Our first major stop was the Blue Ridge Music Center which had an extensive exhibit on the development of bluegrass music with audio clips, photos, old instruments, etc. I had never realized it but the banjo was derived from an instrument that the slaves brought over from Africa. The major difference in the the original instrument used a gourd for the body with a leather diaphragm over an opening in the gourd whereas the banjo uses a wood ring with a leather diaphragm for the body. In the early days of bluegrass music both whites and blacks played the banjo bur after the advent of minstrel shows which featured white men in black face playing the banjo, the blacks found it so racist that they stopped performing on the banjo.
Our second major stop was Mabry Mill. This is a mill just outside the town of Meadows of Dan that was built in 1910 and served the town until 1935. This mill was multi-function and had a grist mill for grinding corn, a lumber mill for cutting logs and a carpentry shop that specialized in making and repairing wagon wheels. There was also a blacksmith shop and the family's original residence. The also had a small exhibit on one of the enduring businesses in the mountains and that is moonshine.
The mill.
The house:
The still:
Our third major stop was "Smart View" like in "that's one smart view". Unfortunately, it developed that name while the area was heavily farmed. Now the trees have grown and the view is for the most part gone. We did hike the Smart View Loop Trail and here is an example of the view:
There was also a log cabin that dated from the mid to late 1800's:
After leaving Smart View, we drove the Blue Ridge Parkway as far a Roanoke, VA, and then got off and headed east through the towns of Boone's Mill and Burnt Chimney to my cousin George and his wife Michelle's house on Smith Mountain Lake.
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