Day 5/6 – Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
After leaving Gettysburg we quickly drove through Maryland and Virginia to West Virginia – our 5th state in 5 days. We arrived at the town of Front Royal, a small town with the main street lined with blossom covered trees. Tubs of yellow Forsythia bushes round the square were covered in colourful painted eggs for Easter – we wondered how long they would have remained in town centres back in the UK.
After collecting local guides we started on the 105 mile drive along the Skyline Drive, a road that winds along the crest of the mountains through the length of the Shenandoah National Park which is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains. There is a maximum speed limit of 35mph but with plenty of viewing points for pulling off and admiring the spectacular views.
As the road started to climb we drove through a forest and then past spectacular frozen waterfalls on the rocks at the side of the road. It was very cold and so windy we had to struggle to keep our cameras steady at times but the cold crisp day meant we had perfect views. At one point a family of deer stepped across the road and stopped to feed so close to the car I could almost touch them from the open window. We soon discovered that this was a far from rare sight. We kept seeing signs warning of bears but we did not stray too far from the road to look for them!. As we climbed from 2000-3000 feet we started to see snow which gradually got thicker as we climbed.
We had booked into the Skyline Resort which at 3,680 feet (slightly higher than Mount Snowdon) is on one of the highest points of the mountains. We discovered the weather had been so bad the resort had only re-opened ‘for summer’ two days ago. Accommodation is in ‘cabins’ which are 2 storey blocks containing about 16 rooms, built right on the edge of the mountain. Our room, on the second floor of Ravens Nest was almost the furthest point from the reception and dining block. Although very basic looking from the outside, inside it has all the amenities of a modern hotel and was beautifully warm. We drew back the curtains to find a large window with a door leading onto a balcony giving a stunning panoramic view of the valley and mountains on the far side. From our balcony we could see no sign of any of the other lodges although the resort has nearly 180 rooms. We had the perfect view of the setting sun
As it was about half a mile back to the Dining Room I suggested we drive by car rather than stumble on ice (or bears) in the dark. I did some rather large paw prints in the snow near our cabin but the only wildlife we saw was a skunk. (Some weeks after our trip a bear actually wandered into a local hospital down in the valley!)
We were given a table by the window and enjoyed an excellent meal looking down on the lights of the town below. Each evening the resort provides some kind of entertainment. That evening it was the local ‘Cloggers’ which is type of Irish dancing in clogs.
Day 6
In spite of the wind howling past our cabin we slept soundly. Although it was still below freezing out side we decided to walk to breakfast and were rewarded by seeing three deer hunting for grass amongst the frozen snow by the side of the path. It all seemed rather bizarre as we struggled along the icy paths with 30’s music playing from the Dining Room in the distance.
After a substantial breakfast (buck-wheat pancakes with blueberries and blackberry syrup) we checked out and discovered our bill for accommodation, dinner/drinks, and breakfast came to $155(£85) – amazing value – the view from our room was worth that.
We slowly finished our drive along the Skyline Drive, promising ourselves we would come back again, and started driving east towards Williamsburg with the temperature slowly rising.
We decided to look for lunch not far from Richmond and discovered a basic looking restaurant behind a ‘gas’ station. Once inside we were quickly reminded of how not to be put off restaurants by outside appearances. The very smart (and expensive) restaurant was filled with ‘ladie
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