Culture

Today, families continue the tradition of Family Game Night, but with a whole new array of choices to entertain and to teach. Some of the activities are inspired by the past while others are brand new. All involve the whole family. Perhaps some of these will inspire you to start your own family tradition.

An Appalachian dulcimer-maker carries on the traditions.

The dulcimer has long been considered an Appalachian instrument. The mountain dulcimer — also called the Kentucky dulcimer, Appalachian dulcimer and lap dulcimer — basically is a fretted zither, consisting of a narrow fingerboard with strings attached to a slightly larger sound box. Although traces of the dulcimer date back to the crafts movement in the 1800s, it’s only been since the 1940s that the dulcimer has captured the heart and soul of Appalachian musicians.
Take your partner to the healing waters
Appalachian courting practices through the years

Storytelling is an Appalachian art form. Before the Internet, before television, before telephones and radio, before even newspapers made the scene, storytelling was one of the best forms of entertainment. People huddled together on the front porch, around a wood stove, at the general store or anywhere a few people could congregate to hear someone tell a fresh tale.

Gary Ray grew up in Weaverville, North Carolina, the son of a tobacco farmer and local builder. His daddy, Frederick Prince “Dan” Ray, had a hand in many of the buildings that grace the Appalachian city of Asheville. Gary was the middle son of three children who lived a stone’s throw away from his grandparents and spent weekends and holidays with a slew of relatives on both sides.
An Exceptional Stay in a Vibrant Appalachian City!

Appalachian Bluesman

The northern hills of Georgia, shining bright with the blue ridges of the southernmost tips of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is not necessarily known as a hotbed of blues music. But in its day, Macon and other Georgia towns were just that. And no one delivers the blues from the Blue Ridge better than Georgia native Robert Lee Coleman.

Classic Blues Meet the Mountains
Nearly everyone will recognize The Hunger Games movie but so many other movies were filmed in here in the Southern Appalachians. Here are a few of them!
The Omni Homestead Inn in Hot Springs, Virginia, has received plenty of accolades. From Conde Nast and USA Today to Forbes, Golf Week and Travel + Leisure, the Appalachian resort is noted as one of the best places to stay, work and vacation in the region. A quick tour of the place illustrates why.

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