Hi
We'd appreciate your ideas on how to reduce the driving time for the following drive
bearing in mind our interests. In other words, with such a long drive in a relatively short time what parts would you suggest we LEAVE OUT. (obviously taking a quicker route).
Skyline Drive to Blue Ridge Parkway to Smokey Mountains inclusive and in that order from 25th to 29th October. (4 full days)
We LOVE scenic drives, and our main interests are LIVE MUSIC and WILDLIFE. Culture and Civil War is also of interest, (not starting one you understand, just interested in the one 'you guys' had all those years ago!).
We are UNABLE TO HIKE, (unless that 'hike' is short and on flat terrain, in which case I would call it a walk ! [I really MUST learn how to to enter 'smileys'!])
Anyway, that's a LOT of driving, even for us.
HELP! What's can we leave out (& for that matter what's a must stop& see).
Thank you
Blue Ridge Parkway Help!
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By "inclusive" I presume you're saying you've give yourself four days to visit all three of these sights.
If hiking is omitted, then you could drive all of Skyline Drive in one day. It's 105 miles end to end and, with no stopping to view scenery, it could easily be driven in three hours. If you enter from Front Royal early in the morning, it should be no problem to get to Rockfish Gap by mid to late afternoon.
Wildlife is abundant in Shenandoah, but there are no guarantees, particular on a one-day drive-through. You'll almost certainly see deer; but bears, turkeys, and others will be a matter of pure luck.
This one-day drive-through is NOT what I recommend for a trip to Shenandoah, but you don't seem to have a lot of time.
Civil War events in the area south of Front Royal were fairly minor. Winchester, about an hour to the north, saw several battles, but the main events in the eastern front were east of here.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is over 460 miles, and thus you'll most likely need two day to drive it. This will leave one day to see Great Smokey Mountains NP -- again, not recommended.
If you are willing to DIVERT over to Appomattox I think you might find it worth the time and effort. And be aware of the speed limits on the SLD and BRP.
The most interesting battle in the Shenandoah was the Battle of New Market in the town of the same name. It is one of those battles like Rorke's Drift or Dieppe that resonates for its courage. The short version is that the cadets of the Virginia Militay Institute marched in line abreast against the Union forces, who in the face of such courage by what were just boys, fell back. There is a museum on the battlefield that covers Civil War military history generally.
Lexington, the home of VMI, is also the home of Washington and Lee University, where RE Lee was president after the Civil War. He and Stonewall Jackson, a major Confederate leader, are both buried there. I believe VMI also has a museum. It trained many famous American military leaders.
Lexington and nearby Staunton are both charming towns with lots of good restaurants and things like bookshops. Both are only a short distance from the Parkways.
http://www.floydvirginia.com/music/
if you love music, Floyd is a great stop. Have lunch or dinner (or both) at Odd Fellows.
History buffs (though not really emphasizing the Civil War era) generally find Old Salem (oldsalem.org) very interesting.
Are you asking which areas it would be good to get off the scenic highways and onto interstates?
cmcfong gave you a great suggestion. Milepost 171.5 with open area festivals with live music, great wine tasting and tours, is a must. As someone else said, 460+ miles of drive is hard to do by 'spottin' as you will find areas of no interest to areas with great historic interest. In VA you can spend some time in Floyd/Floyd County, there are a lot of bartering fairs and the time of the season is not bad at all.
After you get back on I-81 at Lexington, make a stop at Natural Bridge. It is worth seeing.
Hi schlegal1
I'm really asking which areas would you omit from your drive if you were interested in scenic drives, live music, and wildlife.
Though it would be good to have suggestions for areas that would be good to get off the scenic highways onto interstates to quicken the trip up.
Cheers
If I had to omit a part of the parkway, it would be from Roanoke, Va to around the North Carolina border. The thing you do miss by omitting this section is the iconic Mabry Mill. The next section to omit, in my opinion, would be the rest of the Virginia part of the Blue Ridge Parkway despite the Peaks of Otter area being special for me personally. My favorite section of the Blue Ridge Parkway is from Asheville to Blowing Rock, NC
Yes, I would be likely to cut down to I-77 at Fancy Gap, VA and take I-77 and US 421 to Boone/Blowing Rock to rejoin the Parkway.
If you take Ackislander's advice, stop at Raffaldini Vineyards just off of 421. Beautiful setting and a pretty decent reserve sangiovese:
http://www.raffaldini.com/
I'll add another vote for cmcfong's suggestion of Floyd, Va. Great place for music and bluegrass culture.
If you want to see anything of the Civil War in Virginia, you need to go to downtown Richmond and see the Museum of the Confederacy and the Confederate White House. Both are VERY well worth the trip, and would be an easy day excursion off the parkway.