The Southern Section of the Blue Ridge Parkway

We left the Bluffs Lodge and Doughton Park early the following morning. A busy day was ahead of us - featuring some hiking, some driving and some good Carolina BBQ. Thankfully, no bears were anywhere to be found.

Our first stop was at the Northwest Trading Post, which features arts, crafts and foodstuffs from various local providers. The place had the vibe of a nice country store. We browsed, bought a few things and continued on our busy way - this was the first of three arts and crafty destinations on the day's itinerary.

The Lump is one of the best-named natural places in the United States, being just a small hill covered by a meadow. It's a spot perfect for 80s bands to have their photo taken while standing apart from each other, all looking in separate directions - just like U2! I made my wife walk to the top of it with the promise of wild strawberries that were nowhere to be found. Disappointed, we ambled back down The Lump and continued southwestwardly along the parkway.

Moses H. Cone was known as the "denim king". He and his brother were textile magnates in North Carolina during the late 1800s, supplying Levi Strauss with most of their fabric. In love with the Blue Ridge Area, he bought 3500 acres in-and-around the small town of Blowing Rock. On this land, he built a beautiful estate, Flat Top (not to be confused with the "other" Peak of Otter).

Having no children, the death of his widow meant that Cone's entire estate and Flat Top were ultimately donated to National Park Service, becoming one of the top attractions along the entire Blue Ridge Parkway. Flat Top now hosts an interesting art store - we ended up buying a couple pieces. There are also miles of hiking trails that were formerly the carriage trails used by Cone. We only had the time to hike the Figure Eight trail which was used by Moses and his wife for their morning walks. It was an easy trail with a beautiful canopy of oak, maple and cherry trees.

Next up on our journey was the Linn Cove Viaduct, which rivals Mabry Mill as the most famous spot on the BRP. The final part of the parkway to be completed in 1983, the viaduct is considered to be the most complex concrete bridge ever constructed. The computer-aided design was needed to reduce the environmental impact of the parkway on Grandfather Mountain.

Now, I have a bridge phobia, so this was the one part of our journey that freaked me out for months leading up to our trip. Getting married was no problem. Driving across the Linn Cove Viaduct - FEAR! It came upon us so suddenly, the effect felt like launching oneself off of Grandfather Mountain into the air.

What comes after fear, but hunger - so after the Linn Cove Viaduct we ventured off the parkway to Linville for some good Carolina BBQ. The winding road down into the mountain town makes one appreciate the skill of BRP architect Stanley Abbott, but he also had a decently sized right of way to work with.

We had read about Linville's Old Hampton Store before our trip, so we were hoping things would time out properly for a BBQ lunch at the establishment. The "Old Hampton" is primarily a general store and grist mill, but we weren't in the mood for cornmeal. Thankfully, Uncle Lee's Barbeque lurks at the rear of the place.

Uncle Lee's features a typical assortment of smoked meats along with various side dishes. Like most real BBQ joints, a selection of sauces was waiting at our table. I tried the smoked turkey and chicken and both were great - especially with a tasty mustard-based sauce. I also fell in love with the Carolina Caviar, which is essentially a black-eyed pea salad. Good stuff.

Sufficiently fattened up, we climbed back onto the Blue Ridge and headed south along the parkway to Linville Falls for some hiking to work off the BBQ. As the parkway transitions from the Blue Ridge to the Black Mountains at Grandfather Mountain, the surrounding mountainscape becomes more ominous with each mile post.

The land for the Linville Falls recreation area was donated to the public by another very rich man -- a Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. A visitor center serves as the trailhead for a few trails that lead to and around Linville Falls. The center also has a campground and a book store. We decided to take the main Linville Falls trail which provided us a nice two mile escape from the car and the parkway.

The Linville River here is very scenic, flowing underneath a canopy of virgin-growth hemlock trees. The falls itself contains two separate sections. The upper portion is more peaceful - falling slowly over a 10-15 feet drop, while the lower part rushes 60 feet down a twisting rock channel. We decided to soak in the nature for a bit before hiking back to the car and our journey on to Mount Pisgah.

As noted earlier, the landscape gets more and more mountainous as we climb higher and higher along the parkway. We stopped to look directly in the eye of 6600-foot Mount Mitchell. Another stop was to poke around at the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center - another perfectly named spot along the BRP.

Soon after entering the Asheville metro-area we came upon the Folk Art Center. This was by far the largest of the three art centers we visited that day. Run by the Southern Highland Craft Guild, the center was developed jointly by the guild, the National Park Service, and the Appalachian Regional Commission. Filled with interesting galleries and a massive craft store, this is the most visited destination on the Blue Ridge Parkway with over a quarter-million guests annually.

We wanted to stay longer, but the skies were darkening and we needed to make it up Mount Pisgah before the storm broke. The climb up to the Pisgah Inn while being chased by a thunderstorm was an interesting experience. It never turned harrowing, though, probably due to elegant road architecture of the parkway. Thank you, Stanley Abbott.

Once we made it to the top of the mountain, we were stunned with the beauty surrounding the Pisgah Inn, where we stayed the final two nights of our journey. The final lodge of the three along the parkway, I still find it hard to pick between here and the Peaks of Otter for the "Best View Award".

The Pisgah's restaurant provided excellent meals with an even better view. One morning, nature's fog machine was in full operation as streams of water vapor flowed over the mountain down into the valley below. All in full view of us humble diners! Our room was comfortable and actually had a TV (the first one seen on our trip).

One afternoon during our stay, we ventured down into Asheville to check out the sites. Neither of us had any interest in the Biltmore, so we headed downtown to find lunch and some shopping.

Malaprop's Bookstore and Café appeared first after we walked out of the parking garage. The bookstore had Wi-Fi! After a quick netsurf, I found a cool book on synthesizer inventor Robert Moog, who was an Asheville resident during the final years of his life. I would've enjoyed a side trip to Moog Music's local HQ, but there weren't any public tours available.

Walking further down Haywood St., My wife got sucked in by the massive amounts of yarn and crafty stuff at Earth Guild. Unable to save her, I ventured across the street towards what appeared to be a relic from another age - a record store. Karmasonics had a good selection of ambient music - my kick of the week - so I picked up a couple Brian Eno discs before engaging in yarn rescue activities back at Earth Guild.

I also noticed a restaurant with a Cajun kick just around the corner. Mayfel's featured a wonderful vibe and was the perfect place for a quick lunch. I had a Catfish Po-Boy with gumbo - both were excellent. This is also the very spot my wife's addiction to the Muffaletta was born. The wait staff was hip and friendly and knew the words to the Beach Boys' God Only Knows - as was revealed by their spontaneous sing-along. After only a few hours, Asheville had become one of our favorite places.

The next morning, we sadly left the Pisgah Inn to finish off the last 60 miles of the parkway. Breathtaking scenery still abounded, with Looking Glass Rock, the Graveyard Fields (remnants of an old forest fire) and the Devil's Courthouse all shimmering in the morning sun.

The traffic was sparse, like most of our journey; the only exception being the first day back in Virginia on Memorial Day. After too short of a time, we descended to the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway where it dead-ends into US441 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Immediately we were stuck in a traffic jam for the next 50-60 miles on a two-hour trail all the way through the national park, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville just to get to Interstate 40. The Great Smoky Mountains is surprisingly one of the most polluted areas in the country, and now we know why!

A bit of a let-down after the beautiful scenery we witnessed in the past week, it made us appreciate the parkway all the more. Don't tell anyone else about it, maybe the hordes will stay in Pigeon Forge! The Blue Ridge Parkway is THE Appalachian vacation spot - all 469 miles of her!