Over the summer, my family and I took a trip down to Charlotte, North Carolina. At $300 a plane ticket, we decided to save the $1500, and instead drive the 12 hours to and from. Since we had a car, we decided to make it a real road trip, taking the long scenic route and experience the natural wonders of Virginia.
We took the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline drive, which wind through the Shenandoah Valley. There’s a small toll to drive on the road but boy is it worth it.
BREATH TAKING. We found ourselves unable to drive more than 20 -30 mph, and wanting to stop every 10 feet for a photo.
The area surrounding the drive includes true wilderness, which means there not an ounce of human influence on it (hiking, camping, etc) in addition to hundreds of miles of breathtaking hiking. Driving through this only made me want to revisit.
In Sum: It’s Stunning. Take the Detour. Do it.
We eventually wound ourselves down from the mountain and ended in the small town of Luray, where the next day we would see Luray Caverns, some of the best caves on this side of the USA. We stayed in a bed and breakfast with Wifi, which was great since there was ZERO service in Luray (for T-Mobile at least).
Early the next morning, we headed to the Caverns. Discovered in 1879, these huge underground caverns remind you how incredible nature is. There’s even an underground lake (albeit less scary than the 6th harry potter underground lake). The guided tour is about an hour long, and not too strenuous.
I mean look at this place.
There’s also a few museums on the grounds, as well as a hedge maze, so while the caverns are only an hour, you can certainly spend a few here.
I’ll be driving down to North Carolina again soon – any suggestions on detours we should take on the route between New York and Charlotte?
Pin it with the image below!
