appalachia
I SUPPOSE THAT APPALACHIA technically stretches from the north Georgia mountains to the top of Pennsylvania, but for me, the heart of Appalachia lies in West Virginia. Or, forget political boundaries: the heart lies in the mountains, of course.
These are old mountains, worn down now... when they were born 680 million years ago, they were at the center of Pangaea... part of the same mountain chain as the Atlas mountains in Morocco (yes, I snatched that fact from Wikipedia)... but it's fascinating, no? They eroded to flatness, and then were pushed up again...
But returning to political and imaginary designations, let's take a closer look at West Virginia (as we see, the imaginary entity called "West Virginia" is certainly shaped by the mountains)--
west virginia
state nickname: The Mountain State
The panhandle is touristed by East Coasters, as it offers some escape from East-Coast-madness. Harper's Ferry is touristy but quaint, and you can walk across the railroad bridge and hike on the other side of the Shenandoah. It's a confluence-spot (the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers come together here) and so it has that kind of power. Berkeley Springs is a little new-agey tourist spot; Morgantown is the hip university town. But all this is kind of the accessible frontier of West Virginia; drive deeper into the mountains to find quiet beauty.
Further south, along the border between Virginia and West Virginia, is especially fairy-woods-beautiful. I spent a long time once trying to find Lost City, WV, which was on my map, but I never could.
In central WV, Elkins has a small but friendly natural foods shop, Good Energy Foods (100 3rd St); Scottie's on the main drag is a good place for lunch, and there's the Three Forks Cafe for morning espresso. If you pass through Buckhannon, stop in at Aesop's Cafe (15 Main St) for morning coffee/books/art. I've never stopped in Gypsy, WV, a bit north of Clarksburg, but it seems a neat place to mail things from.
Up north, Moundsville is where the big Krishna farm is if you want to go sing and dance with them (I've never been, but I can imagine). To the south, Charleston and Huntington are the big towns in West Virginia, with populations just over 50,000. Both of them have pleasant downtown walking; Charleston is the state capital and Huntington feels more industrial (though there is a university there). Southern WV is gorgeous, but it's also heavily-mined coal country, with that haze over it... earth-abused, agitated, tailings of a black past-- the mountains seem sturdy, but are they? 680 million years old... well.
Southern Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Western North Carolina... I've passed through the rolling blue hills, but memory is thin & my paper-notebooks are in a box far from here, so you'll just have to grab a bike or a car or some good boots & explore. Find people in-the-know; start somewhere hip & known like Asheville, North Carolina, and work your way underground. Here's an article about the vortex power of this town (got to love them vortex towns...) Here's the independent Asheville newsweekly: Mountain Xpress. Asheville hostel with local links: Bon Paul and Sharkey's (I guess there's another hostel downtown, too). And it seems that Asheville is a good town for sitting in the park; three cheers for public space. If you go through Tennessee, Summertown is home to The Farm, legendary commune with permaculture courses and a hippie museum. But I would rather visit the anarchists at Pumpkin Hollow, myself (Liberty, Tennessee).
back to the map
state motto: Montani semper liberi / Mountaineers are always free
Earthaven Ecovillage