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| Sign says Visitor Center to right, Folk Art Center to left. I went north, or left, from the entrance at US Hwy 70...about 30 miles to Mt. Mitchell State Park |
Most construction was carried out by private contractors under federal contracts under an authorization by Harold L. Ickes in his role as federal public works administrator. Work began on September 11, 1935, near Cumberland Knob in North Carolina; construction in Virginia began the following February. On June 30, 1936, Congress formally authorized the project as the Blue Ridge Parkway and placed it under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. Some work was carried out by various New Deal public works agencies....Construction of the parkway was complete by the end of 1966 with one notable exception.[8] The 7.7 miles (12.4 km) stretch including the Linn Cove Viaduct around Grandfather Mountain did not open until 1987.[9] The project took over 52 years to complete.
The parkway runs from the southern terminus of Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive in Virginia at Rockfish Gap to U.S. Route 441 at Oconaluftee in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cherokee, North Carolina.
Source: Wikipedia
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| At Craggy Gardens is a Visitor Center, just before the Parkway goes through the Craggy Tunnel (in shadow on right) |
Parking lot just below the summit, where there is a large platform for tourists to take a few photos. I didn't go up to it this trip.
Yes I took many more photos, hiked down to a spring (and back up) and saw lots of wild flowers...but they will be in future blogs!
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| Mt. Mitchell State Park Restaurant |
I had to stop for desert on my way back home...
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| A piece of cheesecake, not at all sepia! |
Menu, Milan and Dan Restaurant, Café & Grill, San Francisco : California Historical Society (Flickr Commons)
Today's quote:
Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public. Cornel West
Such a beautiful park. I must do the North Carolina part one day.
ReplyDeleteCome on down and if you stop in Black Mountain I'd love to treat you to coffee or an ice cream!
DeleteI've always wanted to visit your area! Had a college classmate from NC, and her love of her home state was clear! Your shots of Mt. Mitchell renew those feelings again. And as for that cheesecake, well.....
ReplyDeleteThere are several restaurants on mountains, and they seem to have good deserts there. Mmm, perhaps that just tells you what I like to have!
DeleteLove driving through the mountains and stopping there. Wish I had a piece of that cheese cake right now.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely drive, and sure brings a sense of calm after the interstate or rush hour traffic. The lack of places to go to, just being on a winding road leading nowhere gives time to ponder, wander, and wonder!
DeleteBeautiful! I remember the summit well as we took my wife's cousin there two years ago. She is partly disabled and I pushed her in a wheelchair up (and back!) using the handicap pathway. The view was more breathless than I expected!!! Heart-stopping you might say :-)
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