North Carolina has played a huge part in my life: we spent a week in the summer and every other Christmas in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains. My grandparents’ house was on a hill surrounded by woods, a farm once full of tobacco (and later host to a single, elderly horse), and the homesteads of several other family members.
My Mom grew up in Lake Junaluska – a smaller town thirty miles west of Asheville. Occasionally I’ll encounter people who’ve heard of Lake Junaluska. Invariably, they are Methodists from the east coast who attended one of the church’s many summer youth programs in the area.
Our summer visits to Lake Junaluska always included a hike up Water Rock Knob – a local, family-friendly climbing spot. There was always a walk around the lake itself and a trip to Maggie Valley to shop in the small boutiques. We’d follow my grandfather around as he worked on the farm and visit the fire station they later remodeled and named for him (he was a hero!). The rest of the time was spent fighting over the hammock or wandering through the woods to find a fresh water spring that was allegedly the site of my aunt Mary’s first kiss. Allegedly because I never found the spring; she surely got her first kiss there or somewhere on that hill.
The occasional summer also included a trip to Ghost Town, the sporadically-opened nearby amusement park perched atop a lower, rounder mountain. The key draw was the ski lift ride required to enter and exit the area. We looked forward to Ghost Town each summer because we never really knew if it would still be there. It was our be-roller-coastered Brigadoon.
One summer, my dad forged through swaths of poison ivy to build us a fort out of felled logs. Every summer thereafter included a camp out at The Fort with sleeping bags and our family friends Kip and Megan.
North Carolina introduced me to rhubarb, boiled peanuts, and bread-and-butter pickles. I pick up a jar of bread-and-butter pickles at the grocery store from time to time, but they are never as good as the ones my grandmother made. It’s always like that, isn’t it?
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My mom lived in Lenoir for about four years, she finished HS there. My grandpa at the time was sent to help open/manage a denim factory.
So I’ve never been to Lake Junaluska, but I know where it is ๐
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