Blue Ridge Parkway Turns 75

The Blue Ridge Parkway’s 75^th Anniversary culminates Sept. 10-12 at the VA/NC border in Galax, VA and Cumberland Knob, NC where Parkway construction began on Sept. 11, 1935. Click for details.

Dubbed America’s Favorite Drive as the most-visited national park in the nation, the Blue Ridge Parkway is celebrating its 75^th anniversary this year. But tourism to this region dates much further, back to Thomas Jefferson who became enamored with the Peaks of Otter.

National Parks Service District Superintendent Peter Givens explains how this 469-mile road traversing three states came about:

“Someone put the bug in President Roosevelt’s ear that we could create a third national park that would be a graceful, recreational mountain road that would reveal the natural and cultural history of the southern highlands, connecting Shenandoah National Park in the north and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee to the south.”

Read the complete article by Mary Burnham in the September 2010 issue of Hampton Roads Magazine.

Black History Month in Virginia

Each February, up to 100 African American horseback riders take an 8-mile ride through the Hampton Roads city of Portsmouth, this year on Feb. 20. They do it in honor of the Buffalo Soldiers, the black Cavalry of the US Army, established in 1866.

See more Black History Month events throughout Virginia at www.Virginia.org

2010 Virginia is for Lovers Travel Guide

The 2010 Virginia is for Lovers Travel Guide (written by yours truly) is now available free at www.Virginia.org or by calling 1-800-VISITVA.

The new guide's commemorative cover stars the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, with a panoramic photograph taken by Cameron Davidson, an award-winning photographer from Virginia.

It is an honor and a pleasure to be writing for Virginia Tourism's official travel guide for the past 7 years. In addition to detailing the Commonwealth's nine geographic regions, this year's guide features several new and unique travel features.

We truly love Virginia. Get you free guide and find out why!

Have a Green Christmas: Cut your own tree!

Did you get your tree yet? We're choosing ours this weekend, at Booker Farms in nearby Melfa on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. We make an outing of it, taking time to pick out just the right size of a live White or Norfolk Pine, and then Mr. Booker cuts it for us (757-787-9517).

You can even buy the entire live tree! They will dig it up for you, roots and all (you'll probably need a pick-up to get it home!) Then after the holidays you can plant it in your yard. Now that's an eco-friendly Christmas.

But cutting a live tree at a local farm is still a fairly green option. After all, this tree was raised for this purpose, so you're not depleting a forest. No fossil fuels were used transporting it by truck from the north country. After Christmas, be sure to recycle it with green waste or have it chopped for mulch. Many municipalities are doing this now.

You might think an artificial tree used year after year would be the greenest option, but not so according to The Daily Green website:

"Most artificial trees are made in China, typically from oil-derived, pollution-releasing polyvinyl chloride (PVC). A number have been found to contain lead. Once finally disposed of, artificial trees will last for centuries in landfills."

So, if you go artificial, try to get one made in America.

The truest green option would be a potted tree you decorate at Christmas, like the little tabletop guy pictured here. The rest of the year, it will provide beauty and give off oxygen in your home!

If you choose to cut a live tree locally, Virginia Tourism has a listing of Christmas tree farms around the state.

Merry Christmas!