The Great Dismal Swamp
Once again we were greeted to a warm and beautiful morning. Humidity hung in the air, and our tent fly was soaked, but the interior was still nice and dry. Our clothes have begun to take on the odor of the surrounding swamp lands, and we resolved to do laundry on a more regular basis. Most of the commercial campgrounds have coin washer/dryer set ups, so this shouldn't be too much of a problem. As an interesting note, the price for an overnight campsite has dropped considerably. We were generally shelling out over $30 a night in the mid Atlantic states, but now the average is around $20 (with better facilities), and even less. It does seem a bit excessive to us that a number of campgrounds charge the same for a tent site as they do for an RV, but you take what the road dishes out.
We continued on South, wheeling through the picturesque lowlands of Southern Virginia. Sometime near midday we crossed the state line into the Tar Heel State, North Carolina.
The Carolinas began as a land grant from King Charles I of England to eight lords in 1629. It was later split into two colonies, North and South. Tobacco has been the chief crop through the state's history, and it still ranks as one of the largest producers of broadleaf tobacco in the world. Peanuts, soybeans and cotton are also important crops, and are grown extensively in the lowlands through which we were riding. Interestingly, there are now over 60 vineyards in the state, producing a number of varieties of wine; indigenous sweet grapes in the coastal regions, and European varieties in the more mountainous region. North Carolina received the moniker of "The Tar Heel State" because for more than a century it was the world's largest producer of tar.
We were struck by two things upon crossing the border. First, the roadside litter had virtual disappered. This was in stark contrast to what we saw in Virginia. Number two is that we noticed a large number of Baptist churches...virtually on every main intersections. We've ridden by numerous churches since our journey began, and have noticed how certain sects dominate a particular region. While we saw a number of churches in the Pennsylvania Dutch country, right now rural NC is the winner, hands down. These folks take their religion seriously.
This section of the route brought us smack dab into the Great Dismal Swap. Scientists believe the Great Dismal Swamp was created when the Continental shelf made its last big shift.
People are not sure who discovered the Great Dismal Swamp but there is archeological evidence which indicates human occupation began nearly 13,000 years ago.
By 1650, few American Indians remained in the area, and European settlers showed little interest in the swamp. George Washington, (yes, that George) visited the swamp and then formed the Dismal Swamp Land Company in 1763, which proceeded to drain and log off part of the area. A five-mile ditch on the west side of the current refuge there still bears his name. In 1805, the Dismal Swamp Cana began serving as a commercial highway for timber coming out of the swamp.
Before and during the Civil War, the Great Dismal Swamp was a hideout for runaway slavesfrom the surrounding area. Some people believe there were at least a thousand slaves living in the swamp. This was the subject of Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp, Harriet Beecher Stowe's follow-on to Uncle Tom's Cabin.
While all efforts to drain the swamp ultimately failed, logging of the swamp proved to be a successful commercial activity. Regular logging operations continued as late as 1976. The entire swamp has been logged at least once, and many areas have been burned by periodic wildfires. The Great Dismal Swamp has been drastically altered by man over the past two centuries. Agricultural, commercial, and residential development destroyed much of the swamp, so that the remaining portion within and around the refuge represents less than half of the original size of the swamp.
We camped that night at a state park near the Swamp and had our first serious encounter with mosquitoes. As Lewis and Clark would say in their journals "the moskito's were most trublesome". We hid out in the tent for most the afternoon and into the early evening. We finally ventured out after the sun went down, covered ourselves with DEET, and built a large, smoldering fire to create smoke to drive them away. Our efforts at chemical and biological warfare paid off, and we spent a wonderful evening sitting around the fire, gazing at the stars and Milky Way above.
We continued on South, wheeling through the picturesque lowlands of Southern Virginia. Sometime near midday we crossed the state line into the Tar Heel State, North Carolina.
The Carolinas began as a land grant from King Charles I of England to eight lords in 1629. It was later split into two colonies, North and South. Tobacco has been the chief crop through the state's history, and it still ranks as one of the largest producers of broadleaf tobacco in the world. Peanuts, soybeans and cotton are also important crops, and are grown extensively in the lowlands through which we were riding. Interestingly, there are now over 60 vineyards in the state, producing a number of varieties of wine; indigenous sweet grapes in the coastal regions, and European varieties in the more mountainous region. North Carolina received the moniker of "The Tar Heel State" because for more than a century it was the world's largest producer of tar.
We were struck by two things upon crossing the border. First, the roadside litter had virtual disappered. This was in stark contrast to what we saw in Virginia. Number two is that we noticed a large number of Baptist churches...virtually on every main intersections. We've ridden by numerous churches since our journey began, and have noticed how certain sects dominate a particular region. While we saw a number of churches in the Pennsylvania Dutch country, right now rural NC is the winner, hands down. These folks take their religion seriously.
This section of the route brought us smack dab into the Great Dismal Swap. Scientists believe the Great Dismal Swamp was created when the Continental shelf made its last big shift.
People are not sure who discovered the Great Dismal Swamp but there is archeological evidence which indicates human occupation began nearly 13,000 years ago.
By 1650, few American Indians remained in the area, and European settlers showed little interest in the swamp. George Washington, (yes, that George) visited the swamp and then formed the Dismal Swamp Land Company in 1763, which proceeded to drain and log off part of the area. A five-mile ditch on the west side of the current refuge there still bears his name. In 1805, the Dismal Swamp Cana began serving as a commercial highway for timber coming out of the swamp.
Before and during the Civil War, the Great Dismal Swamp was a hideout for runaway slavesfrom the surrounding area. Some people believe there were at least a thousand slaves living in the swamp. This was the subject of Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp, Harriet Beecher Stowe's follow-on to Uncle Tom's Cabin.
While all efforts to drain the swamp ultimately failed, logging of the swamp proved to be a successful commercial activity. Regular logging operations continued as late as 1976. The entire swamp has been logged at least once, and many areas have been burned by periodic wildfires. The Great Dismal Swamp has been drastically altered by man over the past two centuries. Agricultural, commercial, and residential development destroyed much of the swamp, so that the remaining portion within and around the refuge represents less than half of the original size of the swamp.
We camped that night at a state park near the Swamp and had our first serious encounter with mosquitoes. As Lewis and Clark would say in their journals "the moskito's were most trublesome". We hid out in the tent for most the afternoon and into the early evening. We finally ventured out after the sun went down, covered ourselves with DEET, and built a large, smoldering fire to create smoke to drive them away. Our efforts at chemical and biological warfare paid off, and we spent a wonderful evening sitting around the fire, gazing at the stars and Milky Way above.
posted by Matt and Mary Ellen | 1:29 PM
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