Good ol’ Fashioned Virginia Road Trip

While we were making our way down to Primland a few weeks ago, I told B that I wanted to take the backroads & go on a good ol’ fashioned Virginia road trip. Unfortunately, we got a late start (shocker), so we decided to stick to the highway most of the way (which are still really scenic), but take the backroads for the second half of the drive.

We made it all the way to Harrisonburg before our stomachs started grumbling. At the recommendation of my blogging friend & JMU alum Chris from Packed Suitcase (she’s the queen of Mid-Atlantic travel, BTW), we stopped for lunch. She sent us to Billy Jack’s Wing & Draft Shack, which is just as divey & unhealthy & awesome as it sounds. They specialize in wings & sliders. Our bacon cheddar wings were positively sinful, the barbecue chicken slider was straight out of the south & the wagyu beef slider was decadent. And we also got chili cheese fries, because at that point, why not? The restaurant should probably be renamed Everything Bacon, as there literally is bacon on almost every dish. You can even order a box of bacon! They also have 12 rotating drafts, something I love when restaurants do because it means trying something new (I had an excellent Smuttynose Durty Brown IPA).

After the giant lunch, we walked around Harrisonburg a bit to try & burn off a few calories. Downtown is super cute, with a central square & lots of little shops. We stuck our heads in the local bike store (B’s favorite thing to do when we travel) before hopping back in the car & continuing on.

I promised B that if he did an excellent job driving, we could stop in Roanoke to stretch our legs & get some ice cream. As you know, I love crowd sourcing eating recommendations, so I took to twitter to figure out where we should go for ice cream. The nice people at Visit Virginia Blue Ridge recommended that we stop by HITS Frozen Treats. Located along the Roanoke River, under the Roanoke Star (yes, really), we never would have found this cute mom & pop place without the power of social media. Added bonus? The ice cream was awesome.

The rest of the trip, we followed the famed Blue Ridge Parkway down to Primland. The drive was beautiful, through the forest & over mountains. We stopped at Rock Castle Gorge to take in the scenic vista & learn a little history about the area.

Finally, over six hours after we started, we pulled into Primland, ready to relax!