Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2018 - 35

Some of our favorite stops
were the Cascade Falls
and Moses H. Cone Park.

LEFT: Kayden grins
at Jumpinoff Rock
Overlook in Glendale
Springs, North
Carolina, along the
parkway.
BELOW LEFT:
Kayden and Joe
explore the historical
buildings at Mabry
Mill.
ABOVE RIGHT:
Kayden and Joe check
out the river along
the Round Meadow
Overlook, looking for
fish in the water.
RIGHT: Kayden
hikes along the Round
Meadow Overlook, in
Virginia.

M

emorial Day weekend is generally spent at the beach for
most families, but this year
we decided to do something
different. My husband and I
are the worst trip planners.
We wait until the last minute
to plan anything for vacation, but it always ends up creating some of the most
memorable trips, and this one wasn't
any different. I began calling around Friday afternoon-yes, Friday on Memorial
Day weekend-to try and find a place to
stay for the weekend. I lucked out and
found the coolest cabin in a campground
on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Fancy Gap
Cabins & Campground. Neither Joe nor

I had ever been to the Virginia part of
the Blue Ridge Parkway and it was only
about two hours from our house, so we
loaded up after work and headed that
way. The couple that owns the campground was so friendly and allowed us to
check in late Friday evening. We made
our way to the cozy cabin and settled in
for the night. Kayden-who was 4 at the
time-was so excited to have our own little cabin to "camp" in for the weekend.
We started out Saturday morning by
getting on the Blue Ridge Parkway and
just driving, without knowing exactly
where we were going; we stopped at all
the overlooks and interesting sites as we
traveled down the parkway. Kayden is
big on being outdoors, especially when it
comes to going on an adventure and hiking. At Mabry Mill in Meadows of Dan,
Virginia, we spent a good bit of time here
letting Kayden explore the waterwheel
house, the old building and the beautiful flowers that were in bloom. When we
left there, we started back on the parkway
toward Fancy Gap again. At the Round
Meadow Overlook we got out for a brief
hike. The trail was a moderately easy one;
only about half a mile round-trip. We
came across a river, and Joe and Kayden
went down to explore it while I hung
back to take pictures. As we were finishing the hike, the rain set in so we made
our way to Hillsville to finish off the day
with dinner before retreating back to the
cabin for the night. We managed to make
it back to the cabin in time to watch the
sunset over the Blue Ridge Parkway from
the front porch of the cabin.
Sunday morning came quickly and
we needed to plan our trip back home.
With Kayden voting for more hiking and
sightseeing, we decided to head back towards North Carolina on the Blue Ridge

Parkway. Some of our favorite stops were,
of course, the Cascade Falls and Moses
H. Cone Park. We did stop at one place
called Jumpinoff Rock and hiked to the
overlook. If you ever want to see a breathtaking view, this is where to go. The hike
was a little longer than we anticipated,
but Kayden toughed it out and the view
made it all worthwhile. We continued our
way down the Parkway until we reached
Boone, and ended our trip at the Dan'l
Boone Inn for an early dinner before
heading two hours back home.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018

33
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2018

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