All American Road Trip Part 3: Blue Ridge Parkway MP 294 - Shenandoah

Mayberry, Music and a Bridge

This summer we decided to stay stateside and go on an All American Road Trip. Starting in the The Smokys, we drove the entire Blue Ridge Parkway to Shenandoah and ended with a few days in Washington DC.

This is Part 2. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

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Day 5 started with a quick sunrise (yes, sun!) breakfast at Yonahlossee, followed by lots of driving. This would be the longest driving day of the trip, from MP 294- MP 89, with just a little time carved out for hikes, food and culture.

The first stop was a short, relativly easy hike to The Cascades at E.B. Jeffress Park (MP 271.9). The nature trail to the top of the pretty waterfall is a one-mile loop with signs describing area plants and animals. This was great spot to stretch our legs before driving almost 60 miles to our next destination, the Blue Ridge Music Center, though we did make a quick stop at Brinegar Cabin at MP 238.5

Brinegar cabin is right off of the Parkway and features the original root cellar and traditional garden. Rumor has it that there is a pretty great staff on site sometimes, but everything was closed up when we were there. The garden & buildings were worth a look regardless.

We made great time to the Blue Ridge Music Center, which is good because we had somewhere very important to be before 1:00 pm and it would have been a shame to rush through the exhibit or miss the live music playing outside. The Roots of American Music exhibit is very extensive and includes everything from origins to interactive displays. For me, the most memorable part of the exhibit is the display tracing the origins of the instruments, songs and music. A map showing how "the European fiddle and the African banjo met..." is a good example. Between the displays and the traditional musicians performing live, you could spend an entire day here. But we had to get to Mayberry.

Mt. Airy is about 45 minutes off the Parkway. It's also where Andy Griffith grew up. They say  Mt. Airy is the inspiration for Mayberry, but one thing for sure is that Andy went to the Snappy Lunch as a boy and mentioned it on the show and in a song. The Snappy Lunch also has the World’s Famous Pork Chop Sandwich, so we had to get there before they closed at 1:00 pm.

We drove into town at about 12:50, so i dropped Todd off in front and went to park. Mt. Airy is a busy little town, so I wasn't sure how long it would take. Luckily, there was a spot two doors down, right behind Sheriff Taylor's car! Ok, it was one of at least two replica squad cars that we saw before leaving, but I am convinced this was the one. It was a Galaxy 500 and had a cardboard cut out of Andy in the driver's seat. Enough said.

Back at The Snappy Lunch, I found Todd sitting in back booth with a little smirk. Apparently I read the hours wrong and The Snappy Lunch doesn't close until 2:00 on Tuesday. And I may have rushed him a bit at the Music Center. Just a bit. Regardless, the Pork Chop Sandwich was strangely fantastic! I ordered mine with everything (tomato, chopped onion, mustard, cole slaw, and a special chili sauce). It was messy. And wonderful.

After lunch, and a look around at the photo covered walls, we walked up and down Main Street. It was cute, but nothing special, unless you want an Aunt Bee Apple Pie or a haircut at Floyd the Barbers! Still. I liked it. I am glad we made the side trip and would do it again, if only for another Pork Chop Sandwich.

We took a shortcut back the Parkway, lots of turns on State Routes. It was a little confusing, and The Parkway wasn't signed from the small road we entered on (State Route 677/Willis Gap Rd.). If we hadn't been so well acquainted with the road, we may have driven right by.

Taking one road in and another out allowed us glimpses of the area's agriculture and love of hydrangeas. Really, really big hydrangeas. Besides the hydrangeas, we saw apple orchards, peach orchards, Christmas tree farms, boxwood shrubbery farms, wheat fields, corn fields, cabbage patches, squash patches, a flax field and heritage polebean.. poles?

Back on the Parkway, we still had a hundred miles or so to go. We made a couple of roadside attraction stops at: Puckett Cabin (MP 189.9), once home to a famous midwife who supposedly delivered hundreds of babies without losing a patient and Ground Hog Mountain (MP 188.8), a picnic area displaying various fence types used in the area. We saw them all along the Parkway, but it was interesting to see them all together and read about their uses and evolution.

At MP 178 is Meadows of Dan and The Poor Farmer's Market, showcased in Southern Living as having "Best fried pies, jams, and jellies on the parkway, plus quilts and pottery." We stopped for picnic supplies for the next day, but ended up with Blenheim Ginger Ale, the best I've ever had. And I've had a lot of ginger ale. You can get it in Hot, or Not as Hot. I had the Hot.

Meadows of Dan also has the best Blue Ridge Parkway sign we saw. Worth a stop for a photo op if nothing else.

Our next, and last, stop of was Mabry Mill (MP 176), one of the most photographed ... on the Parkway. It's a restored gristmill/sawmill/woodworking shop and blacksmith shop and has living history displays and demos. It was pretty and interesting, but we must have been there at the wrong time of year/day, because it was not as photogenic as I had been led to believe. My favorite display is the still. It's kind of hidden out in the woods, which makes it that much better.

Already road weary, we hopped back in the car and drove the last 90 miles to The Peaks of Otter. Unfortunately, that meant driving through Roanoke at rush hour. Traffic was pretty dense for the Parkway, but nothing too terrible. What was bad, was the endless line of bicyclists. I am not anti-bike. I think all roads should be shared and have been on both sides. But this was just dangerous. It was made worse by the rain, but I can't imagine that it's a good idea under the best of circumstances. The issue seemed to be that the bicyclists were spread out too much (or not enough?). Between that and the rush hour traffic it was knuckle whitening to try and pass. It was doable, if scary. Then, one group stopped on the side of the road and one guy stopped IN the road with his foot out about a foot more into the road. I seriously thought I was going to hit him. And, if there had been oncoming traffic I would have probably hit something..... So there's my rant. Just be careful, whether you are on two wheels or four, motorized or people powered. Or just avoid the Roanoke stretch at rush hour, in the rain.

I was very happy to finally arrive at The Peaks of Otter. I was dry, there were no bikes, I could eat and relax. Which I did, mostly. The Peaks if Otter was obviously a popular getaway at one time. It still has a beautiful view and the building is very unique and pretty cool. Unfortunately it's been let go and is outdated. It's very clean, but a little... weird. And not always good weird. I would have loved to have seen it in it's heyday though. The cool 50's architecture, picturesque peak and lake, prevalent wildlife and expansive lawn is still noteworthy, but I bet it was something else at it's... peak.

Peaks of Otter

The next morning, after a quick coffee and some protein bars, we headed back off the Parkway to The Natural Bridge. We were in hurry. Lots to do and many miles to go before we got to The Big Meadows Lodge in Shenandoah.

The Natural Bridge is about a half hour off the Parkway. We considered stopping at The Devil's Marble Yard, but we wanted to get to Shenandoah early enough to do a 4 hour hike that I was really looking forward to. So, we went directly to the Natural Bridge and got there before they opened at 9:00 am, and I'm glad we did. The Natural Bridge is a natural wonder, but it is a privately owned and operated attraction. From the huge gift shop, wax museum and other attractions, I am pretty confident that it is rare to have the bridge to yourself these days. I wanted an unobstructed view to recreate some old family photos that I recently scanned for my grandparents, so the timing was perfect. Not only was able to recreate the photos pretty well, we saw a family of river otters as we walked along the Cedar Creek Nature Trail. For all I know they are out all of time posing for photos, but I like to think it was just for us.

Otter

We ended up spending more time at the Natural Bridge than originally intended, so it was straight to Shenandoah after that. We arrived a bit later than we planned for, so we made a quick stop at the Ranger's station to get the skinny on the "big" hike. After being assured that we had plenty of time, we headed back a few miles on Skyline Drive and started the long hike to Camp Rapidan.

Camp Rapidan was President Hoover's summer reatreat. The president's cabin, "The Brown House",  and the Prime minister's cabins have been restored to their 1929 appearance. It's a peaceful spot.  You can sit on the deck of the Brown House and look out at the Rapidan River, where the president fished for trout, stocked before he arrived.The hike itself is pretty easy and very scenic. It does cross three streams, but there are large, well-placed stone to step across on all there. The hike back up is slightly ore difficult, because it is all uphill.

Big Rock Falls

The cabin is open for ranger led tours in the summer and, if you can't manage the hike, they will drive you in via a park road. There were no tours when we were there, but we were surprised to find a few park employees hanging out on the deck of The Brown House.

In the end, it only took us 3 hours to complete the hike, and we even stopped at Big Rock Falls for a quick rest.  We were checked in and at dinner before 7:00 pm.

Big Meadows Lodge is one of my favorite places we stayed during this, or any, trip. They have done a fantastic job of keeping it authentic without letting it become rundown. This is not any easy task. The rooms are small, but very cozy and clean, with beautiful views of the valley. The main room is huge with a fireplace at one end, a community puzzle (at least when we were there), windows along the back wall and a deck outside. The Spottswood Dining Room is a great place with great food and more of those windows along the back wall, perfect for watching the sunset. I had Chesapeake Fried Oyster Stew and we split the Rainbow Trout and Black Iron Roasted Smithfield Pork. We also split dessert, which we very rarely do. The Blackberry Cobbler is amazing and the Blackberry Sundae is something else.. good, but a little too much sweet for my savory tooth. I would eat here even if I weren't staying overnight!

After dinner, we headed down to the Taproom, had a couple local brews, Devil's Backbone for me and a seasonal draft created for the park for Todd, and listened to some pretty decent acoustic guitar cover.  After a sleepless night at Peaks of Otter I was more than happy to turn in early to the cozy room a few steps away.

The next morning we enjoyed breakfast in the Spottswood, hiked to Dark Hollow Falls, saw a couple bears and headed for D.C. (Post coming soon!)