A Recommended Fall Foliage Trip: Dragon’s Tail and On
Yesterday I did a one-day loop along the border of TN and NC. I’ve done all these roads before and camped in the area a lot, but for those who aren’t familiar, here’s a quick, interesting drive.
The Tail of the Dragon is well known among motorcyclists and sports car enthusiasts. For the rest of us, it’s a harrowing 11 mile stretch with 318 curves. However, it’s the only way to get over this first stretch of the Smokies south of Knoxville without going to the extremely crowded and touristy 411 through SMNP or going around the mountains to west in the Chattanooga area.
The road is US 129. It crosses from TN into NC. You’ll encounter a lot of motorcycles, many going too fast for their own good but there are plenty of quick turnouts to let them pass to their doom. However, the scenery for your passenger is great. As a driver you focus on the road. Going from north to south, if you follow 129 after you finish the Tail, you cross below the Cheoah dam.
Seventeen miles later, you reach the Cherohala Skyway.
Above is a drone shot from the summer. As you can see, a lot of turns. It’s higher, going up to almost 5,000 feet in places. Yesterday, the foliage above 4,500 was pretty bare, but below it was quite colorful. It runs to Tellico Plains.
A couple of worthwhile detours. Just before the eastern start of the skyway, take the turn to Joyce Kilmer National Forest. You’ll come to a four-way stop. Straight ahead it says the road ends. It does, but at a beautiful overlook high up– the Maple Springs Observation Deck. During the last inauguration, there were clips of Native American dancers on the overlook platform. Here is Scout walking out onto the platform a couple of years ago when we had it to ourselves.
It’s a one way drive up and back down, but worth it.
Then you do the Skyway. If you prefer a straighter way, with no big views but a dirt road going along a stream, take Forest Road 81 which is off to the right where the Skyway starts. It’s also a way, if you are coming back, and want to try a different route.
Near the end of the Skyway, Forest Road 20 is a beautiful paved road running along Tellico River. You can go to Bald River Falls, which is well worth it. The road does continue south, but becomes unpaved and mountainous. But it does get through.
However, going east you follow the river until you come back to the Skyway and then Tellico Plains.
BTW the Appalachian Trail runs along the Skyway where it traverses the NC/TN border.
The above might be a bit confusing but it’s a screenshot of my GAIA map with various waypoints marked from other trips surrounding the Skyway. The overlook is top right where it says Trailhead. The Skyway is yellow and then pink. The right side pink is the forest road. The red below the pink to the left is the other forest road. You see Bald River Falls near the left end.
Which brings me to the point that I highly recommend the Gaia app. Basic is free, but you get a 20% discount with this: https://www.gaiagps.com/discounts/?fp_ref=bob-94
Unless you’re out west in BLM land, I’ve found this area of the Appalachians with its cluster of National Forests and Wildlife Management Areas around the TN/GA/NC triangle to be the best for dispersed camping–outside of Smoky Mountain National Park which is crowded and full of rules! There are tons of Forest Roads. Try The Georgia Traverse for Forest and Off-Road Road Enthusiasts
Here is some advice on that:
How To Find Places To Disperse Camp W/Vehicle
Here is the current stage of foliage change:
Enjoy and stay safe!
What is the Largest Prison in the Free World?
If you fly into or out of LaGuardia, coming in or going out over the Bronx—which a plane seemed to do every two minutes while I was a kid as we were underneath the flight path—you can see Rikers Island quite close to the end of the runway. The Bronx is at the bottom of the picture and LaGuardia, to the right above Rikers.
It’s a 413-acre island in the East River, between da Bronx and Queens. It belongs, oddly enough, to the Bronx even though the bridge to it goes to Queens. Gee, thanks, Queens.
It employs roughly 10,000 corrections officers, which is a lot, and 1,500 civilians. Its capacity fluctuates but is almost always way too many. There are ten separate facilities on the island capable of holding roughly 14,000 prisoners, although researching this shows the number to change depending on who is listing it.
Like many places in New York City, it was built on top of a garbage dump. Seriously, you can hardly dig anywhere in the city and not hit either garbage or bodies. After being purchased by the city in 1884, for the whopping cost of $180,000, it was used as a dumping ground for pretty much everything that was loaded onto barges. BTW, that cost is around 5.5 million today.
It was originally only 90 acres, so that gives you an idea of how much stuff was dumped there over the years.
Like Hart Island, it was utilized as a training area. Two units of note, the Hawkins Zouaves and the 20th Colored trained there. Also, like Hart, near the end of the war, it was used to house Confederate Prisoners.
Because it was built on garbage, the island leaks methane. This is not good for the health of either the prisoners or the guards. The ground also is prone to shifting as the material it was built on top of moves about and condenses.
In other words, Riker’s Island is a mess.
Excerpted from: New York City Little Black Book 1: Secrets, History, and Trivia of the World’s Greatest City.
Where Is Alexander Hamilton Buried?
I tracked down his grave while doing research for a book, The Jefferson Allegiance, which has as the premise that Hamilton and Jefferson brokered a secret agreement to stop an imperial Presidency that they felt wasn’t covered under the power of the Constitution,
Pretty prescient of me, don’t you think?
I tracked down his grave in the place I figured most likely: Trinity Church Graveyard.
It’s located at 74 Trinity Place, next to the church in the financial district of Manhattan, near the very southern end. Broadway and Wall Street.
It’s an interesting place to stroll through. It opened in 1697, so it has a lot of history in it.
Three years before Hamilton was interred there, his son, Philip was laid to rest after losing a duel with someone who made crude remarks about his father. There is some sad irony there. Worse, no one knows where exactly his son was buried. He’s in the registry but there is no marker. This might be because of the nature of his death, but then it seems odd that his father was given a marker. There’s a story there.
One thing I’ve learned is there are LOTS of people buried in the city, and not in graveyards. An example of that is later on when I talk about the African Burial Ground Memorial.
Author Collection
Other notables buried there: Hamilton’s wife, Elizabeth Schuyler, who lived to 97 and died in 1854.
Albert Gallatin, who founded NYU and was Secretary of the Treasury.
The inventor, Robert Fulton, also resides in Trinity Graveyard. He led a most interesting life. He created the first submarine and torpedo. And the first commercially successful steamboat which revolutionized water travel.
What is also worth noting is who isn’t buried there. But that’s another post.
Excerpted from: New York City Little Black Book 1: Secrets, History, and Trivia of the World’s Greatest City.
Publication Day: New York City’s Little Black Book
NEW YORK CITY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK
Today is publication day! It’s in Kindle Unlimited so feel free to thumb through and check out all this interesting stuff about the city.
To give you an idea of what’s in it, below are screen shots of the table of contents. BTW, I plan to do the second book in this series, since this only touches a portion of what I’ve learned.
The Stars Are Aligned: 2 Free and 6 discounted books
In addition to the usual permanently free titles.
The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide is discounted to .99 or Kindle Unlimited.
Today, Psychic Warrior and Area 51: Interstellar are free. The latter is the first time it’s ever been free.
3 other Area 51 titles are discounted to .99 or Kindle Unlimited.
Dragon Sim-13 (Green Berets) and Equinox (Time Patrol) are also discounted to .99 or Kindle Unlimited.
Shane and the Hitwoman is still in Prime Reading.
New York City’s Little Black Book: Secrets, History, and Trivia of the World’s Greatest City will be out next week on the 27th! I really like all the trivia and interesting details in this book.
And fall is here. A few leaves have dropped. The nights are bit cooler. Nothing but good times ahead!
Stay safe and stay cool!
Bob & Scout & Maggie
The Bombardment Movie Review: Brutal Realism About War on par with Breaker Morant.
This Danish Movie from 2021 was titled in its home country as The Shadow In My Eye. It is a devastating movie about a real event during World War II.
First, though, I have to say neither title does much for selling the movie. One thing I learned as an author is title is critical. I learned this the hard way with horrible titles on my early books such as Eyes of the Hammer and Dragon Sim-13.
The real event it’s based on is one I studied while in Special Forces: Operation Carthage. This was a mission where British fighter-bombers attacked Gestapo Headquarters in Copenhagen. It was a high-risk mission to try to take out a single building in the middle of a city. It was also a high-risk mission in terms of one of its stated missions: freeing resistance fighters held prisoner in the very top floor as a shield against the building being bombed. Another goal was, of course, to kill Germans and collaborators and destroy their records.
One wonders if the Resistance made this difficult decision to push for the mission because there was concern some of their fellows who were being tortured by the Gestapo would eventually break (everyone breaks) and give up names and key information and destroy their network? So, yes, fine if they escape, but also if they’re killed, they can’t talk.
That is the core of war. Brutal.
And this movie which establishes several characters moving toward the fateful attack, or bombardment, is up there with the classic Breaker Morant about how insane and capricious war is.
The vast of characters range from the pilot and navigator of a Mosquito plane that was critical in the attack. Which went horribly wrong. There is also a nun questioning her faith. A Danish collaborator working for their police. And three young children. And the latter is the awful part.
I don’t want to say any more. It is a very well-made movie with a very tight script. Well-acted. Particularly the children.
I highly recommend it, but don’t expect to walk away feeling uplifted. There is one bright, ironic spot at the end, but other than that, it clearly shows War is Hell.
The Deadliest Place For Patriots In The Revolution Was . . .
Prison ships in New York Harbor.
More American soldiers and sailors died in prison ships (primarily Wallabout Bay in the East River, now Fort Greene Park) than in all the battles of the Revolution combined: over 11,500.
The conditions on these ships were appalling and disease and malnutrition ran rampant.
Bodies were tossed overboard and some washed up on shore.
There is a monument in Fort Green Park: Prison Ship Martyr’s Monument.
Excerpted from: New York City Little Black Book 1: Secrets, History, and Trivia of the World’s Greatest City.
Welcome to September and More Deals
Will it finally cool off a bit? Labor Day weekend looms. Fall beckons.
On a more serious note, because you know me, here’s a link to a free slideshow on how to deal with hot weather. As a side note, do you know which way your room fan should be turning in hot weather and then in cold? One of the many tidbits in Life’s Little Black Book. (Summer blowing down, winter up)
As usual, deals. Shane and the Hitwoman is in Amazon Prime Reading until December which means if you are a Prime member, you can read it for free. It’s also in Kindle Unlimited, where you get it for free, but I actually get paid, but, you know, whatever. Phoebe and the Hitwoman comes out in November. Lost Girls is also free today and the next couple of days. Several new Area 51 titles are discounted to .99 or Kindle Unlimited.
Out at the end of this month is New York City Little Black Book. Lots of fun writing that, learning more about my hometown.
With Labor Weekend ahead of us, one special note. If you’re going to be out on the water, please wear your life vest. Just having it nearby isn’t good enough. It’s like having your seat belt off, but knowing its nearby. The very nature of an accident is that it is unexpected. I wrote about how I learned that the hard way while kayaking the Little River in TN after a storm. HERE.
Have a great Labor Day weekend.
Nothing but good times ahead!
Bob
Gear Notes: Tyger Multi-Use shovel
Since people have been asking, I’m going to start posting quick notes on various survival, camping, and boondocking gear.
It’s taken me a while to accumulate and use all these tools and sort through what works and what doesn’t. The most important thing is to use everything before you HAVE to use it. There are few things worse than needing to set up your new tent in the middle of a storm and not realizing you don’t quite know how to do it.
So the Tyger combination shovel, axe, etcetera replaced the regular shovel I carried on my jeep. I find it very useful tending to and covering up campfires. Also for field latrines. I like that it breaks down into a small package. I still carry a full size axe and even an electic chain saw, but this is a great tool.
Availalbe here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3h579ga
FREEDOMLAND. Disneyland in the Bronx?
Part of the history of the north-east Bronx, but more recently, was the short lived amusement park, Freedomland.
It was a theme park built in 1960 in the northeast Bronx where Coop City now stands. My parents moved from a walk up in the South Bronx to a small house just off Bartow Avenue, very close to the site and I have memories of the park. Of course, my most vivid memories are playing in the ruins after it closed and went bankrupt in 1964. While almost all the rides were either sold off or junked, the concrete channels where the boats moved about were still there along with other remnants.
The park was developed by C.V. Wood who had been in on the construction of Disneyland in California, which opened in 1955.
On the surface it seemed like a good idea. A theme park in the largest city in the country.
However, one has to question the wisdom of the location. The area was marshland and used as a city landfill. It was also, nice bit of information, fed by Rattlesnake Creek. Apparently, there was a large population of rattlesnakes around this creek which flowed across the northeast Bronx and emptied into the Hutchinson River. By this time, however, most of the creek had been paved over and it was underground. You can see an above surface stretch in Seton Hall Park.
But, don’t worry, they held weekly meetings back in the old days to deal with the rattlesnakes and got ‘em all. So, they say.
I always wondered about building Coop City, the largest housing development on former marshland, but what do I know.
The park, based on a map of the United States, was built in just 300 days, at a cost, for land and construction of $65 million.
Interestingly, none of the park’s attractions were traditional rides such as roller coasters. Going with the U.S.A. theme. There was Little Old New York (which seems weird to put in actual present New York), Old Chicago (fire), the Great Plains (Indian attack), San Francisco (Earthquake), the Old Southwest (gunfight), New Orleans (pirates) and Satellite City. Are you picking up a motif?
Gay Talese reviewed the park as built on vacant wasteland. Which was true.
Several accidents and lawsuits sapped the park’s revenue. There was also Rye Playland just north of it where we went more often, even though we were blocks away from Freedomland.
There is a theory the park was built as a placeholder to get the land for future development, which happened when Coop City was built.
A Newsday review said “They came. They saw. They left. And most never came back.” Not much different than the Staten Island Peace Conference.
Excerpted from: New York City Little Black Book 1: Secrets, History, and Trivia of the World’s Greatest City.
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