BLUERIDGE PARKWAY

One of the items on my bucket list was to be able to visit the Blue Ridge Parkway. With not much planning or prep, Judy and I started out on Monday Sept 10, 2012 to explore some of the Eastern States. The first state we came to was this one.

The next state that we entered was this one.

After crossing through Ohio, we jumped into Pennsylvania but was not able to capture a picture of a sign. We bounced around this state several times.

Our trusty steed took us into Maryland and finally Virginia. Judy took this shot of us to show off our Hi-Vis sweatshirts that we bought so people we be able to see us better. You will see a much better picture of them later but we do stand out.

We ended out day S.W. of Pittsburg Pa. We could really hear the interstate traffic when we set up camp, but when we shut off the lights, all Judy could hear was my chain saw.

After a quick breakfast and packing up, we hit the interstate for the final leg of the trip to the beginning of the Parkway. We were not on the road long before we saw this up ahead. We were not sure if it was a fire or not.

As we got closer we realized it was just fog.

While on the road, we came across this piece of machinery that was parked on a bridge over the interstate. They had 3 flags up but we could only make out the American flag.

It was late morning when we pulled off of the interstate to gas up. I saw this interesting sign from a pretty disgruntled fellow.

Up ahead, we noticed a deep cut in the mountains. I realized that it was a cut through the mountains so the interstate could be at the proper grade. Most of the interstates cannot have a grade any higher that 15% when climbing a mountain or hill. To make this one, they really had to cut deep.

Here it is up close.

After several miles, I noticed that Judy was very quiet back behind me. I couldn’t turn around to see what she was doing so I just snapped this so I could see. I guess that she was very tired.

I decided to let her sleep.

We finally made it to our beginning point, Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. This drive is 105 miles long and the top speed limit is 35 miles per hour. I figured that it would take us forever to finish this part but we moved along at a pretty good clip.

Here we are at the visitors center just after entering the park. We look like a couple of bananas but people sure see us on our cycle. People keep coming up to us and saying “I sure can see you guys.” Judy just says, “That’s the point.” This is a shot of our first tunnel that we encountered.

This was a fitting end to a nice day. Our campsite was another story though. We tell about that tomorrow. Good night John Boy!

We were able to break camp early this morning and head out to the Parkway. It was a beautiful morning with the fog rising in the valleys.

At this point, we were still on Skyline Drive in Virginia. I figured since we were able to get there early, we might see some wildlife. We came across several of these walking next to the road trying to eat some insects.

And of coarse, we came across several of these eating on the side of the road. When we came upon this one, he didn’t quite know what to do so he just started running down the road.

The highlight of our trip so far was to see not one but two bears about 5 miles from each other. They were both too fast to get a picture of them, but we really did see them. Soon, the 105 miles of the Skyline Drive were over and we immediately started the next leg of the journey. 471 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the fastest that we can drive is 45 miles per hour. Here is a picture of Judy and I entering the Parkway.

Soon after entering the Park, we stopped at the Visitor Center to pick up some maps and other information. As we were getting off of our bike, the model T’s pulled in and parked. It seems that they do this drive once a year and go the whole distance. There were cars from several states. Every one of these cars were in tip top shape. Several of them had trunks on the back like they would have had in the 20s and 30s.

This was the first of several tunnels that we will be driving through on the trip.

For the first 3 days of our trip, we have stopped for lunch and had a picnic lunch. Today, we were somewhere along the Parkway and stopped along a stream and had ham, turkey, egg salad, and chips. This is my sweetheart looking at the creek.

This is a picture of Judy and I in front of Mabrys Mill. This mill was one of the few mills still left standing from the early 20’s. This mill is the most photographed mill in America.

A close up of the mill.

We found a nice KOA Campground and spent the night. It was very clean and quiet. The town that it is located in is called Fancy Gap. I would love to know where they came up with some of these names for these towns.

We finally got out of Virginian today and crossed over into another state.

I had always wanted to visit this town in North Carolina because a famous person came from this town. Look at the following photos and see if you can guess who it is.

If your answer was Andy Griffith, you would have been correct. This town was the basis for Andy of Mayberry. Judy wanted to get her picture taken with Barney so I obliged her.

This next picture is of F. Rees Clothing Store. There is an interesting story here about the man who owned this store. The state built a bypass around the main part of the town. Eventually, a mall opened on the bypass and all of the downtown stores started closing and moving out by the mall. F. “Flip” Rees hated to see what was happening downtown so he had the fortitude to start buying up the old dilapidated buildings and rehabbing them. He then started leasing them to specialty shops that you wouldn’t ordinarily see in a town. Because he did this, the town came back and is thriving today. All of the buildings downtown are in good shape and kept up. Tourism is great and bringing money into the town. F. “Flip” Rees died 2 years ago at the age of 94. It is said that if you walked into his clothing store, all it would take is one look from him or his staff and they could tell you your coat size, shirt size and pant size. One man said of him at his death, ” he was a great businessman and a great Christian gentlemen.

About lunch time, we decided to go off of the Parkway and find some home cooked food. Sign said Laural Springs, 3 miles. We went 3 miles and no Laural Springs. I did see some rusty bed springs but we couldn’t eat them so we kept traveling. Judy kept saying we better turn around, but you know guys, we have to figure it out ourselves. We came across this field of tobacco that had just been cut. They stack it and let it dry for a while then hang it in barns.

Much to our delight, soon after this field, we came across a wonderful restaurant in the middle of nowhere. When we walked in, there were several couples seated at some tables. One of the gentlemen said “howdy strangers.” I said, have you been waiting for us. They laughed and said they had. I said, well we’re here now. They were a delightful bunch. After we finished eating, they told us about a shortcut back to the Parkway. It did save us several miles, and the food was good.

Next stop for us was the Moses Cone Estate. But first, I had to have a snack.

Moses Cone became one of the largest producers of denim in the world. He and his wife lived in the New York and Maryland area. After gaining great wealth, he came to the mountains for a vacation, fell in love with them, and started buying land. He eventually bought 3600 acres and in 1901, he started building Flat Top Manor.

It is almost 14000 square feet and has 23 rooms. He also built 25 miles of carriage trails on his estate and had numerous apple orchards. In 1908, he died unexpectedly. His funeral service held on the estate featured four wagonloads of flowers. His wife continued managing the estate for another 39 years following his death. She died in 1947 and left the estate to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

View from the front porch.

Carriage House and some carriages inside.

I had always wanted to visit a Mast General Store if I were ever near one. Today would be my chance as we were near Boone N.C. and they had a Mast Store. When we parked our bike, out came a fellow names Steve from one of the businesses. He had come to Boone via Naples FL and had been here 40 years. He owned a printing company and was very friendly. We had a nice visit.

Mast General Store established in 1883.

While we were walking back to our bike, I noticed an old gentleman sitting on a bench trying to play the guitar. He couldn’t quite get the tune out so I sat down next to him and helped him out.

He wanted to pay me but I told him that I wanted to help him, no strings attached.

Having spent the night in Boone, NC, we were anxious to get started Friday. This is one of the first scenes that greeted us as climbed to the top of the mountain for our final leg of our journey.

The parkway was put on hold for about 20 years so that engineers, environmentalist, and local people could decide how to preserve this particular area with its huge boulders and beauty. They finally came up with this viaduct. I forget how many sections it took to put this thing together but I do remember that each section is 50 tons and there is only one straight section in the whole viaduct.

I walked down the road to take a couple of pictures and Judy stayed behind. I took this one of her sitting on a guard rail waiting for me. Can you say, “Guess who is cold today.”

Here is another one of Judy trying to check on her family roots.

Judy and I decided that we needed some exercise so we decided to hike back and see a waterfall.

The lady at the information desk said that it was 1.7 miles round trip. She lied! It had to be every bit of 7 miles. On the way back to the parking lot, I noticed that a tree had grown out of some rocks and it looked as if it was oozing out. I tried to push it back in but to no avail.

Another shot of Judy clowning around with her family roots.

Since there are no commercial establishments on the Blue Ridge Parkway, each time that you want to eat or get gas, you must find one of the highways that crossed under the Parkway and get off and find what you are looking for. We were getting hungry so we got off of the Parkway and started looking for a restaurant. We came across this little jewel in Linville Falls, NC.

It is even on the National Registry of Historical Places.

But what makes Famous Louise’s Rock House Restaurant really famous is the fact that 3 counties of North Carolina come together inside of her building. The food is cooked in Avery County, and you pay your bill in Burke County. You might also want to eat in McDowell County which is just a few tables over from Burke County. We decided to eat in Burke County.

I imagine that our meal was just as good as the folks had in the other counties.

We left with full stomachs and headed back to the top of the Parkway. This is one of several tunnels that we went through today. Today was tunnel day.

The scenery today was just spectacular.

There were 2 things that we had to watch for during the whole trip. Cars and bicyclist. Especially if you were entering a tunnel.

Judy and I met these 2 gentlemen at one of the pull overs. They were both from Kentucky and had traveled together quite extensively. They were very nice to talk to and we enjoyed our time together.

Although this was not the highest point in the mountains, it was the highest point that you could drive your vehicle to along the Parkway.

This is the last picture that we took before we started out descent off of the mountain.

It was a great days ride and we were ready to get off of the bike when we got to Cherokee, NC. Good night John Boy.

We spent Friday night at the KOA in Cherokee, NC. Here are few pictures of the campground. This was a very nice campground and we both said that we would like to come back here again sometime.

We had a very relaxing morning and walked around the campgrounds. I would have like to stay for a couple of more days, but home was calling. I really enjoyed my traveling companion. She is getting crazier and crazier. She said I am the one to blame, but I must give her credit. All in all, this was a great trip and one more thing that I could mark off of my Bucket List.