When my mother was a child, her family traveled to every state in the U.S. Along the way, she dreamed of stopping in Georgia and never leaving on their way from Indiana to Mississippi to see relatives. Eventually, she did, in 1997, and that's how my family of Badgers and Hoosiers ended up in a state full of Peaches and Peanuts.
Also along the way, she saw barns. Red barns, with black roofs, with SEE ROCK CITY painted in white. She saw bird houses, red ones, with the same inscription. She knew she wanted to see Rock City.
Fast forward several decades to May of 2015. After years of hearing my mother point out bird houses in neighborhoods and mention how she wanted one, I thought, let's get her a bird house for her birthday.
Then I decided I could make it a little better. We could actually see Rock City, and the seven states from the top of the mountain.
Rock City, on Lookout Mountain, is about three hours away from Gainesville, on the state line with Tennessee, but the drive had some beautiful views of the mountains along the way and it was worth it. We left early on a Saturday morning, stopped and had lunch, and still had plenty of time for the sites.
Before Rock City began as a tourist destination in the 1920's, it was inhabited by Native Americans. The famous Lovers Leap cliff, like the Sautee Nacoochee Mound, also tells the tail of star-crossed lovers from the two tribes.
It was known as The Rock City throughout the 1880's, but Garnet Carter made it a household name. Carter and his wife, Freida, created "Fairyland" on the mountain, after Freida's love for European folklore, which was going to have a golf course. The golf course took too long to build, and the destination was already garnering attention, so instead, he created Tom Thumb's Miniature Golf, the first mini-golf course in the nation.
The mini-golf course was later franchised, and while Carter was busy with it's success, Freida had plans of her own for Rock City. During the Depression, the Carters put more emphasis on the little city, which included trails through rocks, beautiful gardens and little gnomes imported from Germany. Carter realized people would pay to see this. They found a cheap way to advertise - writing "See Rock City" and "See Seven States at Rock City!" on barn roofs.
The barns went in to decline in the 1960's, after the so called "Ladybird Act" - most of the barns were painted over, but several remain, and plenty of birdhouse tout the famous slogan. But my mother never forget them (talk about good advertising.) When we arrived, we paid for our wrist bands and started the trails through rocks, gardens, gnomes and eventually the mountains. At the very tippy top, you can see seven states - no, really! The views were truly spectacular. Maybe I'm just appreciating it more as an adult than I would as a kid, but the view from Seven States and Lover's Leap I was particularly fond of.
The trails were easy for any type of hiker - including my 89 year old grandmother. Plus, there were activities for kids, some crazy black light/neon gnome displays (that I may or may not have dragged my entire family though) and little shops and cafes. And, if you're a garden or flower lover, there is always something in bloom.
And despite being called a tourist trap, it really wasn't. People didn't hawk tchotchkes at you, you didn't have to pay to enter a million little things, and it was well-kept and didn't feel crowded, though there were hundreds of people there. I was honestly sad to leave.
In the end, we bought the bird house. And some mugs, and a commerorative shot glass, several postcards and I think a t-shirt. The biggest negative to our visit: I have no idea how the heck I'm supposed to top this for Mom's next birthday.
You really have to see it for yourself. Grab a big group, family, friends, strangers, dogs, whatever, and pile in the car. I recommend taking the route through the mountains if you have time. Plan to stay the whole day!
Join me next week as I head to a large rocking chair in a field. Yep. A large rocking chair in a field. It's in Lula, just waiting for people like me to come check it out. Let's go!
Until then, stay curious.
This article merely scratches the surface of the Rock City, but whether or not you decide to take those barns' and birdhouses' advice is up to you. The comments made in this feature article, by myself and by those who have been mentioned or quoted, do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Jacobs Media Corporation. Read, enjoy and explore at your own risk.
