Weekend Adventure

We had a fun weekend trip in southwest Virginia. The adventure started Friday evening at The Floyd Store in Floyd, Virginia. People flock to the Floyd Store on Friday nights for the music. There were two different bands who played inside the store and there was a lot of “pick-up” music going on outside of the store. It was hot and crowded inside the store, so I spent the majority of the time outside. Floyd is a little town near the Blue Ridge Parkway. There’s not much there, but it sure is a lively place on Friday nights. Mr. SP really enjoys Bluegrass and plays both the banjo and guitar and he’s wanted to go to Floyd for years. I think we can cross that off of our “Things to do Before we Die” list. It was fun, but I doubt if we ever go back.

We like to take self portraits. Here’s one from inside the store. You can see how crowded it was!

The next day we rode our mountain bikes on The New River Trail. This is a 57 mile trail that starts in Pulaski and goes to Galax. Only pedestrians, bikes, and horses are allowed on the trail. It has a packed cinders surface which makes the riding smooth. It’s also flat because it was an old railroad bed. It’s one of VA’s state parks and the only fee to use it is to pay to park. We rode to “Shot Tower” and back which made a 50 mile trip. That’s a long way on a mountain bike.

Along the trail:

Yes, we have matching biking shirts. Aren’t we dorky??

Shot Tower – Lead bullets were made here in the 1800’s.

After riding on Saturday, we drove down Interstate 81 to Abingdon, VA, to spend the night. We had a great dinner at the bar at The Martha Washington Inn. I didn’t think about making dinner reservation, a mistake, but it ended up being a lot of fun to drink for a while at the bar and then to eat there.

Cheers! We didn’t want to use the flash indoors.

We poked around the inn for a while after we ate. It is a beautiful place! Their front porch is full of comfortable rockers and wicker furniture. We watched couples leave the inn and walk across the street to The Barter Theater.

We rode on The Virginia Creeper Trail on Sunday. There was an 80% chance of rain in the morning, so we only rode 24 miles. The Creeper Trail is free to use and also has an excellent surface, smooth and flat. Like The New River Trail, it also is a trail formed from an old railroad bed. This trail is very scenic and I know that we’ll go back to ride it again. We rode from Abingdon toward Damascus. Next time we’ll start in Damascus and ride to White Top Mountain and back.

At the start of our ride:

Mr. SP on one of the many trestles.

The trail goes through private land. Here’s a beautiful farm:

Another trestle:

Abingdon is full of old houses. Here is a pretty one on Main Street.

We stopped in Radford on the way home to visit my 93 year old grandmother. She’s in a nursing home and is having trouble with her memory. She asked me twice if her husband was living or dead. (He’s been dead almost ten years.) Getting old is tough!

It was great to get away for a weekend and go somewhere different. If you like to bike, you might want to try either of these trails. Both would be excellent places for children to ride.