The McCabe Family Great Smoky Mountains Road Trip 2014

We arrived at Monica & Bob's about 2:30 and stayed till about 6:00 for Veronica's graduation party.  The food was great and the company even better.  But we were tired and longed for home.  Here's our farewell photo on the front steps. Thanks again to Monica and Bob for their hospitality.  And thank you again to Kathleen Collins for the Choice Hotels family & friends rate link which helped us stay at Choice Hotels properties at very inexpensive rates.

Tomorrow, the last day of our road trip, we head first to Ellicott City, Maryland, to visit with my sister Monica Collins and brother-in-law Bob, and for my niece Veronica Collins's graduation party.  Then, it's back home to Philadelphia.  We'll be sorry to end the adventures of our road trip, but happy to be home.

His room:

After dinner at Mel's, we did a quick tour of the "lawn" of the University of Virginia which is located in Charolottesville.  It's a beautiful campus. The Rotunda: The lawn: Some historical markers:

After checking in at the hotel and resting a bit, we drove to the campus of the University of Virginia and grabbed a bite to eat at Mel's Cafe, a greasy spoon with unassuming looks but very good comfort food. My meal was hamburger steak and grilled onions smothered in gravy, with sides of mashed potatoes and collard greens.  It was very good. The kids also especially enjoyed their meals, and Suzanne finished hers as well. And I finally had myself a piece of pie! A slice of homemade sweet potato pie, topped with some whipped cream.  Clare and Conor also had a slice of sweet potato pie, without the topping.

On the way to our hotel, we drove past a memorial to Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and William Clark (1770-1838) located at a busy intersection in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Suzanne stopped the car and I hopped out to take a photo.  The memorial reads: "Bold and farseeing pathfinders who carried the flag of the young republic to the western ocean and revealed an unknown empire to the uses of mankind." Of course, Thomas Jefferson conceived of the Lewis & Clark Expedition while he was president, and Lewis and Clark were both from Virginia, which I suppose is why the memorial is located in Charlottesville.

Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.  He is buried in a private gravesite on the grounds of Monticello.  Check out the inscription on his gravestone.

We left Kernersville, North Carolina, about 8:30 for the close to four hour drive to Monticello .  We arrived at the visitor center (opened in 2004) about 12:30 or so, had a quick lunch of sandwiches, and then saw a short film on Jefferson.  We also did some shopping - every place we visited had a gift shop!  A shuttle bus drove us up to the house at Monticello.  We had a 45-minute tour of the house which was illuminating and quite interesting.

Tomorrow we're headed to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, our last attraction on the road trip.

Thanks once again to my trusty Road Food book, we grabbed an inexpensive dinner at Stamey's , a well-known barbecue joint in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Stamey's, which has been around since 1930, is known for its “Lexington-style” barbecue pork.  Stamey's slow cooks its pork barbecue over a pit of hardwood hickory coals.  Needless to say, it did not disappoint any of us.  Dad, Clare and Conor had the sliced pork, with baked beans and hush puppies.  Mom had a chicken and chopped pork combo with baked beans and rolls.  We also enjoyed Cheerwine , a local cherry-flavored soft drink.  It's so good that I plan to bring home a case.  For dessert, Conor and Dad had the peach cobbler, with Conor's topped with vanilla ice cream.  If you are ever in Greensboro, you must check our Stamey's.  You will not be sorry!

At the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, we learned about the formerly segregated train station in Greensboro which was owned and operated by the Southern Railway and was built in 1927.  Its original design planned for separate facilities for whites and "colored" persons.  The station is of course no longer segregated and now serves as the Amtrak station in Greensboro.  After our visit to the museum, I drove over the station to check it out.  No one got out of the car except me. Oh well, their loss. Layout of the station. Note the design elements which incorporated segregation of whites and "colored" persons. Present day station. Former entrance for "colored" persons. Mural of the Southern Railway System. Old train announcement board.

After eating a hearty breakfast in Asheville at - you guessed it - Tupelo Honey Cafe (for the second time - such a great place we couldn't resist), we got on I-40 for the three hour drive to Greensboro, North Carolina, to visit the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. The museum is located in the former F.W. Woolworth store in downtown Greensboro, which was the birthplace of the sit-in movement at lunch counters across the south, a pivotal moment in the struggle for civil rights in America. The original sit-in occurred on February 1, 1960, when four college students from the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina sat down at the store's "whites only" lunch counter.  The musuem still houses the original lunch counter and stools (photos below). The prices listed at the counter were 15 cents for cherry pie and 65 cents for a turkey dinner.  A bottle of Pepsi-Cola was 5 cents. The museum's exhibits were very moving, and the museum is a...

From Asheville, we'll make our way to Greensboro, North Carolina, to visit The International Civil Rights Center & Museum.  After that, we may try to visit High Point.

After checking into our hotel and resting a bit, we traveled to Tupelo Honey Cafe , an awesome restaurant based in Asheville, with companion spots located throughout North Carolina.  The owner-chef is a forerunner in the farm-to-fork movement.  All meals are scratch-made.  Our spot was located just south of our hotel. My dinner - Brian's shrimp & grits - was spectacular and my dessert - a banana pudding topped with whipped cream - was out of this world.  Finished 'em both.  Highly recommended to all who visit Asheville.

The Biltmore Estate must be seen to be believed.  Built by George Vanderbilt, the grandson of railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, and opened in 1895, the Biltmore is a magnificent French Renaissance chateau of unparalleled beauty and grandeur.  It has 250 rooms, including 43 bathrooms, and is surrounded by 8,000 acres of land.  On the list of 1,000 places to see before you die.  Enough said. The conservatory where they grew some flowers. 

We left Sylva about 10:00 am and hopped onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for a leisurely, two hour drive to Asheville, North Carolina, and the Biltmore Estate.  It took us a little while longer to make it to Biltmore, but the journey was well worth it.  The speed limit was 35 mph or 45 mph, there was little traffic, and there were lots of chances to pull over to enjoy scenic overlooks.  We even passed the highest point on the Parkway, an elevation of 6,053 ft.   The Parkway's construction started during the Great Depression with work by private contractors, state and federal highway departments, Italian and Spanish immigrant stonemasons, and thousands of Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees.  Dedication of the completed Parkway took place in 1987.  The Parkway meanders for 469 miles, from Virginia to North Carolina; it begins in Virginia, where Shenandoah National Park and the Skyline Drive ends, and finishes in North Carolina, at the Great Smoky Mountain...

Before heading to the Biltmore Estate, we stopped in Sylva, found a charming bistro, and ordered up some coffee for Suzanne and a warm cinnamon bun for Clare and Conor.  Here's their too cool Dylanesque tag line.