Skip to main content

2024 First Day Road Trip

Image
By

At around 10 am on New Year's Day, my wife says, "OK everyone - get dressed. We're going on a roadtrip. Oh, and wear warm clothes."

The dusting of snow as we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway was a great part of the trip.

This is how some of my family's most interesting adventures begin.  You see, after a long holiday break - the kids out two and a half weeks of school, my oldest and I got sick (stomach virus) on Christmas day in Virginia, among other things - we just needed to get out of the house, and we did just that.

My wife didn't tell us the destination - all I knew was that it was about two hours away and it was 28 degrees there.  So, I knew it was the mountains, but she wisely put the destination in the GPS before I got in the car.

With that in mind, we headed on various routes to US 321 south of Hickory.  And with all four of us starving, we decided to get lunch. After a quick Yelp! search and a phone call to see if they were open - we headed into Downtown Hickory for lunch at the Olde Hickory Tap Room.


This was really my first time in Downtown Hickory, and it was a pleasant surprise. The Union Square area allows for somewhat of a larger pedestrian mall, there's also City Walk - a multi-use trail, a very nice playground, a restored train station, and more.  Lunch was delicious and we decided to let the boys play at the playground.  If they had their way, we could have stayed another 30 minutes.  

Both of my kids climbing inside a sphere at the Lowes Foods City Park in Downtown Hickory, NC.

Instead, we continued North up US 321 to Blowing Rock and then onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Parkway was lightly covered with a dusting of snow.  It was very pretty.  We hadn't seen any snow in Charlotte for nearly two years - so the excitement of seeing fresh snow on the ground and even the slightest flurry was exciting to all four of us.


My wife wanted to do a 'First Day Hike', so we stopped at Sims Pond Overlook near Price Lake.  We did a short one-mile or so out-and-back hike - we weren't walking across Sims Creek. (I don't think kids having wet feet would be a good idea.) It was simple but so enjoyable.

Our hike was a simple one mile or so out and back around Sims Pond. It didn't matter - the snow made it worth it.

As I mentioned earlier, we drove through Blowing Rock on our way to the Parkway.  In the center of town is a large playground / public square.  The kids were practically begging us to stop - and of course we did.

My oldest enjoying the playground in Downtown Blowing Rock.

Blowing Rock had a Hallmark Movie feel to it.  With it being New Year's Day - and Blowing Rock is a mountain tourist town - there were several people out walking, enjoying the snow in the playground, and many shops were open.  We stopped at got ice cream and then headed home.

Downtown Blowing Rock

This was an unexpected pick me up for my whole crew. It had a lot of unexpected surprises that made this roadtrip so much fun.  And isn't that what a roadtrip is about? Regardless of distance?

Additional Links:

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Old US Route 60/70 through Hell (Chuckwall Valley Road and Ragsdale Road)

By
Back in 2016 I explored some of the derelict roadways of the Sonoran Desert of Riverside County which were part of US Route 60/70; Chuckwalla Valley Road and Ragsdale Road. US 60 and US 70 were not part of the original run of US Routes in California.  According to USends.com US 60 was extended into California by 1932.  US 60 doesn't appear on the California State Highway Map until the 1934 edition. USends.com on US 60 endpoints 1934 State Highway Map Conversely US 70 was extended into California by 1934, it first appears on the 1936 State Highway Map. USends.com on US 70 endpoints 1936 State Highway Map When US 60 and US 70 were extended into California they both utilized what was Legislative Route Number 64 from the Arizona State Line west to Coachella Valley.  LRN 64 was part of the 1919 Third State Highway Bond Act routes.  The original definition of LRN 64 routed between Mecca in Blythe and wasn't extended to the Arizona State Line until 1931 acc...
3 comments
Read more

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

By
Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign.  These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare.  This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade.  We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others?  Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers.  The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California.  Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Paper Highways; Interstate H-4 through downtown Honolulu

By
The Hawaiian Island of O'ahu is home to four Interstate Highways; H-1, H-2, H-3 and H-201.  Had history gone slightly differently during the 1960s a fifth Interstate corridor on O'ahu could have been constructed through downtown Honolulu and the neighborhood of Waikiki.  The proposed corridor of Interstate H-4 can be seen above as it was presented by the Hawaii Department of Transportation during October 1968 .   This page is part of the Gribblenation O'ahu Highways page.  All Gribblenation and Roadwaywiz media related to the highway system of O'ahu can be found at the link below: https://www.gribblenation.org/p/gribblenation-oahu-highways-page.html The history of proposed Interstate H-4 The corridor of Interstate H-4 was conceived as largely following what is now Hawaii Route 92 on Nimitz Highway and Ala Moana Boulevard.   Prior to the Statehood the first signed highways within Hawaii Territory came into existence during World War II.    Dur...
Post a Comment
Read more