I headed out this morning for New Echota which was the Cherokee Capital before all of the Cherokees from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina were forced to move to what is now Oklahoma. That removal from their homelands, which resulted in close to 4000 deaths, is known as the Trail of Tears.
After watching the movie in the Visitor’s Center, I took some time in the small museum to learn more. The Cherokees were the only Native Americans to develop a written form of language. They also produced a newspaper on these grounds before they were removed.
There are a number of restored structures on the grounds that you can view on a self guided tour.
The Vann Tavern is typical of Cherokee buildings that served travelers as a restaurant, store, and inn. There was a small opening under the stairs that served as a ‘take out service’ for those customers that the Innkeeper did not allow inside. This building was moved here in 1955 from Springplace, Georgia.
The Trail of Tears is another of those awful things that occurred in our nation’s history. This has certainly been a spring of sobering history lessons for me.
On a brighter note, when I’m driving the rig or the car I seldom pay much attention to billboard messages. One billboard did jump out at me today, though. It’s where I found a true haven…
A popcorn haven that is. Can you believe a store with 250 flavors of popcorn? I couldn’t, so I just had to stop since popcorn should be one of the five food groups in my opinion. 
I leave you tonight with the only wildlife photo I captured today:
This pretty white-tailed doe paused briefly as she went along the outskirts of our site. Now Emma can add deer to the squirrels and chipmunks on her patrol schedule.
Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later, Judy
