Wednesday, 4/17/24
Courtney and I hit the road around 6:00AM heading to Shenandoah National Park. We arrived after an uneventful six and half hour drive and headed up the mountains on Skyline Drive. The park is centered on Skyline Drive that winds through the mountains for 105 miles and connects with the Blue Ridge Parkway on the south end. We stopped for a picnic lunch that we brought with us at Elkwallow picnic area. We kept heading up the mountains and stopped at several of the numerous outlooks built into the road to admire the scenery. We hiked the Limberlost trail which was super easy and then headed to the Skyland area where we were staying for the night. We arrived at 3:00PM and were able to check in to our little cabin. After unpacking and sitting on the porch for a bit we hiked the Stony Man trail which was just around the corner. The hike was not that long – just about two miles – but was an uphill trail to the look out of stony man mountain. A great view. Headed back to our cabin, had a drink or two and then walked up to the lodge where we had a surprisingly good dinner. We each had salads and Courtney had a bison pasta bolognese and I had a bowl of Brunswick stew. Blackberry ice cream pie topped with meringue for dessert won the prize though.
Thursday, 4/18/24
We packed out things up in the morning and went up to the lodge again for breakfast. We split an order of blackberry french toast which was very good. We hit the park again on a beautiful spring morning. We first hiked Dark Hollow Falls trail which was a beautiful trail going down into the valley following a small stream and ending in a nice set of waterfalls. We were worried the hike back up would be rough but we made it no problem. We then hiked the Bearfence Mountain trail which was just the opposite – hiking up up up to a rocky overlook. This was about the only time we saw other people on any of our hikes. It was blessedly almost empty on this off season week day. We continued driving through the park and arrived at Blue Mountain Brewery around 1:00. The brewery was a great place with amazing scenery and it was suddenly 80 degrees and sunny once we were down from the mountains. We had some good beers and a good lunch and then headed back on the road to Roanoke. It took us about two hours to drive to Emily and Dan’s house. Once Dan was done working we headed out to downtown Roanoke and had cocktails and apps at the Liberty Trust – a cool swanky hotel converted from an old bank. We then walked a few blocks to Sidecar – a belgian restaurant where we had an excellent dinner.
Friday, 4/19/24
We had a leisurely morning breakfasting at Emily and Dan’s and then drove to Carvins Cove for a hike in the woods along the reservoir. It was a cloudy day and started raining a bit but it was a great hike. We stopped at Parkway Brewing Company on the way back for a quick beer, stopped at a coffee and wine shop and then back home and relaxed for the rest of the day. We headed back downtown to get our registration materials for tomorrow’s race and attend a concert that was part of the weekend activities. Emily packed an excellent picnic and it was fun to hang out and listen to some live music.
Saturday, 4/20/24
Saturday was race day so we were up early and off to Roanoke around 7:00AM. Courtney, Emily and I walked the 10K and Dan ran the 1/2 marathon. The race is billed as one of the toughest in the country as it goes up several mountains. Thankfully the 10K went up only one mountain – that was enough. It was a fun race with many spectators and also stops for jello shots and mimosas. We hung out for a while after the race having a few beers, walked around Roanoke a bit and stopped at a bakery for some coffee and treats. We went back to Em and Dan’s for the afternoon, went to a nice pizza near them for dinner and hung out and watched a movie.
Sunday, 4/21/24
We hit the road after a quick breakfast with Dan and Emily and and an easy drive back to CLE.