Natural Bridge and Our New Home at Cracker Barrel

For the first time in a long while, we have a rainy day in the forecast. The rain was supposed to start in the middle of the morning, so we were up early to visit the Natural Bridge. Our address has been Natural Bridge, Virginia, for the last two days, so it was time for us to see for ourselves this town's name sake. Tickets to visit this private park have been $20 per person for years. But three weeks ago it became Virginia's newest state park and the admission price dropped to $8.

We paid our money, walked down 137 steps, and found ourselves in front of the Natural Bridge. It's hard to capture the size and scale of this 215-foot-high massive stone bridge. It is 100 feet wide, and spans 90 feet between the rock walls. It's too simple to say that it is huge, so Denisa stood under the bridge to provide some frame of reference.

President Thomas Jefferson was actually the first American owner of the bridge. He purchased the bridge and the 157 acres surrounding it from King George III in 1774. The total price was 20 shillings or $2.40. We realized that we had just paid six times the purchase price just to walk through it. Jefferson loved this area and described it as, "the most sublime of nature's works." We would say that we had just wandered under another of God's wonders.

It's hard to tell, but Denisa has on a white hard-hat in the pictures above. There are caution signs that warn that because it is a natural structure, rocks can fall from the bridge at any time. As she stood under the arch she suddenly heard a plop in the stream beside her as a rock from above hit the water.

The trail continues past the bridge, where a Monocan Indian village is displayed for visitors. The re-enactors don't arrive until 10:00, so the gates into the area were still closed.

From our view point outside, we could only take pictures of the huts that have been constructed using traditional Indian techniques and materials.

The trail continues for a mile, ending at a cascade waterfall. We enjoyed our hike through the woods on an early morning with few tourists around.

Then we headed back to the entry, for one more pass under the natural bridge from the other direction.

One of the information plaques pointed out that Highway 11 still crosses over the bridge. We understand why those rocks some times fall from the natural bridge as big vehicles rumble over it. 

If we look carefully, we can now see the tall wall that covers the view of the highway at the top of the bridge.

It was sprinkling as we left the state park, and it turned into a full rain storm as we drove the few miles back to the motor home. We knew we were leaving our pricey resort camping spot today, but now we wanted to stay in the area longer based on the hiking advice we had been given yesterday. So we decided to head down the road just 40 minutes, for a boon-docking stay. As we headed down Highway 11, we now understand that we are actually crossing on the Natural Bridge. As our 26,000 pound motor home rumbles over the bridge, we hope those visitors below have on their hard hats.

Mark did some research, and found a Cracker Barrel restaurant with RV parking spots that welcome overnight stays. So we are feeling very much at home at the Barrel this night.

Even thought it was still rainy, we drove the few miles over to the city of Roanoke. Denisa bought a few vegetables at the farmer's market downtown, and then we headed to the Star Mill Park overlooking town. We had read that Roanoke is known as "The Star City" because of the large star on top of the highest mountain overlooking town. In fact, it is the world's largest man-made star. It was designed and built in 1949 and is lit up by 2,000 feet of neon tubing every evening until midnight.

It's hard to tell just how big this 88-foot star is, so Mark is standing under it in the picture below.

From the park at the top of the mountain, we can look over the city of Roanoke in the valley below.

Beyond the city, we can see the ridgeline of the Appalachian Mountains in the distance. The silhouette of the highest peak in the center of the picture is McAfee Knob. This mountain is the reason we have extended our stay in the area. It's been highly recommended from more than one source, and we'll be climbing it tomorrow.

It was cold and windy and wet, so we headed back to the comfort of the motor home and some Cracker Barrel home-cooking. We can recommend their delicious lunch specials, especially when they are so close to our front door.