followcands

Hi everyone!

Looking for some advice on an upcoming trip. I have a bachelorette party in Charleston, and my boyfriend and I have 5 days to roadtrip from there to the wedding the following weekend in St Michaels, Maryland. I know it's a bit of driving, but we really wanted to see both the mountains and the coast.

Our planned itinerary is as follows:
Sunday 12:00: Charleston to (Asheville or near Smoky mountains)
Monday: Hiking Smoky Mountains, stay in Asheville
Tuesday: Hiking and driving Blue Ridge Parkway, stay somewhere east of Asheville?
Wednesday: Hiking and driving Blue Ridge Parkway, then drive to Outer Banks (stay in Nag's head)
Thursday: Explore Outer Banks (stay in Nag's head)
Friday: Drive to St Michaels, MD (need to arrive by 4:00 PM)

Questions:
-Is the sliding rock worth the detour? Mid-week in mid-May, will it be busy?
-We are big foodies and enjoy craft beer/cocktails, will a lot of places be closed on Monday night in Asheville?
-What is the best town to stay in along the Blue Ridge Parkway east of Asheville?
-Will there be bad traffic from Outer Banks to St Michaels on Friday? I know it's about a 7.5 hour drive, so we are planning to leave at 8 am.

Gretchen

Sliding Rock is fun--it is south of Asheville and in a nice part of the Pisgah to hike--Looking Glass Rock is a nice hike in that area. If you wanted to do that you might consider leaving BRP from there and striking out across NC for OBX. If you continue UP the Parkway, I think it makes your trip to OBX even longer but I didn't do the route.
I really wonder about the OBX--it is a LONG way to get there (depending on where you stay) and then another long way to get to your destination. I like the idea of your time between the party and the wedding and that part of a road trip sounds really fun.
I doubt stuff is closed in Asheville. On another thread someone gave a huge list of places to eat and drink.

Ackislander

I'm pretty dubious about the Outer Banks as part of this trip, but if yo want to, there are three ways to get to St Michaels.

You can take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and drive up the DelMarVa Peninsula.

You can take US 17 to US 301, crossing the Potomac Bridge before wending your way north toward Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. This is a very pleasant trip.

You can get on I-95 somewhere then take US 50 from I-495 to the Bay Bridge.

The latter two will be somewhere between unpleasant and a nightmare on Friday.

Mid May can be pretty cool in the higher altitudes in the Smokies and Blue Ridge. You are likely to need a completely different wardrobe from what you will need in Charleston and on the coast.

I would either stay in the highlands by driving north along the Blue Ridge Parkway, I-81, and US 29 (they parallel each other) visiting the Charlottesville and the three presidential houses before cutting east to your destination.

OR I would go north on US 17 to Washington, NC, where I would cut over to Swan Quarter to take the ferry to the Outer Banks. There are lots of pleasant places on this trip (Litchfield, Wilmington, Beaufort, New Bern), and it would give you several days at OBX.