An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series Before anyone saw the train, they heard it. A whistle drifted up the valley, followed by the steady effort of a steam engine pulling against the grade. In cold mountain air, sound carried farther than you might expect. The Creeper let people know it was coming long before it…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series Most places in the mountains reveal themselves slowly. A curve here, a drop in the ridge there. Burkes Garden Virginia works differently. You don’t stumble into it. You cross a boundary. You feel the climb, the narrowing road, the way the ridge draws close before it finally…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. The Parkway Looks Natural, But It Isn’t Most travelers pull off at a Blue Ridge overlook, believing the scene has always looked that way. They take in the ridgeline, the sweep of open meadow, the clean line where the forest breaks, and they assume the mountains arranged…
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. Travelers along the Blue Ridge Parkway pass old cabins without giving them much thought. The cabins stand close to the road with their porches weathered and their roofs settling a little. Most folks see them as scenery. Look long enough, though, and the details begin to talk….
An installment in our Blue Ridge Travel series. I love driving the Blue Ridge Parkway. Early on an autumn morning there’s a mist in the air and sunlight sparkles off the freshly mowed hayfields where round bales wait in the dew. Visitors congregate at the overlooks. They take in the horizon, nod at the quiet,…
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…