like Beartown, and it turned out that I adored it.  For some reason, I love boulders.  I can't even begin to explain it, but my favourite hike to take whenever we visited the Blue Ridge Mountains as a kid was FULL of boulders to climb over or navigate around, and I adored it.  But on to Beartown.

If you're interested in a tough hike, Beartown will not provide one.  It's about a 20 minute walk along the boardwalk to see it all, but it's a heavenly 20 minutes.  I'd love to go back some day when it could just be me and the rocks.  Having to flatten yourself and your dogs to the side railing every few minutes to let a family of 8 pass is irritating, to say the least.

View down to the boardwalk below us.  There's a photo of the very place the fellow in the orange is standing further down this post.

I LOVED the rocks.  The holes, the moss, I loved it all.

This gives you a better idea of the way Beartown is navigated.

Here's where the man in orange was standing in the earlier photo.  This little pass here reminded me of Rock City more than any other part.

One thing I love about the sepia tone of this film is how it automatically dates things in a way color film doesn't.  I see this and could easily believe it was taken 100 years ago, in a jungle somewhere.  Love it.

So that was our Saturday!  After lunch, which was sandwiches on my porch, I started a book, then fell asleep and accidentally slept for 3 hours, dogs lying all over me in bed.  It was a pretty full morning!  In the evening, Mom and Dad drove up to Snowshoe to watch the fireworks, but I wimped out and fell back to sleep.  They left Sunday morning, taking their dogs and greatly reducing the chaos level in the house.  You've already heard about our Sunday evening activities!

For my first official stint as a Pocahontas County hostess, I feel I did pretty well!  I kept everyone fed, exercised, and entertained, and didn't collapse from exhaustion until almost the end of the visit.  Thanks for coming, Mom and Dad!  It was great having you and the pups!

In Which Droop is Explored

 

I mentioned in my last post a fellow (and fellow VISTA) named Jerry.  Jerry is stationed in Monroe County, which is on the other side of Greenbrier County from me.  Jerry's a funny guy who, if given half a chance, will talk your ears off about the Civil War.  Granted, I know next to nothing about the Civil War, beyond what I was taught in high school and by my very Southern relations, but as an art historian, I can appreciate obsession with specific historical eras.

On Thursday, Jerry asked me what I knew about the Battle of Droop Mountain.  I knew where it took place, by virtue of having to pass the Battlefield Park whenever I drove into Lewisburg, but that was all. He challenged my ignorance, and I responded in the traditional historian method: with a researched e-mail (I am shamed to say I relied heavily on Wikipedia, but I did manage to turn up SOME primary documents).  He gave me a B+.

And so it passed that I was going to be halfway up Droop in Hillsboro to support my roommate's efforts to clear a lot of extraneous stuff out of the gift shop at the Pearl Buck Birthplace.  Jerry agreed to drive a full hour and a half to prattle at me about the Battle of Droop Mountain (dude really, really likes to prattle).  It was a rather full day, so I'll limit this post to photos from the Jerry portions of the day.

We arrived in a deluge, and so at first we just sat in his car and studied the map.  He'd brought his modern version of a Union kepi, which he proudly showed off.  We decided we'd start by driving to the lookout tower (top photo).  It's a modern building, but the views it provides are ASTOUNDING.  Check out all of the mountain ghosts (mists) in the above photo.

We couldn't see all the way into Marlinton, but Hillsboro was clearly visible.  They had a handy sign showing where the various camps and battalions would have been located.

Jerry knew all of these guys by name (and in some cases, where they were from--he works for the historical society in Monroe), and did his best to explain military movements to someone whose brain simply does not have to capacity to grasp most of them.  The map helped.

Here's Jerry attempting to capture the gorgeousness with his cell phone.  I am under orders to send him all of my photos.  We stood at the top of the tower for a good long time, alternately discussing battle movements and trying to take it all in.  It was, in a word, breathtaking.

We then moved on to the grave site and museum.  All of the Union dead were moved after the war, so all that remains is this small mossy spot.  The museum was pretty impressive, considering its size, with a solid collection of artillery pieces and various metal pieces clearly excavated from the battleground.  Most incredible was the drum which had been retrieved by two local boys from the battlefield just days afterward (in November 1863).  It was passed through the family until it was donated to the museum, and is in remarkable condition!  I didn't get a photo of it, of course, because that would make sense.

After leaving the park, we grabbed lunch at the Pretty Penny Cafe in Hillsboro.  Let me tell you, if you are ever in my neck of the mountains, you HAVE to eat at the Pretty Penny.  All of the food is made from scratch, nothing from a can, and every single thing is delicious.  Jerry had the Grecian Penne and I had the Becky's Burrito--both were devoured.  After lunch, we headed a little further down the mountain to check out the mill at Mill Point.  We are actually acquainted with the man who lives in it, but he sadly wasn't home.

Didn't stop me from taking photos, though!

After driving back up to the Park, Jerry and I went our separate ways.  Aside from the fact that our brief attempt at hiking one of the Park's trails ended with the both of us soaked to the skin from a surprise rainfall, it was an altogether pleasant way to spend an afternoon!  I highly recommend it if you're in the area, whether you're a Civil War buff like Jerry or a regular ole tourist with a camera like me.