Great Smokey Mountains National Park

2009 United States History Tour

March 28 - April 5, 2009

Ok, so the picture above isn't exactly "historical". It is a good picture and I did visit the Great Smokey Mountains National Park while on my trip through history. I saved GSM to the end of the trip because: 1) I figured I'd be tired of seeing only historical things (which I pretty much was but I had one more to go), and 2) I knew it would be a pretty and scenic place (which it was), and 3) after a week of seeing and absorbing A LOT of history, I figured I would have earned it. Plus, there is a historical component to GSM; however, I did not really immerse myself in that aspect during my visit.

But I digress, which is normal for me if you've ever visited my site before and read any of my travel logs.

I decided, for a variety of reasons, to take this year's "big" trip within the United States. And, since I'd always wanted to visit historical places, this trip was born. Originally, the plan was to start in Memphis and work my way east to Jacksonville, seeing lots of places along the way (Vicksburg, Shiloh, Stone Mountain, GSM, and so on). However, I wasn't crazy about how that trip was shaping up - I just couldn't get it to work out in a way that I liked and that made sense to me.

I started playing with the itinerary and reviewing airfares, and I came up with several different itineraries. The one I ultimately chose and stuck with was a Philadelphia to Knoxville trip, with stops along the way in Gettysburg, Sharpsburg, Shenandoah National Park, Fredericksburg, Williamsburg, Charleston, and GSM. There were a couple of other stops along the way on this trip and one planned stop that did not occur (I ran out of time after spending twice my allotted time at Gettysburg but, since I consider that time well spent, I am okay with this).

Overall, I had terrific weather except for a thunderstorm in Philadelphia (I wasn't out in it) and rain in Charleston (pretty much the entire day). And I got to see everything except Sharpsburg. The only issue I had was, per usual, a foot issue. Both feet were in a great amount of pain so I wasn't able to walk as well or as much as I normally would have. I found out after my trip that I had torn a tendon in my right foot so that explains some very sharp extreme pain I was feeling.

And I got to walk through history. Well, sort of. I got to walk where history happened. My trip wasn't in chronological order - I started in the 1770's and 1780's (Philadelphia), went to 1863 (Gettysburg), then 1864/1863/1862 (the whole Wilderness/Chancellorsville/Fredericksburg battlefields area), 1781 (Yorktowne), 1607 (Jamestowne), and so on. I am sure the history is being presented in the best possible light, meaning a lot of uninspiring or unsavory stories probably exist that aren't being told. But I got to see what I wanted to see, walk where people like Benjamin Franklin and Robert E. Lee walked, take lots of pictures (about 300 or so I believe), and just absorb what happened there. I learned a lot and bought a few books - the book "Gettysburg" by Stephen Sears is a great account of that 3-day battle.

Please enjoy the pictures and the commentary.

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