Soap Box

In 2023, I broke one of Dad’s cardinal rules, at least as the song goes, “If you ever go back to the Wooley Swamp, well you better not go at night.”

But as the song continues, “I just had to find out for myself.”

Let me back up.

In May of 2023, the folks that run The Grand Regal Resort in White Lake, NC opened a small museum on their grounds called the Charlie Daniels Gallery, with many photos, awards and other artifacts from Dad’s career on display. Many of the pieces were previously on display at the old Charlie Daniels Museum in downtown Nashville.

For those who don’t know, White Lake is only about seven miles from Elizabethtown, NC, where my grandfather, Carlton, and his family were from. In fact, Carlton is buried at a cemetery nearby, and while we were there, we drove past the farm where my great-uncle Marvin used to raise hogs. 

It goes without saying that this area has a lot of connection to the Daniel family. And yes, I said “Daniel” as my grandfather was born William Carlton Daniel, and a clerical error at birth left Dad as the first legal “Daniels” in the family tree. 

In fact, people had added the “S” to Carlton’s name so often, that he embraced it himself, and even his headstone carries it.

So, this area carries a lot of Daniel(s) family history. I still have memories of visiting Elizabethtown when I was growing up, along with Wilmington – where my grandparents lived - and Leland – where my great grandparents lived - which were both a few miles away.

Jenna Hilton from the Grand Regal invited us down for the Charlie Daniels Gallery’s grand opening. Mom and I flew into Raleigh and planned to drive the rest of the way, We rented a car to make the trip to White Lake and Elizabethtown, picking up my Dad’s cousin, Wanda along the way.

On our first night there, we had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant in Elizabethtown. While we were in the parking lot ready to leave, I asked Jenna if she knew where the Woolie Swamp was - and yes, I realize how I spelled it, I’ll clarify that shortly. She said that she did not, but she knew someone who would, I’m pretty sure his family started the resort many years ago. She called him and sure enough, she was able to get the address, and the owner of the property agreed to meet us there.

The actual name of the land is “Woolie Swamp,” so why is the spelling of the song different? Dad isn’t here to ask, but I have a theory.

When Dad wrote the song, he probably told those who were handling his publishing that the swamp’s name was spelled with an “E” and that got misinterpreted as “Wooley” instead of “Wooly,” either that or Dad didn’t know the actual spelling, but knew it had an “E” so he went with that spelling.

So, we pulled over and met the owner who opened the gate and led us down a dark gravel road.

What horrors would confront us? Creepy crawly things, or Swamp creatures? The specter of a haggard old miser, or the tormented souls of three hooligan brothers?

You could cut the anticipation with a knife…

So, did we see ghosts? Alligators? Hear the screams of the Cagle Boys, or Lucius Clay’s thunderous laugh?

No.

But we did see a lot of dust from the truck in front of us on the gravel road.

The part of the swamp we were in wasn’t very swampy. There may be more spooky and marshy parts of the land, but we weren’t anywhere near them.

But Dad used to hunt here with his buddies when he was growing up, and I imagine it could get pretty spooky if the moon was just right, and the screech owls were shrieking with the sound of some sort of terrifying demon.

So, we survived and we headed back to our accommodations, unscathed, but it was still cool to see the land that inspired one of the creepiest ghost story songs of all time.

We attended the grand opening of the Gallery the next day, with a steady stream of fans and family, and then we went back to Tennessee with a sense of accomplishment and the memories of the time spent in the land of the Daniel(s) family.

Over a year later, I went back to The Grand Regal at White Lake for a family vacation. After a great time at the lake, we drove to Wilmington and Carolina Beach, and as we were driving, I noticed a sign with another familiar place from Dad’s ghost story of a song, Carvers Creek.

I’ve heard a very disreputable family lives there, so we drove straight past. We weren’t looking for trouble with anybody named Cagle.

I hope to return to the Wooley/Woolie Swamp someday, and hopefully get to see some areas that are less dry than we saw. 

Who knows what might be lurking in the shadows of that dark footpath on a return visit?

“There’s some things in this world you just can’t explain.” – Charlie Daniels 1980

What do you think?

Let’s all make the day count!

Pray for our troops, our police, the Peace of Jerusalem and our nation.

God Bless America!

#SonyReleaseHonkyTonkAve

#BenghaziAintGoingAway #End22

PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU POST

Check Out The Charlie Daniels Podcast!

Check out "Geechi Geechi Ya Ya Blues" from Beau Weevils - 'Songs in the Key of E'