View From Elsewhere

[Beanzy]

Saw this article in the Guardian and though how cool to get some coverage for the music in the mainstream press here in the UK.
LINK
(Sorry meant to post this in the Bluegrass section but my massive fingers selected the wrong tab.)

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Beanzy - I drove along the Blueridge Parkway back in 1992. Or rather,Andy,my work's colleague who went over with me drove. His own hol. had fallen through.
It was towards the end of our 3 week trip & we were headed for Alexandria & also to Geoff Stelling's banjo workshop. We spent the night in Newmarket Battlefields Park having driven through Luray.
If anybody's going over to the US,i'd recommend the drive - it's awesome,as long as the clouds don't roll in as they did for us. We were forced off the Blueridge because of poor visibility & we finished the rest of the journey to Front Royal the following morning,
Ivan

[Roger Moss]

We're just coming to the time of the year that is the best for driving the Skyline Drive and the Blueridge Parkway. It is considered some of the best scenery in the country. I suggest everyone try to see it at some point.

[Willie Poole]

Been there and done that, many times...a beautiful trip with a few pull off`s so you can photograph the scenery....Funny how some people spend thousands of dollars to travel abroad and never look at what we have here in our great country, better see it while it is still pristine, never know what the future holds with all of these power minded people running their countries...

[Ivan Kelsall]

The USA is such a vast country,that if you're out in the rural areas,you can hardly turn a corner without some glorious scenery popping up. Driving along the Blueridge,i'd never seen so many trees in my life & some of the panoramic views looking over towards West Virginia were spectacular. I took lots of photos,unfortunately, all on 'film' - no 'digits' around at that time. Stupidly,i ran out of film & didn't have the sense to buy more, so my visit to Geoff Stelling's banjo workshop went un-recorded,
Ivan

[Trav'linmando]

He he. I get to look out from my 'desk' everyday at the beautiful scenery. The hours are bad but the view is wonderful. I am blessed to be able to drive the country and enjoy nature year round. Plus my mando herd follows along ready to play. They just ask to be re tuned daily and fed new strings.
Larry

[Beanzy]

A musical exploration of these regions have been on my must do list for about a decade and it was great to get a snippet of insight from the article. We did our west coast non-musical equivalent three years ago and aim to explore this side musically in about two years time. I want to tie in a ribbon of musical encounters when we plan our visit.
I'm glad that you folks who live there still have the ability to appreciate what you have there.
It's often not the case where people live in beautiful places, so I hope you enjoy it for many years to come.

[catmandu2]

Growing up in a major midwestern industrial city (in the us) i didn't see and experience beauty until I was a late teenager. And when I did (in the west) in nature it was sublime, profound, and spiritual. I've not since lived away from the mountains in nearly 50 years. It's an incredible privilege to ride, walk, ski, et al not only for 'leisure' recreation but for transportation as well - makes otherwise 'mundane' tasks like transport an experience of beauty, reverence, even more. I've never been able to shake the lifestyle that provides aesthetic joys of picking up my kids from school with a (snow) sled, skis, dogs, bikes, trailers.. The outdoor life is a privilege /blessing.

[Timbofood]

I used to get wine from a guy who was from the UK, I told him I was driving to see my parents in Georgia. He asked how long the drive was when I told him "roughly fourteen hours" I thought he was gng to have a stroke! He said, "I'd feel like I'd driven to the arctic circle of I was in a car for fourteen hours!"
The interstate system is just fine if you need to pound out miles and get somewhere but, travelling the blue roads is so much more rewarding, views, cool little towns, interesting roadside eateries. It is an amazing country which many of us take for granted sometimes. Get off the interstate, drive state roads(WATCH YOUR SPEED!) open windows, smell real air, enjoy what is around you!
No, I'm not employed by any tourism board but, might consider it if there's a job for me!

[Steve Ostrander]

I've spent some time in Great Smoky Mtns. Nat'l Park and it is absolutely beautiful. I never tire of going back there. As WSM said, you can hear the "ancient tones" in the hills.

The Rockies are awesomely beautiful as well, but a different kind of rugged beauty, whereas the Smokies have a more ancient feeling of beauty and nature.

[Willie Poole]

One fall season I decided to drive from Maryland to Maine to see my cousin, when I got up around Boston and looked for a motel just off of the interstate I found they were all full up so I took to the back roads and went through quite a few small towns that over whelmed me , they had general stores and things like that that I had grown up around while living in a rural town but had almost forgot about, we drove the rest of the way on old scenic Route #1 through New England and what fine trip it was, sure it was slower but we got to see things that I had almost forgot existed...If you have never been to Kittery Maine you should put that on your list of things to do, what a great small town, great seafood and plenty of craft displays , just too damned cold for me in the winter though...so I spend my winters in Florida, also a nice drive to go down there but alas, I am getting too old to make the drive every year so I have the house up for sale now...