Follow the yellow brick road

The yellow brick road is far more commercialized than I remember in the movie, The Wizard of Oz. Little did I know it was multi-lane and used by buses, trucks and every other sort of motorized conveyance known to munchkin and man. Our own conveyance cast long shadows as we attempted to outrun the sun's slow descent behind us. There were also some beautiful landscapes to be seen on each side of the road with occasional glimpses through leafless trees of a waxing gibbous moon rising languorously over the Blue Ridge mountains.

     

And, it was most notable for some of the lowest freakin' gas prices I've seen in decades as well as the biggest Panera Bread I've ever seen in my entire life! The gas prices were so low that I felt a fleeting pang of guilt for depriving an oil robber baron of an extra cruise on the Riviera on my dime. The Panera was so big, we had to drop bread crumbs, a la Hansel and Gretel, to find our way out.

     

Most importantly, the yellow brick road was the jumping off point for two of our nation's most famous scenic by-ways, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Shenandoah Skyline Drive. If you have never traveled on either of these roads, your life is incomplete and you must add it to your own bucket list. Drive either of them anytime but they are most beautiful during the fall for obvious reasons. Be warned, the speed limit is 35 - 45 MPH on the entire length of both routes and leaf peepers have the right-of-way.

     

Wait! That was second most important! Of uber importance was the presence of one of our favorite Virginia wineries, Veritas. We discovered this winery about 7 years ago while on a (cough, cough) business trip. Their motto is in vino veritas, which is latin for in wine there is truth. Oh yeah, drink enough of it and the truth is sure to come out! The extremely warm and intimate tasting room is focused around genuine leather furniture, large wooden tables and a gorgeous stone, wood-burning fireplace on one end. This place is idyllic for wine lovers, or lovers of any stripe for that matter. In fact, the whole state of Virginia is for lovers according to their billboards and license plates.

               

At the end of the day, as we approached the mysterious land of Oz with wary minds and hopeful hearts, we were rewarded with not a bunch of somnolence-inducing flowers but a somnolence-inducing Homewood Suites by Hilton. Thank you Conrad, et al! This was one of the nicest Hilton properties I have ever stayed in, but I'll save the rest of my glowing remarks for a TripAdvisor review. I slept like a rock, Mari Jo, not so much. How could anyone sleep knowing we were going to gain audience with the great Oz the next day?

The following morning we were greeted by a beautiful sunrise over the Blue Ridge Mountains from our hotel room. What a way to start the day! After a nice warm breakfast in the lobby of our hotel, we packed our bags and were truly off to see the Wizard.