We sat on this idea of an impromptu road trip for the weekend, both
of us doubting that it would actually come to fruition, until Tuesday morning
came. I decided this had to happen, so I picked a route and a destination, we
would drive Skyline drive toward Harrisonburg, turn
around and then head to the Natural Bridge. Instead of staying in a hotel, I
decided, we would sleep in a tent, it was cheaper and more adventurous, and
what kind of vagabond would I be if I didn’t at least try camping again (my
first experience was not so great to say the least). Then my Dad reminded me
that we would be in bear country, that the snakes were out in force because of
the recent flooding, and that the forecast was calling for rain. Needless to
say, we booked a hotel.
Now that the plans were made and the hotel was booked, we were doing this. I called Virginia and headed to her apartment, which normally would have taken me 45 minutes, but because my tire blew out on the way, I was stuck
on the side of an interstate for about an hour. Instead of getting to
Virginia’s apartment at noon, I got there at one. The day was clearly off to a great
start and I have to be honest I thought maybe this was a sign that we shouldn’t
go. When I finally got to Virginia’s apartment she reassured me that I
was just being my regular old dramatic self and that we would be fine, plus, she
assured me, she has AAA. With my nerves slightly less shot, we packed up her
car and hit the road.
With my maroon fedora sitting atop my head and the windows rolled all
the way down, a the carefully curated “Road Trip” playlist blasted through
the speakers as we headed westbound on I-64. I have to say, not only is
the destination gorgeous, but the trip is beautiful too. There you are
on the interstate driving past miles of farm land and small towns, it’s all so picturesque. The rolling hills of forest green and the tiny towns that look like a hallmark
movie. One town that really caught my attention was Gordonsville, VA. If I were
by myself, I would have stopped to explore and maybe try some food at one of
the local places. As we were driving through Gordonsville, I looked at Virginia
and said, “This reminds me of Gilmore Girls so much.” I have never seen a town
so small and quaint while at the same time so aesthetically pleasing. We must
have driven through the town’s main road because we were certainly in the
village portion of this town, the local watering whole, as they say. The buildings
were side-by-side, some of them were directly backed up to one another. There
were restaurants and general stores, old colonial houses, and full functioning
farms. The town was beautiful, it was a place where it seemed like everyone knew everyone
else, but it came and went like a pass-through town off the highway.
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| Photo courtesy of Visit Gordonsville, VA |
We probably could have stayed up there all day and all night, imagine
laying under the stars on top of a mountain? But we were tired, it had been a
long and hot day of travel. After hours of soaking up the sun and mountain
side, we headed to the Natural Bridge Historic Hotel.
The hotel is gorgeous. Built in the 19th century the
Natural Bridge Historic hotel was first the birth child of Thomas Jefferson in
the 1770s. Jefferson erected a small cabin on the mountain side in the 1770s,
but soon the project became conglomerated and Henry Parsons built the hotel to accommodate
the heavy traffic of the Natural Bridge resort, which Jefferson called “the
most sublime of nature’s works.”
We stayed in a double twin be room. It was simple, and there was
nothing particularly impressive about it, but the beds were comfortable and the
staff was a delight. Once we settled in and showered, we decided to head downstairs
to the Red Fox Tavern which is connected to the hotel.
The bar was small, but it was stocked and the bartender was
incredibly busy. Apparently, all the servers that were working that night were
new and did not really know what they were doing, so not only was the bartender
tending to the booze, but she was also serving and busting tables. To top is
off, a manager didn’t come in that day, so she was also playing manager. I
think it is safe to say she had a lot going on. Nonetheless, she was hilarious,
helpful, and charming. There was a young couple sitting down at the other end
of the bar from Virginia and I who were requesting a specific beer but didn’t
know what it was called. The barkeep promptly took to the phone and started
calling around trying to find the name of this beer from a specific local
brewery. By some chance of fate, she figured out. Though we only got one drink
each in the one-hour period of us sitting at the bar, we had a great time and were
thoroughly impressed by the bartender’s leadership abilities.
After this we headed to bed. We were exhausted and had an early and
busy day the next day.
The next morning, we woke up bright and early and made our way to
the hilarious and old timey dive the Pink Cadillac Diner. So, it might not have
been the cleanest place to eat, but the head to toe Elvis décor and the black
and white checkered floor made this diner totally worth a visit. The food was
pretty good, I got a western omelet, and though I regretted not getting cheddar
cheese, the eggs were cooked well and the grits, though not my favorite grits
ever, were pretty good once I added some maple syrup. The best part of this
whole experience though, was that there was an actual pink Cadillac in front of
the diner and you better believe I took a million photos with it.
After the diner we attempted to find the natural bridge, attempted
being the key word here. No joke, we drove around for two hours, lost in the
middle of nowhere. We were literally on the side of a mountain, on a gravel road, surrounded by rusted, old, abandoned houses for two hours. For a while there I
think we both thought this was the end, we had no cell service, the GPS had no
idea where we were, we had no idea where we were, and we had no idea how to get back.
It was kind of terrifying, but finally after a deer jumped in front of the car
and I charmed a snake out of the middle of the road, we found
ourselves back on a main road. We still didn’t know where the natural bridge
was, but we saw a sign for the caverns so we figured we would stop in, buy our
tickets (we were going there later) and ask them for directions. When they told
us where the Natural Bridge was, Virginia and I just looked at each other, jaws
dropped, and laughed. It was directly across the street from out hotel, like
the view from our window was the entrance building to the natural
bridge.
After laughing for a good minute we shrugged it off and went
back to where we started, finally arriving at the Natural Bridge.
This was my second time seeing this natural wonder, and I must say,
I agree with Jefferson, it truly is “the most sublime of nature’s works.” It
never gets less amazing, in fact the more educated I become, the more amazed I am by it. Nature quite literally carved a giant whole in the side of a mountain
and created a natural bridge like arch exposing rocks that are millions of years
old. The bridge stands at a breath taking 215 feet tall and spans 90 feet
across. It’s like God created this arch simple to remind us to look up. When I
look at stuff like this, the stuff that is so miraculous and so beautiful it is
indescribable, I have to sit in awe of the creator of this beautiful planet. I
highly recommend taking a trip to the natural bridge if you ever have the
chance. We continued to hike the .9-mile trail to the waterfall at the end,
which was a relatively small waterfall, but beautiful none the less. After hanging
out with six copperhead snakes and a spider we decided we should head back to
the car and drive over to this place called Dinosaur Kingdom II.
Dinosaur Kingdom II is probably the funniest thing I have ever seen
in my life. The whole thing is based on a comic book called Dinosaur Kingdom II, were dinosaurs are attacking the Union soldiers during the Civil War. Essentially,
it’s a giant art instillation with a few tricks. All the fiber glass sculptures
were made by a local guy named Mark Cline, who by the way, WOW he is talented.
Virginia and I both agree that Dinosaur Kingdom II was our favorite part of the
trip. It was simply hilarious! Frankly, I'm not sure how long it had been since
I laughed that hard. From the trippy tunnel, to the vertigo house, to the
horrifying church, Dinosaur Kingdom II gets 5 stars from me. Another bonus is
that Dinosaur Kingdom II and the Caverns at Natural Bridge (where we headed
next) run a special with each other. If you go to one and then head to the
other, show them your receipt and you’ll get two dollars off your ticket.
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| Photo courtesy of Dinosaur Kingdom II |
All in all, Virginia and I had so much fun! I highly recommend a
visit to the Natural Bridge if you ever get the chance. We only went to three
places up there, but there is also a drive through safari, a zoo (which I will
not be going to because of how they treat the animals), a wax museum, and so
much more.
XOXO GB
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