Join Your Travel Memories and Tobacco Road Tours as we explore western North Carolina and southern Virginia! The month ofMay is a perfect month to enjoy the mountains and also see the beautiful azaleas! Packed with everything from a cheese factory visit, kayaking or canoeing the New River, biking the Virginia Creeper Trail, taking in a play at the nationally recognized Barter Theater, visiting the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro and more!
Itinerary
Friday, May 19th
Depart from RDU hotel (no cost and safe parking). A light breakfast to enjoy on the way. Enjoy Ashe County Cheese and see all types of cheese being produced. You can sample, shop and learn how cheese is made in the only cheese factory in North Carolina.
Afterwards, we will enjoy lunch at a restaurant nearby.
Now, it is on to see the amazing Fresco’s in West Jefferson.One of the areas most visited attractions! The fresco paintings, housed in the Episcopal Parish of the Holy Communion, were created by North Carolina native Ben Long in 1974.Long is one of few artists today to be recognized as a master of the art of fresco-painting on wet plaster, the process used by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. Because the mixed pigments are absorbed by the plaster, the paintings actually become part of the wall.
After completing studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the Art Students League in New York, Long apprenticed in Florence, Italy, under Maestro Pietro Annigoni for nearly eight years before returning to his native North Carolina. He has completed more than a dozen frescoes paintings in the state, as well as his commissions in France and Italy.
After visiting the Fresco’s, it is onto the beautiful New River where we will enjoy a kayak or canoe ride. Your choice! A very relaxing way to spend the afternoon and the weather should be perfect in May! The New River is one of only several in the world which flow northward!
This evening is spent enjoying some window shopping in quaint West Jefferson and then dinner at a local pub!
Meals (B, L,D)
Saturday, May 20th
We will begin the day with breakfast and then enjoy the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway en route to Damascus, VA. Next, we will take a bike ride on the Virginia Creeper Trail.Enjoy the scenic beauty and take in this wonderful landscape……everyone can enjoy this ride! You barely needto pedal much at all as it is a flat ride or a gentle downward slope. Picturesque does not begin to describe the scenery in the rolling hills of southern Virginia!
After our bike ride we will head into Abingdon to enjoy a late lunch. Walk, explore, shop, browse antique stores and check out the Martha Washington Inn built in 1832. Since we will have had a late lunch, a lite dinner or drinks and appetizers is on your own (may not be too hungry!) and then it is on to enjoy a timeless musical at the Barter Theater. The classic Footloose! This wonderful musical dramatells the story of Ren McCormack, an upbeatChicagoteen who moves to a small town in which, as a result of the efforts of a local minister, dancingandrock musichave been banned. If you remember the film from 1984, you can most likely recall the great music that will have you moving in your seats!
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Meals (B,L)
Sunday, May 21st
Sleep in, enjoy a relaxed breakfast and depart for Greensboro. Arrive at a Greensboro restaurant for lunch and then enjoy one of the Southeast’s largest collections of modern and contemporary art- The Weatherspoon Art Museum. Located at theUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro, the Weatherspoon is one of the largest collections of modern and contemporary art in the southeast with a focus on American art. Its programming includes fifteen or more exhibitions per year, year-round educational activities, and scholarly publications. Numbering close to 6,000 artworks, primarily American, the permanent collection represents all major art movements from the beginning of the 20th century to the present.
Arrive back to the RDU hotel by early evening!
Meals (B)
Price is $539.00 double occupancy. The single supplementis $179.
Payment is due by May 12, 2017.
You may pay by personal check or with any major debit or credit card or with PayPal.
Personal checks may be sent to:
Your Travel Memories
14460 Falls of Neuse Rd.
Suite # 149-320
Raleigh, NC 27614
If you would like to pay by credit card, just let us now and we would be happy to send you an invoice.
Tour inclusive of transportation to and from, attractions, activities, two night’s hotel accommodations, six meals, snacks, beverages (special beverage to kick off our road trip) and guaranteed FUN!
If you have any questions or are interested in joining us on this trip, please contact us byemail at: or click on the Contact Us page on the left side bar of this website.