Posted by Dana S. on July 11, 2000 at 15:36:09:
In Reply to: A Gathering T-shirt story! posted by Diana S. on July 11, 2000 at 15:21:27:
: Af'noon ya'll,
: This past weekend my daughter and I made our first trip to the Highland Games at Grandfather Mountain. WOW, WOW, and WOW what a great time we had!! Great sites and sounds, AWESOME music (Seven Nations, Clandestine, and my new very favorite Slainte Mhath (pron. 'slawn cha va!!'), good food, and tons of nice folks. When you arrive (8am for us) you hear bagpipes until you leave (9pm) - hundreds of them at times!!
: On day two of the games (Saturday), I wore my Gathering T-shirt. This particular day is very crowded so Jordan and I decided to cut out a little early. On the way up the mountain we had passed a sign advertising Fort Defiance, the original home of General William Lenoir, a Rev. War veteran. It was first a fort to defend the family against Cherokee raids (for which it was never needed)and later the family homestead. We decided to stop by on the way home to check it out.
: We were the only ones visiting at this particular time and even contemplated turning around and leaving thinking "Well, this must not be a very popular place". BUT, we didn't - we trudged up to three persons sitting on the porch in period dress and they promptly welcomed us, and gave us the opportunity for a tour, so we said "Sure!" This turned out to be a magnificently preserved home built in 1792. This historic site boasts the most (over 300) artifacts of any site in the state.
: We toured several of the rooms with the initial guide and then when we got to the General's study we were passed to a second docent, William. He was telling us about Gen. Lenoir's career as a surveyor explaining about the surveyor's chain, a length of 66 feet, and his compass thingy and ..."Oh, and by the way, did you attend the Mohican Gathering two weeks ago?" Well, it took me a second to realize he had asked ME a question and then I realized my shirt was the prompt for the question. I kind of tucked my chin and suspiciously looking out of squinted eyes said..."Uh,...yes". He quickly pointed out (since I was probably looking at him like he had other-worldly powers) he knew Clabert and had drawn the map for him to the Top of the World and had lent Clabert the car he was driving since his was "impaired". What a neat coincidence, small world kind of experience.
: The next fellow we encountered said he and his wife were in LOTM, but he didn't like the movie or the way things had been done, so I replied "......OH!"...and he went on into his talk.
: This property also has the largest Birch tree east of the Mississippi R. and is estimated at 450 years old - HUGE! And a Bald Cypress complete with knees right in the middle of a field had been previously planted in a spring that no longer coursed that way.
: So, anyway, you never know what might happen or who you might encounter with our Mohican Gathering shirts, huh?
: Slainte Mhath (To your good health!),
: Diana S.
Great story, Diana. I would have loved to have been with you!
Dana S.