Along Route 340 in Northern Virginia

We just got back from a weekend in Northern Virginia to meet up with much of my family, and not only did we have a beautiful time…but this is some beautiful country, too.

My beloved first cousin, Hana, graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA this last Saturday, and considering she’s the first baby bump I ever felt (at the age of 17), this was a pretty emotional weekend. We’re both incredibly proud of her, and thrilled that she has the spirit of an adventurer, pursuing charitable projects both overseas and here in the U.S.

To be there for the weekend, Adam and I took a Thursday redeye on American Airlines from LAX into Dulles International Airport (IAD). On a whim, I’d picked up No-Jet-Lag, a homeopathic drug at Whole Foods that promised miraculous results…and worked pretty well. After picking up our rental car and taking a short nap at my Aunt Kari’s (Hana’s mom) in nearby Reston, we were awake enough to drive a healthy stretch of Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive ($15 US for a 7-day park pass), which offers one gauzy, green vista after another.

We had the Skyline Drive to ourselves quite a lot

Table for two at the restaurant in the Skyland Lodge

In Spring, best to slow down along the Skyline Drive; deer come to the roadsides to forage

It's good to get out of the car now and again along the way

The rest of the weekend, not so much with the couples’ travel. But, it was a heck of a lot of fun.

Aunt Kari had booked two rentals for our family in Massanutten, a ski/water park resort area about 15 minutes west of Harrisonburg. Adam, my brother, Mike, and I stayed in a one-bedroom condo with a pull-out sofa and a view of the surrounding mountains ($290 for two nights); 1/2 mile away, a big group that included my parents stayed in a cozy two-story house on a wooded cul-de-sac. It was fun to have what amounted to a slumber party with Mike, who lives in Maryland, has three young kids, and we don’t see nearly as much as we’d like.

After Saturday’s graduation on the tree-lined quad at JMU, many of us hit the Harrisonburg Farmer’s Market and saw baked goods, plants and Mennonites on display. We caught up over the iced tea of the day at Earth & Tea Cafe, poked around local arts and crafts at Oasis Gallery, and then met for a stellar lunch of black bean burgers, parmesan orzo and cucumber mojitos at the wildly painted, brick-walled cafe/concert venue, Clementine.

One of Harrisonburg's finest old houses is an inn called the Joshua Wilton House

Graduation lunch at Clementine: Mike and Dad are 2nd and 3rd from the back left, my dad's next to my Aunt Lisa, I have my hand on Mom's shoulder; on the couch, Hana's sitting with her dad, my Aunt Kari, and Larry's mom

Sunday was Mother’s Day, the first I’d been with my mom in ages.  On this chilly and windy day, she, my dad, Mike and we headed way underground to one of the area’s biggest attractions, Luray Caverns ($21-23 US per adult).  The public portion of this massive, well-paved cave system (the path, my dad happily quipped, was “designed for fat people”) takes a little over an hour to wander through. Cavern highlights range from a cathedral/wedding room with an echoing organ to broken stalagmites that look like two fried eggs, but our collective favorite was Dream Lake, a shallow pool that offers a surreal mirror reflection of the stalactites above.

Dream Lake at Luray Caverns

Two (famous) broken stalagmites look like fried eggs

The pipe organ in the caverns' cathedral/wedding room

After a lunch of what probably isn’t “The Best Burger in Virginia” (but was nonetheless served with a smile) at the adjacent, 19th-century town of Luray’s Artisans Grill (lunch for two, about $20) we parted ways with lots of hugs; Adam and I took the shorter but gorgeous way back to Dulles along Route 340 to Route 66 (about two hours). We passed red-roofed farmhouses and paddocks full of horses, gurgling rivers and yawning swaths of low mountains thickly covered with trees.

The reddest barn roofing we've ever seen

Route 340 heading north

I often wish I lived close enough so that family weekends like this one were a far more common occurrence, especially because as I sat on the 5-hour plane ride home I read an article on the moral dilemma of flying; according to the writer, the single worst thing anyone can do for the environment is, well, fly in a plane — even if it’s to be with their family. So for now, I’ll keep recycling, make a lot of calls back East…and look for a great carbon offset program.

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See also
TWT Travel Binder: Virginia
A Spring Drive Through the American South – Part One
A Spring Drive Through the American South – Part Two
A Spring Drive Through the American South – Part Three
A Spring Drive Through the American South – Part Four

Travels With Two

Virginia, besides the fact that it’s ostensibly for lovers, is very close to our hearts.  

My beloved aunt, uncle and cousin live 40 minutes outside D.C. in Reston,
and we’ve journeyed through pedestrian-friendly Charlottesville,
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the Virginia Wine Country,
and just about the entire length of the mountain-edge Blue Ridge Parkway.
Someday, we’d love to see the horses run wild on Chincoteague Island,
on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

Here are some resources to help you plan your own “travels with two” to Virginia.

Travels With Two
Posts on Virginia 

VIRGINIA – GENERAL
Guides
Virginia State Tourism Guide
Travel + Leisure
Frommers
Fodors
Globe Trekker: South East USA
Articles
Southern Living: Virginia search results

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VIRGINIA WINE COUNTRY
Guides
Travel + Leisure: Virginia Wine Country
Articles
Washingtonian: Grape Adventures: The Best Vineyards in VA & MD

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OTHER VA DESTINATIONS
Articles
Conde Nast Traveler: America’s Best Beaches: Assateague/Chincoteague
Travel + Leisure: America’s Best Summer Getaways: Chincoteague
Travel + Leisure: 10 Best Romantic Hotels in the U.S.: Inn at Little Washington
Travel + Leisure: The Delmarva Peninsula: An Ideal Summer Drive
Budget Travel: Virginia’s “Historic Triangle”
Budget Travel: The Northern Neck, VA
Pilot Destinations: Hiking the Appalachian Trail in Virginia
Pilot Destinations: Fun & Food at the Virginia State Fair

Mount Vernon by Ken Lund

Have a Virginia tip, story, or blog post you’d like to share?

Travels With Two

Continued from
A Spring Drive Through the American South – Part One, Part Two and Part Three

In a journey through some of the most romantic spots the South has to offer, start in Washington, DC, and head to Charlottesville, VA along the Skyline Drive.  From Charlottesville, take the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville, NC.  Then go from Asheville to elegant Charleston, South Carolina.

For the last of your Spring drive, journey from Charleston to grande olde Savannah, Georgia.

Before you go, you might want to immerse yourself in Savannah by reading (the oft-suggested) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil or by watching (no, seriously) the Style Network’s “Ruby,” shot entirely on location.

From Charleston, driving time to Savannah is only about 1 1/2 hours.  Take the 95S to the 17S.

Give yourself 2-3 days in Savannah:

• Stay at the Forsyth Park Inn, just across Forsyth Park from the lovely white fountain that serves as the emblem of the city.

• While everyone else is combing the Historic District‘s squares looking for the illustrious Mercer Williams House and Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low’s stately white home, pop into Temple Mickve Israel for some peace and quiet in America’s third-oldest synagogue.

• For the love of all that’s holy, do not take an Old Town Trolley Tour.  Yes, we’d been schlepping all over town that day.  Yes, we were hot and tired.  But as soon as we heard Rich Little doing impersonations on the recorded narration, we knew we were screwed…for the next hour.

• Instead, retreat off your feet to the vintage Gryphon Tea Room, beside the Savannah College of Art & Design.  Sit, people watch, and preserve your sense of dignity.

• Have dinner at the utterly romantic Elizabeth on 37th, and hope that their ever-changing, seasonal menu includes their exquisite English pea soup.

• Arrive early for lunch at reservation-free Mrs. Wilke’s Dining Room, which specializes in the traditionally Southern meat-and-three.

• Do dine at Lady & Sons, Food Network star Paula Deen’s Lowcountry gorge-fest…but afterward, take a long walk to digest.

• Just outside of town, wander through the evocative Bonaventure Cemetery, overhung with moss and mysticism.  Bonaventure means “good fortune,”  an ironic name for this unlucky plot of land.

• Head over to Emmet Park to see the unique and quieting Vietnam Memorial sculpture with an empty Army helmet, boots and M-16.

• Get out into the nature that surrounds Savannah:

• Read our post about the perfect crowd escape, the Savannah Wildlife Refuge.

• Take a relaxing Bull River Marina dolphin tour from the north end of Wilmington Island.  Try to be here late in the day to glide through soft, Lowcountry marshland while friendly dolphins follow your boat.

• At the Isle of Hope just southeast of the city, meander along Bluff Drive for great views of the Wilmington River.  Where Bluff dead ends, take a stroll amongst restored antebellum homes.  Don’t miss a forest trail hike or the driveway lined with 400 live oaks at decrepit-but-lovely 18th century Wormsloe Plantation.

When your Southern trip is at last over, sigh deeply, put your head on your partner’s shoulder…and vow to someday return again.

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See also
A Spring Drive Through the American South – Part One, Part Two and Part Three

Travels With Two

Continued from
A Spring Drive Through the American South – Part One and Part Two

In a journey through some of the most romantic spots the South has to offer, start in Washington, DC, and head to Charlottesville, VA along the Skyline Drive.  From Charlottesville, take the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville, NC.

From Asheville, continue on to graceful Charleston, South Carolina.

If you’re eager to get there within 2 hours:  Take the 126 straight to Charleston.

For a more scenic journey:  Take the 126 to Hendersonville, NC, pick up the 25-S and take it to the 11 (the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway).  Stop for a seasonal snack at Perdue’s Mountain Fruit Farm.  Continue on 11 until it crosses 26.  At Harleyville, SC, stop at the Francis Beidler National Forest and take the 1-mile boardwalk through this gem of a Lowcountry swamp.

Spend 2-3 days in Charleston, SC…if not the rest of your lives:

• Stay in a market-side room at the elegant Planter’s Inn.

• Planter’s is adjacent to the 19th-century City Market, the perfect place to pick up South Carolina-specific souvenirs like Gullah-made baskets.

• Splurge on a lunch or dinner of rich Lowcountry food at 82 Queen, a warren of garden courtyards and dark-wood rooms in the city’s French Quarter.  Start at the bar and order a real mint julep, then work your way on back.

• Ogle gorgeous antebellum homes along Battery Park,  across the Cooper River.  Admiring houses here is a rewarding pursuit: Almost every time you’re in mid-wonder about a building’s provenance, you find it has a helpful, historical plaque.

• Watch the sunset from the Rooftop Cocktail Bar overlooking the Cooper River harbor and Civil War-era Fort Sumter to see one of America’s oldest and largest shipping ports at day’s end.

• Visit the fine old (and now, slave-free) Ashley River Plantations:

• Middleton Place, home of America’s oldest landscaped gardens
• Drayton Hall, the evocative remnants of a working plantation
• Magnolia Plantation for its stunning azaleas and winding paths.

• While at Magnolia, don’t miss the Audubon Swamp Garden (pictured above) for nesting snowy egrets, gliding alligators, and ancient oaks fairly dripping with moss.

Travels With Two

Continued from
A Spring Drive Through the American South – Part One

In a journey through some of the most romantic spots the South has to offer, start in Washington, DC, and head to Charlottesville, Virginia along the Skyline Drive.

When you’ve had your fill of Charlottesville, backtrack to the Blue Ridge Parkway and head straight into Asheville, North Carolina for forests, waterfalls, and a history of fortune.

From Charlottesville back to the Parkway: Take the 250W to the 29S to I-64W.  Stay on I-64W for about 18 miles.  Take Exit 99 for the 250 towards Waynesboro/Afton.  Turn right at the 250, right at VA-610, and left toward the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The drive is about 4-5 hours. The soft, gentle mountain scenery along the Parkway is positively stunning, and if you’re here between May and June, you’ll catch one of the greatest rhododendron displays in the U.S.

The Blue Ridge Parkway runs almost directly into Asheville.  Where the Parkway crosses Tunnel Road (US-70), take the 70W to the 25S to get downtown.

Spend 2-3 days in Asheville, NC:

• Stay at the Wright Inn in the Historic Montford District.  While there, take a walk around the neighborhood to see truly gorgeous Victorian-era homes.

• Run, don’t walk to the Biltmore Estate (pictured above).  The Vanderbilt family treasure is nestled into about a gajillion acres between the French Broad and Swannanoa Rivers.  Take a Behind-the-Scenes Tour to see this mansion as its countless servants did, with then-cutting-edge technology like an intercom system and a kitchen vault for priceless china.  Skip a visit to the awful winery included in your entrance fee and spend more time strolling the astonishing gardens; early April is all about tulips, while late April and May are heavy on azaleas.

• Visit fabulous craft art galleries in Biltmore Village (but be sure to skip Thomas Kinkade lest your eyes be forever wounded).

• Check out this list of romantic Asheville restaurants.

• Drive some of the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway and stop to see Sliding Rock (which in summertime serves as a rocky version of a Slip ‘n’ Slide), the Cradle of Forestry and the sumptuous Pisgah Forest. We fell in love with the waterfalls here (see photo below), and the sun dappling through the tall trees.  Far from overrun with tourists in Spring, you can often feel like the forests are yours to explore.

• Nearby, visit Chimney Rock Park and Grandfather Mountain to see this gorgeous, green part of the world from on high.

Consider taking an extra day to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 60 miles from Asheville.  Take a hauntingly beautiful, often misty drive or two through the huge, rugged mountains and historic Appalachian homesteads here, enjoying the lighter crowds before the high July-October season.

Or, continue from Asheville to graceful Charleston, South Carolina.

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Continued in
A Spring Drive Through the American South – Part Three

Travels With Two

If you’re worried the best of Spring might pass you by, we’ve got a trip that will reconnect you not only to each other…but to the history of America, as well.

Drive yourselves from Washington, D.C. – Charlottesville, VA – Asheville, NC – Charleston, SC – Savannah, Georgia for full-blown immersion in mountains, flowers, forests, swamps, fine old homes, Low-Country cuisine and even wine from America’s oldest vines.

We reckon it’s time to jump on in the car and see the South for yourself.

Ideal timing:  9-14 days between late April and early June

Packing: Charlottesville, VA and Asheville, NC are very laid-back places, and in our experience there was little need to dress for anything but comfort.  Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA tend to be a little dressier, so be sure to bring a nice outfit or two for going out to dinner.  Bring good city walking shoes.  Sneakers or athletic sandals will come in handy for forests and swamps.  Rain is always possible this time of year.

For suggestions in Washington, D.C. (the beloved town of my birth), see the Top 5 Spots for Romance in D.C. and  Between D.C. and the Deep Blue Sea.

From Washington, D.C. to the Skyline Drive, driving time is about one hour. Take the 66 West to the 340 South towards Front Royal, Virginia; from here, it’s 4 miles to the the north entrance of the Skyline Drive, the stunning, northernmost stretch of Shenandoah National Park.

The Skyline Drive takes at least 3 hours. It runs 105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, has a speed limit of 35 mph, and approximately one gajillion scenic lookouts (one of which is pictured above).

It ends not far from our favorite Virginia town, Charlottesville. It’s the historic home of Thomas Jefferson and birthplace of American wine.

North Carolina via the Blue Ridge Parkway is another 4-5 hours of driving. Learn from our crushing, over-ambitious error in judgement…and take a break before you become both tired and stuck.

Take the 64E to the 250 E to Charlottesville.

Charlottesville, is worth at least one day of your time…if not two:

• Stay at the cozy Dinsmore House, a historic B & B right in town.

• Tour the grounds, gardens, and Rotunda of the University of Virginia.

• See the yuppified-vintage, pedestrian-only Historic Downtown Mall.

• Visit Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello (with its brand new visitor center) and nearby, James Monroe’sAsh Lawn-Highland.  Jefferson lived far beyond his means, and Monroe far more simply, but both houses are a fascinating but troubling glimpse of an 18th-century life built by slave labor.

• Follow the Monticello Wine Trail.  Jefferson fancied himself a vintner in post-Independence America, bringing choice (yet unsuccessful) vines back from France after his stint as ambassador.  These days, the vines and the region’s reputation are thriving.  Be sure to visit the Jefferson Vineyards, the area’s first winery.

Travels With Two