Travels from New Jersey to Cedar Key Florida
by Abe Ross
The first few days on the Blue Ridge Parkway were excellent but we took very few pictures as we have learned that landscapes don't come out well in photographs.
Left New Jersey 10:30 AM and arrived in Front Royal VA about 6 PM after enjoying ourselves shopping for groceries at the Wegmans in Allentown for 2 hours (including lunch). We took a longer route to avoid beltway traffic around DC but there were still lots of trucks and cars on the highway. It was dark when we arrived at Front Royal which was something we had wanted to avoid. Tomorrow we travel through Shenandoah National Park. No trucks there. Hopefully a more leisurely drive than today
9 November - Wednesday
Took Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park. The speed limit was 35 MPH and that was about all we felt comfortable doing on the narrow curving road.
Ate lunch in Waynesboro VA but almost went without. The GPS led us to a restaurant which no longer existed. Most of Waynesboro was underwhelming except for one lonely block downtown where we found a pleasant restaurant. Actually, there were two decent looking restaurants. One had their menu posted outside, a steakhouse, and the other had no menu outside but had more customers inside. We ate there as we learned a long time ago (the hard way of course) to avoid any restaurant that didn't have many customers.
After lunch we started on the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). Speed limit here was 45 MPH. Again a realistic speed given the two lane slightly less twisted road than Shenandoah. Having no access to TripAdvisor without wifi we chose to try a motel listed in the AAA guide - not a chain. Neither of us was impressed by the exterior. I went in to the office . . . no one there. There were seven deer heads mounted on the wall as well as the front half of a small black bear. I waited a while but no one appeared. Called on the phone, no answer. Neither of us liked the place so we headed 15 km down the road to the next place. Half way to the new place the phone rang. It was motel buddy calling back. I didn't answer the phone.
10 November Thursday
We got on the road early this morning . Great road, no trucks, what a pleasure. We had a picnic lunch because we couldn't find any open restaurants easily accessible from the BRP. All of the visitors centers are closed too. Finished driving at 3:30. Saw wild turkeys on the road but this was the only wild life. The scenery was very different from yesterday. Most of today was through rolling farm land. Even the panoramas included farms and small villages.
11 November - Friday
Great place last night. A posh lodge in the community of Little Switzerland, right off the BRP. Reasonable price but we did have to buy breakfast. A served breakfast (as opposed to usual buffet style) meant that we didn't get away until 9:30. We didn't have much distance to cover so we weren't concerned. Scenery was unbelievable. We could see the mist which gave the mountains their name.
Unfortunately, we could also see the smoke from one of the enormous forest fires which were burning across western North Carolina. There have been several months with no rain and the dry leaves on the ground make the fires even harder to control.
We made so many stops for the views that by lunch time we had not travelled as far as planned. So we left the parkway before Cherokee and headed south. Good thing we had such a big breakfast because it was 2 PM before we had lunch, hamburgers at the Huddle House in Sylva. Wasn't a great meal but it did the job.
As we headed south towards Athens GA we drove through the smoke from the fires we had seen from the Parkway. The smoke lasted for several miles. Our timing was lucky as the next day the smoke was so heavy that they started evacuating people with breathing disorders.
Driving south from the parkway was easy driving. Traffic flowed well, there were few trucks and few traffic lights. However, the best laid plans, when we got to our destination, well before dark, the hotel was full - a football weekend at the university. On to the next town beyond Athens Georgia. I called ahead and found out that the hotels there were full too. Tried one more place, further down the road and they had space - 6:15 we got into the hotel, after dark again. Sure glad we had dinner with us and didn't have to go out again.
Tomorrow we plan our route again. Looks like we'll be at Cedar Key a day early.
12 November - Saturday
Easy day. Left around 9:15 and the driving was great. Exactly what we hoped for in our shunpiking drive. Perhaps it was because it was Saturday morning but traffic was almost non-existent. Since we were not in a rush we set cruise control for the speed limit and just rolled along through farmland being passed occasionally by other vehicles but not very frequently.
In Douglas, GA we passed several restaurants, all chain types but kept hoping to find something a bit more local. Getting hungry so in Fargo GA we stopped in a local food store to use the facilities and to see if they had any interesting food. As we were leaving town we passed a lonely café, the Suwanee River Café and I wheeled into the parking lot to check it out. Inside did not look very tempting. As one TripAdvisor (checked later that evening ) reviewer put it, "Interior decoration a combination of Jesus, macho, sexist and redneck." But we were hungry so we stuck around; the fried catfish was excellent! Not sure I would recommend it to anyone nor would I write a TA review, but we sure enjoyed it. Pulled into the hotel in Lake City around 3 PM. Since we cannot get into the Cedar Key rental until Monday afternoon we will just explore some local parks tomorrow. We will move on from Lake City because it is a football weekend here too so rates are higher than they normally are.
13 November - Saturday
Excellent day today. We stopped for walks in Big Shoals State Park. The first sign to greet us said:
Intrepid trekkers that we are we set off, none-the-less. Had two good walks, first one about 2 miles, second about 3. It was great to be walking again after sitting in the vehicle for days with no exercise. The walks were along the Suwanee River (of Stephen Foster fame).
From Big Shoals we drove to Old Town to find a place to spend the night. The road was straight, straight, straight. Almost as straight as the one across the Nullabor in Western Australia. We had to choose between two places. The first one was inexpensive but had mixed reviews in TripAdvisor (30 five star, 25 one star about as mixed as you can get!) The second was double the price. The first had a fridge in the room (necessary for us) and a microwave, the second had none. Decided to check out the first and then make a decision. After looking it over, decided it would do, at the price, and tomorrow night we will be in Cedar Key. BTW no breakfast at either place but there is a restaurant across the street from the less expensive (cheapo) place where we are staying.
14 November - Monday
Mommas Dixie Kitchen - great place, excellent breakfast. We were glad that we stopped there. The restaurant did not look impressive from the outside which led us to wonder how many good places we have missed because of being put off by the exterior.
This morning we explored Manatee Springs State Park. No manatees unfortunately. They come into the springs when the river gets too cool. Of course the river has been getting cool later than it used to so the manatees might not come in until January (they used to come in late November).
However, we did see many vultures (the black dots in the trees) and, for the first time ever for us:
an armadillo! Cute creature but we learned later that some are infected with leprosy. Wash your hands well if you touch their hard armor.
We also learned that these
Are called "cypress knees”. They supply air to the tree roots of the trees which are often under water.
And that is enough education for today. This may be on the final exam 😁