This is a retrospective blog of my seven-week exploration of Virginia along with a journey through the Shenandoah National Park and on down the Blue Ridge Parkway to Cherokee, North Carolina. 'Retrospective' means simply that it wasn't written during the trip, but is being written after-the-fact, a little over a year later. Baaswell Sheep accompanied me and is writing the blog in the way he's done my later blogs, since he's so good with the color commentary. Unfortunately, since I didn't plan for this blog back when I was doing the trip, my pictures are limited to the major attractions, but I'll try to make those galleries a little larger than I do in my later blogs.
Select/click any image to see it at double (or more) the current size. While viewing a large image, use the left and right arrow keys to view other images on this page. Select/click on the large image or any part of the darkened area, or press 'Escape', to return to the blog page. Note: Table of contents is now located at the bottom of the page.
Just before you cross into North Carolina, just four miles from the state line, is the Blue Ridge Music Center, which celebrates the musical heritage of the Appalachian mountains. Not only can you see instruments and pictures and written materials, but you can hear the music, both on ample recordings that you can activate as you move through the museum, and from live musicians who play every day around lunch time on the covered porch. Unfortunately, they don't offer any lunch options, but as long as you sit outside the main seating area, you can bring your own to enjoy while listening to the music. It's a powerful experience, and a wonderful way to gain a better understanding of this long-time aspect of mountain life.
You really can't go much farther south than the Music Center right now, so we had to start our detour by heading up to Galax, which began a very awkward early afternoon. They were doing something in downtown that had roads closed, so we followed the detour there, skipping past a Hardee's, since we'd just eaten at a Hardee's last night. We assumed there would be more food options on the north side of Galax, but there was nothing up there. We headed west on US 58, but didn't spot anything until we got to Independence, nearly 27 miles later. So, it was after 2:45 when we finally got some lunch at a Subway. From there, we took US 21 south out of Independence to Twin Oaks, North Carolina, saying goodbye to Virginia for this trip. We got on US 221 south at Twin Oaks and began the long and winding drive down to Boone, North Carolina, making one stop along the way.
Along US 221 between Scottsville and Nathan's Creek is a state park set alongside the South Fork of the New River, which joins the North Fork and flows north east to Clayton Lake outside of Radford, Virginia (not far from Blacksburg). It eventually merges in West Virginia with the Gauley River to become the Kanawha River, which flows into the Ohio River along the Ohio border. This is the same New River that the famous New River gorge bridge crosses in West Virginia near Beckley. The river running beside the North Carolina park is nowhere near as deep and can be easily viewed from a riverside trail that runs a little over a mile, but there are other hiking trails away from the water's edge as well, including one that descends from the visitor's center up near US 221. We hiked that descending trail and then returned up it, having a much better appreciation for the altitude change between the two points. Tired and in no hurry, we took a nice, long rest break on the visitor's center's lovely back deck, and then we hit the road again around 7 PM.
Not much to say about Boone, as we got here late and we won't be staying very long tomorrow. This is just a quick stopping off point to get some sleep before we head on towards Asheville tomorrow. Got dinner at a local seafood place, which can oftentimes be a hit-or-miss experience, but the food tasted good and so far my companion's feeling okay. We'll just have to see how we feel in the morning…
Please note that all restaurant and product names are used simply for referential purposes and links provided as a courtesy. Reviews are the sole opinions of the reviewer: no restaurant has paid to be listed here, and no restaurant is being explicitly endorsed. In other words, go out there, try them all, and form your own opinions!
All original content ©2025 Kevin Pittman and may not be reused without permission