Skyline Drive is the main road through Shenandoah, and it becomes the Blue Ridge Parkway once you get past the park boundaries. The speed limit within the park is 35 mph so getting on the Blue Ridge means you get to go...an entire 10 mph faster. It makes for a pleasant, relaxing drive, as long as the person in front of you isn't going 30 and the person behind you isn't dreaming wistfully of 55. There are numerous overlooks and turnoffs along both roads, and on our way south we stopped on a whim at the James River visitor center. There's not much there but the scenery is lovely (see previous photo post) and we had an enjoyable walk across the bridge and down to the canal. We could have spent the entire day going only a few miles if we had stopped to look at/hike along everything by the side of the road; perhaps this is an idea for a future trip?
We got to Peaks of Otter about 3 and got into our room – the carpet had just been shampooed so we were warned, in a wonderful Virginia accent that added two or three extra syllables to everything, that the carpet might be a bit damp. The Lodge is welcoming and somewhat old-fashioned, as evidenced by the slit marked “Razor Blades” in the bathroom wall next to the sink. We settled in with a nice nap and a shower, headed for dinner, and then walked around the small lake listening to tiny frogs leaping into the water whenever we got too close. The evening finished nicely with some cocktails – a rare treat on this trip – and we collapsed.
Wednesday, we got going at a reasonable time and headed for Richmond. We got there about 3 or so and, not wanting to get to our friends' house too early, found a Barnes and Noble where we re-discovered the Internet and reassured ourselves that the world had not ended while we were in the forest. We finally got to John and Mary Lee's house, where we were greeted with enthusiasm by their six(!) cats and fed dinner and beer until I was forced to call it a night although William and John stayed up late talking about guitars. Thursday was my birthday, and I celebrated it in style by spending most of the day reading. The living room looks out onto a small strip of forest that's just thick enough to not be able to make out the other houses beyond it, and it was unbelievably relaxing to look up and see all the various shades of leafy green. We did go out that evening – 2/3rds of John's band was playing at a local bar with 3 other bands and we had a great time even though it was LOUD. Something else we'll have to do more of in the future...find local bands with interesting-sounding names and go listen to them. Contrary to popular belief, we have been known to listen to music that is neither Irish nor classical on occasion!
On Friday, after stopping in Charlottesville for coffee, book browsing, and burritos, we went to Blacksburg, where William used to live about 10 years ago. It's a lovely little town with a nice downtown area that had been completely taken over by the annual 'Steppin' Out' street fair. We got settled into our room at Sheila and Richard's house and decided to walk down to the festival to look around and get some dinner at Gillie's while we were at it. We had a very pleasant evening, and we only got slightly lost on the way back to the house. Saturday morning we went to see a friend of William's who was playing jazz at a local bakery; he asked us if we were playing anywhere and when he found out we didn't have any gigs lined up he went home, made a phone call, and got us set up to play that night at a restaurant about half an hour away. We were, of course, slightly stunned and very pleased by this and we went on with our plans that day in a sort of bemused fog.
After hiking around Pandapas Pond and a couple of the adjoining trails, we went back to the house and cleaned ourselves up for our Virginia debut. We had an absolutely marvelous time: The Palisades is a quirky, quaint place in a former hardware store and it had a relaxed atmosphere, attentive staff, and terrific food. Everyone we met was friendly and appreciative (Virginians again – fantastic people) and we even got dinner and a few dollars in tips. I don't know if anyone reading this will ever find themselves in Giles County, VA, but please check this place out if you do, it's well worth the trip. My only regret is that we didn't bring our portable audio recorder because we really sounded pretty good with the wood floor and high ceilings. Maybe we'll stop by again sometime?
Sunday, we went off on another hike, this time to the Cascades waterfall near Pembroke. The trail was a bit steep although it was nothing like the waterfall trails in Shenandoah. It was a warm day but not too bad under the trees: however, everyone except us had brought their bathing suits and were cooling off in the pool at the base of the waterfall. Again, maybe we'll do that next time. We went out to dinner with Richard and Sheila that night at Zeppoli's and spent some time after that just driving around so William could show me more of the area. Of course it's changed a lot since he lived there but it's still a charming place and I'd be happy to go back there again. There's a lot of music and an obvious sense of community; even William saw a few people he recognized from 10 years ago just while walking around.
We drove to Pittsburgh on Monday (August 10th) . That trip deserves to be in a post all by itself so I think I will leave y'all in suspense...
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