Today the dh and I are on the road, traveling to the Atlanta area of Georgia to visit relatives. It’s a trip we’ve made many times and we’ve developed a pattern of driving to Georgia in two days, but driving home in one day. I don’t know why the trip is less taxing when we are coming home, but it is.
The best way to go is to drive down Rt 81, which takes us through some of the most beautiful parts of Virginia, along the Blue Ridge Mountains, so named because they look blue from a distance. We pass rolling, grassy farm land, pastures for cattle and horses or fields of corn or soybeans. Some of the grassy hills remind me of the English countryside, although those hills were much more likely to be dotted with sheep than cows. England did not have the abundance of trees that we have in Virginia.
When the English settlers first saw this part of Virginia in the 17th century, they must have been amazed at the thick forests. It must have been hard work to clear the land for farming, but England must have been hungry for all that American wood. As hungry for the wood as later they would be for tobacco and cotton.
Peter F. Rothermel's "Patrick Henry Before the Virginia House of Burgesses", a painting of Patrick Henry's "If this be treason, make the most of it!" speech against the Stamp Act of 1765
Virginia’s history, though young by British standards, spans over four centuries, but that is if you only count from when the English founded Jamestown. Native American peoples inhabited the land for thousands of years. Our history is enmeshed in the history of the USA – from the first English settlers, to the Revolutionary War, to the Civil War. We even shared 9/11 – The Pentagon is in Arlington, Virginia.
We live close enough to the Pentagon to be reminded of that day fairly often. On a road trip down the Blue Ridge Mountains, I choose instead to think of those the early settlers and of the Native tribes who called the forests of Virginia home.
What do you love best about Virginia? There’s lots to love.
Maybe that’s why they say “Virginia is for Lovers.”
I’m not overly familiar with everything VA has to offer although I do drive through the western part of VA twice a year when I drive to MI to visit family.
I know what you mean about that long road trip. Before I retired, I used to make the trip in one day up and one day back. That’s about 775 miles averaging 70 MPH in 13-14 hours including rest & meal stops. Now I drive a little slower and make it in 2 days which is easier on me. After all, I’m not exactly a spring chicken anymore!
Do you take that same meandering trip back home or do you take the faster Interstate highways?
Hi, Karen,
We often talk about meandering but we almost never do. If we do it is always on the trip to the destination which we make in 2 days. On the trip back we just want to get home.
Some of our Atlanta relatives took a trip to and from the Florida Keys that weekend and drove for 15 hours with 10 people and kids in a van. Sounded like a nightmare to me!