The Epic Road Trip Report

...and home again

The view from Gideon Ridge, Blowing Rock, NC

Welcome home, indeed!

Wasn’t it Chesterton who said the reason we travel is so that we can experience the joy of returning home? After 15 days away, and 2500 miles on the car, it was indeed a delight to see our own four walls.

Full disclosure: I love, love, love to plan trips. Also, Steve and I are not (and probably never will be “cruise people.”) We want to hit the road in our own vehicle, with our own plans, and our own priorities. This time it meant not just one trip, but 7 mini-vacations in one. Were our heads spinning? Not really! We just enjoy variety. Here were the highlights. In part 2 of this letter, I’ll share what I learned about navigating this kind of trip, in case you are a trip planner as well.

Here are the standouts:

Chattanooga, TN

Lodging – Air BNB in the same neighborhood as our daughter and son-in-law. Location, location, location!

Eats – Calliope. A middle-eastern inspired award-winning restaurant. Get the tasting menu and go for it!

Activity – Jack Daniels Distillery Tour in Lynchburg, TN. Beautiful grounds, fun info, sweet little town square to shop in. Don’t miss the Lodge Cast Iron store!

Pigeon Forge, TN

Lodging – Dolly Parton’s Heart Song Resort. It’s fresh, beautiful, and welcoming. We entered our room to the sound of a creek and chirping birds (why don’t more hotels offer white noise machines?) and the sight of a beautiful mural of the Smoky Mountains.

Eats – everyone recommends the Cinnamon Bread and they are not wrong. Go ahead and add the apple butter topping!

Activity – Dollywood! Yes, 2 60-somethings can have a great time on roller coasters. (Please, no upside down!) We rode 4 in the first hour and were good for the rest of the day. What an enjoyable, family-friendly, amusement park experience. Live shows, including bluegrass and gospel music, were a welcome relief after all the roller coasters. The five-mile ride on a steam train was also fun!

Roanoke, VA

Lodging – stayed with dear friends. What a joy to catch up on each other’s lives and rejoice in God’s goodness to us!

Eats – OTH Chop House

Activity – drove up the mountain to see the famous Roanoke Star. What an incredible view! (If you haven’t figured it out by now, we are mountain people through and through.)

Seaford, VA – Steve’s brother lives here and it had been too long since those two had a chance to visit. This was the real reason for the whole trip.

Lodging – Bay Tree Manor. This is an old school bed-and-breakfast and our hosts couldn’t have been more hospitable. By the end of our time there it felt like we were just staying with old friends. The home is quiet, expansive, situated on the Chesapeake Bay, visited by deer each evening, and oh my goodness… the gourmet breakfasts each morning were incredible.

Eats – Christiana Campbell’s Tavern (Williamsburg)

Activity – We were right in the middle of the History Triangle. Yorktown: Museum of the American Revolution, Yorktown Battlefield. Colonial Williamsburg (all of it, and they have a yarn store!). Jamestown: we only saw part of the settlement recreation but there was so much more that we didn’t have time for. Also, the National Park Service maintains an archeological site that would have been wonderful to explore.

Blowing Rock, NC

Lodging – Air BNB, a lovely cabin up a mountain.

Eats – The Restaurant at Gideon Ridge. Can we give it 10 stars? This was our 44^th anniversary celebration and the view, the service, and the food were once-in-a-lifetime outstanding.

Activity – Drove part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Moses Cone Manor and park, Otter Falls, downtown Blowing Rock, and holing up in our cabin for one rainy relaxing morning.

Asheville, NC – one night, heading back toward home

Lodging – Moxy Hotel, downtown (quirky, hipster, weird but it was free with points.)

Eats – Curate (best, most authentic Spanish restaurant and one block down from the hotel)

Activity – there’s a huge yarn store in Candler, next small town over, called Friends and Fiberworks.

Birmingham, AL

Lodging – Westin (worth saving up some points or a free night! They put a bottle of lavender balm on your nightstand for heaven’s sake!)

Eats – Southern Kitchen and Bar (get the fried okra!)

Activity – on the way down we stopped in Ft. Payne, AL to visit a sweet friend who I haven’t seen in over 20 years. Email and text are fine for keeping up, but nothing beats a fact-to-face visit!

A little extra:

Here’s a recipe from Colonial Williamsburg that we enjoyed:

Christiana Campbell’s Spoonbread

Here’s an episode of my podcast where I talk about one method of planning a trip:

Dwell Podcast: Are We There Yet?

Welcome Home!

Renée