Sunnybank Inn and Retreat

Who'd a thought I'd be Pickin' a guitar in the Music Room at the Sunnybank Inn?


Sunday, June 1, 2008
Sunnybank Inn and Retreat

I slept well but I couldn't stay asleep with the early birds chirping at 5:30AM. My watch kept going off and I couldn't figure out how to turn the damn thing off. The birds wake up earlier here than they do in the Smokies. Back in the real world, I don't like to wear a watch but since I never have my cell phone with me I decided to buy this crappy thing at a Rite-Aid in Hiawassee.

I couldn’t suffer the chaotic birdsong any longer. I jumped out of my hammock around 6AM. I wanted to get into town and have a real breakfast so I wouldn't have to choke down another oatmeal bar. It's rare that I'm the first one out so I made sure everyone knew it. I went over and bugged the fellas to get up. I was meeting fellow hikers when I made the acquaintance of a guy who is hiking the trail with not just one, but two leg prosthetics! I was absolutely floored! His name is Todd Murphy (Trial name “Murphy”) He hiked half of the AT last year and he would be finishing soon. He was going southbound and he only had a few hundred miles to go. I had a hard time justifying any complaints of fatigue or frustration after I saw that.

Eventually we got on the trail in a rush to get to Hot Springs. My legs are pretty sore; but, we made it in a short time. The Appalachian Trail runs straight through Hot Springs and they have these AT signs stamped right in the concrete of the sidewalk so you know where to go. We were behind the four guys from NC, we saw their packs on the wall over at the Breakfast joint so we got tactical; instead of going to eat, we rolled right up to the back door of Elmer's Hostel (The Sunnybank Inn), a famous stop on the AT.

Elmer has a hostel and he serves delicious vegetarian food. He lives in this old Victorian place that has a million knickknacks, books and musical instruments. This place has a very rich history; the building is 160 years old. They call it the Sunnybank Inn and Retreat. It has a culturally important musical heritage and there is a room dedicated to musical performance with instruments like an upright piano, two guitars, a banjo, clarinet, bongo, flute and about a hundred music books from Rogers and Hammerstein to popular Hymns to Don McLean. We showed up as the current tenants were having Breakfast. Elmer came out to greet us a little begrudgingly since meals here are a big deal. He let us know we could come back later to check in and we'd be at the top of the list. That’s all we wanted anyway; we knew there would be a lot of people coming in today from the crowd that was at the last shelter.

We dropped our packs and headed down to the Smoky Mountain Diner for a HUGE breakfast. We did all the usual things in town; resupply, Laundromat, outfitter etc... The Laundromat was in the same building as the “quick shop.” Not only was it a convenience store; it was a casino, billiard room, arcade and a seating area that looked like they might serve food as well. On the way we passed a bunch of old guys sitting on a wall who were chewin’ the fat and engaged us in a little discourse. We got a little of that on film. Eventually we checked in to Elmer's and he took us around the place. It had an extensive library of scholarly texts as well as a ton of liberal and protest type books and material. Let's just say that Elmer is not a big fan of President Bush. Anyway, Sean was another guys staying and working there and the two of them cooked up the most bad ass vegetarian dinner I ever had.

There were about 12 of us in the dining room and we all had to answer a question in the beginning of dinner. Tonight's question was, "If you had a superpower, what would it be?" There were some interesting answers and interesting conversation and delicious food. after dinner, we all adjourned ourselves tot he music room and had a long jam session where people took turns playing instruments and different songs. It was nice. There were a couple of really good musicians and it seemed like everyone had some talent. Eventually it died down and I went to go find Cyclone at the local pub. He was there and so was Dixie Dawg and Kansas. We BS’d for a while and it rained a little. We blogged and I spent a few hours fixing the website (adding the Pictures Links) and finally am going to bed at 1:40 AM. I bet I'm not going to want to get on the road tomorrow.

David AKA "Jukebox"


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