We had a delicious breakfast/lunch in Erie at the Summer House Cafe. Honestly, we haven't really had a terrible meal since we have embarked on this road trip. We have been very lucky to hit some good, unique, local restaurants. This one was no different, and if you find yourself in Erie for some strange reason, I would recommend it.
After saying our goodbyes to our most recent hosts, we started on the road south. This is the "back again" portion of our journey. For anyone that has ever embarked on a long road trip, you know that going to these new places is the exciting adventure. Returning home is the longest, most boring, and most melancholy part of the trip.
So instead of driving a few hours and camping in West Virginia, we decided to pull an all nighter back to our first stop and a warm bed in Bryson City, NC. We toyed around with the idea of making it all the way to Atlanta, but a late start to the day kept us in check. So we had a goal, which was about a 12-hour drive from where we started.
There wasn't much excitement on this trip, as we were steady on the road. We found time to take a short detour through downtown Pittsburgh. Phillip's brother in law is from the area and we have heard very cool things about the layout of the city. Honestly, it is one of the most picturesque cities that we have had the pleasure of driving through on this trip. We approached the city from the North, coming through a few mountain passes before the area opened up to the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. This city is sort of nestled in there. After driving across the Clemente and Warhol Bridges, we made our escape through the Fort Pitt Tunnel. |
| The Warhol Bridge in the foreground, with the Clemente Bridge and PNC Park in the background. |
The remainder of the day/night went by without much to note. We drove through West Virginia, which is truly beautiful country. We drove over the New River Gorge Bridge on Hwy 19 near Fayetteville, WV. It is the third longest steel arch bridge in the world. The gorge was breathtaking, but after a little research, the bridge is even more so. We didn't take this picture, because we were obviously on top of the bridge, but it is a spectacular sight, and we kind of wish that we had driven down into the gorge to get a first hand look. Oh well, we have to leave some feats for next time.The evening wore on as we trekked through the Appalachians towards Bryson. Our only hiccup came at the hands of a few Cracker Barrel Restaurants. I know, how can they do any wrong? Cracker Barrel is like Heaven on Earth! We have discovered that fast food on road trips is not a good meal, so we call ahead to the nearest CB and put in a to go order. It isn't difficult, and can be a healthy meal if you do it right. Our first call resulted in nobody wanting to take our order. On busy nights, servers aren't inclined to take a call-in order (they don't think they are going to get a tip from it). The phone sat there as I heard the kitchen staff yell orders and sing songs for a good ten minutes. I gave up and we moved to the next CB, about 25 minutes down the road. They were very nice and took our order. Upon arrival, we paid and started down the road, only to discover that they had left out a salad, as well as the most important part, biscuits! So we turned back to retrieve our lost dinner. They again were nice and gave us our missing items, only to discover later that Natalie's salad was covered with bacon bits. Fail. It wasn't completely their fault, but it was still a bummer on the evening, as well as about a 35 minute delay to the trip.
We pulled into Bryson City about 1:30AM. We were here only 7 days ago, but this time it was a different feeling. We were nearing the end of a great journey. We were not yet finished with this trip, but the pages were growing short, and we were starting to get anxious to be home.
Stay tuned, for the Great CAmerican Road trip moves forward. Next Stop, Atlanta, GA.
Quote of the Day: This one comes in the form of a photo. Great sign, as found in Erie, PA.
Picture of the Day:
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| The Norfolk and Western Railway Bridge, found on the south side of Pittsburgh, PA. |
If you really wanted a quote of the day from a Pennsylvania sign you should have driven to Intercourse PA. They have TONS of great signs in that town.
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