Blue Ridge Country March/April 2022 - 19

OUR BLUE RIDGE TOWNS
WANDER WITH A LLAMA
From The Wandering Llamas farm, 20
minutes outside of Greeneville, you can
take a half-day adventure trek into the
Cherokee National Forest, side-by-side
with your own pack llama. They're funny
and friendly and accommodating, these
llamas-and so is their owner, Sandy
Sgrillo.
Sgrillo left Florida 21 years ago and
moved to Tennessee after falling in love
with llama trekking. " Wilderness and
llamas-animals and nature-are my two
loves, " she says.
Recently she built a treehouse, The
Fox Den, that sleeps two, where llamaloving
guests can stay and spend more
time with her 19 llamas. Walk, and they'll
follow you. Hold a graham cracker in
your hand, and they'll take it from you.
Love them-and they'll love you.
With a section of the Appalachian
Trail cresting the ridges in front of you,
a Wandering Llama trek and stay is a
fine addition to a Greeneville visit. For
more information, visit The Wandering
Llamas FaceBook page, email Sgrillo
at llamahiking@aol.com, or call her at
(423) 426-7626. -JV
are becoming common in towns looking to beautify and
attract visitors-what makes this one special is that the
20 murals represent actual heirloom quilts owned by
Greeneville residents, and each one tells a family story
that's shared beneath the painted quilt block.
The Mural Trail will lead you through Greene County
history, reaching back to Greene County native Davy
Crockett, the arrival of Andrew Johnson and farming
and manufacturing heritage. (Top burley processor Austin
Tobacco had 23 Greeneville warehouses at its peak;
Magnavox produced its first console television here in
1950.) What's especially intriguing about these 12 paintings
is that they raise as many questions as they answer.
Most important is this: With such a storied past, what's
next for Greeneville?
I ask that question to Greeneville native and doer
Carla Bewley, as we sit in the elegant lobby of the General
Morgan Inn, a beautifully restored railroad hotel on
Main Street.
" Main Street suffered when our major industries-
Austin Tobacco and Magnavox-left, and
the Route 11 Bypass was built in the 1970s,
taking shoppers outside of town. We're
working hard to re-make our downtown
into a place to shop and spend time, " she
says.
(Indeed they are-Greeneville has already
gone to work on its aged infrastructure,
replacing water and sewer lines and
laying out parking areas for shoppers on
Depot Street, targeted as the future of
downtown.)
Bewley is a strong supporter of the arts,
as well as the area's high-functioning Boys' and Girls'
Club. Like most small towns, Greeneville is working
hard to attract young residents who will bring new and
diverse points of view.
Greeneville's " story
on every building "
includes this Depot
Street mural of the
first train to arrive
in town (yes, it was
actually green) and
the names of some
of the 17 hotels
built for travelers
and workers.
" Everyone needs to be at the table going
forward, " she says. " We need to be an inviting
and embracing community. "
Greeneville is a beautiful place, surrounded
by Cherokee National Forest land
and 24 miles of the Appalachian Trail.
It honors its unique history beautifully
against the backdrop of the Smoky Mountains.
Go there to learn some Revolutionary
and Civil War history, and rethink what
you learned about our 17th president. Enjoy
a walk through murals and quilts on brick buildings.
Visit nearby David Crockett State Park and see a reconstructed
frontier mountain settlement at its most beautiful.
It's a place you won't soon forget.
MARCH/APRIL 2022 19
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country March/April 2022
