In the fall of 2016, I took a very quick trip to Prince Edward Island in Canada. And by quick, I mean I got there and back in little over a week. It was a little insane. To start at the very beginning, click here to go to the introduction.
A BAD START
Not having done any actual planning for this trip, I didn’t pack until the morning I left and even had some running around to do first. In the end, I didn’t leave Chattanooga until 11:00 am! In my rules for road trips, this is waaaay too late. An “acceptable” start time is between 6-8 am (and 8 is pushing it.)
I only got about an hour or two down the road before I stopped for lunch east of Knoxville in London, TN. I had packed “car food” for this trip: a box with a loaf of bread, PB&J, chips, cookies, and assorted snacks, paper towels, and a pack of bottled water. This approach had worked wonderfully well on a similarly short drive down to Key West in 2010.
I followed signs from the highway to a Municipal Park in London and had a nice picnic lunch. There was even a little creek to explore nearby. And maybe this is Roadtrip Rule #2–if at all possible, pack your own food and eat in a park or rest stop instead of eating fast food. Alternately, find a cute cafe in a little town and go exploring. Road trips are much more fun if you stop and look around once in a while, no matter how briefly.
THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS
My idea was to head through the Blue Ridge Mountains to see if there was any fall color to be seen. I would head north to Knoxville on 75, then east through the mountains on 40 past Ashville to Durham, NC. That is a fun road to drive any time of year and there was a little color, but nothing to stop and take a picture of. Not that there are lots of chances to on this road–it’s pretty twisty.
FINDING A BED FOR THE NIGHT
My goal was to find a place to sleep somewhere around dinner time, either on Airbnb or some last-minute hotel app. This turned out to be a nightmare! I was trying to book $25-50/night Airbnb’s without using the lightning book feature because those rooms are often cheaper. I was having trouble with my phone, so I would pull off the highway and park outside a fast food restaurant with wifi and try to book something. Then I’d pull off what felt like every 15 minutes to check to see if I had any response.
I feel sure my technical failures were due to the stress I was already feeling. I had one room booked out from under me, giving me a “we can’t complete the operation at this time” message and making me think my phone’s app wasn’t working. Then, I had someone respond that they couldn’t take someone at such short notice–they were at the state fair. I ended up paying about $100 for a bed farther south than I wanted to go, in Raleigh, NC. That issue finally settled, I made it to Raleigh around 9 pm.
MY AIRBNB
I ended up with this Airbnb room. At this point in my life, I had only stayed in one Airbnb before and while it had been an amazing experience, you never really know what you’re going to get! The one in Raleigh was super easy to check in–there were motion lights and key codes for both the front door and the door to my room. It was a small room–only a twin bed and a desk–but it was comfortable and I slept well. And the real treat turned out to be the included breakfast the next morning.
The host didn’t live in this house, but he came in to fix breakfast for the two of us that were staying there. It turns out, he was a professional chef and breakfast was amazing! And I had a really great conversation with the other girl staying in the house while we ate.
This time, I booked my next night’s stay that morning before I left the house! I used Airbnb again (and if you want to save $40 on your first stay with Airbnb, use this link.) Booking before I left was way less stressful, and it helped me plan the rest of my day.
RALEIGH, NC
Raleigh Little Theater Rose Garden
I decided to take a look around Raleigh first before I hit the highway again. A friend had told me I needed to eat at Beasley’s for chicken & waffles, so I decided to at least stay until lunch. My Airbnb was located downtown anyway, so I drove around for a while to see what I could see. I ended up finding a rose garden behind a local community theater. I took about 100 pictures before I got kicked out, not because I wasn’t supposed to be there, but because they had just sprayed the rose bushes with insecticide and you weren’t supposed to walk through it. I’m not sorry.
Raleigh National Cemetery
I have a knack for finding historic cemeteries, and I found this Civil War-era Raleigh National Cemetery while I was driving around.
Beasley’s Chicken + Honey
For lunch, as promised, I stopped into Beasley’s Chicken + Honey in downtown Raleigh for some chicken and waffles and a nice cold beer. I sat at the bar, where the bartender easily talked me into the beer with a sample. The meal was excellent, but if I had to do it over again, I’d get the veggie sandwich. It was a hot day out and the chicken & waffles were a bit too heavy.
After my meal, I made tracks to get myself above the Mason-Dixson line before sundown, which I’ll cover in stop 2. But there is so much more one could do in Raleigh, NC, so I will cover that in the next post.
Thanks for riding along with me!
Nice 🙂