Our Trip along America’s Byways
Now that we've Retired . . .
Four years ago we’d driven up the Blue Ridge Parkway in the early summer - with no commercial vehicles and a speed limit of 45 miles per hour, this route extends 469 miles along the crest of the southern Appalachians through Virginia and North Carolina. It was a beautiful journey - with the mountain laurels in bloom and wildlife that is a delight. If you are really lucky, white-tailed deer and/or black bear may be glimpsed in the early morning or evening, and more than 100 bird species can be seen during the spring migration season. It is a delight for all nature lovers.
Natchez Trace Blue Ridge and Skyline Drive
Now we have retired - 2007 was the year we wanted to drive this route in the fall and we started planning the trip about April, just as well as accommodation gets booked up very quickly. We also decided to extend the trip and visit family in the “South” which gave us the opportunity to add the Natchez Trace, another of America’s National scenic byways, to the trip.
The journey from New Orleans to Washington DC, over 1000 miles, would mostly be on these quiet scenic roads where the speed limit is enforced and there are no traffic lights - what bliss after the hustle and bustle of London and Hampshire.
The road trip started when we left Louisiana and entered Mississippi on a showery Sunday afternoon, the obligatory breakfast of beignets in New Orleans had started the day well as did the stop at one of the rest areas in “old Miss” where we found a real southern welcome, free maps, travel advice, soft drinks and the cleanest loos I think we have ever seen! However, Sunday in Natchez was rather quiet, a notice in the hotel pointed out that rooms overlooking the street were noisy on a Friday and Saturday night but on Sunday we didn’t see a single person and the fact that it was pouring with rain didn’t help.
The Natchez Trace was originally an Indian trail, used by Chickasaw and Choctaw. It runs for about 450 miles from Natchez northeast towards Nashville.
In the 1780’s farmers and merchants started to float their crops and produce down the rivers to sell in Natchez and New Orleans. Without the means to return upstream against the current, they sold their flatboats for lumber and headed homewards walking or, if they could afford it, riding.
By the 1820s more than twenty inns, or stands as they were called, provided basic food and shelter on the trail which had developed into a clearly marked path. However the Wilderness Road was still full of danger and discomfort, swamps, floods, disease, thieves, and occasionally hostile Indians meant many never made it home.
The arrival in Natchez in 1812 of the streamer “New Orleans” provided a quicker and safer option for travellers and the Trace returned to a peaceful forest lane.
Started in the 1930s the modern parkway parallels the old trace and provides a scenic and peaceful route to Nashville.
We stopped at the Mississippi crafts centre, which was well worth a visit as they had some super quilts and carvings. Then passing cotton fields, farms and Civil War Battlefields, arrived for the night in Tupelo, the birth place of Elvis Presley, but being better travellers than tourists we managed to arrive after they closed for the night!
Into Tennessee, heading for the Great Smoky Mountains
In Alabama we crossed the Tennessee River, near the site of Colbert Ferry, apparently during the war of 1812, the enterprising George Colbert charged Andrew Jackson $75000 to ferry his army over the river. This may have been when “They took a little bacon and took little beans and fought the bloody British in the town of New Orleans”. The trace only covers about 30 miles of Alabama and we were soon in Tennessee and pulled over to view the site where Meriwether Lewis (Lewis and Clark) died, under mysterious circumstances, two gunshot wounds, in 1809, and is buried. Then on to Nashville for a couple of nights and, of course, a visit to Music Row.
We then headed for the Great Smoky Mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway, the main point of the trip. We crossed into North Carolina at Newfound gap, but not before being held up for ages in a long traffic jam! The road, six lanes, through Pigeon Forge passed Dollywood theme Park towards Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was like the M25 at rush hour. We pulled over for a comfort break and an ice cream, one of the 31 varieties, and I remarked on the traffic - the laconic reply from the teenage salesman was “Ma-am this ain’t nothin”, he kindly advised us to take the bypass and not the main route through Gatlinburg and we were soon in the peace of the Mountains.
The Southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway is in Cherokee Indian Reservation (Eastern Band). The Oconaluftee visitor Centre and Museum are well worth a visit. During July and August there are performances in the open air theatre, of “Unto These Hills” the dramatic story the Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears.
Climbing to 6047 Feet
Entering the parkway at 2020 feet above sea level we climbed sharply and just over 30 miles later were at the highest point of 6047 feet. We were on waving terms with a cyclist, who over took us regularly, as we stopped in the overlooks to take photos. My husband, a cyclist in his younger days, was very envious - just how fit do you have to be to cycle over 20 miles, climbing over 4000 feet and without stopping! The Park Rangers were helpful telling us where the best colour could be viewed and where to park to take the best views.
We stopped for a day or two in Asheville a lovely town and apparently one of the top places to retire to, in the USA – and we could understand why. Excellent climate, beautiful scenery and lots of golf courses and lakes full of fish, along with top medical facilities. The Vanderbilt’s built their 250 room mansion in their 8000 acre Biltmore Estate but we thought it a little ostentatious!
Back on the Blue Ridge, the weather still very warm and sunny and having seen no rain since Natchez, we headed north. Taking time to visiting the Folk Art Centre, the Parkway Craft Centre and the Blue Ridge Music Centre, stopping to look at amazing views and the glorious Autumn colour, we took far too many photographs – thank goodness for digital cameras.
We took four days to travel towards Washington, accommodation is available on the Parkway and our last night’s stay at Peaks of Otter Lodge was very comfortable. There is no TV or telephones at many of these rustic centres but looking at the scenery and watching the sunset we didn’t miss either.
Black Bears and White Tailed Deer
The Northern end, and mile marker 1, of the Blue Ridge joins the Shenandoah National Park with it’s 105 miles of Skyline Drive. There’s a small entrance fee into the National Park and the speed limit there is 35 miles per hour. There are white tailed deer and black bears to be seen and we just missed mother bear and two cubs filling up on autumn berries, the men cutting the grass verge had caused just too much disturbance and the bear family had moved away from the roadside.
We had a fantastic journey, the autumn colours were spectacular, even if the warm weather and lack of rain had made the fall a little late this year. The lack of traffic jams and speeding cars was a bonus and the peace and quiet much appreciated.
There are over 70 roads in the USA designated by US Secretary of Transportation as America’s Byways. We’ve a bit more travelling still to do!
We’ve planted four new trees in our garden, which helps our carbon footprint for this trip. Although, I don’t think the fall colour here will ever live up those to North Carolina and Virginia.
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