Mountain Memories From the Late 1950s

Many years ago when my sons were teenagers in the late 1980s, I was traveling with my family up to Nantahala, NC where we planned to camp with some friends and go white water rafting.  We decided to take the scenic route through Highlands and Franklin, NC.

As we traveled along, things started looking familiar to me.  The feeling of déjà vu grew and grew until I blurted out, "I've been here before!!"

They made fun of me, of course.  Tried to convince me I was crazy.  Talking out of my head.  Until I started describing what would be around the NEXT curve in the road.  Then their sneers lessened, but when that next turn revealed a store with the name "Batchelor" on it, they shut up.

I really had been there before.  My memories were sketchy because the last time I was there was in the late 1950s. 

Back in the 50s and maybe even 1960 Daddy used to take us to visit family in the mountains around Franklin and Highlands.  I have fuzzy memories of these people.  They were very old when I was small, so they would have passed away years ago.  Still, I wonder about them from time to time.

When we were there, sometimes Daddy would go off with the man somewhere and leave me with the woman. I was little, so she would oftentimes want me to sit on her lap.  Her skin was pale and looked like it was stretched thin over the bone.  You could see the veins all blue running beneath it.  Her fingers were long and twisted at the ends from arthritis, I guess.  She had grey hair and always wore an old house dress.  She didn't want to show her teeth.  If she felt like smiling big, she would hide them with her hand.

They lived in a white house with a picture window set back from the paved road.  There was a white fence along the dirt road leading up to the house.  I can still see it in my mind's eye.  The grass was always tall in the pasture.  Green in summer.  Golden in autumn.

Sometimes we would pack a picnic and go up that way and Mama and my siblings would go with us. Sometimes Daddy would just take me. Along the road we would drive under a waterfall.  Daddy would oftentimes stop the car right in the middle of the road (no traffic to speak of back then) and we'd get out behind that waterfall and marvel at it. There was a cave behind it too.  A magical place.

I believe it was Bridal Veil Falls.

Bridal Veil Falls, NC

Gene and I generally got into trouble climbing on the rocks when we were together, of course. We were a pair!

After the waterfall, Daddy'd drive on down the road a bit further and find a "look-out" place to just sit on big rocks and picnic while we enjoyed the cool mountain air and beautiful mountain views. 

Daddy could breathe better in the mountains.

On other Sunday afternoons we'd head to the mountains in a totally different direction...up to Grandfather Mountain to walk the "Mile High Swinging Bridge."  I remember there was a bear in a cage near there that we saw sometimes, and there was no admission fee or anything back then.  You just drove up to the top of the mountain and parked your car.  You'd almost always have the whole mountain to yourself.  Paradise. 

Mile High Swinging Bridge at Grandfather's Mountain, NC

Daddy would also take me to a place that I do not know where it was.  It was way back up in the high country.  We visited a lady who lived in a little light-colored box of a house.  I believe she was kin because Daddy talked to her like family.  He'd say first thing, "Bring me some of that cool mountain water!" and she'd laugh and tell him to get it himself! I think it was a joke between them.

She had a daughter about my age who had a bicycle with training wheels!  I liked that little girl and enjoyed playing with her when we'd visit them.

Mama came with us sometimes, but she was bad to get carsick on the curvy roads, so often we went without her.  If she was with us, on the way home, Daddy would stop and buy Mama and us children ice cream at a little mountain store that had never seen a drop of paint.  One of those little bare board places with a tin roof and a grizzled grouchy old man behind the counter that believed children should be seen and not heard.  

I've asked my family many times where this family lived and who they were, but no one remembers for sure.  Mama would oftentimes get lost going to see her sisters ten miles away (seriously!), so she was no help when she was alive either.  I sure liked these people though.  I wish I knew who they were. 

If any of this sounds familiar to any of you, please comment and let me know!  I'd sure love to reconnect with these people, and I'd love to hear your stories about these places.  😍