[princessbelle]

Originally Posted by apocalipstic

I love the Appalachians too. Especially the Smokey Mountains! We usually visit a couple of times a year at least, just to breathe the cool mountain air and relax. The views are breathtaking.

I hope I did not sound like all small towns and rural areas in the South are scary, just some...and somehow, when I drive into town, I can just tell. There is a feeling...(and way too many rooster and pit bull cages in the yards for comfort) These are fewer and far between any more...thank goodness.

Interestingly, Smokey Mountains National Park was "built" with Federal funds by the CCC as a part of the New Deal, as was every lake in TN but one.

The Interstate System which brought and continues to bring industry to the South, built by President Eisenhower with Federal funds as a part of the National Defense.

There is so much resistance in the South to the Federal Government, but if we really look at what we have and where we are, we have more than just ourselves to thank.

((((apocalipstic))))) You certainly did not sound in any way that you were afraid of small towns. To the contrary, I completely agree with you. There are some places in the mountains here that you would not venture into if they didn't know you were visiting for reasons of help or just being neighborly. The culture and ideals of some people here are shoot first and ask questions later. I know that....because it is the truth. I have been fortunate to be known in a few of these areas as "Doc" which is sorta funny to me just being a nurse, however, it is amazing and a blessing that sometime I or another nurse are the only medical professionals these people ever see. Again, it is NOT to say I would be a martyr or want to take any chances and it would be foolish to not recognize that some properties are protected at all costs....shotguns are abound in some places, I've seen it first hand and I completely understand it.

Of interesting fact.....In East Tennessee, Fort Sanders Hospital (which is where I was born, my kids were born and where I worked previously) is built on the land where a Fort was constructed by the Union Army, not Confederate. There are a some Union areas in West Tennesee also and throughout the South that supported the Union and where confederate flags did not fly. Just goes to show you, people in Dixie can be as diverse and nonconforming as parts of the rest of the world.