Skip to main content

The Blue Ridge Parkway

Image
By
For over 60 years, the Blue Ridge Parkway has combined modern travel with the splendor of nature. Unlike the thousands of miles of superhighways that grace this nation, the 469-mile parkway purposely avoids altering the landscape allowing visitors to enjoy the majestic beauty of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina and Virginia. Linking two popular national parks, Shenandoah and Great Smokey Mountains, the route goes from foothills and farmlands to heights of over 5000 feet. No matter how high or low the elevation, the Parkway is full of endless and spectacular views, hiking trails, and an infinite number of natural possibilities.

In 2003, I began a Blue Ridge Parkway travelogue on my old All Things NC! website. When we shut down the original Gribblenation in 2016, I began to transfer the old pages to the blog as well as adding new stops along the way. This gateway page will continue to be updated as new stops are added from future excursions on this wonderful road.

Site Navigation: 
Virginia: 
North Carolina:
Just off the Parkway:
Parkway Related Roadtrips:
Learn more about the roadtrips behind the features!
For all photo or story inquiries - or if you have information to share - please feel free to comment or reach me directly at aprince27@gmail.com.

Blue Ridge Parkway shield courtesy of Bruce Cridlebaugh.
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 1915-era Teilman Bridge (the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge in California)

By
The Teilman Bridge is a semi-abandoned structure over Fresno Slough west of Burrell siding near the intersection of Elkhorn Avenue and Elkhorn Grade.  This structure is the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge constructed in California and was designed by Ingvart Teilman.  Teilman's Bridge would open in late 1915 when the Elkhorn Grade was the primary road between Fresno and Coalinga.  The structure would be replaced in 1991 but was left standing as it carries pipelines over Fresno Slough.  Part 1; the history of the Teilman Bridge In the early Twentieth Century the most direct highway between Fresno and Coalinga followed the Elkhorn Grade.  The Elkhorn Grade began at Fresno Slough a short distance west of Burrell siding.  From Fresno Slough the Elkhorn Grade followed a generally southwestern course through San Joaquin Valley into the Kettleman Hills towards Coalinga.   The Elkhorn Grade can be seen on the  1914 C.F. Weber map of Fresno Coun...
1 comment
Read more

The Dummy Lights of New York

By
  A relic of the early days of motoring, dummy lights were traffic lights  that  were  placed  in the middle of a street intersection. In those early days, traffic shuffled through busy intersections with the help of a police officer who stood on top of a pedestal. As technology improved and electric traffic signals became commonplace, they were also  originally  positioned on a platform at the center of the intersection. Those traffic signals became known as  " dummy lights "  and were common until  traffic lights were moved  onto wires and poles that crossed above the intersection.  In New York State, only a handful of these dummy lights exist. The dummy lights  are found  in the Hudson Valley towns of Beacon and Croton-on-Hudson, plus there is an ongoing tug of war in Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley, where their dummy light has been knocked down and replaced a few times. The dummy light in Canajoharie is currently...
Post a Comment
Read more

The William Flinn (not Flynn) Highway - Pittsburgh's Misspelled Street

By
For decades if you traveled along PA Route 8 in Pittsburgh's North Hills suburbs, you would have noticed signs that read "William Flynn Highway" at every intersection.  Even today, many businesses and residences have their addresses listed as XXXX William Flynn Highway.  However, it's not William Flynn Highway, it is William FLINN Highway - and the gentleman who it is named for has a long and storied past in Pittsburgh's infrastructure history. William Flinn was born in England in 1851; however later that year, his family emigrated to the United States and would settle in Pittsburgh.  A 10-year-old school dropout, Flinn grew interested in politics and would join the Allegheny County Republican Party in 1877 as a ward commissioner and a seat on the Board of Fire Commissioners.  Flinn would serve in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives and Senate from 1877 to 1902. (1) Flinn along with James J. Booth would found the Booth and Flinn construction firm ...
2 comments
Read more