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Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Etc.


DennyG
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I decided to post this here under cover of the word 'other'. Yesterday (Monday) I drove Skyline Drive from its beginning to its end at Blue Ridge Parkway. I'm staying put today and checking out Monticello then I'll head on down the BRP. The Skyline Drive journal is here and the base page for the trip, which includes some US-50 getting to Skyline and will eventually include the BRD, is here.

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I decided to post this here under cover of the word 'other'. Yesterday (Monday) I drove Skyline Drive from its beginning to its end at Blue Ridge Parkway. I'm staying put today and checking out Monticello then I'll head on down the BRP. The Skyline Drive journal is here and the base page for the trip, which includes some US-50 getting to Skyline and will eventually include the BRD, is here.

 

Denny,

 

Enjoyed the report as usual, and the photos. The distance shots beautifully show why it is called the Blue Ridge!

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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This trip Denny's taking is a bit of nostalgia for me. His report on U S 50 - I'm familiar having traveled 50 on my way from my sisters home in Charleston, WV, to Curtis Bay, MD (outside Baltimore) to rejoin the Coast Guard cutter I was stationed on at the time - back in 1974.

 

He wrote about not seeing to much wildlife along Skyline Drive - I drove that section from Front Royal to U S 211 and saw plenty of wildlife, but few cars and people. The trick was to leave Front Royal at 6 in the morning (no people, no cars, no fees as no one was at the gate - just all kinds of wildlife browsing beside, on in the middle of, the road). This was in 1976 when I was on my way to Egland AFB outside Fort Walton Beach, FL to attend a 3 week school on the HU/SA-16 Gruman Albatross aircraft the Coast Guard (HU-16) and Air Force (SA-16) used for search and rescue operations at the time.

 

Denny's writings are such that he's managed to bring me back to those trips and see his travels as I saw them, more or less.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

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Denny,

 

In your lead up paragraph for Day 4, I counted four "fantastics" and a brass band.......all in one paragraph. Now that is a day to remember! But if you use up all your superlatives on this trip, what will be left in the future?

 

What's with "no cameras" on the first floor at Monticello? Are they worried about damage from recurring flash shots? If they let you shoot the rest of the place, what's on the first floor that is so special? Do they think you might try to sell a picture of an old chair?

 

And what's the big deal with the Italians in the group pronouncing "Monticello" correctly? Do they do it with lots of passion, or what? Are there gestures the rest of us don't know about? I want to do it like the Italians! And how did Wayne know how Jefferson pronounced it? Did he have a tape recording of Thomas saying it? How did Mrs. Jefferson say it? Maybe she preferred the Spanish pronunciation. :blink::D

 

Keep up the historical research!

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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One of my fantasy road trips that I would love to do someday is do combine the Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway with the Natchez Trace Parkway and drive the entire length of both. It's not that far from the end of the NT Parkway west of Nashville to the SW end of the BR Parkway at the southeast entrance of Great Smoky Mtns. Nat'l. Park.

Has anyone on here ever done this? I'll bet it would be a fun trip.

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.

.

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The trick was to leave Front Royal at 6 in the morning (no people, no cars, no fees as no one was at the gate - just all kinds of wildlife browsing beside, on in the middle of, the road).

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It occurred to me last night that, even though it was near 10:00 when I entered the parkway, I was "ahead of the pack". I saw no cars until after I saw the deer and the more I lolligagged, the more cars I saw, until I was seeing cars stopped at the pull offs ahead of me. I think I'd have seen more critters (but less scenic views) if I'd just kept driving.

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In your lead up paragraph for Day 4, I counted four "fantastics" and a brass band.......all in one paragraph. Now that is a day to remember! But if you use up all your superlatives on this trip, what will be left in the future?

The way I see it, if you're going to be alliterative, why stop at a letter or two. Use the whole word.

 

What's with "no cameras" on the first floor at Monticello? Are they worried about damage from recurring flash shots? If they let you shoot the rest of the place, what's on the first floor that is so special? Do they think you might try to sell a picture of an old chair?

Their explanation, and one I've heard elsewhere, is that many items on the main floor are on loan and the owners have not approved photography. The fact that shutters are allowed to operate freely on the upper floors (where precious but Monticello owned items exist) supports this. It also jives with my recent experience at the Taft home in Cincinnati. We were allowed to generally snap away but were asked to not photograph one particular bust because the museum did not own it.

 

And what's the big deal with the Italians in the group pronouncing "Monticello" correctly? Do they do it with lots of passion, or what? Are there gestures the rest of us don't know about? I want to do it like the Italians! And how did Wayne know how Jefferson pronounced it? Did he have a tape recording of Thomas saying it? How did Mrs. Jefferson say it? Maybe she preferred the Spanish pronunciation. :blink::D

Italians say everything with passion and even if they didn't, audience participation is a wonderful thing. At one point, a lady, who I'm guessing missed the part where the Italian was assigned the job, volunteered her own very correct "Monticello" when the Italian missed his cue and she apparently thought the pause had gone on too long.

 

And of course Wayne has no such tape. He is merely a guide and that tape is reserved for those much higher in the organization. Most likely he was just told about it.

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One of my fantasy road trips that I would love to do someday is do combine the Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway with the Natchez Trace Parkway and drive the entire length of both. It's not that far from the end of the NT Parkway west of Nashville to the SW end of the BR Parkway at the southeast entrance of Great Smoky Mtns. Nat'l. Park.

Has anyone on here ever done this? I'll bet it would be a fun trip.

I've not heard of anyone doing it. It probably would be fun although there's enough distance between them (200+ miles) to break the mood.

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I'm done. I'm home. I actually got in Skyline Drive, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and US-441 north through the Smokies without rain. And to top things off, I met up with "RoadDog" Hatch on his way to North Carolina. All the daily journals are here.

 

mga707: I may have to retract that "break the mood" comment. It looks like you might be able to work in Tail of the Dragon and Cherohala Skyway while switching parkways and that could keep the mood rolling. ;)

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mga707: I may have to retract that "break the mood" comment. It looks like you might be able to work in Tail of the Dragon and Cherohala Skyway while switching parkways and that could keep the mood rolling. ;)

 

If I ever do the Natchez Trace/Blue Ridge Parkway road trip, I'd probably want to spend a little time on I40 around either Nashville or Knoxville just to satisfy my Steak'N'Shake craving. Chili Mac Supreme--mmmm! :lol:

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