Taylor woke up begging to go to Busch today. Blake and I went last night for howl-o-scream (very disappointing) so we were not inclined to go today. We decided to head towards the mountains and see where the day took us.
Blake knows I like going to Carter Mountain Orchard and joked about going. He thinks it is pretty and likes it but doesn’t like how busy it is. I tend to have to agree. Plus they now charge you to go on the weekends. Plenty of other orchards in the area to go to that don’t charge entry and are far less crowded. We did not go there today.
We made our way to the Blue Ridge Parkway and started to see a couple of the trees, mostly the poison ivy was being to take on the fall foliage and decided to turn around to head towards Wear Virginia since the leaves in that area turn sooner.
Before turning around, I asked Blake to check to see if the Humpback Rocks visitor center was open since every time we tried to stop there in the past 5 years, it has been closed. Well, sure enough, this time it was open. Inside, Blake read all about the history and I went to the passport stamp and pin section. I got humpback rocks and blue ridge parkway lapel pins, stickers for my passport book, an ornament for our Christmas travel tree and Taylor had to get 2 of her favorite books.
Good Night Virginia
Hello, National Parks!
We loves the Hello books written by Martha Zschock and Good Night books written by Adam Gamble. We get them for Taylor whenever we visit a place that sells them.
During our stop, I was talking with the park ranger about the junior ranger program for the Blue Ridge Parkway and the cashier working, hear me mention Williamsburg and said he and his wife moved to the mountains 2 years ago after living in Williamsburg for 60 year. After talking a little more, we found out his mother in law taught Blake in grade school and his father worked at the same school as I do. It is such a small world. It was a really neat encounter.
We made our way towards West Virginia on route 250 towards Monterey, VA.
We take a quick stop at the Confederate Breast Works pull off. We read some of the historical signs and did a little bit of the trail. The trail is only 0.5 miles but we opted not to do it today. We wanted to see the fall foliage with the sunlight. We did get a pamphlet on the trail that talked about the area.
The TOT of course wanted some pictures taken of her.
Once we reached Monterey, we decided to stop at High’s Restaurant. This is our go to mom and pop restaurant whenever we venture out that way. As always, they did not disappoint. I got the smothered chicken and Blake got the hamburger steak. For dessert, we split a piece of maple berry cake. All of their cakes and desserts do not disappoint. Taylor was wound up in the restaurant and did not want to sit still. So it was a bit stressful but we made it through. The perks of having a 3.5 year old…….
We continued on journey on route 33 through West Virginia and then back into Virginia, taking in all of the sights and twisty roads along the way.
I didn’t take as many pictures as I typically do because I was, for once, just enjoying the scenery.
We didn’t make any stops along our drive back home. We are still on our way home. About 10 mins from home with Taylor asleep in the back. A fun day trip to escape the everyday norm.
Nic of Time - Travel 