Drive from Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) to Atlanta (Georgia) and back

 

Route: I-81 S I-77 S I-85 S	Our Vehicle: Honda Civic – 2004 hybrid model	Dates: 03/15 – 03/22

My husband had some work for which he had to be in Atlanta (Georgia) for a week and that’s when we decided to take this trip by road. The drive from Harrisburg to Atlanta is about 11 ½ hours. We decided to complete the drive in two parts.

Harrisburg (PA) to Charlotte (NC) – 7 1/2 hours

We started from Harrisburg on a Friday morning around 10am after filling up our gas tank. We drove through Lancaster and entered Maryland. Driving on I-81 S we crossed into West Virginia and that’s when we made our first stop. The drive wasn’t scenic enough because of the winter season. The trees on the mountains were bare with no leaves. There wasn’t any sign of greenery around. Though, occasionally we did sight a few birds along the way. But I am sure it would be worth seeing in the summer and fall seasons.

 

After West Virginia we entered Virginia. We stopped in between for a lunch break and then drove on. Initially we had thought about staying the night at Roanoke but then thought about covering more distance on the first day and hence chose Charlotte as our halt station. After driving for about 125 miles or so we finally set foot in the beautiful state of North Carolina. It was quite late by the time we reached Charlotte so we headed straight to the hotel. We stayed at the Royal Inns & Suites which was just next to highway, very convenient. We had already made our reservations. The room was quite spacious and cozy. It had all the basic amenities. The first thing we did was having our dinner and ended the day.

Charlotte (NC) to Atlanta (GA) - 4 hours

 

Next morning we started our journey after breakfast at around 10:30am. We made our first stop at a gas station and had our lunch at the nearby McDonalds. As we crossed Gastonia, we entered the state with ‘beautiful places and smiling faces’ – South Carolina.

 

On the way we saw the beautiful Hartwell Lake. There are quite a few beautiful parks in SC. Due to time constraints we decided to skip them. It was only around 2:00pm that we entered Atlanta. Oh I loved the wide multiple lanes freeways. They kind of amplify the vast spaces around you. We had reserved a studio suite at Homestead Studio Suites. The location of the hotel at Executive Park Dr is very convenient. The Loehmann’s Mall, located at the backside of the hotel has a few nice eating outlets like Lettuce Souprise You, The Moe’s Southwest Grill and TCBY. It’s just at a walking distance from the hotel.

Our stay in Atlanta was superb. First of all I was able to catch up on a Hindi movie in a theatre after 10 months. We went and saw “Jodha Akbar”. The movie wasn't worth it, it was way too long. Though the dresses and jewelry worn by Aishwarya Rai were fabulous. There are some nice Indian restaurants in the city like Udipi and Saravana Bhavan, though I like the latter. We had yummy Rava Masala Dosa and Channa Bhatura and Plantain Bhajji there. The food was delicious -- yummy. Oh yes another place of interest for Indians is the “Chatpati”. It has some delicious chaat items like Samosa, Aloo Bhonda, Dhokla, Dahi Vada and the likes. They also serve pure vegetarian lunch and dinner buffet.

People with a sweet tooth should definitely visit the Krispy Creme and The Cheesecake Factory. At Krispy Creme you can actually see the fresh doughnuts being made. The warm original glazed doughnuts are my favorite. I bought a whole dozen to try all kinds of them. The Blueberry cake and creme filled ones were nice. The Cheesecake Factory is a heaven for cake lovers. I simply adored the three layer chocolate cake. This time we couldn't go there but I had gone there in my previous trip to Atlanta. Oh the three layer chocolate cake was out of this world.

Journey back from Atlanta to Harrisburg

The highlight of the trip back to Harrisburg was the Shenandoah Skyline Drive. In order to cover the Skyline drive we decide to stay overnight at Staunton.

 
We booked at the Microtel Inn & Suites. I must put in a special word for it, the room was beautifully done. It was the best among all the places we stayed on this trip. After a good night sleep we were ready for the day.

We started our Skyline Drive from the Rockfish Gap (South) entrance Gap. It’s a 105 miles drive, which would take about 3 hours when driving at the set speed of 35mph. There are three other entrance points for the drive. The drive was one of the best of our lives though beginning of the spring season was definitely not the best time to undertake the drive. The summers and fall season would be more apt. But we plan to capture its beauty in all the seasons in a year and hence we bought the year long pass for National Parks of US.

Some of the best scenic spots are the Calf Mtn Overlook, Moormans River Overlook, Riprap Overlook, Doyle’s River Overlook, Loft Mountain Overlook, Bacon hollow Overlook, Big Meadows, Lewis Mountain, Tunnel Overlook and Dickey Ridge Visitor Center. The drive is interspersed with lots of hiking trails. I particularly wanted take the trail to the Dark Hollow Falls.

If you get lucky you could spot some animals in the wild too. Deers are commonly spotted along the drive. Other animals to look out for are bears, squirrel and chipmunks. The Shenandoah National Forest campus also has lodging facility inside. We covered this 105 miles drive in about 5 hours. It was worth it.

After the skyline drive it was time to go home. We drove to Harrisburg from Staunton via West Virginia and Maryland. A long, beautiful and a bit hectic trip had come to an end but it had already sowed the seeds for some upcoming trips….