jgohlke
My other hobby
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2004
- Messages
- 990
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):
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):
You can tell I'm not a through-hiker by my clothes and shoes.....
Some of the vistas were just unbelievable, like this one:
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.
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:
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!
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):
You can tell I'm not a through-hiker by my clothes and shoes.....
Some of the vistas were just unbelievable, like this one:
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.
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:
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!
