I have spent the last three days in the Asheville NC

[doc03]

and Gatlinberg TN area. I have only seen one shack with a Trump shrine in the yard and zero MAGA hats. This is supposed to be the racist south but in Ohio Trump flags and MAGA hats are everywhere. WTF! Ohio, WV and western PA are f---d up.

[Sneederbunk]

1. Asheville is known for its liberalism.

[SheltieLover]

5. +1,000!

Used to live there. 👍

[Earth-shine]

21. + 3000 Me too!

Loved the place. But, I had numerous reasons to move to South Florida two years ago.

[chowder66]

13. +2,000

[FailureToCommunicate]

30. AND, micro breweries on nearly every corner! Connection???

[Hoyt]

2. If yo drove from Greenville SC to Asheville and didn't see any trump or

confederate flags, it’s a miracle. But, there is definitely a lot less trump junk than this time last year.

[doc03]

4. No came down from I 81. nt

[XanaDUer2]

3. We were in Banner Elk last month

no maga hats. A couple of huge Trump signs. Plus one winner who messily spray painted Trump Train on his back bumper on a real pos pickup truck

[doc03]

6. They are most always a pos pickup and a shot

gun shack. The worst places and vehicles I see still have Ron Paul stickes and signs

[XanaDUer2]

18. The Biggest sign was on a rickety barn, lol!

it was huge, the sign that is!

[moose65]

22. Hope you enjoyed it

My address is Banner Elk, but I live closer to Boone 😃

[XanaDUer2]

25. it was glorious

we drove into Boone and ate at The Local and visited The Mast General store. They had bulk candy and black licorice!

[blm]

51. My little blm is starting senior yr at App

next month.

[captain queeg]

7. I think people are starting to abandon LOSER45

This are better for most folks and a steady diet of outrage is hard to maintain. A lot of them have realized he’s only out for himself. They are still RW racists but maybe they are looking for a new lord and savior.

[groundloop]

37. Idiot Ron Desantis is attempting to fill that void.

He's just as evil but a lot more polished.

[elleng]

8. Good to hear.

My daughter was near there recently too, but haven't discussed shrines or hats with her.

[doc03]

9. Also learned if you want to see mountain sceenery

go to Mt. Mitchell NC the Smokey Moutain park is a cluster f--k. Couldn't even get to Clingmans Dome cars backed up for miles.

[Ace Rothstein]

10. I was in the same area last month.

Saw lots of Trump stuff in Maggie Valley, Sylva, Waynesville and places in between. Not nearly as much as I saw in SW FL though.

[moose65]

20. That's Madison Cawthorn's district

It’s full of MAGATs - except for Asheville, of course.

[Traildogbob]

33. I live outside of Waynesville

If you were in Maggie, yea that’s a Trump haven. But, more because of rich summer home Florida folks. If you would have headed over to Cherokee from Maggie via Soco Gap, there is a store on the right up top that has thousands of Trump signs, flags and any bull shit you could imagine. Makes me sick to go by it on the way home from hiking. And 441 through the Smokies in summer is a horrible thing to do. And in fall, stay as far away as you can. Ya need to know the back roads and no trail areas to avoid it all. Most visited Park in the Nation. 😫😫
Haywood County, that houses Waynesville, Maggie, Clyde and Canton, a dollar store, Church and gun store every few hundred feet. Go to Walmart to get up close to and see those superior white genetics. Maskless and humpers of Trump abound. These fools still love Meadows and think Cawthorn is brilliant. One county away, Snake handling, tambourine beating Jesus freaks. Asheville is a tiny blue fit. Really cool place.

[Ace Rothstein]

44. Your response is bringing back a lot of memories.

Definitely saw the place in Soco Gap at least twice. I guess we beat the crowds as we didn't really run into any outside of Asheville. We really liked Asheville but want to go back without our kids next time.

Unfortunately we had to go to the Walmart in Sylva to pick up a script. I had a hiking incident which resulted in an open dislocation and fracture (small) of my left ring finger. I texted my buddies that the clientele was terrifying, looked like they were from the shallow end of the gene pool. Probably didn't help that the ER had pumped me full of morphine. I did like Boojum in Waynesville though, they have some good beers.

[Traildogbob]

45. Boogums is great.

Excellent food and beer. Another cool spot with lots of micros, good food, amazing atmosphere and sometimes live music is Mad Anthony's. Just down the road. I am blessed to live here and know how to get out in the forests isolated. Spent a career here after Navy teaching Forest Resources. The Sylva pools are empty, no shallow end. They are all dwelling at the same depth. Sorry about your accident. Next time try to get to Mission in Asheville. If ya can. Your life may depend on it. Come back, look me up. Adventures are my specialty. Retired and endless time for the Forest with my dogs. WNC mountains ARE beautiful. Like anywhere, need to avoid tourist hot spots.
Cheers

[mercuryblues]

66. you might want to consider

Warren Haynes Christmas Jam

https://www.everfest.com/e/warren-haynes-christmas-jam-asheville-nc

[Marius25]

60. My family was looking to retire down there.

They even bought land in Waynesville to build. But after 2020 went to Trump there, and with the election of Cawthorn, they decided they can't handle being in an area overrun by Trump idiots and white nationalists, so they're looking into New England now instead. Mountains aren't as pretty (other than New Hampshire), but way way more liberal and safer with access to the best medical care in the world in Boston.

[Traildogbob]

61. You are spot on

Cawthorn is brilliant compared to those that voted for him, and Meadows is a Patriot to them. I will not go out to eat at most places here. All flying “Back the Blue” flags, which is obviously pro trump. Asheville is great but way too expensive to live there. And the city boundary needs to be a wall. Thank God for massive forested mountain acres all around me. I need no trails and see no people. Tree hugs and my dogs give me all the social experience I need. I want to get to New England area in winter. Xcountry skiing is my passion, but climate has ended any chance here. Use to ski the Parkway many times each winter. That’s as rare as a fact from McCarthy’s pie hole.

[Marius25]

62. It's not snowing in your area much anymore?

[Traildogbob]

63. Rarely

Even at elevations. Not enough to XC ski once in past 4 years. If we get a wet sloppy snow one day, it’s 55 degrees the next. Not skiable.

[blm]

11. doc, you were in my neck of the woods.

[doc03]

12. Beautiful country

[blm]

14. There's at least 1/2 a dozen DUers around here.

[Thtwudbeme]

16. You missed a lot of us

I think we need to have a NC meetup!

[CMYK]

36. Count me in

I'm just a wee bit south, near Rutherfordton.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

19. I'm just a bit west of Gatlinberg.

It's beautiful country.

[hunter]

15. California has some very disturbing Trump MAGA highway shrines.

My wife and I drive past a few every time we visit family.

The weirdest thing is how the livelihoods of these MAGAs are highly dependent on heavily subsidized water and immigrant farm workers.

[moondust]

17. Cincinnati has a Dem mayor.

Saw him on CNN earlier and was stunned. I've always thought Cincy was maybe the reddist city in OH.

[Chicago1980]

39. Biden was in Cincinatti... Making the infrastructure rounds.

I guess that's why the mayor is making the rounds.

I too thought Cinci was pretty conservative.

[moondust]

40. He was just on MSNBC with Ali Velshi.

Maybe you saw him.

[Chicago1980]

41. Yup...

That's what made me comment.

He came on the same time i was reading what u wrote.

[moose65]

23. Asheville is blue

And known for being a liberal oasis in a red desert. You didn’t know that before you came? 😃

[CRK7376]

24. You are in Progessive Asheville,

come down the mountain in towards Hickory, Statesville or Winston-Salem and you will find plenty of MAGA hats and trumpsters....unfortunately....

[Withywindle]

70. Winston-Salem itself is blue, the city

The surrounding areas, not so much.

[Warpy]

26. Asheville is lousy with liberals. Oh, it has its share of white power dunces

and Klanner holdouts, but there has been a huge influx of people retiring there from saner parts of the country.

As for the hats, they wee cheap Chinese produced things and most of them have been bleached out to pink in that southern sunshine. They only held up well if you only wore them to rallies and overthrowing the government.

I love the Blue Ridge, I think it's the prettiest part of the country, but I'd never go back there, I had a bellyful of it growing up.

[llmart]

28. I almost retired to the Asheville area.

I've been in that neck of the woods many times and it truly is gorgeous. I lived in Charlotte for ten years and travelled all over the South for my job. I've been gone for quite some time now. I read where retirees of my age group aren't as interested in retiring in Florida as prior generations, so they're choosing NC or Tenn. You just have to find the right area that has people you have more in common with. Once you get out into the small towns in the boonies is where you probably see more racist rednecks, but I live in Michigan now and if you go north of the tri-county area of Detroit, you'll see just as many.

[Warpy]

31. When I finally left Boston, I landed in New Mexico

The altitude gives us four seasons and the area is starkly beautiful, an amateur geologist's dream. Best of all, it's DRY for most of the year, which is really what I was looking for. It was a good move.

[GulfCoast66]

42. OMG. I can't imagine living in a dry landscape. I love our Florida rains.

The more the better.

No accounting for tastes I guess.

[Warpy]

46. I was born there and my parents retired there

and my dad never understood why I didn't jump at the chance to move there. My mother did, she said she loved to see all the high rise buildings being built because they'd make Florida sink faster.

NM gets a few humid weeks in midsummer. 50% relative humidity is enough to remind me why I never wanted to move to a place where humidity rarely dips below 70%.

My parents are gone now and I miss them. I don't, however, miss going to Florida to visit them.

[GulfCoast66]

48. And I love the humidity!

But I was raised in South Louisiana and have been in Central Florida for 35 years.

When I visit low humidity places my nose goes crazy like I have allergies and my lips and hands crack.

I actually like the heat as long as I’m out of the sun.

And the lack of green out west is not attractive to me

We all have our preferences.

[Marius25]

59. My parents were planning on retire just outside Asheville

But after NC went to Trump this election, and with that district electing Madison Cawthorn, they decided they can't handle being represented by a white nationalist in Congress.

[moose65]

64. That's a shame

They could have helped swing that district back. That district can be swingy with a good candidate. Cawthorn got 55% of the vote, riding on Trump's coattails.

[JohnnyLib2]

27. What about the shops on Gatlinburg's main street? Not long ago Trumpish crap was everywhere.

Enjoy the mountains!

[AKwannabe]

29. Gatlinburg TN

Is Dolly Parton country.

[NewHendoLib]

32. Glad you liked it - I live 20 miles south -

where it is at least starting to trend in the right direction (but... Cawthorne...argggh). It's a pretty superb place to live, for sure. We make road trips to Asheville to do the Trader Joe every few weeks.

[blm]

49. Jeff Jackson is doing a townhall Friday at 5:30

East Flat Rock Park.

[NewHendoLib]

50. thanks for the info.

unsure of my availability - been one of those weeks...

[Orrex]

34. I work throughout Ohio and western PA, and all I can say...

is that it's been hard to maintain my pledge to piss on every Trump sign I've seen. Gotta keep hydrated!

[Bear Creek]

35. I worked with people who are southern

They would always ask what is wrong with the people that lived in southern Ohio. The answer was they think they are southern ers. Response was always the same we don't act like that. Funny when the BBC did an article on hillbilly elegy they said Ohio was a southern state. I replied to them that the only thing Ohio is south of is Canada. Gateway to southern hospitality only place that slogan would be correct for is southern KY. It's shameful that Ohioans don't know the history of Ohio.

[GulfCoast66]

43. My wife is from the southern Midwest

I’m from the Deep South. I’ve never seen the outright open racism in the south I heard in her part of the country. I was shocked 35 years ago when I first heard it because I assumed that shit was southern.

I now know why. You spout off racist shit openly while growing up in the south eventually some black guy is going to clock you. And if my high school years are indicative some white guys would be next in line.

But where my wife grew up there are no black folks. It gives them fake courage they would never have in a high school that is 35% black. And where they suited up on the football field with black team mates.

It taught me racism is not a southern problem. But an American problem.

[eilen]

54. I always thought that was true of Indiana

Ohio is ... a paradox. I have an uncle that lives there and he is no MAGA.

[Katinfl]

38. Love reading this thread

Because I am in Warrensville NC right now…….outside of Boone. I know of all the places mentioned because we used to live in Charlotte, now in FL. I remarked to my husband that I have not seen any trump/pence signs in our travels around all of these small, rural towns in the last 2 weeks. Not sure what that means but I was surprised.

[Rhiannon12866]

47. My grandmother lived quite near Asheville (Black Mountain) and all her friends were liberals

It was my impression that this was a generally liberal area, lots of art and music - and a beautiful area too!

[moose65]

65. The Asheville area IS quite liberal

Asheville, Black Mountain, and the immediate area are quite liberal. When you get down into the southwestern tip of NC, that's where you find your doomsday preppers, libertarians, and militia types. Interesting mix in that area!

[msfiddlestix]

52. I have my train tickets in hand. Heading for the Blue Ridge Mountains

in a few weeks. doing a cross country train ride and I just can't wait . I have contacts in Asheville, Canton, Mt. Airy, Galax and Carroll County. hiking and jamming is mostly on my agenda.

I can't wait.

[Withywindle]

53. Are you going to the Galax Fiddlers' Convention?

I grew up in Carroll County, it was always a highlight!

[msfiddlestix]

56. Decision to go there was very last minute

Spending days trying to book the best coast to coast Amtrak deals and working out logistics, I haven't yet managed to check out when and if these events are happening while I'm there. Do you know off the top of your head the date on the convention? And yes if it's happening while there, you betcha I'll be there!

I'm going to be "house sitting" in Hillsville, so I think Galax is really close relatively. Amtrak tickets are in hand, a month in advance. I leave the Bay Area on August 27th, and will arrive on Aug 30th. My stay is until Sept 12th. Unless I decided to never to return, ha ha.

Hope to catch as many jams and fiddle events as I possibly can. Can't drive at night, so I'll be doing Uber and or taxi's. for late into the evening events.

I just can't wait. I'm so freaking jazzed to finally get to be there in the heart of this music and the environment from which it was born.

[msfiddlestix]

57. Oh darn, I just looked it up and it's in early August

bummer. But I'm guessing there's going to be other smaller events here and there.

I'd like to explore a little of historical museums and maybe get in a relatively easy hike nearby Hillsville if possible

If you have any suggestions, tips I'd be very grateful!

I love the name Carroll County, it's also a title of a fun tune, makes wonder if this is the Carroll County referred to. I'll need to research that.

Do you play? Are you close by?

[Withywindle]

67. You have come to the right person!

My dad is a retired park ranger who worked on the Blue Ridge Parkway from the 70s through the 90s

The Crooked Road Music Trail has a travel guide and companion book that's very good: https://www.virginia.org/places-to-visit/the-crooked-road/

I'm assuming you already know about the Blue Ridge Music Center (which is relatively new).

They have daily midday music sessions: https://www.blueridgemusiccenter.org/

It's an outdoor venue so it's safer than a big indoor concert. (Sadly, this is a mostly red area with low vaccination and masking, so...)

You can't miss Barr's Fiddle Shop in Galax. Living history and you'll find someone to talk your ear off and sell you all the local CD's you can stand: https://barrsfiddleshop.com/

The Floyd Country Store in Floyd County also has tons of live music: https://www.floydcountrystore.com/


Check out the Carroll County History museum and their exhibit about the Courthouse Tragedy, a pretty spectacular shooting that happened there in 1912 (and people are STILL talking about it). The resulting manhunt was front-page news nationwide until the Titanic sank. The Sidna Allen House is closed for renovations, but you can drive by it on Route 52 in Fancy Gap, it's impressive: http://carrollvamuseum.org/museum/courthouse-tragedy/


Groundhog Mountain has light hiking and AMAZING views (even more so if you climb the tower)

If you can go a little distance, Whitetop Mountain and Mt Rogers (both in Grayson County) are, I believe, VA's highest peaks and have absolutely gorgeous confer/moss forests near the peaks. https://www.blueridgeparkway.org/communities/fancy-gap-hillsville-galax-carroll-counties/

The Orlean Puckett cabin is beautiful, and has a haunting story about a midwife who delivered 1,000 babies in her life - and had 24 of her own, and 23 of them died. (A recent book speculates that she and her husband had a rare genetic incompatibility: https://www.nps.gov/people/orlean-puckett.htm

Watch out on Labor Day weekend. The Official VFW Flea Market and Gun Show has been cancelled at its main location, but there are lots of people holding popup/alternative sales on their own land. When it's running normally, this thing is so huge that it turns Hillsville into the biggest city in VA for three days. The traffic and parking situation is just as you'd expect when half a million people come to a town that usually only has just less than 3,000.

[msfiddlestix]

68. omg. thank you for putting in print a lot of what my friend just rattled off

on a phone call the other night. I couldn't commit to memory fast enough. Largely you just laid it out a great deal of the items she mentioned, and I'm going to reference this directly.

My friend and her husband both make their living making and teaching Appalachian and Southern music. Right now, they're both teaching Swannanoa Gathering I think, and then off to another one elsewhere then off to Alaska while I'm holding down the fort.

So she can't play tourist guide for me.

I read about the 1912 Courthouse shoot out on line, and laughed out loud, thinking this is the stuff of classic old black and white films. Just blown away. I also read about the car and gun flea market. I'll definitely be avoiding that event. Although, it might be an interesting photo shot from a distance.

I just ordered Crooked Road yesterday! Expecting to arrive on Wed. Can't wait to read that one too.

Do you play and are you around this neck of the woods by any chance?

Editing to clarify, I'm only going to be there for just under two weeks. They'll be back when I leave. Unless I decide not to ever leave, hee he

[Withywindle]

69. My pleasure!

I see you have a contact in Mt Airy. That's Surry County, Tommy Jarrell country! The Earle Theater has old-time music and dance lessons on Thursdays

http://www.surrycountymusic.com/events


From there it's a pretty short drive to Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock, which have amazing views and lots of hiking trails at varying levels of length and steepness.

Also, if you go down from Fancy Gap (my home town!) on Route 52, you can experience history in the form of one of the roads that was deadliest to truckers in the whole US until 18-wheelers were banned from going southbound in the late 70s (Some still try.) There's a song about it!

(It's not actually the scariest road down Fancy Gap Mountain. I give that dubious honor to Route 620/Lambsburg Road. Bring a change of underwear if you try that one.)


I do play a little fiddle but not well, I'm a rank beginner. Most of the time I live in Chicago now, but due to Covid reasons I'm stranded/helping my parents in Winston-Salem, NC, where they moved about 10 years ago. About an hour and a half from Fancy Gap - we do still come up for music and hikes once in a while.

[msfiddlestix]

71. more awesome stuff to check out, thank you!

Awe.. sweet. I wondered who the artists in this recording are?

Jim and Artie Johnson, from Hillsville? No other artists are mentioned, I infer the two of them laid down the tracks for each of the instruments? I hear really lovely fiddle, banjo, vocals, and guitar.

I also heard quite briefly the sound of a woman's voice (I think) in the chorus. quietly singing back up under his voice. and a little humming with "that old fancy gap"at the end. Very nice.

By the way, hope you've taken your fiddle with you on your travels.. try to get in a few tunes and it will astonish you how much you've absorbed!

maybe I can pm you while there if I'm in need of general consultation if needed? Traveling alone, which is not necessarily unusual, but it's been over 50 years since I left N.C. for California, and never been to Virginia or that part N.C. except when heading west, and a "drive through" from Berryville down to Glalax to Asheville back in the 90's heading down South to visit with relatives on a very limited schedule. OTH, if you're nearby while I'm there pm too!


I have a feeling I'm going to end up having a very difficult time leaving!

Thanks again!

[Withywindle]

72. I don't know who the musicians are, sadly

I think it came out in the 70s. I remember seeing the 45 for sale in local stores as a child.

Yes, feel free to PM me if you want more suggestions!

How do you get there via Amtrak these days? I used to take the Cardinal from Chicago often, when the nearest stop was Prince, WV, and someone would come pick me up there. (Which I recommend looking at, if you go by that way. It's a tiny station with very well-preserved 30s/40s bakelite/neon). Or if I was trying to go to Roanoke where a lot of my friends lived, I'd stay on until Clifton Forge and there was a bus to Roanoke from there.

I think Roanoke has Amtrak service again now, right?

[msfiddlestix]

73. Yes, Roanoke has Amtrak service again, I understand it was limited for destinations but not boarding

for a considerable time. Don't know when that changed,

Roanoke was the closest in mileage to Hillsville in terms of train or air travelers, and would cost less to uber/taxi over to Hillsville.

Since I'm on a shoestring budget, I've decided against immediately renting a car until after I've settled in for a day. There's a chance I may be connected to a friend of my friend with a car to lend or rent for much lower rate than the commercial rentals. Not worked out yet, but any way I can lower the cost of my stay there is a necessity.

If I do have to rely on commercial rentals, I'll need to plan out my day trips wisely. I want to see a friend in Asheville, haven't worked out the mileage and time on that trip yet. I know there's a lot I want to do while there, and the time will speed by like lightening.

I have my trip to Virginia and my return worked out as well as I can given this is my first coast to coast Amtrak experience. I'll be on the Zephyr at least to Chicago, not sure which trains are taking me to Washington then Roanoke.

I actually will start and end with an Amtrak motor coach from where I live to Martinez Ca, board there and then through to Chicago where I will have a 4 hour layover and switch trains from there to Washington DC, layover there for 2 hours, switch to another train to Roanoke. It's 4 day 3 night trip. Which promises to be brutal in some aspects riding coach, unless I upgrade along the way to a "roomette" and about 3 x the cost of coach each way. I've decided to rough it unless it's impossible and there's availability.

I'm gonna try to make the best of it, some friends of mine are strongly recommending I upgrade at the start. I'm going to work out my budget a little more and see if I can make that happen. It's gonna be worth which ever decision I make, because I can still see from memory the beauty of that region and of course experiencing and just being at the place where the music I play originated is going to be awesome.

I also want to make the most of the layovers in Chicago and Washington DC. Have to research the location of the stations to the proximity of "things to do and see" which I don't expect will be much.

I also want to get a little hiking in and will definitely rely on your rec's.

Lol...very ambitious. we'll see how things actually work out.

"Best Laid Plans"..... having a way to modify greatly.

[djm5971]

55. They were all over the place in Gatlinburg

in 2017 when we went there. Every other house in the Gatlinburg area had Trump signs. There was also a huge Confederate flag flying outside Asheville on the interstate that runs east to Winston Salem when we went there in 2020.

[Marius25]

58. Asheville is very liberal.

It's a bastion of blue in a sea of red.

Go 30 mins outside Asheville and it's all Trump country. That's the same district that elected Madison Cawthorn, the white nationalist under sexual assault allegations.