Touring the Western North Carolina Backroads (Third Edition – John F. Blair, Publisher, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 2011) – a multimedia interactive discussion by author Carolyn Sakowski
Monday, May 7, 2012
7:00 p.m.
Auditorium – Gaston County Public Library
1555 East Garrison Boulevard – Gastonia, North Carolina 28054
Free public event appropriate for adults and teens.
No reservations required for individuals and families.
Advance reservations required for organized groups.
Presented by the Gaston County Public Library and Friends of the Gaston County Public Library in cooperation with John F. Blair, Publisher
Funding for this event provided by the Ralph S. Robinson Family Foundation
For more information, please call 704-868-2164 / Dial 4 or visit www.glrl.lib.nc.us
Following Ms. Sakowski’s presentation, copies of Touring the Western North Carolina Backroads will be available for personal purchase and author autograph, courtesy of Park Road Books of Charlotte.
The Gaston County Public Library strives to make its programs and services available to all. For special accommodation, please call 704-868-2164 / Dial 4 at least five days before an event.
Western North Carolina has had its share of significant roads — the Blue Ridge Parkway and the equally-spectacular Cherohala Skyway, the old Mount Mitchell and Big Tom Wilson motor roads, the infamous “tail of the dragon,” the number one motorcycle and sports-car route in the East.
But have you ever wondered what lies down that little-traveled byway heading uphill and into the woods, or wanted to know the story behind that historical marker by the side of road?
The twenty-one tours in Touring the Western North Carolina Backroads cover an area as noteworthy for its history as for its mountain scenery. They visit places and travel in the footsteps of people such as:
- William Bartram, John Fraser, and Andre Michaux, whose eighteenth-century explorations for new plant species resembled the space race of the 1960s;
- the defunct Ore Knob Mine, where a masked man discovered murdered bodies at the bottom of a two-hundred-foot shaft, launching a sensational series of murder trials;
- the site of the Hot Springs hotel where chalet-building, concert-playing German POWs endeared themselves to local folk;
- The grave of Junaluska, the Cherokee chief who saved Andrew Jackson’s life and came to regret it.
Featuring updated directions, new sites, photographs, and maps, this new edition of a beloved travel guide is ideal for armchair explorations or planning an adventure.
Carolyn Sakowski is a native of Morganton, North Carolina, and a graduate of Queens University of Charlotte and Appalachian State University in Boone. Her backroad touring guides to western North Carolina and East Tennessee have sold over 70,000 copies through four editions. She lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.