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Road Trip To Savannah And Saint Augustine


Dave Reese
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Peg and I will be heading to an annual visit with the Lifetouch Alumni Club and this year we will spend a Sunday through Tuesday with the club in Savannah, and then continue to St. Augustine for one or two days. Places we are considering on the routes north and south include Charleston, Jefferson's home at Monticello, possibly the Biltmore in Asheville, a visit to Peg's sister in Newberry SC, some driving on the Blue Ridge (we are taking the Mini Cooper Clubman) and possibly Myrtle Beach or Amelia Island (during the Concours) but much of this is still under consideration. Suggestions of restaurants, attractions, and more are appreciated. We will probably not get to everything we want in 13 days with three tied up at the meeting, but the Alumni Club provides great discounts on a number of the events for us as well. I will be awaiting great ideas from this group to make the trip busier, but more fun.

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Peg and I will be heading to an annual visit with the Lifetouch Alumni Club and this year we will spend a Sunday through Tuesday with the club in Savannah, and then continue to St. Augustine for one or two days. Places we are considering on the routes north and south include Charleston, Jefferson's home at Monticello, possibly the Biltmore in Asheville, a visit to Peg's sister in Newberry SC, some driving on the Blue Ridge (we are taking the Mini Cooper Clubman) and possibly Myrtle Beach or Amelia Island (during the Concours) but much of this is still under consideration. Suggestions of restaurants, attractions, and more are appreciated. We will probably not get to everything we want in 13 days with three tied up at the meeting, but the Alumni Club provides great discounts on a number of the events for us as well. I will be awaiting great ideas from this group to make the trip busier, but more fun.

 

 

Hi Dave,

 

Sounds like a great trip! I'm jealous.

 

We ran an article about the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Autumn 2006 issue. I need to double check, but, I believe Monticello is mentioned in the article (I've been there . . . beautiful country). It's the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway this year - so, its an especially great year to visit. For information about events happening along the parkway visit: http://www.blueridgeparkway75.org/. For additional information about traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina visit: http://www.ncblueridge.com/landingPages.php?page=ARFall. Click on the cover of the visitor guide in the top right corner of that page for an e-version of the guide.

 

Asheville is a great city. You'll find information about Asheville in the Spring 2008 issue (in the Trail of the Lonesome Pine article - perhaps you could travel the Trail of the Lonesome Pine on your return route. I was fortunate to have traveled that entire route stopping everywhere mentioned in the article - it was a fabulous trip. You travel through Greeneville, Tenn. (http://www.greenecountypartnership.com/trails.aspx); Wise County, Va (tourism.wisecounty.org/) ; and end up in Bluefield, WVa. (www.mccvb.com).

 

Asheville is the southern tip of the Trail of the Lonesome Pine as well as being on the Blue Ridge Parkway. So you could pick up the Trail of the Lonesome Pine route on your return trip there. Just make sure that if you go through the back roads between Tennessee and Virginia that the weather is good (it might be a bit hazardous in winter months as there are some mountain roads).

 

The Biltmore is breathtaking. Be sure to visit the Grove Arcade while in Asheville, too. We had a great time window shopping at the Arcade and really enjoyed the local farmers markets inside.

 

Newberry isn't far from Aiken, SC (Thoroughbred Country: http://tbredcountry.org/common/content.asp?PAGE=137 ). Aiken County is part of the Rivers, Rails, and Crossroads region of the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor ( http://www.sc-heritagecorridor.org/sites/r...ssroads-region/ ).

 

You'll find info about Amelia Island here: http://www.ameliaisland.com/.

 

If your going to be in St. Augustine you wont' be too far from the A1A Scenic & Historic Byway: http://www.scenica1a.org/ AND you might also be able to explore the Indian River Lagoon Scenic Byway (http://www.dot.state.fl.us/emo/ScenicHWY/designated/indianrivertreasure.htm). We ran an article about the Byway and attractions (Florida Space Coast) and Manatees in the Winter 2007 issue of American Road.

 

We'll be eager to hear about your trip!

 

Best,

Becky Repp

becky@americanroadmagazine.com

 

P.S. I forgot to mention that some of the areas that I mentioned currently have downloadable PDF trip itineraries available on our website to take with you on your trip (I know Aiken, SC has one as does Wise County VA). You'll find them (and more) at: http://www.americanroadmagazine.com/itiner...tineraries.html

 

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Several of the places mentioned (Asheville, Savannah, St Augustine) are on the Dixie Highway so you could include a little (or a lot) of that in your route. If you're on the Blue Ridge Parkway, you'll reach the DH in Asheville; on the Trail of the Lonesome Pine it will be a bit north of there, around Hurricane. We know you'll be in Savannah on a Sunday but I couldn't determine what season that Sunday might be part of. If it's one of the coolish ones, some back roads, as Becky says, "might be a bit hazardous". That's not only true of portions of the TotLP but of the BRP, too. The BRP has a phone number to learn of closings. Even if the weather isn't horrible, sections may be closed in the off months for maintenance.

 

Carl Sandburg's home is about 20 miles south of Asheville near Hendersonville. It's overshadowed by Biltmore (in more ways than one) but you might think it worth a stop. If you follow the DH, you'll go through James Brown's home town of Augusta, GA, where there is a life-size statue of Soul Brother Number One. Be sure and let us know if this makes your agenda so we can check you out on the JB Cam. On Amelia Island, give T Ray's Burger Station a try. It's a quoz that William Least-Heat Moon took a road to.

 

Becky, I didn't realize the was the BRP's 75th. I'll just hafta work in a few miles sometime this year.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Although it looks like we won't be able to hit a number of the main two-lanes, we do have one day scheduled on the Blue Ridge heading north from Asheville near the end of our trip. We have 13 days, with multiple days in a few different cities, so in direct travel between locations will be limited. Our basic itinerary is now set starting in early March. I have printed out the suggestions received, and have logged addresses into the GPS, picked up road maps from AAA, and printed out planned routes via Google Maps where I have avoided the interstates for a number of sections. Now it is time to start planning what to pack in the Mini, and get some rest before hitting the road next week.

 

Any last minute suggestions for restaurants or museums are always appreciated...

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