Liberty Hill Inn, Yarmouthport, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Liberty Hill Inn, Yarmouthport, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

In early May, Mary and I had the opportunity to get away from Killington for a few days for a vacation of our own. This is the first installment of a 4 part article on our experiences.

As most of our friends and repeat guests know, Mary and I usually get away from Killington during early May. Killington in early May can be rather messy. Snow melt off the mountains is in full swing. Muddy soil conditions, combined with running water and sunshine cause the area to erupt in small insects of many different varieties. Many local golf courses are open, but the surrounding countryside is still devoid of color, as most trees are barely in the bud stage, still hibernating from the winter cold. With all this in mind, our vacation planning each year starts with 1 requirement....How far do we have to travel so that we encounter "Leaves on the Trees". On most even years we tend to limit our travel to North America. On odd years, we have been known to wander outside the country to see other parts of the world. This year we focused our vacation into parts of North Carolina in search of leaves on the trees (and green on the fairways).

In writing this series of articles, I have divided our trip into 4 parts: Heading South (this article); Asheville NC - The Biltmore Estate; Pinehurst NC - A little golf; and Heading North via Washington DC.

All of our vacations usually include visiting with our parents in Massachusetts. As we left Vermont, we stopped first for an afternoon with Mary's parents in Easton MA. In what has now become a right os spring, Mary and I installed her parents window air conditioner in the living room. Mary had spent some time with her parents prior to heading off on vacation, so there were not many other chores to do. With the air conditioner installed, we pointed the car further south to visit with my parents on Cape Cod.

Flowering tree at Liberty Hill Inn (Click to enlarge.)

On the Cape, my folks had a short list of spring chores for us to accomplish. Mary had some spring planting to do. We both helped my father erect my parents back yard screen house. Being outside in the summer on Cape Cod is one of life's pleasures for my parents. They eat dinner often outside in the early evening in their screen house...so getting it up and ready to go is one of the primary chores of every spring visit.

While on Cape Cod, we stayed once again at the 9 room Liberty Hill Inn located in Yarmouthport. The innkeepers at Liberty Hill, John and Kris, always do a great job taking care of us on our visits. If you are traveling around New England this summer, after you have stayed with us in Killington Vermont at the Birch Ridge Inn of course, and your travels plans include Cape Cod, we heartily recommend the you include the Liberty Hill Inn in Yarmouthport Massachusetts on your itinerary.

Of course, Cape Cod in early May usually does not satisfy our overall vacation requirement calling for "Leaves on the Trees". In early May on the Cape, many of the flowering trees are showing off, but the normal trees are just slightly further along than what you would find in Killington. With that in mind, after a couple of days on the Cape, we pointed our car further south, to begin our vacation in North Carolina.

Piedmont Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway (Click to enlarge.)

From Cape Cod, trips to North Carolina are pretty straight forward, as long as you have a high tolerance for Route 95 through Connecticut and New York. We timed our get away from the Cape to pass through the New York City area in early afternoon, avoiding much of the traffic. Overall on the first day driving south, we traveled about 10 hours, winding up in Woodstock Virginia overnight. We had planned on driving just under 6 hours on the second day south with the plan to arrive in Asheville North Carolina in early afternoon. Little did I know that Mary had other plans which would make the drive significantly longer.

Linn Cove Viaduct on the Blue Ridge Parkway. No leaves on the trees there! (Click to enlarge.)

On leaving Woodstock Va, Mary announced that she wanted to take the Blue Ridge Parkway through the mountains to Asheville. The Blue Ridge Parway is one of the great scenic drives in North America, literally running down the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. The parkway is a 2 lane road traversing mountain peaks and secluded valleys. In early May, the scenery changed dramatically with altitude. The mountain peaks, like the area around the Linn Cove Viaduct was still twigs and sticks. Lower elevations, like the Piedmont Overlook, had some greenery showing. In between, the mountain meadows were filled with spring flowers in bloom, taking advantage of warmer temperatures and May sunshine.

The one downside to taking the Blue Ridge Parkway on the second leg of our trip to Asheville, was that it changed a 6 hour ride into a 9 hour ride. So it goes... I for one would have been happier chasing a little white ball around for those 3 hours... but life is not all golf in the summer. And because Mary wanted to gawk at the scenery, I got to drive the twisty mountain roads...sometimes with a wee bit of speed reminiscent of our vacation last year across the little roads of Ireland.

In the next installment, I will talk about our visit to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville NC. In the mean time, keep it in the fairway...and don't forget your sunscreen!