Virginia Creeper Trail

Arriving in Damascus on a Wednesday, we spent the next few days waiting for the sun to appear, or more precisely, waiting for the rains to stop.  Having visited this area three times in the past 4 years, we were drawn back to experience the Virginia Creeper Trail during the peak leaf changing season.  This primarily down the mountain bike ride starts at Whitetop Mountain and runs into Damascus for 17-miles, and then, if you like, continues for another, mostly level, 17-miles into Abingdon.  As we arrived in town, beautiful golden, deep orange and crimson leaves covered the mountainside.  Bikers were out in full force, in spite of the wet weather, and were returning to  Damascus, soaked and covered with mud.  Most were in jovial moods and considered it an adventure on the trail.

Making apple butter

Camping at Beartree Campground in the Jefferson National Forest, we were 8 zigzagging miles or 20 minutes outside of town.  Inclement weather had left the campground nearly deserted, and we lucked into one of the limited sites with water and electric.   On Sunday, we took advantage of a short reprieve from the rain to drive up to the community of Whitetop for their annual Molasses Festival.  This fundraiser for the Mount Rogers Volunteer Fire Department had a good turnout.  Molasses and apple butter were both being made and sold on the grounds, a variety of local bands provided the entertainment (all bluegrass), and vendors sold crafts, honey, jams, and maple syrup leftover from the town's Whitetop Mountain Maple Syrup Festival in the spring.  Barbecue chicken, green beans and coleslaw were being sold as a secondary fundraiser. While visitors feasted on the chicken, a dozen or so fellow guests provided additional entertainment by clogging to the lively music.  Dancers ranged from 10-80 plus years old, and never seemed to tire!

At Green Cove Station, along the trail

Monday, we awoke to sunny, clear blue skies.  Along with 8 other bikers, we and our bikes were taken to the top of the trail by one of the many companies in town that provides the drop-off or pick up service (for the riders going up the mountain).  Temperatures were in the mid-60's, and the day was about as close to perfection as you can get!  There aren't enough superlatives to describe what a glorious ride we experienced.  (I don't think I've ever used the word glorious before, but the gorgeous trees, perfect sky and lovely temperature could not have been better.)  Taking about 4 hours to complete the trail, we took numerous stops along the way so we could maximize the day.

Having completed the ride, it is now time to drive south into North Carolina.

At Beartree Campground

Pumpkin patch along the trail

Entertainment at the Molasses Festival

Tuckahoe State Park, MD and Pocahontas State Park and High Bridge State Park, VA

60-acre lake at Tuckahoe State Park in Maryland

Frisbee golf at Tuckahoe SP

Pocahontas SP in VA.  In addition to fishing, there are are
80-miles of trails in the park.
The Civilian Conservation Corps Museum dedicated to
 the depression-era workers, who helped build the state park
 system, was the highlight of our bike trip

My fishing buddies at Pocahontas SP

High Bridge SP in VA-31 mile biking, walking or horse riding trail

More than 2400 feet long, originally built in the 1850s, rebuilt
and renovated through the years.

Traveling in a generally southerly direction, we are headed toward Raleigh, NC, for a flight out to Las Vegas, but our arrival in Raleigh will overlap with the Wide Open Bluegrass Festival.  This is a massive event, hosting dozens of top-notch bluegrass talent.  We plan to enjoy the free aspect, which takes place on 4 different stages in the downtown area near City Plaza.  Our travels have been uneventful but filled with biking, fishing, and kayaking in a variety of beautiful state parks along our route.

Head of the trail in Farmville, VA

High Bridge towers 125 feet over Appomattox River

Twin Lakes SP in Virginia--Goodwin Lake

Fishing in Prince Edward Lake at Twin Lakes SP

Chincoteague Island, Virginia

The Assateague Lighthouse built in 1867 

Having visited Assateague Island four years ago, we had known since our departure that we would come back again.  This time we planned to spent several days, and for the most part, the weather cooperated beautifully.  Known as the Chincoteague Island National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) because that is the closest zip code, visitors come to see migrating birds and wild ponies.  We did not see any ponies during our earlier stay in the area and intended to remedy that this time.  By camping on Chincoteague Island, VA, we were only a few miles from the NWR.  The northern portion of the island is designated as the Assateague National Seashore (located in Maryland), but that will need to be explored on yet another trip.

With several miles of biking and walking trails available within the NWR, we enjoyed a few outings

Great Egret looking for lunch

on the well-maintained bike trails that meander through the refuge.  Even though the area draws ten of thousands of birds during the migration season in the fall and spring, we caught it offseason.  But Canadian geese, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets (Great White Herons), cattle egrets, ducks, gulls, terns, sanderlings and vultures were still easily spotted.  One Bald Eagle even posed for pictures (which I missed getting in spite of his help!)  The refuge is the residence for or temporary resting place for over 300 bird species.  Spraying up with some type of mosquito repellent, before heading out for a walk or a ride, is essential.  As home to the endangered Delmarva Fox Squirrel, we did catch a glimpse of one of these large (up to 30 inches) furry fellows, but he wasn't posing like our eagle friend and disappeared quickly into the brush.

The NWR herd of 150 wild ponies is owned and cared for by the
Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department. Herd size is
controlled by a Pony Auction every July.

Learning about the Chincoteague Natural History Association bus tour, I booked us on the next open excursion.  With only 30 seats in the air-conditioned vehicle and limited trips (none offered from December through March), the popular tours fill up, but seats can be reserved ahead of time.  The 90-minute trip goes into an area that is not typically accessed by visitors, down a 7.5-mile service road.  A knowledgeable bus driver also functioned as our tour guide.  With a spiel covering all the basics about the NWR, she was also able to answer most of the questions thrown her way.  On this drizzly day, it turned out to be a perfect outing.  The numerous ponies and waterbirds (and the aforementioned eagle) could care less about the rain and were seemingly following their normal routine.

Bigger Dream rockin' the town.

Unbeknownst to us, a Plein air painting event was also scheduled in the area overlapping with our stay.  Alan set up his easel and painted a few times in preparation for the Ft. Myers happening he will be participating in this November.  With 40 artists registered for the Chincoteague affair, we sighted artists in town and in the NWR.  The culmination of the artist's efforts was shown Saturday evening, which happened in conjunction with the town's monthly Art Walk.  Featuring music by the 6-piece band, the Bigger Dream, along Main Street, we joined many residence and visitors dancing in the street to their lively mixture of rock, Motown, and country.

All the ponies are named and checked by a vet 3 times a year.
Their bloated stomachs are caused by excess of salt in
their diet from eating the plants in the marshes.

Concluding our visit with a trip on Captain Dan's Tour Boat, we lucked into seeing numerous ponies, dolphins and an eagle, hitting what Dan terms his "trifecta".  Having scheduled a morning outing on a  chilly, windy day, we bundled up for the trip.  The 2-hour tour departs from the waterfront dock downtown and runs around Chincoteague Island.  With a 6-pack license, the groups are always small, and we traveled with another couple and their young child.  Captain Dan provides a knowledgeable narrative but is also open to questions.  It was a wonderful finish to our return visit.

Canadian goose

Statue of "Misty" in a waterfront park, The local horse made famous
 by the children's book, Misty of  Chincoteague written in 1947
by Marguerite Henry.

Commercial fishing boats along the waterfront

Small shacks in the waterway built by oystermen to keep
watch over their oyster leases, built in the 1800s

One of numerous birdhouses in NWR for Tree Swallows, said to eat
2000 mosquitoes a day.

Winding Our Way Home

Virginia Creeper Trail

First signs of Fall

Oct. 9, 2011     Moving south at a faster pace than the norm for us, we will be climbing the stairs to our own place in less than a week.  But we wanted to take advantage of our proximity to Damascus, VA to take a ride on our favorite bike trail.  The Virginia Creeper Trail, the 17-mile ride from Whitetop Mountain to the town of Damascus was starting to show the fall colors.  A week or two from now it will be dressed in its’ fiery fall finery.  We moved slowly down the trail, taking time to enjoy pausing at the bridges, appreciate the varied palette of the trees and even did a little fishing in the river.  Unfortunately, by arriving midweek we were unable to track down any of the “Crooked Trail” music that the area is famous for.  The closest venue I could find was about 60 miles away, which in the mountains means at least a 2-hour drive one way.  Not something we’d want to do for an evening show.  On our next visit, we’ll be sure to time it so we can make it for the Monday night Smyth County Jam.

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Marshes at James Island

Heading over to the coast, we decided to explore the city of Charleston, SC.  We’ve driven through this way before and had experienced some of their famous low country cooking, so this was something I wanted to partake in.  The collards, black-eyed peas, cheddar cheese grits, okra and tomatoes, all foods that I had eaten as a child growing up in the south but just don’t prepare now.  This is good food and worth going out of the way for.  With almost 500 restaurants in the city, there are plenty of good places to choose from.  Just look for the locations with the lines out the door and the happy customers departing. 

Horse-drawn carriage at the City Market

One of Charleston’s most popular stops is the City Market, first built in 1807, this four-block area of shops has a variety of vendors including artists, jewelers, clothing and, perhaps, the best known, the sweetgrass baskets by the indigenous Gullah population of this area.  The Gullah are descendants of former slaves living in coastal South Carolina and Georgia.  They speak their own language; have their own cuisine and have cultural influences based on their African heritage. 

Wandering the streets, we enjoyed the architecture, the smells wafting out from the restaurants and the sight of the numerous horse-drawn carriage moving through the inner city providing tours.  Fortified with crab cakes, red beans, and rice and cheddar cheese grits, we wandered the streets a bit more.  I think there are as many gift shops as restaurants, so no problem buying a quality Charleston souvenir.  There are also a number of museums, galleries and restored antebellum homes in the area to explore, much more than we could begin to fit into our day.  Heavy rain and winds are forecast for the next few days, not good for sightseeing, so we might as well venture on back toward home.  But, we’ll be out on the road again soon.

Fishing along the Trail

Biking down the Creeper Trail

Experiencing the Extremes in Virginia

Grayson Highlands State Park overview

August 1, 2011     We arrived at Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia after a 30 mile, 1 hour trip from Piney Creek, NC.  That may be a slight exaggeration but you can easily plan to double or triple your travel time on the curvy mountain roads.  A lovely overview greeted us as we entered the park.  With temperatures in the low 60’s in the evening, Alan built a fire and we had our first roasted marshmallows of the trip.

Our primary reason for coming to this park is the proximity to the Virginia Creeper Trail near Damascus, which we had enjoyed so much last year.  Experiencing serious motion sickness on the way up to the park and coming back down again the following day as we headed out for the bike trail, I sent Alan back up the mountain to retrieve the RV.  Continual S-curve roads for 15 miles were just more than I could take.  Icing on the cake, the curves and dips on the road ate one of the tires on Alan’s bike, so we needed to have that replaced, and it started raining.  Overall, this was not how we had planned the day to go.  

Monday night Smyth County Jam

Checking with the RV Park across from the bike transport company, we were able to secure a campsite for a couple of nights.  The misfortune of the day became a wonderful twist of fate.  As Alan was going back up the mountain to retrieve the RV, I learned about an evening of bluegrass in the nearby town of Chilhowie.   The show was full of outstanding music with entertainers as young as eleven and as old as eighty-five.  At times, there were three generations playing on stage together.   There is never a program, not even the organizers know who is going to play until the musicians show up on Monday nights.  The show lasted 3½ hours, with musicians still jamming in the back room as we left.  The last Monday of the month is birthday celebration day.  Locals bake cakes, pies, cobblers and an assortment of other goodies.  All the delightful food and entertainment were available for a donation at the door.

Alan at the beginning of the Virginia Creeper Trail

The following morning, we were driven to the top of the Virginia Creeper Trail in a van with our bikes being carried behind.  Last year, we enjoyed the 17-mile downhill trail but we had completed it in 1½ hours.  This time we meandered down, spending 4 hours on the trail.   We included a stop at the Creeper Trail Café where Alan indulged in a slice of “world-famous” chocolate cake.  Even though we had discussed fishing along the trail last year, we came unprepared once again.  This time we took notes on the best spots to catch them.  On our next trip, we’ll be prepared.

As we moved north, we discovered the multitude of caverns located throughout Virginia.   We opted for a visit to the Grand Caverns Park in Grottoes, VA.  Originally discovered in 1804, it is the oldest show cave in America.  As a regionally owned park it has avoided the Disney-like commercialization of many of the other caverns.  We lucked into a private tour, so we were able to take a little extra time as I snapped dozens of pictures.

Overview from Skyline Drive in Shenandoah

Shenandoah National Park was our planned stop for the night.  Securing a roomy end spot, we enjoyed the serenity of the park.  Still seeking some local music though, I found a program offered at Skyland Resort, within the park.  The Possum Ridge String Band selections reflect the musical history of the Appalachian Mountains.  Their lively assortment of songs included waltzes, jigs, reels and polkas on instruments ranging from the hammered dulcimer to penny whistles.

Alan exited the program briefly to photograph a stunning sunset.  The layers of clouds and mountains and the bright orange and purple sky created some striking photos.  Leaving the show, a few deer were scavenging in the trees near our car.  I took some pictures, but because of their movement and the low light, they were blurred, I fumbled with the camera to omit the deer.  Yikes, a major screw-up.  I deleted all the pictures taken that day.  The striking and eerie caverns, the lovely overlooks as we entered Shenandoah, the spirited String Band, and the incredible sunset, all were erased with a push of the wrong button. 

Fawn seen on our morning walk in Shenandoah

Black Bear spotted in Shenandoah

Departing the next afternoon, we moved to Shenandoah River State Park.  Planning on fishing and kayaking, we arrived to find a temperature of 104 and low water  running over the rocks in the river.  It didn’t take us long to decide this was not what we had in mind and it was time to move on.       

 

Piney Creek on Dwellable

Geese and History

Sept. 21, 2010   Headed out for Chincoteague Island, VA.  In this Wildlife Refuge, the water levels are manipulated by the park service to provide the best possible waterfowl habitat throughout the year.  The refuge is home to 300 wild ponies, which are culled through a herding and auction process which takes place every July.  Found a campground a few miles away from the entrance to the park.  Next morning we took off on our bikes to explore.  Serene tidal flats and grasses, forested areas and a lovely beach area were accessed by well maintained, asphalt trails.

La Plata, MD was our next destination, the home of my brother, Don and sister-in-law, Pat.  This town is within commuting distance of Washington, DC, so we were able to marry visit with family and trips into DC.  Drove into Union Station, the transportation hub of the city, to park and to get tickets for an off and on trolley which travels around the city, with driver/tour guides.  Problem with visiting DC is the overwhelming number of sites to visit.  Trying to decide how to hone down dozens of choices to a select few was the hardest part of the visit.

We exited the trolley at the Capitol building, but without prearrange tour tickets, our visit was limited to walking around outside.  Our next trolley sped by without stopping, so we decided to walk through the National Mall.  Flanked by Smithsonian museums and under the shade of the American Elms, it was a pleasant 2 mile walk down to the Lincoln Memorial.  Our July visit to Daniel Chester French's studio gave us an appreciation for the work which goes into producing a sculpture of this magnitude.

Along our route, we passed the Washington Monument with an elevator to the observation room at the 500 foot level, but we bypassed this opportunity.  Alan would have to be drugged and hogtied to go up that elevator.  The National World War ll Memorial, near the Reflecting Pool, includes bronze bas-relief scenes related to the war, two large pavilions which represent the two major theaters of war, the Atlantic and the Pacific, and a wall filled with 4000 starts to represent the 400,000 plus Americans who died in service, a somber reminder of the price paid for war.

Simple and yet powerful, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a polished black granite wall with the names of the dead from the war inscribed, was a disturbing reminder of part of our personal history. Over 58,000 names displayed, expressed as individuals, our thoughts went to the spouses, children, parents who will have the void of these deaths forever a part of their life.

Our next stop was the International Spy Museum, where devices and techniques of espionage are displayed.  Interesting cases involving spies throughout history are told in various formats, ranging from reenactment on film to interviews with CIA staff responsible for sifting through facts surrounding espionage and tracking moles back to their own agency.  First known reference on spying was the "Art of War" written in 500 B.C. and it has been a part of how nations interact ever since.

Following day, we started with the Air and Space Museum.  Exhibits cover aeronautics from the Wright brothers to present day.  All visitors have the opportunity to touch a moon rock.  Throughout the museum are planes, spacecraft and rockets, which reflect aviation history for the last hundred plus years.  One gallery included incredible, large-format photos of the planets taken by rockets which are currently orbiting them, hard to fathom how any of this is possible.

Moved on to the Nation Museum of Natural History, where we took time to watch a 3D, IMAX film. Wild Ocean, with a story of preserving our oceans highlighted by an area off the eastern coast of South Africa, where marine parks have been established.  The"Bones"exhibit included extensive collections of skeletons from snakes to rhinos.  The precious gem and mineral collection included the extraordinary Hope diamond.

Went to the National Archives--home to the Declaration of Independence, the U. S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but also a place of safekeeping for billions of pages of documents, hundreds of thousands of film, etc., a great resource for anyone wanting to research historical occurrences or do a genealogical search.