Blue Ridge Honeymoon

By Catherine Rowell © 1986

Issue: August, 1986

We, George and I, discovered that "Virginia is for Lovers," long before the well-known slogan was coined. It was the Spring of thirty-two [1932] and we headed South for our honeymoon. The weather was beautiful, though crisp and cool. Bride like, I thought my love would keep me warm, but when we got down as far as Natural Bridge, I found, "It just ain't so." The Inn keepers were kinder than kind and one gave me a lend of her warm Spring coat.

My brand new husband and I did romantic Natural Bridge and met a young man who encouraged us to come back for the night show. He promised us that if we did he would show us how it operated. I'll never forget hearing the Creation emanating from the Bridge, like the voice of God and then going up on the Bridge with our new-found friend and hearing the amplification of the record from the Book of Genesis. Looking back, I know we had a one-of-a-kind treat. I felt a little like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when she reaches "The Wizard" in the Emerald City.

A day later, someone asked us if we'd like to see the new Blue Ridge Parkway they'd started. He didn't advise our driving up the mountainside by ourselves. Our guide took us up that steep dirt road for five dollars and back. The view was breath-taking. The road was beginning to take shape and only a little building shack was there on top of the mountain.

By the time we left, we felt like "family."

To add to the romance, it was Garden Week. We strolled hand-in-hand through magic like gardens as if we belonged there. I like to imagine that somehow we did live there long ago, as lovers, of course.