America the Beautiful...Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 miles of the best scenery within the Appalachian Mountains. The parkway can be enjoyed from May until late-October. You have to see it to believe it, as no photo will ever do justice to the heavenly views.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the project on September 11, 1935. It was originally called the Appalachian Scenic Highway. The project provided employment throughout difficult economic times in our country. The Blue Ridge Parkway took 52 years to complete.

                                                          (Linn Cove Viaduct)

The parkway was built to connect the Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The speed limit of 45 miles per hour, and maybe a little slower while driving on the nail-biting Linn Cove Viaduct, may hinder many visitors from completing the entire journey. Luckily, a stop in Roanoke, Virginia at the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center (mile post 115) will eliminate missing any breath-taking views. The center has a 24 minute film about the region and a 22 foot interactive map of the entire Blue Ridge Parkway; known as the I-Wall.
 

The Blue Ridge Parkway will be represented on North Carolina's America the Beautiful quarter in 2015.
God Bless America