In October of 2021 we embarked on a weeklong trip going from Hagerstown Md to Gatlinburg Tennessee. In this blog I am going to touch on the highs and lows along with a few photos. It is impossible to put every detail in a short blog. So here we go.
The trip started with meeting up with our great friends Bill and Kelly who also own a Miata. We met them about 20 miles down the Blue Ridge Parkway. We drove together on the parkway until we came to a closure on the road around Roanoke Va. At that point we got off the parkway and drove country roads until we got to their house were we spent the night. From there we made our way back to the parkway and to Linville Falls where we stayed the night at Linville Falls Lodge. It was a very well kept quaint place to stay. Highly recommend it. Also recommend to take the hike to Linville falls, it is not a bad hike and the view is great.
We stopped at Grandfather Mountain right off the parkway at milepost 305. It is worth the stop. Going up the mountain has wonderful views of the forest. there is an animal preserve where you can see animals that are local to the area. Then you drive up to the top of the mountain where you can see the valley below and stand on the edge of the mountain. The view is wonderful.
We made several stops off the parkway including the town of Mt Airey which is the town depicted as Mayberry in The Andy Griffith show. If you are a Andy Griffith fan it is worth the trip. We eventually made our way to Ashville NC. We took a full day to see the Biltmore. We loved the Biltmore tour and the village located on the grounds a few miles from the mansion. We stayed 2 nights in Downtown Ashville. To be honest we did not like the Downtown area of Ashville and when we go back we will stay either at the Biltmore hotel or somewhere out of town. The Biltmore was amazing and highly recommend it to anyone passing through the Asheville area. It does take an entire day to see most of it but it is worth the time.
After Ashville we went into the Smokey Mountains stopping at a couple places to hike. Including Clingmans Dome. It was a foggy and cloudy day. By the time we got to the top it was fully cloud covered and you could not see more than 20 ft and there was a cold 50 mph wind. From pictures at the bottom and others if it is clear, it is worth the uphill walk. If it is cloudy and foggy, skip it. We stayed for 2 nights in Gatlinburg Tn. We stayed at a downtown hotel called Bearskin Lodge. It was a very nice rustic hotel. Highly recommend it. From there you could walk to the downtown area. There was a craft show at the Gatlinburg civic center that we went to and picked up a few things. Everything we ended up buying for the entire week we had to make sure we could fit it into the car. We passed on a few things during the trip that if we had another car we would have bought.
While in Gatlinburg we drove up to Pigeon Forge to go to the Titanic museum. It was a nice museum that took you through the history of what happened to and on the titanic. The only complaint we had was the the audio information segments in each room could have been longer and more informative. There are several great restaurants in Gatlinburg. We were only there for 2 days but we really enjoyed Breakfast at Crocketts 1875 Breakfast Camp and dinner at The Park Grill. Highly recommend both. We also had bbq at Bones BBQ Joint. It is a couple blocks above the civic center so alittle off main street but it was very good with a nice rustic Gatlinburg atmosphere.
We left Gatlinburg to start the trek back North. Our destination for the day was Snow Shoe resort in West Virginia. By mostly back roads it was about a 7 hour drive. The scenery was nice along the way. One thing you have to always consider when on back roads is gas and food. We have been in situations that both are very limited. For this 7 hour drive we managed ok. We had to go past Cass Railroad to get to Snow Shoe so we stopped. Unfortunately we missed a train getting back by about 30 minutes. After looking around we headed to Snow Shoe that is only about 20 minutes away. As we drove up the mountain the fog got denser and denser. By the time we got to the top visibility was only a few feet. Unfortunately on top of the mountain stayed fogged in for 2 days. The morning we left was a clear day with no fog and only a few clouds in the sky.
We had never been to Snow Shoe resort. It was a surprise to us as how nice it was. Our hotel was at the Mountaintop Village that is a area that has shops and restaurants. While at Snow Shoe we took a horse ride at Autumn Breeze Stables. We have come to really enjoy Horse riding at locations with great Scenery. We have done it in Alaska and the Grand Canyon also. We have never been disappointed. We really liked the conversation with the handlers and guides at Autumn Breeze. The trail was a little more adventurous than the others which made it nice also. Also while in Snow Shoe we took a ski lift ride down to a the lake and walked around. It is amazing how peaceful the forest can be when you are above it looking down.
We left Snow Shoe to start the 6 hour trip home. We only stopped at one location other than food and gas. We took the Cavern tour at Smoke Hole Caverns in West Virginia. It was a nice tour and recommend it if you are in the area. It took about 45 minutes.
Some photos:
Tips and lessons learned
1. If your a Miata owner you understand this but packing for a week long trip is a science and has to have some thought put into it. We brought enough clothes for about 4 days with the expectation of washing clothes at around 4 days in. There is no way we could have brought enough for 8 days. This also leaves you a very little space for things that you may purchase along the way. I stress the term very little.
2. The Blueridge parkway is wonderful. We ended up spending 3 days going the length of it. We could have easily spent a 4 th day doing more hikes and seeing small communities off the parkway.
3. As mentioned above we were disappointed in the downtown of Ashville. There was a tremendous amount of homeless people in the downtown area. There was not a real touristy area, it was just a medium size city downtown area. Would not recommend staying downtown unless there is something you need to be close to for convenience.
4. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge area was great. We are already planning a trip back. The 2 days we spent there was not nearly long enough.
5. Snow Shoe Resort in West Virginia was way better than we imagined it would be. Doing the planning for the trip we were just looking for someplace to split the drive from Gatlinburg to Hagerstown. It turned out to be great, even though the weather was not great. This is another place we will go back for a long weekend and do sight seeing in the area.
6. We took the trip wanting to look at the leaves changing. The first week in Oct was about 2 weeks to soon. Next time we will plan on mid to maybe even late Oct. The risk is, the later in the season you get the temperature will not allow for Top Down Days. We will need to plan carefully.
