2019 Great Smoky Mountains National Park -- 5/13 Oconaluftee Visitor Center (一)

The Oconaluftee Visitor Center—the first visitor center in Great Smoky Mountains National Park built since the 1960s—serves as a fantastic introduction to this most popular of U.S. national parks. Learn more about the region’s early inhabitants, tap ranger knowledge, and explore historic Smoky Mountain structures next door at the Mountain Farm Museum.

早在1960年代就有在此處建立了大煙山國家公園的第一個國家公園了,但現在這座新穎的綠建築應該是近期重建的.

A mere two miles from Cherokee, North Carolina at the southern entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park on US 441, the Oconaluftee Visitor Center is definitely worth a stop for orienting yourself not only to the immediate area, but the park as a whole.
從東邊過來此處是很近的,但我們選擇住在西側, 開到這裡需要花點時間.

This is actually the second Oconaluftee Visitor Center: The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the original. In 2011, the current, much more spacious building opened as the first Great Smoky Mountains National Park visitor center to be built since the 1960s. It’s a spiffy structure, all the more so given its energy-efficient and eco-friendly architecture and design, which includes flooring made from salvaged American chestnut, rubber, and recycled carpets as well as a geothermal heating and cooling system.
我猜得沒錯,這個遊客中心是2011年重新蓋的.

美國國家公園的遊客中心都規畫得相當不錯, 展示廳理會將此國家公園的歷史,地理和生態資訊詳細解說. 只可惜我的英文是半調子,通常是一知半解,或是用猜的!

還好我比較有興趣的是屬於野花動物方面的知識,這些比較淺顯易懂.

家裡的書架上至少有十本以上的相關書籍,這麼多年來的收藏和閱讀,我這方面的字彙增加很多.

而每到一個國家公園,必定會買一本介紹野花的書,這讓我在寫部落格時查找花名增添了助力.(這陣子人在台灣,書都在深圳家裡,要等疫情減緩時回家再將花名補上)

Quilt(拼花被),這是美國拓荒時期婦人利用剩餘的布料拼接而成的被子,演變至今在台灣是喜歡做手工的人常去學習的課程.

遊客中心的後面有個大陽台,面對著大片草皮和遠山,坐在搖椅上欣賞風景,享受著悠閒時光.