Road TripI was at rehearsal for a Theater Emory reading, when I started to talk to one of the Emory Professors about my autoethnography. He suggested I go on a road trip to learn a little bit more about Georgia's history and the people who live here. He graciously made me a map for my road trip and marked all the spots on the map, where it might be interesting to stop. So I researched the places I would be traveling too, and rented a car for my Valentine's Day, road trip. I was planning on going with a friend, but with midterms coming up, and it being a holiday, I ended up going on my adventure alone. I woke up in the morning, made myself a road trip playlist, ate some breakfast, and hopped into the car, excited to embark on my adventure.
Stop #1: Dahlonega Song Playing: Run Around: Blues Traveler After I got in the car, bought a snack, filled the tank with gas, and put my first destination into my phone gps, I was ready to go. I drove about two hours north, to the down of Dahlonega. After the worst parallel parking job of my life, I walked over to the old courthouse, which was built in 1836, and later converted into the Gold Museum. As I walked in the front door of the museum, two of the ladies working there talked to me a little bit about the town, before taking me to see a movie about the history of Dahlongea, upstairs. Dahlonega is located in Lumpkin Country, and used to be home to the Cherokee tribe, before the Trail of Tears sent them out of Georgia, west, towards the Mississippi River. Dahlonega is also known for being the site of the first major gold rush in the United States. Gold found in Dahlonega was some of the purest found in the whole world. Miners came from all over to move to the mountains of North Georgia and pan for gold, and stayed there until California started to strike gold. They two women, drew me a map for how to get to Helen, GA and Princess Trahlyta's Grave, because apparently, my GPS would not work well in the Mountains. One "oh bless your heart dear" and a wave later, I was on my way to my next stop, the old fashioned way, with a paper map. Stop #2: Princess Trahlyta's Grave Song Playing: Everyday: Buddy Holly Ok. So maybe, the paper map was not the greatest idea. I have a history of being terrible at directions, especially in mountains, and of course I took many wrong turns and ended up going the wrong way on the highway for quite sometime. Eventually, I turned around and figured out how to read the map correctly. An hour later, I made it to my second destination, which was initially only four miles from where I started. Princess Trahlyta's grave was located right in the middle of a traffic intersection. Legend has it that Princess Trahlyta was a Cherokee princess (which is interesting because the tribe did not ever have princes or princesses) was known for finding the magic springs of eternal youth. One day, the princess was taken away by a rejected suitor far away from the springs, and she began to grow old. When she was dying the man promised he would bury her near the springs, and apparently did so at this very spot. It has become a tradition for people passing by to add a stone to her grave for good luck, which I did. Apparently, if you take anything off the grave, you will be cursed with bad luck. The woman at the gold museum told me a few years ago, some policemen were cleaning up the intersection and removed some of the rocks, and a few days later a few of the policemen were killed in a car accident. I made sure to only add a rock, and not to touch anything else. I hopped back into the car and got onto the correct highway. Stop #3: Helen, GA Song Playing: Wannabe: Spice Girls About an hour later, I drove into the town of Helen, GA. I only had about fifteen minutes to stop, after getting lost, and having a little bit of a late start. I decided to drive through the main road, and head over to the visitors center. As I walked into the center, I was greeted by two lovely women, in full german attire. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is the beautiful replica of an Alpine Village, in Helen, Georgia. The two women told me al little bit about the history of Helen. The town of Helen was also originally home to many Cherokee Indians, but after the Indian Removal Act, gold miners moved into pan for gold, and eventually become lumberjacks. in the late 1960s some businessman went out for lunch and came up with the idea to revive the town and make it stand out. In 1968, one of these businessman talked to an artist, John Kollock, who came up with the notion to turn the little town into an Alpine Village. They continue to build his idea into a reality ever since 1969. Before I left. one of the women drew me a map of a few places I could see nearby before I had to go back to Emory. Stop #4: Nacoochee Indian Mound Song Playing: This Will Be: Natalie Cole Following my new road map, I successfully made it to the Sautee-Nacoochee Indian Mound, just a few miles outside of Helen. There was nobody to talk to there, so it was just a quick photo opportunity, but I did do some research on the mound before leaving for my trip. Legned has it that two Indian lovers of warring tribes are buried somewhere with the the mound. The girl, Nacoochee was a daughter of a Cherokee Chief, and the boy, Sautee was a brave of the Chicksaw tribe. When the lovers tried to convince the girl's father to make peace with the other tribe, the chief ordered the boy to be thrown off a cliff and have his daughter watch. The couple ended up jumping to their death together, and the remorseful father, realizing that their love was true, buried them by the river. In actuality, the mound is a burial site that was there long before the Cherokee. The Smithsonian Institution discovered 75 skeletons, 27 burials included artifacts, and the orientation of the bodies varied in many different ways. I only stayed a moment to gaze at it and take a picture, but it was beautiful. Stop #5: Old Sautee Store Song Playing: The Wind: Zac Brown Band About two miles away from the mound was the Old Sautee Store. As I walked up to the front porch of the store a older man was with, what I assume was his grandson looking into a barrel labeled wampus. It also said "do not open me. beware of wampus", or something like that. I peered into the barrel also and saw something furry, but the little boy saw nothing. The old man decided to open the barrel and a big furry thing jumped out. I was startled and ran inside of the shop before I could see what it was. I was greeted by the woman working the counter, Mona, and she was the sweetest! Mona and her coworker talked to me for at least twenty minutes about the history. I did not write much of it down, but this is what I remember: Purchased in 1872, the Old Sautee Store is the 135 years old and currently on its fourth owner. It was originally built for the son of a farmer, because the son had heat stroke, and could not work out on the fields, but needed to support his family. From 1913-1952 the store rand as the local post office, and postal boxes can still be seen near the checkout in the store today. The third owner was Scandinavian and he owned the store with his wife until 2003, after the couple passed away and their nephew sold the store. During the time they owned it, a lot of the merchandise was Scandinavian, including some popular and very beautiful sweaters. The family that owns it now runs it as a general store, and the woman who work their now are mostly all retired and love to spend their time at the shop. I thanked them both for their time and headed out in a rush to get to my final stop. Stop #6: Mark of the Potter Song: Day Tripper: Beatles As I drove along the twists and turns of the mountain side, I made it to a famous craft store called Mark of the Potter. Located inside an old Grist Mill on the Soque River, Mark of the Potter is the oldest craft shop (in the same location), in all of Georgia. It opened in 1969, and sells handmade crafts, made by local artists. I only had a few minutes to spend in the shop, and the girl working there was not super friendly, but she tried to give me the general idea for getting back to Emory. I bought a mug and headed out. By far this was the coolest experience I had with this project, and I learned so much from getting outside of Atlanta and embarking on my solo journey into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
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