If you don’t like something, change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.
Mary Engelbreit
Our last night in Tennessee was at Roan Mountain State Park. From here we headed towards the Blue Ridge Parkway. This National Parkway, is noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is 469 miles, is the longest linear park in the US. From the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina, through Virginia to the Shenandoah National Park Skyline drive. The Parkway follows the ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Some call it “America’s favorite drive”. The Parkway experience is a slow-paced and relaxing drive on the ridge of the of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Speed Limit is 35 miles/hour (55 km/hour) and we averaged 25m/h (40km/hr). It was time to take a step back and slow down for a few days.
We picked up the parkway around mile marker 308, the Lineville area. Most of the tourist areas were closed, however the views along the parkway were breathtaking and vast. You can definitely see how the Blue Ridge got its’ name as the blue haze hung over the mountains.
Along the way at mile marker 200 we stopped for two nights and stayed at Fancy Gap KOA in Fancy Gap, Virginia. (Hot showers and WIFI!) When exploring the very small community I found the most amazing bakery and café. I finally found a BROWNIE!! Man, oh man it was good 😊.
At mile marker 176 we stopped at the Mabry Mill. Interesting fact that this mill is one of the most photographed mills in the US. Apparently, some other states have claimed this picture as theirs.
At mile marker 115 we stopped and stayed at the Explore Park in Roanoke, Virginia. Here we found the Twin Creek Brew Pub, our 31st craft Brewery of the trip. The one thing that we have noticed at a lot of the breweries here in the US is that they are using a Canadian Malt in their brew. I knew there is a reason I liked the beer here!
Now to continue with the everything is deep fried down here theme we tried the deep-fried mushrooms. Not something that needs to be tried again, if you get my drift.
Finally, mile marker 0, the most northern end/start of the Blue Ridge Parkway, followed by the most southerly end of the Shenandoah Skyline Drive. At least this time the 105 miles of the Shenandoah drive was open.
So, some math for you 308 + 105= 413 / 25 miles/hour = 16.5 hours, we took four days to drive it. Like I said; time to slow down a little, and enjoy the drive.