Past POIs - Humpback Rocks [Virginia]

For the next few Past Points of Interest, I'm going to cover some of the sights that we saw during our recent roadtrip to Asheville and Atlanta.

Humpback Rock in Virginia, which is part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, is a free to access viewpoint providing you with a great view of the surrounding area.  The rock itself is greenstone and the name is from how it looks like a 'hump' and is located near the peak of Humpback Mountain.

It is 10 km (milepost 5.8) south of the northern entrance of the Blue Ridge Parkway and it a 3.2 km (2 mile) round-trip hike.  You will gain 740 ft (230 m) in elevation and it will probably take you roughly 1 hour to do the hike itself and however much time you need to take pictures and breaks.

Well worth a visit if you are in the area; I hope the stats don't scare you from doing the hike itself.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

2015 - Asheville/Atlanta Day 3 (Blowing Rock, North Carolina)

Breakfast at Best Western was better than the Super 8.  Individually boxed cereal, fruit cups, yogurt, cartoned milk, juice, doughnuts, sausage and gravy along with a waffle maker.

Our first stop is Foam Henge in Natural Bridge, Virginia.  One person made it as a April Fool's joke and it remains today.  If you head west of the Natural Bridge Zoo, you will see a dirt road with a steel gate on the north side (your right) and a small area to park your car, this is where you want to be.  Hop the fence and walk a few minutes up the trail and then take a left and there you are.  Definitely my highlight of the trip so far.

Welcome to Foam Henge!

Foam Henge!

Me pretending to be Merlin.

Afterwards, we stopped at Peaks of Otter along the Blue Ridge Parkway for information.  Based on what we were told, we did the hike to see the Falling Water Cascades.  It took us roughly an hour round-trip.  You have the option to do a loop, but we were told by locals that we saw that there wasn't anything to see on the other side.  It is a nice set of cascading waterfalls.  Worth a stop I'd say.

Us at Falling Water Cascades.

I tried to go to a Cuban sandwich restaurant for lunch but unfortunately it was closed and we ended up at the Pancake House on Williamson road.  I wouldn't bother stopping here for lunch unless you are in the area.  It is a grease spoon diner.

Steak and eggs at Pancake House.

We ended up going to Big Walker Lookout in Wytheville, Virginia since there was nothing else on the itinerary.  It is a privately owned 100 foot tall lookout tower that costs $6 to go up and gives you very nice views of the surrounding area.  Arrived between lunch and dinner and surprisingly, no one was around.

Big Walker Lookout and Country Store.

Atop Big Walker Lookout.

Dinner was at Bistro Roca in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.  We ordered the Lamb Bacon Pizza and the Porkocalypse Mac and Cheese which were both good.  Prices were good too at $10 for the pizza and $13 for the mac and cheese.  I find the service a bit odd since we both saw a few empty tables, but they wouldn't seat you for at least 10 minutes and told us to just hang around the bar area.  There is a nice roof-covered patio area in the back of the restaurant.  Actually, the area where the restaurant is is pretty nice in general with a nice park nearby.

Porkocalypse Mac and Cheese.

Lamb Bacon Pizza.

 Tomorrow is Linville Falls and Asheville.

2015 - Asheville/Atlanta Day 2 (Lexington, Virginia)

Super 8 breakfast was disappointing.  Toast, two types of cereal and coffee or tea.  Bed and hotel was also disappointing, smelly hallways, really sad deflated pillows, won't be staying at this chain again.

Our sad breakfast at Super 8.

After an early breakfast and a quick stop at the visitor centre at Front Royal, we decided to skip Dinosaur Land and go to Shenadoah National Park instead since there were some things that were recommended by the person at the visitor centre.

There are a lot of well labelled look out spots but they all begin to look the same after awhile.

One of Shenandoah's many lookouts.

Stop #1 was Dark Hollow Falls, a 1.4 mile round-trip hike that took us roughly 1 hour to do.  It is a nice set of waterfalls.  It is cascade though, it isn't straight down.  The walk down is all downhill and the walk up is all uphill.

At the bottom of Dark Hollows Falls in Shenandoah National Park.

Stop #2 was Stoney Man Trail, a 0.9 mile round-trip hike and I think this one is skippable.  It took us 30 minutes or so to do.  So, if you want to stretch your legs, it is a good trail, but otherwise, I feel that the pay-out wasn't worth the effort.

Atop Stoney Man Trail in Shenandoah National Park.

Overall, after those stops which were suggested, I personally feel that you should just skip Shenandoah and go to the main Blue Ridge Parkway area near Asheville.  I thought Shenandoah would be interesting but the low speed limit (35 mph), combined with the cost at $20 for a 7-day pass (vs free for all of Blue Ridge Parkway), makes me say skip it.

Blue Ridge Parkway's most popular hiking trail is Humpback Rocks and I would say that this is definitely worth a visit.  Since we got there at around 5pm, we didn't do any other trails after and headed straight to Lexington.  I would say it takes maybe 1 hour and 10 minutes for us to do the full trail plus take pictures.  We lucked out since the place is usually really busy but when we went, we were alone (which is unfortunate if you want someone to take pictures for you though).

Atop Humpback Rocks at BRP.

Atop Humpback Rock at BRP.

Today, we saw FOUR deer (3 old ones and 1 young one).  The most deer I have seen in the wild in one day in my life.  Pretty cool.

Deer!

For dinner we stopped at Southern Inn in Lexington, Virginia.  The food was good, it wasn't very expensive at roughly $16 per entree.  We ordered the meatloaf and southern fried chicken and we both thought they were good.

Meatloaf at Southern Inn.

Fried Chicken at Southern Inn.

Stopped by an ice cream shop just down the street after dinner.  They seemed a bit pricier at $2.50 a scoop, but they were a good way to end the evening.

After some discussion on how things were looking, we decided tomorrow that we would just stop at the Peaks of Otters and do a hike and then just head to Blowing Rock instead of doing the full Blue Ridge Parkway.

Future POIs - Blue Ridge Parkway [North Carolina and Virginia]

I don't normally travel to do drives (well, excluding the autobahn), but this is one that I have been told about so I'm optimistic that this one may change my views on scenic drives.

Courtesy of wikipedia

During our June roadtrip, we will be passing by the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a 469 mile long parkway that goes from Shenandoah National Park near Waynesboro, Virginia (Mile 0) to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Mile 469).

Courtesy of wikipedia

Construction began in 1935 and took over 52 years to complete (in 1987).  It is the longest linear park and belongs to the National Park Service.  It is named after the Blue Ridge, a chain of mountains that is part of the Appalachian Mountains.

Courtesy of wikipedia

Come back next Monday for another Future Point of Interest!