We began our scenic drive home in Virginia, at the Front Royal Entrance to Skyline Drive. This drive is 105 miles through the Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains. What beautiful views!
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| Skyline Drive |
We spent a night in Staunton, Virginia and started out the next day to continue our drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Roanoke.
However, the clouds were so low that we couldn’t see any views or even the road, so we turned-around and took the freeway to Roanoke where we had planned a 2 night stay, thankfully! The next morning was lovely, so we headed back to the beginning of the Parkway and were lucky with more amazing views of the Blue Ridge Mountains!
Along the way we stopped at Natural Bridge State Park for a picnic lunch and a little hike to view the Natural Bridge. This Natural Bridge is 215 feet high, 40 feet thick and 100 feet wide. It is estimated to be at least 500 million years old. Thomas Jefferson wrote of this bridge: “The most sublime of Nature’s works”.
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| Natural Bridge |
The next day we continued from Roanoke to Mt. Airy, North Carolina along the Blue Ridge Parkway. In addition to more stunning views, we loved this scenic old mill. The Mabry Mill was built about 1910 and was in operation until 1936 to grind corn and saw lumber.
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| Mabry Mill |
That afternoon we stopped at the Blue Ridge Music Center in Galax, Virginia to hear some “Mountain Music” performed by resident musicians. One of the musicians was Willard Gayheart, an American singer/songwriter and renowned pencil artist. We had a great foot-stomping time!
We’ll continue our travels south along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina next month.
