And it was.
What follows is a little summary of our journey out and back. Hope you enjoy it and the pictures...
Day One-- from home to Pipestem, WV. We started out early and it rained steadily until we got beyond Louisville. Mercifully, the rain stopped and before too long we were in the sunshine. The drive was fairly uneventful, courtesy of I64...a little dull, but good for making time when you're just heading from point A to point B. We arrived in Lexington a little too early to get to the Harley store, so we drove on. We did stop at Boonesborough for a gas break and a needed cup of coffee. Being the big Daniel Boone fan that I am, even a mini mart stop in this town seemed like a pretty neat idea. We journeyed on and, in due time, we reached our destination of Pipestem State Park in Pipestem, WV. It's a beautiful and huge park with cabins, lodges, camping areas, indoor and outdoor pools, golfing, horseback riding, etc. You would be hard pressed to not have plenty to do there. The food at the Lodge is really good, too. I had local trout...great!
It was an extra nice place this time of year for this camera junky...deer were roaming around everywhere, pretty much oblivious to the comings and goings of the humans. A nice day's drive,a good aerobic workout to the lookout tower on the property (complete with switchbacks), a good supper, a swim in a pool that felt like bath water, and a comfy bed...a good first day, indeed!
Day Two: From Pipestem to the Sea. We got up early and headed out across the state of Virginia. But first, a stop in Hinton, WV for a good diner breakfast with the locals. We sat looking out at the Blue River--being water lovers, we were pleased with our view. It definitely is the local place to meet for coffee and solving the world's problems--lots of folks there that morning doing just that.
Our trip across Virginia took us across the Appalachian Trail and at the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. Unfortunately, the snow that had fallen during the previous weekend had closed both drives. So, on we went down I64. We were, after awhile, treated to some beautiful scenery in the Shenendoah Valley. We stopped at several overlooks just to take it all in.
We headed on across Virginia, stopping at several HD dealerships. We then started seeing the big ships and headed through the big tunnel at Chesapeake Bay tunnel. After heading just a bit south, we were nearing the Outer Banks. We pretty much avoided the rain all day, but did enjoy a beautiful rainbow over Chesapeake Bay. As evening rolled in, so did the fog. By the time we reached the Sea Foam Motel, we were pretty much feeling our way around. We got checked in, headed to the local watering hole, Sam and Omie's, and had our first fresh seafood meal. Day two was accomplished and enjoyed.
Day Three: Waking up to the Waves. We got up extra early to get those first pictures of the ocean at sunrise. We were glad we took the Carhart cover-alls...it was a bit nippy. The waves were extra big and high due to the cold front that had moved through, so it was pretty much worth the chill. After we got done with pics, we went in search of breakfast. Lots of places were still closed, but we found Bob's Grill...his sign tells us to "eat and get the hell out". Happily for us, we only needed to do the former. We were pretty much the breakfast crowd so Bob came over and gave us some local info...always fun for us. We asked about going to see the ponies at Corolla--he suggested we just do the touristy thing and not rent a jeep. Unfortunately, the rules and regulations pretty much discourage any exploring on one's own. We thanked him for the info and were on our way first to the Nag's Head HD and then up to Kitty Hawk to see the Wright Brothers' Memorial. Beautiful place and a really good tour--highly recommended. You do get a whale of a good aerobic workout walking up to the memorial. It's on a dune, making the grade pretty steep.
We traveled ahead north and found another goal on our journey--a lighthouse. This one is at Currituck and is still a working lighthouse. It was still closed to the public for winter, so we didn't get our second round of calisthenics for the day. Tom did, however, find out a secret...I chat with chickens. We had a little visit and then headed up the street to the horse preserve and found out we could have a tour in an hour. We hightailed it back down the road to a local deli, grabbed a sandwich, and came back to the preserve and had our first picnic of 2013. The sun was pretty warm by now, so it was nice just being outside.
We took the horse tour; although I was really hoping for a good stallion raring up picture or some of them running along the beach, we did have a good time and learned quite a bit about the horses and the area. The horses are pretty docile this time of year...we saw lots of grazing. It was amazing to us how many houses are back in the dunes--to rent these spots you go only by GPS locations. Not being good crowd people, all the houses seemed a little excessive, but I guess if you build it they will come.
After our time with the horses we buzzed down to Nags Head Hammocks to check out their goods. My hammock is pretty well shot, so we're on the lookout for its replacement. We didn't get one; they were about to close for the day and we're not too much into instant purchases. So, the lady sent me on our way with all kinds of color samples, etc.
We were getting pretty much ready to take a little break, so we made a stop to get Kurt a souvenir, stopped at a Brew-Thru just because it was fun, then went back to the beach to take a look at that beautiful back yard. Working up an appetite we then ventured a little south and found the Lone Cedar restaurant. Once again we were treated to some fantastic local catch...we do love the fish! Day two was a busy, but nice day...we slept well with the ocean pounding the beach in the background.
Day Four: From Beach to Bath--We slept a little bit later this morning and enjoyed hearing the surf once more before leaving. We had our breakfast in route ala our cooler and picnic basket since we knew we'd be treated to not one but two good meals. We drove over to Bath, NC, to our friend Mike Godley's house. He drove us over to Greenville where we ate at B's Barbeque. It's been around for decades and no wonder why...GREAT North Carolina barbeque. It's one of those old run-down places that you know are a diamond in the rough...we love those places.
After lunch Mike took us to the HD dealership in town for the poker chip and a look around. Next we drove around a bit and then headed for the Cotton Gin in Pantego. It was really interesting to see how the cotton plant gets "ginned". From what I could tell, every part of the cotton plant is used for some purpose. We had a private tour, so we could ask a ton of questions and take pictures.
After the tour, we headed back through the farm land so Mike and Tom could talk farming...it's interesting to see how farming practices vary in different parts of the country.
When we got back to Mike's, he pulled out all the stops and fixed us a delicious supper of flounder, crab cakes, and shrimp...we ate until we were past full. We called it a night since we knew we'd be starting out early the next morning heading west. Day three proved to be a fine day indeed.
Day Five: Up and at it to get an early start on the road. Down the road a bit, we stopped at a little diner for breakfast. While there, I tried to pick the brain of the owner concerning her recipe for bbq sauce. She gave me the standard answer--vinegar, Texas Pete hot sauce (has to be Texas Pete for some reason), and peppers. Oddly, no one wants to give away their secret recipe. There's work to be done when I'm back in the kitchen.
This was the day of the Harley dealership stop...we hopped across North Carolina and stopped at Raleigh, Durham, Burlington, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Hickory, and Swannanoa--a new record for the TNT team. The fun thing about these places is that, believe it or not, no two are alike, except for the fact that they're friendly places to go to. And did I mention clean bathrooms? Immaculate...not so easy to find on the road. Very welcomed.
By the time we got to Winston-Salem, we were getting pretty hungry and we were still avoiding those chain restaurants. So...we headed downtown and found ourselves in another century. We had driven into Old Salem. The good news was they had an open tavern and we must have looked hungry since the nice waitress snuck us to a little table near the bar. Happily, they had a little more of that good North Carolina bbq.
Before leaving North Carolina, we made our second attempt to hop on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This time we had a little better luck...we got several miles down the road before we started seeing the "road closed" signs. The views were beautiful and we saw bunches of people out on bikes--by bikes I mean bicycles. We were amazed how they could climb those grades and live to tell about it.
As we crossed North Carolina and then worked out way up toward Johnson City, TN, we decided it was time to stop for the night. Little did we realize that it was Bristol weekend in NASCAR. The Bristol that is way too close to Johnson City...that means NO ROOMS. So we decided to start looking at Erwin. No luck with two places, but we hit the jackpot at the Holiday Inn Express. Not the Mom and Pop motel we'd prefer, but it sure was a welcomed sight. The nice ladies there helped us find a good little home cooking restaurant up the road a ways where we decided most the town made their Friday night supper stop. Lots of fun people watching and some pretty darned good food, too. Back to the hotel and we turned in for the night with the decision that the next morning we definitely sleep in--pretty much a first for this trip.
Day Six: The home stretch...a couple of H-Ds and the Appalachian Trail--We blissfully slept in on our last day on the road then had a huge breakfast before we set out for the day. Our first stop was about a mile down the road at the Chestoa Recreation Area and Uncle Johnny's Hostel. We walked across the Nolichucky River and then headed to the Spivey Gap area to walk (at least a few yards) of the Appalachian Trail. It's pretty amazing to think that so many people over the years have walked these same paths for over 1000 miles. We crossed back across the road to Uncle Johnny's Hostel and had a nice conversation with Grymm, a part owner who was manning the trail store. We bid the area good-bye and headed to Johnson City. Yep...a Harley store! We then trekked across the mountains and ended up at Pikeville, KY, for our next HD stop. While there we asked about lunch places. After being given suggestions of choice chain and fast food places, we went foraging on our own and ended upon top of a hill at the Windmill Restaurant. A wonderful throw-back to the 1970s...I don't think there had been any changes since. The menu offered pretty much 1970s food, too...it was fun. Healthy? No. Fun? Yep.
From Pikeville, we hopped on I64 and made our return trip to Lexington for our last Harley stop of this trip. Then onto Louisville and finally to the Ferdy Flyer at Ferdinand for supper. When we got out of the car at Lexington it was 77 degrees...when we got out of the car at Ferdinand it was 44 degrees...back home again. A quick stop at the IGA for Tom's lunch goods and tomorrow's brunch (since winter storm advisories were out...sheesh) and we made the last leg of the trip back to Highbanks. The dogs were pretty much happy to see us, the cats were happy to see we were home for their evening feeding, and we were glad to be back to our home sweet home.
It was a good trip.
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