June 16, 2004

• THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY
  Much of the second day of our usual drive from Florida to Maine is spent driving the curves of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This scenic drive stretches 460+ miles from the Smoky Mountains National Park, through western North Carolina to Virginia where it feeds in to the Shenandoah National Park, another 60+ miles of spectacular mountain driving.
  The parkway, which was mostly developed during the CCC era of the late 30's runs along the ridges of the Southern Appalachian mountains at elevations varying from more than 6000 feet to less than 1000 toward the northern end. As Mount Mitchell is only few hundred feet higher (Mt. Mitchell is the highest mountain east of the Mississippi), you spend a lot of time looking down and sometimes you are caught in a cloud. The last part of the parkway opened is the drive across Grandfather Mountain. they had to sort of hang the road on the side of this huge granite cliff.
  The scenery for the length of the parkway is, of course, spectacular and I have always found the idea of peace, quiet, and no truck traffic for about a third of our trip north very appealing.
  On the third day you're off the parkway and back in the real world. The trick I've found for comfortable driving, is to stay well west of the Washington DC- New York- Boston corridor. there are lots of fascinating back roads in Pennsylvania and even though you must eventually funnel through NY, you don't really have to fight unpleasant traffic there either.
  We generally take I-81 up through MD and PA through Harrisburg and up to I-80. This is most of the interstate driving we do but that's because of the way the mountains run in PA, chains running roughly from east to west and the roads run up the valleys. If you're trying to head northeast, you don't have too many choices.
  When you get up to the Poconos, you can either go to Stroudsburg and drive up the Delaware Water Gap parkway (Not recommended on weekends!) Or cut up through the Poconos and pick up I-80 just as it enters NY at Port Jarvis.
  Next: Surviving NY thruways and Massachusetts drivers.

  • 10:28 am
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