Blue Ridge Traveler!
MilePost 86
Anna, Crowley and I have been taking day trips from our home in Roanoke to destinations in the Blue Ridge. Our most recent was literally on the Blue Ridge Parkway: Peaks of Otter. Which sounds like an alternative rock band but is really three mountain peaks with a lake between. The peaks are Sharp Top, Flat Top and Harkening Hill. The man made lake in the valley is called Abbot.
A very long time ago Thomas Jefferson thought the Peaks of Otter were the tallest mountains in America. Not even close. A couple of guys named Lewis and Clark found some slightly taller ranges farther west.
We had a great lunch overlooking the lake and Sharp Top at the Peaks of Otter Lodge. Worth every dime!
Before lunch we took an ill advised hike to “The Johnson Family Farm.” Ill advised because we had a baby in a stroller and this was a dirt path made for horses and bear. But we made it! Sweaty. But good. It’s an old farm house where nothing in it has been altered since the early 1900s. It was beautiful, that’s for sure. And it gave us a truthful look at how hard life was for families in the country back then. I’m pretty sure i couldn’t have lived like that.
The National Parks Service owns and operates the farm.
The Johnson Family Farm
We had a great time. Save for the gnats. It was gnat hell at points. Know clue why but there were swarms attacking us. No idea how many I inhaled or swallowed. Good times. The Park Ranger said it’s been an unusual year for gnats. Perhaps it’s the recession.
Anyway you can learn more about the Johnson Family here.
Perhaps they were drawn to my organic deodorant… MR
Spent a few days at Peaks of Otter Lodge in 1979, and what I remember most is the awesome food!