Skyline Drive 2022 | The Beauty Around Us

Virginia and North Carolina Vacation: Day 2 – Front Royal VA to Waynesboro VA

Skyline Drive was a 1.4-mile drive away from Woodward House on Manor Glade B&B, our accommodation for the previous night. We hopped onto Skyline Drive, via the Front Royal entrance, at 8:43 am on Sunday August 21.

Within a short period of time we saw lots of squirrels on the road. There were so many squirrels scurrying about that Bob remarked “someone might be tossing peanuts out the window”.

What a difference a day makes!

Little Devils Stairs Overlook
Milepost 20.0 – Elevation 3,120 ft.
This was the view on Saturday afternoon.

This was the view at Little Devils Stairs Overlook on Sunday morning.

Tunnel Overlook is located just to the south of Marys Rock Tunnel.

When overlook views are not visible because of rain and fog, attention is paid to what is closer to you.

Hazel Mountain Overlook
Milepost 33.0 – Elevation 2,770 ft

We stopped at the Harry F. Byrd, Sr. Visitor Center (Milepost 51), located across from Big Meadows. I obtained a National Park Service passport cancellation stamp, a rubber ink stamp that records the name of the national park and date of your visit.

Turk Mountain Overlook
Milepost 93.7 – Elevation 2,720 ft

Besides squirrels we saw six deer … a group of four and two more. One deer was on one side of the road and another deer was on the other side of road. We saw turkey and poults too.

This was our first time on Skyline Drive in the rain and fog. We drove all 105 miles of the drive. If this had been our very first time on Skyline Drive, I believe we would have been disappointed in what we couldn’t see. We may not have even made the drive, opting to do something different instead. I am happy that we drove Skyline Drive even in the rain and fog. What could be seen was still beautiful.

We arrived at Best Western Plus Inn & Suites in Waynesboro VA at 1:00 pm. We had hoped to check in early. Unfortunately no rooms were ready for check in. The hotel clerk took my telephone number and said she would call me, when our room was available. Normal check in is at 3:00 pm. The hotel clerk called 15 minutes later, while we were at Walmart. We checked into our hotel at approximately 1:45 pm.

I think it was 4:00 pm that we walked across the parking lot to The Fishin’ Pig. We ordered BBQ platters. Bob ordered a brisket platter; I ordered a pulled chicken platter. Both platters came with coleslaw. We added two additional sides — baked beans and macaroni n cheese for me and macaroni n cheese and potato salad for Bob. We left the restaurant with full stomachs.

After dinner we returned to our hotel, where we relaxed for rest of the day.

Today’s map

Virginia and North Carolina Vacation: Day 1 – Warren PA to Front Royal VA

Our 10-day Virginia and North Carolina vacation began on Saturday, August 20th. We traveled by car. We departed home (Warren PA) en route Front Royal VA at 7:15 am.

Within 1 1/2 hours we saw five deer. One deer ran across Route 219 in front of the car ahead of us. A short distance later, just after we turned onto route 153, on a bridge crossing the Little Toby Creek, we saw four deer in the water. That would have been a good picture. Bob turned around and drove back over the bridge. As we were stopping, the deer got spooked and ran off.

At 9:00 am we stopped for breakfast at Dutch Pantry Restaurant in Clearfield. This is our go-to breakfast place, whenever traveling through this area. Bob ordered eggs and corned beef. I had a Western Omelet. As always, breakfast was good.

Our plan was to make it to Virginia, before getting fuel. In West Virginia we were running on empty. We had never left the gas tank get so low. We didn’t want to risk the fuel gauge being inaccurate or mess up the fuel injector if we did run out of gas. At 12:07 pm we purchased 2.132 gallon of gas at Sheetz in Berkeley Springs WV. Fourteen miles later, at the Liberty Fuel Station in Cross Junction VA, we filled up the gas tank. Why didn’t we fill up the tank at Sheetz? The price of gas at Sheetz was $3.96/gallon. The price of gas at Liberty was $3.69/gallon.

We arrived in Front Royal VA at approximately 2:00 pm. We drove past the B&B that we had reserved for the night. Check in wasn’t until 3:00 pm, so we decided to get a head start on seeing the sights of Skyline Drive. We planned to drive the entire length of Skyline Drive the next day.

We entered Skyline Drive from Sperryville, via the Thornton Gap Entrance Station. We drove north.

Thornton Hollow Overlook
Milepost 27.5 – Elevation 2,460 ft.

Jeremys Run Overlook
Milepost 26.5 – Elevation 2,410 ft.

Hogback Overlook
Milepost 20.7 – Elevation 3,385 ft.

Little Devils Stairs Overlook
Milepost 20.0 – Elevation 3,120 ft.

Marshall Mountain Overlook
Milepost 19.0 – Elevation 2,850 ft

We stopped at the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center. I obtained a National Park Service passport cancellation stamp, a rubber ink stamp that records the name of the national park and date of your visit.

We left the visitor center at 3:30 pm and made one more stop on Skyline Drive.

Shenandoah Valley Overlook
Milepost 2.8 – Elevation 1,390 ft.

We, then, drove to the Bed & Breakfast in Front Royal that we had reserved for the night. The Bed & Breakfast will be the subject of my next blog post.

Today’s map