We are heading to NC to look at some colleges with our daughters the third weekend in October. We are going to take advantage of the scenery and take the BRP home to FL. We will be coming from Raleigh area and will arrive in Boone on Friday to look at Appalachian State and plan on staying in Blowing Rock that night. Basically, we have all day Sat to drive south and explore.
Husband's itinerary on Sat looks like this:
1. Linville Caverns/Falls
2. Grandfather Mtn
3. Drive down BRP until Asheville OR Cherokee and stay the night
4. Sunday - wake and drive home to FL.
Questions
1. Does this Saturday itinerary look anywhere remotely realistic with driving times?
2. If not, how far south can we get on BRP without stops?
3. If so, do you recommend Asheville or Cherokee for final night's stay?
We realize we are short on time, but have to get the kids back to school. Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.
Blue Ridge Pkwy - Blowing Rock to Cherokee in one day?
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What age are these kids? There isn't much in cherokee but casinos really, unless you want to fish. There is a lot to do in Asheville. You go a good bit further west going to cherokee. You can get off the BRP at Asheville and be in Cherokee in an hour IF that is where you want to go.
For a Saturday night in Cherokee you might need to make reservations for a hotel.
I just stayed in Boone at a Hotels.com hotel, and it was quite nice--the Sleep Inn, I think. There will be more selection in Boone than Blowing Rock, and you can certainly hop over there for dinner and looking.
The BRP has a 45 mph speed limit, it is slow going but beautiful. I have a question before answering where I think you should spend your final night. Is App State the only college you want to look at in this area? There are some great small colleges around the Asheville area - Brevard, Montreat,and Davidson are a few examples. They may all be too small, but they all offer excellent programs of study (of course, I don't know what your daughter is interested in studying). I would recommend going to Asheville and stopping there - but I LOVE Asheville!
This site lets you follow step by step from Blowing Rock to Asheville - with lots of recommendations for food and scenery. Have a great trip!
http://www.asheville-mountain-magic.com/blue-ridge-parkway-tour-4.html
Our kids are both 17 so we're not interested in casinos. We already have reservations in Blowing Rock - the question is whether we can fit a trip to Linville Caverns and Grandfather Mtn and still get to Asheville or Cherokee by dark.
Willowjane - We're looking at a few colleges, but App State was going to be the last on the trip. Good to know about the others. I would say that Saturday is really all about the sight-seeing though. Just want to make sure we're not over-extending ourselves with the two side trips and still able to make it far enough south to stay at one of those towns Sat night. Thanks for the link!
I think Linville, Grandfather and the Parkway trip is a lot for one day, unless you're willing to skim through it and move quickly.