Blue Ridge Parkway

Hi friends. Sorry it's taken me so long to finish this post. I went back and forth for a while between making multiple posts for different towns we stayed in or one big post. I decided one big post would be best. 

Last fall Jesse and I went on a trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. I'd seen pictures of these majestic mountains; leaves turning every shade of yellow, orange and red that you could imagine in the fall. I'd heard John Denver's song "Take Me Home, Country Roads". I just had to see it. We decided to narrow our trip down to driving the Blue Ridge Parkway. This way we would have a route to follow, but still get to see plenty. The BRP is a 469 mile drive beginning near Waynesboro, Virginia at milepost 1 and ending in Cherokee, North Carolina at milepost 469. We started our drive at milepost 469 and ended it at milepost 1 because Cherokee was several hours closer. We left Louisiana around 5 am and got to Cherokee that evening around 6 pm. The drive there was easy and went by really quickly. 

milepost 469

Soco Falls

Great Smokies Inn is where we stayed our first night. Our room was nice and comfortable. 
This Inn is on an indian reservation in Cherokee, NC.

first glimpse of fall color


lovely Blue Ridge Mountains

The next day (I think), we went to the Orchard at Altapass. Our plan was to pick apples, eat apple cider donuts (they were actually out, but it was a nice idea), drink apple cider and have a picnic. It was lovely. 

my cutie picking some apples






exploring at Linville Falls





Mabry Mill--one of my favorite stops on the BRP. They have this mill, a house that displays how Appalachians did things like cook, sew, spin yarn, blacksmith work and farm. They also have a restaurant that has the best pancakes!

a yarn spinning demonstration 

Jesse, getting ready to dive into that awesome food.

We drove past a random pumpkin patch. I had to get Jesse to stop so I could 
take pictures and frolic among the pumpkins! :)

Hotel Floyd, my favorite stay of the trip! This hotel is sponsored by local businesses and they built this hotel to be as "green" and tourist friendly as possible. They've invested in the culture and the artists in Floyd by selling different pieces throughout their hotel. We got a great deal through Expedia and I would absolutely recommend a stay there. I can't wait to go back!


succulents at Hotel Floyd

The Floyd Country Store

Inside the store. There was some gospel music signing 
and banjo playing in the back of the store :)

Harvest Moon Foods is a funky, wonderful health food and general store. I loved shopping here and seeing different things that we can't get at home. This is actually the business that sponsored the room we were staying in at Hotel Floyd. 

Schoolhouse Fabrics--an old school turned fabric store. 
Three stories of fabric, to be exact! :)



We got to walk on a bit of the Appalachian Trail. 
Jesse wouldn't let me walk the whole thing..

I collected an assortment of leaves that I had a craft project in mind for. 
Maybe a post on that another time :)


skipping rocks at Peaks of Otter lake

our little cabin in Love, VA



taking a rest on our hike to Crabtree Falls


BEAR! Do you see him?
 we had so much fun watching him roll around and pick berries

We stopped at a cabin that was having a demonstration on life in Appalachia. 





saying goodbye to the Blue Ridge Parkway..
off to Richmond, VA 

Virginia State Capitol 

Lunch! This place was awesome. I had an oyster stew that was very tasty. 

That night we went to Oktoberfest. We had a good time, but it was a little pricey. 
I'm glad we went though.

trying all of the German goodies


our last glimpse of the mountains

The next morning we left Richmond and headed home. We were both really sad to end our adventure. It was neat to see that part of the country during the fall..everything just seems more enchanting. 

If you have any questions about how we planned the trip or what we did while we were there I'm happy to answer. We are now planning our next big adventure--Seattle and Portland for this fall.

Thanks for reading!
Emily 

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  1. I always LOVE your blog posts and photos. Thanks for sharing.

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