Kim Southern - Blue Ridge Real Estate

Spring has once again found its way to the beautiful mountains surrounding Blue Ridge. The forests are full of blooming dogwoods that make a showy splash of white among the towering hardwoods. Native azaleas are at their peak, proudly sporting their profusion of tangerine blossoms. Sleeping late becomes a near impossibility because of the riot of bird calls that drift through the windows you have opened to let in the gentle Spring breezes.

The mountains are beautiful year round, but there is something extra special about Spring. If you have been waiting to visit Blue Ridge, now is the time! To make it easy to enjoy the multitude of activities that Blue Ridge has to offer, the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce has developed a series of self-guided tour maps of outdoor adventures (hiking and water sports), along with historic and shopping places.

Come to Blue Ridge, select a self-guided tour map, and have a wonderful day exploring all the magic and beauty our piece of heaven on earth has to offer!!

Outdoor Adventure: Hiking Trail Access Points

Historic Discovery: Appalachian Communities & Rural History Sites

Handmade, Homemade & Homegrown: Local Shops & Spots

Outdoor Adventure: The Toccoa River & Lake Blue Ridge

Rural Sightseeing: Aska Road & Highway 60 Loop

Outdoor Adventure: Upper Toccoa River & Ocoee River

Historic Discovery: The Town of Blue Ridge

Antique Unique: Local Shops & Unusual Spots

The Fannin County Chamber of Commerce also offers several expanded maps of the area:

Blue Ridge: Surrounded by Scenic Drives

Blue Ridge: Surrounded by Forests

Blue Ridge: Surrounded by Waterfalls

Blue Ridge: Surrounded by Special Places

The lovely Cherokee Rose has begun blooming throughout the North Georgia mountains. Native to China, the Cherokee Rose was introduced in America in the mid-1700's, probably by an English grower. Settlers began planting the rose bushes around their homes, as did the Cherokee Indians who, lest we forget, were gardeners and farmers, too.

Adopted as the Georgia state flower in 1916, the Cherokee Rose has waxy apple-green leaves and fragrant white or light pink blooms. The fast-growing shrub can obtain heights of up to 15 feet when given the opportunity to grow vertically. Unlike its more fussy rose cousins, the Cherokee Rose thrives in the sunny, humid climes of the South and requires very little care in exchange for its lovely flowers, making it the perfect specimen for even the most careless gardener. In fact, you may want to plant the Cherokee Rose in a place where it has lots of room to grow, as it will quickly take over any place it is planted. Many an old homesite, the old house long since gone, will have Cherokee Roses growing up the still standing chimney.

The Cherokee Rose bears tribute to the unspeakably sad "Trail of Tears"-the forceable removal of the Cherokee people from their ancestral homes throughout Western North Carolina and North Georgia. According to the legend of the Cherokee Rose, the mothers of the Cherokee were so consumed with grief that they were in danger of being unable to make the journey, thus leaving their children far more vulnerable. The Cherokee chiefs prayed for a sign to lift the mother's spirits. From then on, a Cherokee Rose sprang up wherever a mother's tear hit the ground. Each part of the plant has a particular significance: The white flower stands for the mother's tears; the gold center-the gold taken from the Cherokee lands; and the seven leaves on the stems, the seven Cherokee clans that were in the march. The mothers were so uplifted by the beauty of the Cherokee Rose, that they were strengthened to complete the journey.

Nothing was more exciting to me when I was a little girl than when, on a Saturday night, the family would pile into my dad's Impala and we'd go to McDonald's for dinner (back when the sign bragged "Millions and Millions Sold") and then to a drive-in movie. I saw some of my all-time favorite movies at the drive-in: The Sting, Bad News Bears, Rocky, and the classic, American Graffiti--that loving paean to the golden days when the drive-in theatre was a fixture on the American landscape.

Fast-forward a few years, and you might find me on the way in to the very same drive-in, only this time crammed into the trunk of a friend's car, another friend jammed next to me (imagine me trying that now?!?). Too broke to pay for a whole carload, we'd smuggle as many kids as we could in a trunk or storage compartment. Unlike my younger years, I don't think I saw much of whatever movie was playing, but one thing remained the same...I always had a blast!

Once I reached adulthood, drive-in theatres, like my father's Impala, got filed away under "Fond Memories." Little did I know that one day I would wind up in a wonderful town where the drive-in theatre (alas, not the Impala) is still very much a fixture of modern life.

The Swan Drive-In Theatre in Blue Ridge, Georgia was built in 1955 by Jack Jones, Sr. and W.H. Tilley, Jr.-known as "H." Jack and H already owned the small town's two theaters--the Rialto and the Royal, where ticket prices were 32 cents for adults and 15 cents for children and a Saturday matinee ran 25 cents for adults and ten cents for children. Because televisions were scarce up in the mountains, business was brisk at the two theaters.

Looking to serve an ever-growing audience hungry for movies, the two men seized on the idea of opening a drive-in theatre. This was no small feat in Blue Ridge, nestled as it is in the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Tracts of land level enough and large enough to accommodate the special topographical needs of a drive-in were scarce as hen's teeth.

Undaunted, Jack and H were able to lease several acres from the City of Blue Ridge. There was still a considerable amount of grading and fill to be done and once the work had begun, they encountered unyielding rock that only dynamite would budge. Discouraged and almost ready to scrap the mission, they were encouraged to keep on going by the excavators that were working for them.

Finally, with the daunting task of excavating and grading behind them, Jack and H were able to move forward with the relatively simple tasks of wiring for sound, paving, and building the concession stand and box office.

One final-and formidable-obstacle stood between the two men and the completion of their dream: the erecting of the movie screen itself. After piecing the screen together on the ground, the men had to go all the way to Atlanta (no easy task in those days before the Georgia Mountain Parkway provided a quick and easy way to make the journey!) to get a crane tall enough and powerful enough to raise the screen. For $100, Jack and H were able to get a crane for hire from Atlanta Steel Erectors. As an excited throng of locals looked on nervously, the pieces of the screen were lifted and pieced together, until, finally, the last section was carefully lowered into place. The on-lookers let out a relieved whoop and, with that, Jack and H's dream became a reality.

H Tilley was the one to come up with the name for the drive-in. Prior to taking part in the Omaha Beach Landing in the Normandy Invasion during World War II, H was stationed in England. While there, he came to admire the graceful and beautiful swans that swam in the ponds and lakes around the country. He thought SWAN would be the perfect name for his newest theatre. His partner, Jack, agreed--it would be an easy name to make into a neon sign.

The opening of the Swan Drive-In Theatre was a watershed event in Blue Ridge, as it served as a beacon, drawing people from small communities all across the North Georgia mountains. And it continues to do so to this day, fifty-three years later, where this weekend's showing was the double-feature: "Nim's Island" and "Horton Hears a Who."

The movie schedule for Swan Drive-In Theatre, circa November, 1959

Postscript: H Tilley sold his share of the business to Jack Jones in 1959, who continued to operate it for many years. Mr. Jones passed away in 1980. H Tilley is retired and still lives with his family in Blue Ridge. Steve Setser now owns and operates the Swan Drive-In Theater. He began working there when he was 15, and finally bought it in 1989.

I would like to offer a special thanks to Mrs. H (Blanch) Tilley for so graciously speaking with me about the beginnings of Blue Ridge's Swan Drive-In Theatre.

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Two thousand years ago, so the Cherokee legend of Fairy Crosses begins, the "Yunwi Tsunsdi," or Little People, lived in the beautiful mountains of what is now North Georgia and Western North Carolina. Shy and elusive creatures, the Little People were revered throughout the Cherokee Nation for their ability to find people lost in the thickly forested mountains of the region.

One evening, while the Little People were enjoying an enchanted celebration of dance, music and song, a foreign messenger arrived bearing the sad news of the Crucifixion of the Son of the Great Creator. So moved were the Little People upon hearing the news of the loss of one so great, that they were moved to tears. As their tears fell to the ground, they turned into Fairy Crosses, where they can be found to this day.

The scientific--and much less romantic name--for the Fairy Cross is staurolite, from the Greek word stauros, meaning cross. Staurolite is found in rocks that have been subjected to enormous heat and pressure. A composite of iron, aluminum and silica, staurolite occurs when these three materials crystallize, often forming a cross-shape.

No two Fairy Crosses are the same. Each has its own unique shape, most commonly broken down into three categories: The Maltese Cross-a perfectly formed cross that is the most difficult to find and thus most highly prized by collectors. The second is the more common Saint Andrews Cross, a more angled cross rather than a horizontal and vertical shaped cross. And the third is the Prismatic Cross, while less than perfectly shaped, it is in the form of a cross, and is the most common and readily found variety.

Long prized as good luck talismans, Fairy Crosses have been carried by Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, as well as Thomas A. Edison and Charles Lindbergh.

In 1976, staurolite was named Georgia's state mineral.

Fannin County--along with a few other areas of the Southern Appalachians-- is one of a relatively few places in the world where Fairy Crosses are naturally occurring. Rock hounds from around the globe visit Blue Ridge in the hopes of finding the perfect speciman.

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