journey

In Waynesboro, we enter the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, a panoramic road that runs on the heights of the Blue Ridge Mountains and offers great views every few miles. Unfortunately, we have to leave the Parkway after about 100 miles in Roanoke. The next day we look at two covered bridges in Newport and, shortly after Pearisburg, cross the border into West Virginia, where Sandstone Falls await us in New River Gorge National Park, the youngest national park in the United States. In Beckley we will stay for the next two days.

Charleston, the small capital of the state, turns out to be not very attractive; except for the State Capitol there is hardly anything to see. At Hawks Nest State Park, however, we have a great view of the New River valley. Thurmond Historic District is a mountain village with a great (coal) history; highlight of the national park is the New River Gorge Bridge, until 2001 the largest arch bridge in the world.

After a night in historic Lewisburg, we continue to White Sulphur Springs, where we have coffee at the luxury hotel “The Greenbrier” before we look at the natural spectacle of a huge Natural Bridge an hour’s drive later. Via Lexington, now back in Virginia, we reach Waynesboro again.

The next day is all about Shenandoah National Park; on Skyline Drive, another panoramic road, we experience 110 miles – of thick fog. But even that is an experience – nature is great anyway. Finally, in Winchester, the world’s largest apple awaits us, beautifully red and shiny in the rain. Another highlight of this trip is the small town of Harper’s Ferry at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers; right next to it is John Brown’s Fort, nucleus of the American Civil War.

Via Antietam National Battlefield, one of the many battlefields from the American Civil War, we finally reach Frederick in Maryland, a beautiful city, where the Carroll Creek Linear Park is particularly inviting. Then Baltimore is on the agenda, Maryland’s largest city and absolutely worth seeing. The most important sights are located around the Inner Harbor; here you can spend many hours. The Fells Point district is also worth a visit, as is Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine just outside the city. The capital of Maryland, Annapolis, is small compared to its big sister and can be easily explored on foot.

One last time we change location; the destination of this eventful trip is Washington D.C., federal capital and certainly one of the most impressive cities in all of North America. In addition to countless museums, memorials, statues and modern sculptures, the White House, the State Capitol and the Pentagon, centers of Western power, are located here. Four full days are still not enough to see the major highlights, especially since some of them are a bit outside and back in Virginia, such as Washington’s Mount Vernon, Alexandria or Arlington National Cemetery. After a three-hour drive on busy highways, this journey ends where it began, at Philadelphia International Airport.