Travel/Places/Outdoor
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. In Meadows of Dan, Virginia, the Blue Ridge Parkway passes a weathered frame building that has stood since 1892. Travelers know it as the Mayberry Trading Post. The name catches the eye because it recalls Andy Griffith’s television Mayberry, but this place is real. Its story is…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. A Valley with a Funny Name While America was toasting its new transcontinental railroad in Utah on May 10, 1869, Roanoke, VA, was just a mountain crossroads called Big Lick. Named for the large natural salt deposit, this lick attracted wildlife in droves: buffalo, deer, and elk,…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. It’s a quiet morning in Fries, Virginia, and the New River is doing what it’s always done—slipping past the banks with ageless calm. The cotton mill that gave the town its name and purpose is long gone, but you’d swear you can still hear the echoes. Not…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. We all say the same thing the first time we see the Blue Ridge Parkway: “The view is incredible.” The Blue Ridge Parkway, with its winding curves and postcard overlooks, offers some of the most stunning scenery in the eastern U.S. It’s the kind of road that…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. The Crooked Road isn’t just a mountain ramble. It’s a sound—a fiddle tune rolling through the hills, a banjo ringing against the Blue Ridge backdrop. It’s the laughter of dancers at a Friday night jamboree, the reverent silence after a ballad, the echo of generations who’ve carried…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. In the quiet town of Helvetia, West Virginia, the final days before Lent don’t pass unnoticed. They are celebrated with Helvetia Fasnacht, bringing a parade of masked revelers and the steady thumping of old-world music to the town’s streets and parks. Picture it: masked figures dancing through…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. Driving up Groundhog Mountain from Mt. Airy, NC, to Meadows of Dan, VA, I pulled over on Squirrel Spur Road to pause and admire the view. Near the top of a close rise, I spotted a dark hole among the trees: a cave. Wild caves—that is, commercially…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. Visualizing the Blue Ridge Parkway, your mind likely drifts to scenic drives and breathtaking views. But did you know this picturesque route has a surprising connection to something as fundamental as your Social Security check? Behind the creation of the Parkway lies a story involving a key…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. I don’t think about fences much. I was raised in suburbia, where each backyard was cordoned off by some sort of fence. They kept the dogs in and the neighbors out. But driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, I marveled at the ingenuity of the…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. From Damascus, Syria, to Damascus, VA For nearly ten thousand years, the ancient city of Damascus has flourished in southwestern Syria. Sitting at the crossroads of trade routes between Africa and Asia, the city has always been a hub for craftsmanship and culture. Like its namesake city,…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. Stepping onto the New River Trail today, I can’t help but feel like I’m walking through layers of time, each step tracing the echoes of a bygone era transformed into the present’s treasure. My curiosity sparks as I pass by the N&W Railroad caboose at the southern…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. The Roanoke Star, also known as the Mill Mountain Star, is an iconic symbol of Roanoke, VA. Its simple, star-shaped outline is formed by a steel framework and white neon tubing. It’s a striking figure against the backdrop of Mill Mountain. At 88.5 feet tall, it sits…