Dad flew in from Sea-Tac International Airport on Southwest Airlines into Nashville International Airport at 7pm and we picked up rental car and went to the house.

         
Arial of Issaquah     Space Needle Cam     How airport got initials BNA     GC on CitySearch

In late morning we left for trip finally after battling with leaking water heater to drain it. About 10 or so miles out of town had problems with grand am and returned to rental for new car. We were planning to stay in bristol that night but after dealing with water heater and returning car we lost planned travel time so stayed on west outskirts of Knoxville the first night. The room was in corridor across from laundry room so gave dad clausterphobia. Was nice area though nestled in trees. At night there were rabbits resting on open lawn area and was able to come very close to them before they bolted.

RoomSaver.com-Knoxville

Stayed in Troutville just outside Roanoke. Spent most of that day driving with an occasional rest area stop. Had noticed pine trees along hiway and on hillsides were dying for some reason. We had caught up with travel plans. Had planned to be there on second night. Didn't find picture of Comfort Inn but found their online yellow page ad.

Comfort Inn-Troutville     Discount page

In morning we stopped of at the Natural Bridge

Big Meadows Lodge:

  
More on Big Meadows area   Big Meadows Lodge info   Shenandoah photo gallery   Park History

Continued on Blue Ridge Parkway in route to Washington D.C. Passed Bull Run on way into D.C. Tried to find our exit for hotel and instead ended up at D.C. mall so walked from Washington Monument to Lincoln Memorial and back. Later we discarded our map of D.C. and found our own way back to where the hotel was. Had dinner at the hotel restaurant and got back on time to watch Big Brother on tv.

                   
Other D.C Images     Points of interest     Other D.C sites     Live cam     Arial Washington Monument

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Next morning ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant and went back into mall area to catch the Tourmobile. Dad made the girl's day in the ticket booth as we got there just on time to see the bus pull out. She couldn't stop laughing as dad's face must have said '#%#!% I knew it'. Tour was very nice. We visited John F. Kennedy grave site in Arlington Cemetary, stopped off at the Capitol, saw 1000's of museum and galleries along tour that would take a live time to explore. Several tour employees insisted I was Howard Stern. Tour was re-routed from the front of the White House because the President's helicopter was landing on the White House lawn. Had a nice lunch in the 'Old Post Office', and finished our tour and headed out of D.C. toward Richmond.

              
Official Arlington National Cemetary Site     History & Info

We Walked earthworks at a civil war battle field outside Petersburg. We had tried to go to the Civil War museum in Richmond but was only hospital area where it was supposed to be. We visited the memorial site of the battle of the "Crater". We stayed the night outside Petersburg in Hopewell where men were organizing teamsters.

We drove on to the Outer Banks, N. Carolina. The day was gloomy and rainy from aftermath of Hurricane Gordon as we drove but cleared up nicely later. Stayed at Holiday Inn on beach. Nice balcony view to west. We walked on the beach after settling in. We watched the sun set from the balcony. Later looked for a place that served fish & chips, but couldn't be found among all the seafood restaurants, so closest we could find was McDonalds fillet-o-fish and McFrys.

Guide to the Outer Banks     Another Outer Banks Guide     Nags Head.com

We checked out of the hotel and drove down to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. We only had 15 minutes before visiting hours ended but made it on time. I went to the top. A lot of steps! Equal to 20 story building-What? No elevator? We also visited the Bodie Island Light House visitors center. Afterward we were going to find another hotel but decided the Holiday Inn was nice with the balcony views so got another room there, again west view, top floor. Enjoyed the sunset again that night. Could see the Wright Brothers Memorial on the horizon.

Visited visitors center on Roanoke Island of lost colony. We rode around while it rained for a while and then shortly it cleared up. We walked around the Manteo water front and had lunch at a sandwich shop on the water which had a plaque of all the hurricanes that visited or threatened to visit the island. We stayed at Elizabethian Inn on Roanoke Island. Went on bike ride shortly after checking in down to the bay and back. Probably 4 to 6 miles round trip.

We had a nice breakfast the next morning in the restaurant at Elizabethian Inn, then headed west. It became another rainy day later in the day due to a cold front combined with the tropical storm Helene forming in the gulf and crossing over to the Atlantic, the same pattern as Gordon. We stayed in Burlington at the Holiday Inn. We had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Dad's Birthday. We had a nice buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Rains heavy still but as we got closer to Ashville it cleared up nicely. We had a good lunch at a Kentucky Fried Chicken that had a buffet with mountains all around. In the afternoon we drove the Billy Graham Hiway in Ashville, and exited in the downtown area and walked around where there was a Latina Festival. We noticed quite a variety in culture and a more relaxed atmosphere there than most downtown areas. We had done very well at finding hotel discounts in our travel books until Ashville, but due to 20,000 motorcycles in town, we had less negotiation power. We found a room at a Super 8 motel with a Cracker Barrel restaurant right behind it. Due to a big lunch, Dad didn't really want a large dinner so we ordered simple. The servers sang 'Happy Birthday' to dad.

We headed back to Nashville. The scenery was very nice going through the Appalachians out of Ashville. The leaves were beginning to change color. We encountered more rain later in the day. We stopped at the rest area near Center Hill lake and took cover under a table awning from the rain. There was a square of concrete near the table with a sawed off pipe in the middle of it and we exercised our imaginations trying to figure out what its purpose is or was. We got home with plenty of daylight left. We made good time considering the rain and all from the coast to Nashville.

After breakfast, we went to Radnor Lake and walked around the south half to the dam and back. It was a pretty cold and cloudy day but a nice walk. We celebrated dad's birthday dinner at OutBack Steak House. Dad was impressed with the added touches of the way they cut the skin off the cucumbers in the salad and put the dressing in the middle so it could be mixed right. The food was very good.

We got up early and returned the rental car at the airport and had some nice time together in the airport before dad's flight left. It was hard to see him leave. We had a very nice vacation together and were blessed in every way possible on the trip including the Firestone tires on the car holding up, the car working perfectly, great weather in between storms on the coast, available rooms in the mountains (Shenandoah and Ashville where room was scarce), finding our way in D.C., and our health holding out. I think we'll both have great memories to hold on to from our excellent 2000 vacation.

See Road Trip 2000 for more details and read dad's account of the trip. Click here to see a slide show.

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