- Location
- Harrisburg, NC
Nick and I were talking today about throwing together a 
Fall Foliage Trip for later on in October. Ideas proposed were:
1- Blue Ridge Parkway Ride - Start at the NC/VA Border in Low Gap, VA and ride down to Boone/Blowing Rock. This is about a 80 Mile trip that can easily be a day trip when you factor in stopping at overlooks for pictures, rest breaks, food breaks, etc etc. Once in Boone we could hang out around the downtown area and get some good grub from one of the several great local restaurants. If we didn't start in VA, we could start a couple hours south of Boone and work our way North on the parkway instead. Boone is a pretty good stopping point as HWY 321 and HWY 421 both dump right into town and can get you back out of town and home easily at the end of the day. If we wanted to continue for another day, and we had enough people going, i'm sure we could find a couple of hotel rooms for an affordable rate if wanted.
2- Mountain City TN - Maybe get some wheelin in, check out the scenery, cruise a little bit on the parkway, and still head into Boone for food and what not.
3- Potts Mountain VA - This would be a camping trip. I'm not real familiar with what all is up there, but I know it's just NW of Roanoke and does have some nice trails and apparently some beautiful scenery.
4- Beach Trip (Carolina Beach) - Opposite end of the state. The fishing is supposed to be good later on in October, and apparently exceptionally good this year thanks to unusual amounts of onshore winds this year. There is the option to camp on Carolina Beach, but keeping in mind that this will be in October it may be kind of chilly to camp on the beach for a weekend. Again, if we had enough people going, hotel rooms should be very affordable, especially since it will be the off-season by that time. This would also give us the flexibility to go see other things along the coast and not have to worry about the campsite (Battleship in Wilmington for example).
These are the ideas we tossed around through some texts today. For a foliage trip, we were thinking mid-late October as that's typically when the color is best in the NC/VA mountains. I usually go up to the mountains every fall and cruise the parkway, and i've found that on an average season the best color is around Halloween weekend. However with this dry weather in the last couple of months, i'm not sure what that's going to do to the colors and timing.
If we did this around Halloween we were thinking of calling/making it a Halloween Bash. It would be open to anybody who wants to come (NC, SC, VA, TN etc). It would be open to all ages, but there would be times where some parts are 21+ (i.e. if we decide to stop at a bar in Boone for a couple of beers or something one night).
We'd love to hear some feedback..ideas for things you'd maybe like to do on any of the above trips. I know there's been some talk lately about doing an event with the NC group, so here's the chance! Speak up!! Also post if you'd be interested in going and what your schedule looks like. We're thinking mid-late October now to give us and everyone else a chance to plan it.
Fall Foliage Trip for later on in October. Ideas proposed were:1- Blue Ridge Parkway Ride - Start at the NC/VA Border in Low Gap, VA and ride down to Boone/Blowing Rock. This is about a 80 Mile trip that can easily be a day trip when you factor in stopping at overlooks for pictures, rest breaks, food breaks, etc etc. Once in Boone we could hang out around the downtown area and get some good grub from one of the several great local restaurants. If we didn't start in VA, we could start a couple hours south of Boone and work our way North on the parkway instead. Boone is a pretty good stopping point as HWY 321 and HWY 421 both dump right into town and can get you back out of town and home easily at the end of the day. If we wanted to continue for another day, and we had enough people going, i'm sure we could find a couple of hotel rooms for an affordable rate if wanted.
2- Mountain City TN - Maybe get some wheelin in, check out the scenery, cruise a little bit on the parkway, and still head into Boone for food and what not.
3- Potts Mountain VA - This would be a camping trip. I'm not real familiar with what all is up there, but I know it's just NW of Roanoke and does have some nice trails and apparently some beautiful scenery.
4- Beach Trip (Carolina Beach) - Opposite end of the state. The fishing is supposed to be good later on in October, and apparently exceptionally good this year thanks to unusual amounts of onshore winds this year. There is the option to camp on Carolina Beach, but keeping in mind that this will be in October it may be kind of chilly to camp on the beach for a weekend. Again, if we had enough people going, hotel rooms should be very affordable, especially since it will be the off-season by that time. This would also give us the flexibility to go see other things along the coast and not have to worry about the campsite (Battleship in Wilmington for example).
These are the ideas we tossed around through some texts today. For a foliage trip, we were thinking mid-late October as that's typically when the color is best in the NC/VA mountains. I usually go up to the mountains every fall and cruise the parkway, and i've found that on an average season the best color is around Halloween weekend. However with this dry weather in the last couple of months, i'm not sure what that's going to do to the colors and timing.
If we did this around Halloween we were thinking of calling/making it a Halloween Bash. It would be open to anybody who wants to come (NC, SC, VA, TN etc). It would be open to all ages, but there would be times where some parts are 21+ (i.e. if we decide to stop at a bar in Boone for a couple of beers or something one night).
We'd love to hear some feedback..ideas for things you'd maybe like to do on any of the above trips. I know there's been some talk lately about doing an event with the NC group, so here's the chance! Speak up!! Also post if you'd be interested in going and what your schedule looks like. We're thinking mid-late October now to give us and everyone else a chance to plan it.
