Drive through South Walton County during the first week of May, and you are sure to see white-and-green flags waving in the warm spring air. These high-flying banners herald the coming of ArtsQuest, the Cultural Arts Association’s week-long celebration of all things art.
 

A kickoff concert, shopping tour, fashion show, student exhibit and preview gala all lead up to the ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival – the pièce de résistance of a week of ArtsQuest festivities leading up to the Mother’s Day weekend show.
 

This year, the ArtsQuest juried show commemorates its 20th anniversary in the Beaches of South Walton, taking place May 10 through 11 in The Village of Baytowne Wharf at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. The festival, which started as a community event in Grayton Beach, has grown tremendously over the past two decades, moving from its Grayton home to Eden State Gardens and now to the Village, where it boasts crowds of approximately 10,000.
 

“It is the only event of its kind in this area, and it’s such a great opportunity especially for those who live here to see artists they wouldn’t be exposed to without going to Atlanta, New Orleans or Chicago,” says Jennifer Steele Saunders, ArtsQuest producer. “It’s a great opportunity for the art to come to us.”


Along with wonderful exposure to art of all forms, ArtsQuest gives festival-goers the opportunity to meet new friends, greet old friends and take in the sights and sounds of the charming Village atmosphere – all under the bright Florida sunshine.


A Captivating Canvas
A work of art in its own right, The Village of Baytowne Wharf is in its best light when framed with the creative spirit of diverse artists. The bayside community begins to buzz as more than 100 artists from around the country converge on the open-air events plaza and along the community’s shell-paved streets.
 

“Baytowne Wharf is the perfect backdrop for the annual ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival,” says Kim Duke-Layden, director of commercial property at Sandestin. “It is naturally picturesque, with pedestrian-friendly streets, ample green space and unique facilities, allowing guests to meander from one side of the Village to the other. There are also plenty of opportunities to stop off at sidewalk cafés for a quick bite or a leisurely lunch, not to mention a refreshing beverage.”
 

The magic happens when the little white tents pop up along the Village streets, and the colors of art and life run together as festival-goers explore the art, interact with the artists, listen to local bands and visit the shops and eateries.
 

“You just have to go to ArtsQuest to know how special it is,” Saunders says. “To hear the music, see the art and eat the food – all of it is just such a wonderful experience.”
 

Tom Rice, owner of the Marlin Grill and an ArtsQuest board member, says it is the small-town, open-air feel of The Village of Baytowne Wharf that makes it the perfect complement to ArtsQuest.
 

“We are a community, and when you put an event in (the Village) and it works, the whole package just comes together,” he says.


Best of Show
While there is a wealth of activity, indoors and out, throughout the venue, the art certainly takes center stage.
 

“We are really trying to embrace and champion the arts,” says ArtsQuest chairwoman Nan Ream. “We have to make sure we are including all artists. We want a diversified group of artists, whether it is jewelry or sculpture or wood or paintings.”
 

A qualified panel of jurors selects the featured artists for the show. Artists working in a variety of formats and from as far away as Chicago and Canton, Ohio, enter the event for a chance to showcase their work and compete for Best of Show.
 

“Of the shows in the area, ArtsQuest is the premier one,” says Connie Nabholz, an award-winning jewelry artist from Pensacola and a participant in the event. “The location is so nice, and the people who put on the show treat the artists so well.”
 

Local Cultural Arts Association members also get a chance to share their creative vision in the collaborative tent. Unlike the rest of the festival, the work in this tent is not juried and is open to any member of the association.
 

Most Cultural Arts Association members would affirm that arts education is at the heart of everything the organization does. In that spirit, the board selects four students from Okaloosa Walton College to exhibit and also hosts a children’s art area with age-appropriate projects.
 

Of the importance of the children’s tent, Ream says, “How else are you going to become a budding artist if you don’t start at places like this?”

Show and Sale
For local merchants and exhibiting artists, ArtsQuest means business. Cultural and economic benefits collide as the restaurants, shops and the artists welcome festival attendees to peruse their art, merchandise and menus in a relaxed, enjoyable environment.
 

“When events like ArtsQuest are done well, planned well and promoted well, it does a tremendous amount of good for Baytowne Wharf and the businesses in it,” Rice says.
 

The artists appreciate the laid-back, festive business environment, too. Denise Choppin, a mixed media/collage artist from Tallahassee, enjoys the opportunity to expose her work to wide variety of people.
 

“It is a benefit to a lot of people who would never set foot into a gallery,” she says. “A gallery can be an intimidating environment where the whole purpose is to sell. While it’s nice to sell, you realize ArtsQuest is both a show and a sale. It lets people stroll in a relaxed atmosphere, and they don’t feel pressured.”
 

Panama City artist Dominique Williams agrees, describing ArtsQuest as a great way to gauge how people respond to her art. Her work is in galleries, but she doesn’t always know who’s buying.
 

“ArtsQuest allows me to get a firsthand reaction,” Williams says. And a positive reaction she has gotten, reporting that ArtsQuest, which Williams has participated in since its days in Grayton Beach, typically is a successful show for her.
 

Set against the lively Village of Baytowne Wharf and staged by individuals who sincerely have a heart for the arts, ArtsQuest in its 20th year promises to be as successful and inspiring as ever.

ArtsQuest Date Book

Sunday, May 4
20th Anniversary Celebration Kickoff Concert
 

Tuesday, May 6
Fine Art of Looking Good Fashion Show
 

Wednesday, May 7
Student Exhibit
 

Thursday, May 8
Champagne Shopping Tour
 

Friday, May 9
Preview Gala
 

Saturday, May 10
ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival
 

Sunday, May 11
ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival
 

Visit culturalartsassociation.org for a detailed schedule.

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Known only by their place in a long archaeological timeline, these “Mississippi Era” peoples thrived throughout the southeastern, midwestern and eastern United States from approximately 800 A.D. to 1400 A.D. One of their colonies existed for a time on the Emerald Coast, and the lives of these early coastal dwellers are examined at the City of Fort Walton Beach Heritage Park and Cultural Center.

“The temple mound was the center of the village of Mississippians. This would have been essentially their political and religious center,” said Gail Meyer, the museum’s education coordinator. “The artifacts that are in the museum come from this village as well as from sites within a 40-mile radius.”

The temple mound was a flat-topped, four-sided pyramid from which the village chief lived and ruled.

“It was a chiefdom society. All the groups of people living here depended on the chief, who was in a central location, and he would provide organization,” Meyer said. “These people had an army, a welfare system; there were traders, markets – an urban environment.”

These tall, imposing pyramids were the unmistakable sign of the chief’s power, and he and his family would live in the wooden temple on top. As each chief died, a new chief would add a layer to the top of the mound and a new temple also would be built. Meyer said the Fort Walton mound had at least three stages and today stands 12 feet tall and measures 223 feet across the base. It’s the largest earthen mound built near saltwater, and Meyer said perhaps thousands of people lived in the immediate area around the mound.


In 1962, the Fort Walton Beach Indian Temple Mound & Museum opened as the first city-owned and operated museum in the state. The current museum was opened in 1972 and is located at 139 Miracle Strip Parkway Southeast, near the heart of the historic downtown. The museum holds a collection of some 6,000 artifacts made of stone, bone, clay and shell, and Meyer said it has one of the largest collections of Southeast ceramics in the United States.

But today, the site is home to more than the temple mounds. As a result, the name was changed to The City of Fort Walton Beach Heritage Park and Cultural Center. The Camp Walton Schoolhouse opened in 1912 and closed in 1936 but since 1976 has had a second life as an educational museum. The Garnier Post Office Museum also is from that era; it was open from 1918 to 1953 and was originally located in a town known today as Wright, Meyer said.


The Indian Temple Mound & Museum has two sets of hours. From August to May, it’s open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The schoolhouse and post office are open Monday through Saturday from noon to 4:30 p.m. During June and July, all buildings are open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Admission is $5 for adults ages 18-55. For visitors ages 55 and above, it’s $4.50 – which also is the fee for members of the military. Children ages 4-17 get in for $3, and young ones ages 3 and under are free. Group rates also are available.

Tours are self-guided, but a staff member always is around to answer questions, Meyer said.

Fort Walton Beach has a rich heritage filled with legends and lore – the innovative American Indians, the Spanish explorers, the notorious pirates, the brave war heroes and the famous Hollywood celebrities who found their way to the area to contribute to the colorful and remarkable history of the Emerald Coast.

SAND AND CHEESECAKE A fetching young lady frolics on the dunes of Fort Walton Beach in this 1956 glamour photo by Karl E. Holland. Photo Courtesy Florida Archives

The First Locals
Try to imagine what Fort Walton Beach was like thousands of years ago, as far back as 12,000 B.C. That is when the earliest humans lived along what is now the Emerald Coast. Of course, things were a lot different back then. Sea levels were 20 to 30 feet lower than they are today, making Florida approximately twice the size it is now.

The climate was more arid and had more plains before the Ice Age glaciers melted and covered a lot of the coastline, bringing the state to the shape it is today. The first humans came to the area in search of big game, such as mastodon, mammoth and other large animals.

Laura Morse, director of Fort Walton Beach’s Indian Temple Mound Museum and Park, makes it her mission to connect people with this incredible human history.

“The people who loved this area for thousands of years lived, worked and raised families here for the same reasons we do today,” she said.

The museum displays 14,000-year-old lithics – stone tools – left behind by the area’s primitive hunters, the Paleo-Indians.

“These Paleo points, or arrowheads, are fascinating because they are made of stone that often comes from very far away – either brought in by nomadic people or traded for with others,” Morse said. “Florida does not have rock or stone that would make quality points for hunting or tools, so it had to get here otherwise.”

Over the millennia, the native peoples became more tribal and developed villages, settling in areas according to their advancing technology in hunting small game, fishing and agriculture. They engaged in commerce with other tribes outside Florida, trading their abundant supply of freshwater pearls, conch shells and fish bones for copper, iron and maize.

They learned to make pottery and develop weapons from shark teeth, stingray barbs and billfish bills. As their abilities progressed, so did their emphasis on religion, medicine, government and society.

The most politically advanced group of all the Florida tribes was the Fort Walton Culture, which flourished from approximately A.D. 1100 to 1550 and lived across the region that covers modern Northwest Florida.

“The Fort Walton Temple Mound, a National Historic Landmark, was built by these people, who were part of the advanced Mississippian/Southeastern Ceremonial complex,” Morse said. “They built the mound probably between A.D. 700 and A.D. 1500, most likely in three phases.”

The temple mound, which has been carefully preserved, served as a village center, the home of the tribal chief and the military lookout point, and had a plaza surrounding it.

“Chiefs wielded great power, and controlled ideology and healing,” Morse said. “The pervasive warrior culture was mighty and considered quite grand.”

Besides the abundant supply of fish, agriculture was also advanced, with the land producing squash, beans and corn.

“Ornate artifacts found from this period attest to this highly complex and ceremonial social system,” Morse said. “The six-pointed plates featured in the Indian Temple Mound Museum are a hallmark of the society’s uniquely symbolic handmade pottery.”

Spaniards Enter
Morse said early Spanish exploration in the 16th century no doubt ravaged many Florida tribes with the introduction of new diseases and harsh treatment, but there is no one certain answer for the extinction of whole groups of people. Most likely, a combination of European diseases, drought or crop failure, war or other mass illness devastated the populations beyond repair. By the time the Spanish were exploring the area that is now Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach, there were American Indians there, but they were thought to be of the Creek tribes that migrated into Florida from Alabama and Georgia after 1500. They lived near or around the mound but regarded it as a pre-existing structure built by others and not used for the purposes of its former inhabitants.

Pirates from the mid-1950s continue to recreate the legendary exploits of Billy Bowlegs annually in the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival. Photo Courtesy Florida Archives
Billy Bowlegs
Some historians say there is no evidence of pirates in Fort Walton, but others tell of the legendary pirate and Indian leader Capt. Billy Bowlegs, whose real name was William Augustus Bowles. According to the tale, Bowlegs plundered ships belonging to the Spanish, English and French during the late 1700s and early 1800s, confiscating a fortune in gold and silver. He buried it along the shores of the Gulf and its inland lagoons and bayous.

Today, Fort Walton Beach residents celebrate the invasion of Bowlegs in the annual Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival, the highlight being a staged duel with the mayor on the Fort Walton Beach landing.

Camp Walton
During the Civil War, Confederate soldiers from the 1st Florida Regiment set up a small encampment under the orders of Gen. Braxton Bragg; the encampment was named Camp Walton. One soldier who served and then became the first permanent settler in the area was John Thomas Brooks.

In his book, “A Miracle Strip – Through the Lens of Arturo and the Hearts of Many,” fourth-generation Fort Walton resident, photographer and author Antonio Mennillo wrote that Brooks’ background prepared him for his role as the first permanent resident of the area.

“When he was 12 years of age his widowed mother packed her family and family belongings into a covered wagon and left their native North Carolina to take up a land grant in the vicinity of Geneva, Ala.,” Mennillo wrote. “Tom was 18 when the Civil War broke out and he was one of the first volunteers from Alabama. Going to war with this parting injunction from his mother, ‘Sonny, don’t be shot in the back. My prayers will follow you.’”

Upon returning to his mother’s house after the war, Brooks discovered that it had been burned by organized war deserters. His mother had remarried, so it was time for Brooks to find a new home. Seeking employment, Brooks became a sawyer at Reddick’s Sawmill in Walton County. He and his new family soon settled on 111 acres of waterfront land, a tract that now is part of Fort Walton Beach.

Camp Walton was eventually renamed Brooks Landing after the settler.

Others Discover Fort Walton
The 1930s brought on a pivotal period in the growth of Fort Walton.

Another early citizen of Fort Walton, Dr. J.H. Beal, a retired pharmacist, college professor, businessman, farmer and developer, joined Thomas E. Brooks, grandson of John Thomas Brooks, to build a casino and cottage on the Gulf shores. The two also built the Brooks Beal Center Woman’s Club and Garden Club and Beal Memorial Cemetery.

The more recent history of Fort Walton Beach is preserved at Magnolia Grill on Brooks Street. Tom and Peg Rice have preserved the house built by Dr. G.G. French in 1910. The house was shipped in pieces as a “catalog house” from New York. The handwritten mailing address is still visible on some of the boards, which are on display at Magnolia Grill. The Rices have an impressive collection of items from the early 20th century – a pair of Art Deco chandeliers from the home of Peg’s great-grandfather, Dr. J.H. Beal; bowling pins from the Fort Walton Bowling Alley; and numerous antique typewriters used by local reporters, including columnist Emma Goggin and Maj. Gen. John Carley.

Capt. Reddin “Salty” Brunson, at 95 years old, is the oldest living Destin native. He was one of the originators of the charter boat association, but got his first job at the age of 11 as a caddy in Fort Walton for notorious gangster Al Capone.

“Me and four other kids were coming from school and this big automobile drove up to us,” Brunson said. “A big man said, ‘You boys want to caddy?’ I said, ‘Sure do,’ and jumped on the running board right by the driver, and caddied for a round a golf. After the game, the men said, ‘You boys come on in and we’ll buy you a Budweiser.’ That was the most god-awful stuff I ever tasted.”

Capone and his henchmen frequently engaged in target practice at night, safe in their seclusion. One evening, Brunson almost got in the way.

“One night in Boggy Bayou, we heard a bunch of rapid fire and went to see what was happening,” he said. “We saw a bench with a moving target – the gangsters were practicing their firing and ladies were watching. We got caught, and they called me up there. I’ve never been so scared in my life. This big guy ran up with his gun and stuck it in my face and said, ‘You better get outta here, boy.’ And I ran faster than lightning.”

The Military
James E. Plew, a banker, developer and airplane enthusiast who moved to Fort Walton from Chicago, started the Valparaiso Realty Company in 1922 with a vision of building retirement homes and businesses, as well as developing golf courses. He saw an opportunity for the military to use the land as an aerial bombing and gunnery range, and for a boost in the economy of the remote part of Florida. In 1934, Plew donated 1,460 acres to the U.S. government; the plot was named the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base. On Aug. 4, 1937, the base was renamed Eglin Field in memory of Lt. Col. Frederick I. Eglin, a U.S. Air Corps pilot killed on New Year’s Day 1937. This land became the center of what is now known as the most expansive military base in the nation, covering more than 724 square miles of land and 98,000 square miles of air space over the Gulf.

Lt. Col. James “Jimmy” Doolittle used Eglin Field to train his B-25 Doolittle Raiders for their secret air raid against Tokyo during World War II. The Doolittle Raiders were a group of 80 volunteer airmen from the U.S. Army Air Forces who on April 18, 1942, flew 16 Mitchell medium B-25 airplanes from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet on a daring mission to bomb Japan. The raid was a huge morale booster for the American people, coming just four months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Retired MSgt Edwin Horton Jr., one of the few living Doolittle Raiders, resides in Fort Walton Beach. Horton was a engineer/gunner on Crew 10 of the 16 bombers during the raid on Tokyo.

In an interview with 1st Lt. Martha L. Petersante-Gioia, of the 66th Air Base Wing at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., Horton recalled how even after doing what many said couldn’t be done, Doolittle’s men stayed focused on a mission for which they had trained under top-secret conditions.

“Much of the training and modifications to the aircraft were done at Eglin Field,” Horton said.

During the raid, they didn’t anticipate that the carrier would be detected early, forcing the group to launch immediately, he said.

Due to the group’s early takeoff, there was not enough fuel to get back to a prearranged rendezvous point in China.

“We had to bail out over China’s coastal mountain range,” Horton said.

Faced with a controlled-crash landing on China’s coast or bailing out over the mountain range, Lt. Richard Joyce, Horton’s pilot and crew commander, chose to have the crew bail out.

Horton was able to land on a ridge. The next morning, he walked to a small town where friendly residents assisted him.

“I didn’t (immediately) know the impact of this mission,” he said. “But as it turned out, it was a huge morale boast for our forces.”

Another Fort Walton Beach resident, retired MSgt Ronald D. Peters, worked as a reporter and later rode in the B-29s bombers and witnessed the effects of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Peters also served in Vietnam, and after 28 and a half years of active-duty service, he and his wife – two Ohio Buckeyes, as he describes them – were looking for a nice place to retire.

“We wanted someplace warm,” he said. “And I looked on a map and found a circle of military bases that surrounded this little area called Forth Walton beach, and that’s where we decided to stay.”

The Gambling
Though Brooks and Beal built a casino and cottages in an attempt to create a thriving summer resort that would attract tourists, it wasn’t until the 1940s that the humble town of Fort Walton became the gambling mecca of Northwest Florida, bringing tourists with full wallets and earning the nickname “Little Las Vegas of Florida.”

The Magnolia Club, where gambling, dancing and nightly floor shows were the main attractions, was a local hot spot. Initially attracting seasonal tourists who could no longer gamble in Miami because it had been outlawed, the Magnolia Club eventually was open year-round to accommodate the influx of carpenters and other building workers who persuaded manager Bill Williams to stay past the tourist season.

Another popular gambling spot was the Shalimar Club, run by Roger Clary. Nancy M. Kenaston, author of the book, “The Rich Heritage of Fort Walton Beach Florida,” described the transformation of the Shalimar Club from day to evening.

“It resembled a movie producer’s idea of an expensive bordello,” she wrote. “Its windows were hung with red velvet and gold tassels; luxurious paneling and overstuffed red velvet furniture added to the exciting décor. The Eglin (Air Force Base) Officers’ Wives Club met frequently for luncheons in the clubs, giving them the air of great respectability, but at night they came to life to tempt those with gambling fever.”

By the 1950s, gambling had tainted the town’s reputation. Law enforcement agencies put an end to it, and in 1953 Fort Walton was renamed Fort Walton Beach in an effort to boost tourism for a different kind of crowd – the beach-loving family who wanted some fun in the sun.

The Celebrities and Dignitaries
Fort Walton Beach cast a spell on the rich and famous of Hollywood during the 1940s and ’50s.

The famous orchestra conductor Guy Lombardo and his band frequently performed at the ritzy Shalimar Club. Andy Griffith and the Glen Miller Band played there, and President Harry Truman and Gen. Doolittle, as well as dignitaries from around the world, enjoyed evenings at the nightclub. Gregory Peck was seen enjoying a drink and a cigarette there.

Internationally acclaimed German artist Emil Holzhauer, who became famous in the 1920s and ’30s as an avant garde painter, met a Niceville native and moved to the area. He, along with other charter members, initiated the Arts and Design Society of Fort Walton Beach to promote and expose the Emerald Coast to the arts. After his death, Holzhauer’s estate donated more than 400 paintings and documents to what was then Okaloosa-Walton Community College. His multimillion-dollar collection still is on display throughout the campus.

Between 1940 and 1970, the population of Fort Walton grew by 700 percent and was recognized nationally as one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Today, the city still celebrates the past, preserving its fascinating history – and leaving a legacy of a rich heritage for future generations

Knowing the German war machine was on the verge of beginning what would become World War II, Roosevelt took this information very seriously and, shortly afterward, construction began on a “secret city” in Tennessee hills. What is now known as Oak Ridge was home to an important component of the Manhattan Project, an unprecedented effort that began in 1942 to produce the world’s first atomic bomb.

With construction work going on 24/7, in 18 months the rural countryside became a city of 75,000 – created in such secrecy that even the state’s governor didn’t know what was going on. More than 100,000 workers built homes, schools and a town, as well as three facilities (one, called K-25, covered 44 acres and was the largest building in the world when it was constructed) dedicated to enriching the uranium needed to create the atomic bombs that would be used with such devastating effect in August 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan – and end the war.

Today, parts of Oak Ridge National Laboratory are open for public tour. On any given day, 8,000 workers still arrive at the secure facilities, working for the U.S. Department of Energy to further the advancement of peacetime scientific research and support the ongoing disarmament of the stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the United States and other countries.

A self-guided audio driving tour takes visitors on a journey to many of Oak Ridge’s sites. There also is the Secret City Scenic Excursion Train, which runs most Saturdays and offers a view of the sights along a 12-mile route narrated by historians who explain the significance of the facility and the pre-war community.

But to truly access the historic site, one must begin at the American Museum of Science and Energy, which tells of Oak Ridge’s role in the Manhattan Project and explains the scientific and technological advances made in its facilities since the end of World War II. Only U.S. citizens (be prepared to show proper identification) are allowed to register to be one of the 36 people allowed the tour of the day. It starts at noon and is offered Tuesdays through Fridays, April through September. It is a fascinating and educational experience for history buffs to enter the inner workings of one of America’s best-kept secrets.

You will receive a lecture on the first nuclear reactor, walk into its control room and see it as it was in the 1940s. Then flash forward to gain an understanding of the scope of research being done today on one of the world’s fastest and most sophisticated computer systems. This full-day experience will leave you mentally exhausted from attempting to understand and comprehend the history, the technology and logistics of America’s successful development of nuclear technology, as well as today’s research.

Your portal of entry to Oak Ridge is Knoxville, Tenn., a city along the Tennessee River that is home to the University of Tennessee and one of the largest college football stadiums in the nation. A city in the midst of a renaissance, Knoxville’s urban area is home to great restaurants, shopping and sightseeing excursions.

A great introduction to the city’s sights is a cruise along the Tennessee River on your choice of boat. One possibility is a dinner cruise on the Volunteer Princess. The 96-foot luxury yacht docks in downtown Knoxville and offers a wonderful meal to go along with the beautiful scenery.

Since Knoxville also is home to the college Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, a sport enthusiast can spend time exploring the history of the sport in a modern facility that includes not just trophies and memorabilia but also a court where visitors can test their shooting, dribbling and passing skills. Knoxville is a fitting spot for this facility, since it’s home to Pat Summitt, the Lady Vols’ leader since 1974, who holds the record as America’s all-time winningest college basketball coach.

Within an hour drive of the city, one can discover and enjoy the state parks system of Tennessee, which in 2007 was named best in the nation by the National Recreation and Park Association.

There is Norris Dam State Park, on the shores of Lake Norris, which is home to the first project of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The park features more than 4,000 acres of groomed hiking trails and campsites.  Another TVA dam completed in 1942 has formed the Watts Bar Lake, located about 40 miles south of Knoxville. One way to explore some of its gerrymandering 780 miles of shoreline is aboard the Watts Bar Belle. A common form of transportation in the early 1900s, this split-wheel paddleboat is a rare sight today.

Journey over to Frozen Head State Park and hike the 80 miles of trails that range in elevation from 1,300 to 3,100 feet along the ridges of the state’s highest peaks in the Cumberland Mountains. From the observation tower on a clear day, you can plainly see the Cumberland Plateau, the Tennessee Ridge and Valley, and the Great Smoky Mountains. Open year-round, this park’s name is derived from the snowcapped mountain peaks overlooking lower valleys that rarely see any snow accumulation.

Another local treasure located in Oak Ridge is the University of Tennessee Arboretum. It offers more than 800 species of trees, shrubs and flowering plants – as well as more than 200 species of birds in residence – and can be enjoyed along five miles of self-guided walking tours. The arboretum also serves as a forestry and plant research center. For example, patents are pending for a few new varieties of dogwood trees that are resistant to disease and – as a bonus – are blooming in new colors.

A visit to the area wouldn’t be complete without a stop by the Museum of Appalachia, a 65-acre experiential venue located in Norris, Tenn., about 16 miles north of Knoxville. This re-created community brings alive the rich history of the hills of Tennessee over the past several centuries with dozens of authentic log structures and more than a quarter-million artifacts collected by a single man, John Rice Irwin, over 40 years.

Each day at the museum, area musicians perform the toe-tapping music and exchange stories of life today and years past. The museum also offers a chronology of the many musicians who have brought mountain music to international acclaim. On the second full weekend of October each year, it also hosts the Tennessee Fall Homecoming, a five-day, five-stage music festival that brings in some of the genre’s biggest names, many of whom return each year to sing, meet their fans and keep alive this uniquely American form of music.

The museum hosts other special events, including what has to be one of the oddest demonstrations ever seen – a twice-annual (on July 4 and during the Christmas season) “Anvil Shoot.” Crowds are amazed by the loud boom and the sight of an iron anvil as it is blasted higher than the treetops.

Middle East Tennessee boasts that it is within a day’s drive of 75 percent of the U.S. population, and that includes the Emerald Coast, at just under nine hours. It is definitely worth the drive, with plenty to keep one busy for everything from a long weekend to a two-week vacation

The purpose of the mission had been to find a new route to Asia. Although the flotilla sailed down to the mouth of the Delaware River it did not find new passage to the Orient and returned to Denmark. Full story will continue next week.