Southern Hospitality and History

Yesterday Gunter and Lotte invited us to their house on Tellico Lake and took us on a beautiful and interesting boat ride before dinner. The lake is one of several Tennessee Valley Authority reservoirs, stretches 33 miles along the Little Tennessee River, and has more than 350 miles of shoreline. Views of the Great Smoky Mountains, a sky full of distant rain clouds and stunning landscapes made it a memorable tour.

When Lotte and Gunter built their home here 15 years ago it was still relatively undeveloped due to delays caused by, among other things, the snail darter controversy. Perhaps you remember this environmental imbroglio, and Senator Howard Baker’s humorous speech in defense of the TVA. “Let me stress again, Mr. President, that this is fine with me. I have nothing personal against the snail darter. He seems to be quite a nice little fish, as fish go.”

Well, the dam was completed and, according to Gunter, the little fish has been found in other locations and was taken off the endangered species list in 1980. In the meantime, the lake has grown into a recreation area and weekend home site for the privileged. In addition to the McMansions that hug the shores, we saw three boat works that build pricey toys, as well as a marina filled with speedboats, party boats and yacht-sized house boats. Gunter told us that you can travel from here along the inland waterways of the U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico. I like it…a floating RV!

Gunter showed us many sights and shared many interesting factoids about the locale, including a reconstruction of the original Fort Loudoun, which was built by the British during the French and Indian War. It was named for the Earl of Loudoun, and since my sister, who we just visited, lives in Loudoun County, Virginia -- the coincidence of seeing the name again made me curiouser and curioser. A quick web search revealed that Loudoun County, Virginia was also named for John Campbell, Fourth Earl of Loudoun, a Scottish nobleman who served as Commander-in-Chief for all British armed forces in North America and titular Governor of Virginia from 1756 to 1759.

Gunter also pointed out the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, honoring the Cherokee genius who invented the Cherokee alphabet. Sequoyah’s “Talking Leaves” was a key development of the Cherokee nation. His 83-character syllabary, a concept of an alphabet that denotes sounds instead of syllables, allowed anyone who spoke Cherokee to learn how to read or write in two weeks.

After our boat ride and guided tour we had burgers on the deck overlooking the lake, and then conversation, coffee and TOO MUCH of Lotte’s incredible butter cream kuchen. Her pastries are renowned among their friends and now we know why. We groaned all the way home, but this morning Ed and I couldn't stop talking about what a lovely time we had with them. Danke schoen, Gunter and Lotte!