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Just finished a car trip in Virginia and North Carolina

jgohlke

My other hobby
Joined
Sep 15, 2004
Messages
991
I've always wanted to take a week to go 500 hundred miles and this year was the year. We just got a new car (the wife's):
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Which turned out to be the perfect car for touring the mountain roads. The speed limits are 35 and 45, with lots to see and many stops. We kept the top down most of the way and had good weather most of the trip.

The BRP crosses the Appalachian Trail many times, so I "hiked" the AT a bit (about 20 feet):
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You can tell I'm not a through-hiker by my clothes and shoes.....

Some of the vistas were just unbelievable, like this one:
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That's me playing with my cell phone (no service).

We saw lots of deer, a black bear, some groundhogs, geese, turkeys and many other birds all right from the car.
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If you ever get the chance, both drives are worth the time. We didn't have time to drive the whole BRP, but we did about 1/2 of it. It was a great trip and we would like to come back and see more of it.

We stayed at mostly Hilton properties (that's where I have the most points). The Hampton Inn in Dobson, NC is very nice (the gem of the trip) and connected to the Shelton Vineyards with a wine bar right in the hotel. The Hampton Inn in Lynchburg, NC is to be avoided (stay at the new Hilton Garden Inn instead). The DoubleTree in Asheville, NC is nice and very close to the Biltmore House (and also less than 1/2 the price of Biltmore stay).

We spent a whole day at the Biltmore House. We toured the house and hung out at the winery for a while. It was something. You can read about it on the web, here's a picture from the front yard:
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The family still owns it, but hasn't actually lived there since the 1930's. Of all the things we learned about the place, what struck me was that there were about 30 full-time staff working there and they ate downstairs, in the basement at a large kitchen table. There was a "kitchen maid" and she waited on and cleaned up after, the other servants at meal time. Even the servants had servants!
 
If I had known you were in the area we could have grabbed a smoke. I'm glad you had a nice trip.
 
Glad you enjoyed your trip. I took that ride a couple of years back on bikes with a couple of buddies.

My wife's car is the same model and color. I have tried to get her to take that trip in it couple of times, but no luck.

Ken
 
Looks like you had a good time and a nice car to cruise in. Can you smoke in it with the top down? ???
 
Joe thanks for sharing and tell Merry she has very nice car.
 
Home! There is no place like it!

Yes I can smoke with the top down, but it blows the ashes all over....

FatKen - You gotta convince your wife to go. It's the best car for that kind of driving. We had a blast.

We didn't do the whole the BRP. It's over 400 miles and we drove about 1/2 of it. We stopped a lot and it's hard to get very far when you are stopping all the time. We spent more time on the parts we did see and may go back later to pick up the rest. We even hiked a bit.

Tony - I'll tell her.

Switters - Appreciate it. I'll keep ya in mind for the next trip.
 
Nice post, Joe. Love that ride, your wife is a lucky one!

I lived in Asheville for about 4 years as a kid and loved the place. I remember the family drives along the BRP and along Skyline Drive with fond memories. Of all the places I've lived, it was probably the best (at least for a 12-year old kid...)

Thanks for jogging a few old memories! :thumbs:
 
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