I've Never Driven On the Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Scenic Byway, an All-American Road, and the most visited unit in the National Park System. However, I have not been one of those visitors until recently. I have been on the Parkway for just a few minutes here or there, but never with the sole purpose to drive on the Parkway to see the sights. Mark Blevins, a dear friend, made it his mission to drive all 469 miles of the Parkway this year. So he, his wife Anna, and two girls Madeline and Audrey, invited me and my husband Mike on a road trip.

Recently Mike bought a new Kia Sorrento with a third row seat (with this sort of craziness in mind) so we packed ourselves in and headed out. We started at the "end" which is in Cherokee, NC. Our mission was to drive 25oish miles to the NC/VA border over 3 days.

So Sunday after lunch we loaded up into the car and headed for the 2 hour trip to our first stop, our campground in Sylva called Moonshine Creek Campground. We set up camp and headed to Cherokee to do some sightseeing before getting started on our Parkway adventure.

I've been to Cherokee before, but just briefly, and this visit was also brief because being Easter Sunday, not a whole lot was open. My specialization in college was Native American History and so I can't wait to get back here and really see everything Cherokee has to offer. In the main area of town they have some beautiful monuments and artwork. One piece you can't help but notice is a statue outside veteran's park. It depicts part of the Cherokee creation story in which land is created out of the sea on the back of a turtle.

They also have bear art all around the town. Each one is done to honor something different about the Eastern Cherokee people. This one is my favorite which honors the arts of the Cherokee people.

Once we were finished in Cherokee we headed to the official start of the Blue Ridge Parkway to drive back to our campground.

This section was only about 25 miles worth of driving. It was starting to get dark by this time of the evening and the views were a bit hazy.

The next morning we got back on the Parkway and did the section to Asheville. The mountains were very cloudy and hazy. One of our stops was at the highest point on the Parkway. It didn't hold any great views for us, but it did feel like we were standing in a cloud.

We continued on our way to Asheville to eat lunch at the Mellow Mushroom. Even though it is a chain, it still has a unique vibe and some great pizza. Anna's parents surprised us by showing up to visit for a few minutes before we got back on the road.

Our next stop was the Folk Art Center which has great mountain art for sale. They also have a gallery and other educational resources. It was really fun to see all the different pottery, quilts, jewelry, stained glass, leather goods, loom work, and paintings. I picked up something for our house and a Mother's Day present.

We got back on the Parkway again for an afternoon drive of about 60 miles. I know that doesn't sound like much, but with the 45 mile an hour speed limit, and a reality of about 30 miles an hour due to curves and road conditions, it made for a really long afternoon - kids and adults alike. The girls did a fabulous job on the road trip - better than us adults at times!!

The last stop for Monday was Mount Mitchell State Park. Mt. Mitchell is the highest point east of the Mississippi. I have been to Clingman's Dome which is the second highest point so I figured a few feet difference wasn't that big of a deal. And although it had cleared up nicely during the day the clouds were beginning to roll in. One side of the mountain was clear, but the other side looked threatening. So we drove to the parking lot, hopped out for a quick photo opportunity and headed on to our campsite.

Our camping that night was right on the parkway. It was a stormy and soggy night. Because of that we decided to cut our trip short by one day. So the next day we headed to our final destination of Linville Caverns. I'll blog about that at a later date.

So instead of a 250 mile journey we cut it to 150 miles. Even though we knew it would be slow driving I don't think any of us thought it would be that slow. The weather didn't help us either. When we left the weather forecast was for sunny skies with a chance of rain our last day. This turned into thunderstorms and possible flash floods. Every time we got to something cool on the parkway it was cloudy and the views were terrible.

We had a great time though seeing and doing new things. Even though we were all close friends before, this was a great memory making time for the six of us. I am looking forward to the next journey on the Blue Ridge Parkway during some better weather!