The Beauty of the Blue Ridge in Fall

More recently I wrote about The Mountain Way of Virginia and North Carolina. The history is fascinating and the people hardy, but the mountains are a marvelous beauty! This week I spent driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway and visiting some of the small towns, like Floyd, VA. The towns vary, but all have the Mom and Pop restaurants with home cooking: grits, country ham, fluffy biscuits with or without a rich, brown gravy.

It seems that “outsiders” have found the mountains, as I have run into a Greek restaurant owner; a Colorado sign maker, and Jacksonville Center for the Arts in Floyd has invited musicians from the Czech Republic and a pianist from Russia. Yes, Blue grass music is widely played, but it is not all that is part of the mountains.

overlook and parkway 011 overlook and parkway 013

Rich in history; proud of their past…one will see memorials to the Civil War dead and those who fought the elements to live in this beautiful place…like Ed and Lizzie Mabry who built their Mill…now preserved for all to enjoy on the Parkway.

Mabry Mill

Today, you are going to have a visual experience. As you look, thank God for all He has created and share it with friends and family that may not have a mountain experience.