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      07-09-2014, 08:10 AM   #1
363ny
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640iX Gran Coupe road trip to Virginia including Skyline Drive (with photos)

I recently drove the very beautiful Skyline Drive in Shenandoah Park and made stops in Winchester, Charlottesville and Chantilly Virginia and wanted to share my road trip along with some photos.

Day 1: Left New Jersey on a Friday morning and drove the 250 plus miles to Winchester Virginia primarily on I-78 and I-81. My first stop was the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley which displays the art, history and culture of the valley. The complex also includes the Glen Burnie House which sits on the land that the town of Winchester founder James Wood surveyed and settled in 1735. The oldest portions of the house were built by Wood’s son in the 1790s. After passing through generations of Wood and Glass families, the 254-acre property came to be owned by Wood descendant Julian Wood Glass Jr. Glass transformed the house into an opulent country retreat surrounded by six acres of formal gardens.



After Julian’s death and as a condition of his will, the house and gardens were opened to the public on a seasonal basis in 1997 and are an integral part of the Museum complex. Unfortunately the house was not open during my visit but the beautiful gardens were.



A Pleached Allée made from woven crab apple trees.



There was even a beautiful Chinese garden.






After leaving the museum I had a short drive into the Old Town section of Winchester where my residence for the evening, the George Washington Hotel was located. The hotel originally opened in 1924 and was named after the first US president, who was a surveyor in the Shenandoah Valley at the age of 16. Later in life, as the commander of the Virginia Regiment, Colonel Washington defended Virginia against the French in the French and Indian War from his headquarters that was within walking distance of the hotel. The hotel, in its current form, re-opened in 2008 after a significant renovation that retained many original architectural details.



Near the hotel is the Loudoun Street Pedestrian Mall which has quite a bit of history and older architecture.



Below is the Old Frederick County Courthouse. The first courthouse was constructed in 1751 and it is on this site back in July 1756, a 23 year old George Washington began his political career when he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgess. The current courthouse was built in 1840 and during the Civil War it was used by both the Confederate and Union troops as a holding facility and hospital.



The White House Country Store building dates back to 1783 when it was built by Peter Lauck, a member of Daniel Morgan’s Riflemen and was originally known as The Red Lion Tavern.



Just outside of the mall is the Handley Regional Library. The library was funded by coal baron, Judge John Handley of Scranton, Pennsylvania who was very fond of Winchester. Its new York based architects designed the building in Beaux-Arts style characterized by the extravagant use of materials and classical details. Begun in 1908 and completed in 1913, the library was a model for its time. The completed cost for the building and its furnishings was in excess of $225,000.





Day 2: Left Winchester and it was a short 30 minute drive to Front Royal, home to the northern entrance of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. Back in 1924, a search for a national park site in the east that would be accessible to the 40 million Americans living in eastern cities brought the South Appalachian Nation Park Committee to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. They recommended the site that is now known as Shenandoah National Park. The committee also suggested that the proposed park feature a “sky-line drive along the mountain top” a nod to the proliferation of the automobile. Shenandoah was authorized in 1926 and Virginia slowly acquired the land through eminent domain. Families and communities were required to vacate portions of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Many residents opposed losing their homes as most were farmers who worked the land for a living.



During the Great Depression, with so much of the nation's workforce idle, the Works Projects Administration was formed in an effort to help provide jobs as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Millions of the unemployed were put to work on public works projects. One of those projects was the creation of Skyline Drive which commenced in 1931. Work was difficult and dangerous as huge cuts were made into the sides of knolls and peaks to allow for a road wide enough to handle traffic. It took 8 years to complete the 105 mile long road. The Civilian Conservation Corps, another public employment program also worked on this project, grading slopes, building guardrails, planting trees and constructing the 70+ overlooks that line the roadway.

I will let the photos do the speaking about how beautiful the views are from Skyline Drive and they made for some great backdrops to photograph my car.




































My next stop was Charlottesville. Charlottesville is best known as the home to two U.S. Presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe and the University of Virginia which was conceived and designed by Jefferson. Charlottesville was formed in 1762 along a trade route called Three Notched Road (today known as U.S. Route 250) and was the selected site for the Albemarle County Courthouse, shown below.



Typical of many 19th-century American towns is its courthouse square, containing the courthouse and several brick offices set about a small public green. The square has been a focus of county activity from the time it was laid out in 1762, and it was not unusual in the early 19th century to see Jefferson conversing here with James Madison and James Monroe. Located in the front of the courthouse is a memorial statue dedicated to the confederate soldiers of Virginia who fought in the Civil War which dates back to 1909.



Just a few feet away in Jackson park next to the courthouse is large equestrian statue of General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson which dates back to 1929.



On June 4, 1781, John “Jack” Jouett Jr. arrived at the Albemarle County Courthouse to warn the Virginia legislature of approaching British troops. Jouett had spotted British troops 40 miles east and he rode through the night to reach the courthouse by dawn. Jouett’s historic ride allowed for Thomas Jefferson and all but seven legislators to escape and he was later recognized by the Virginia General Assembly for his heroic efforts.



Running through the center of Charlottesville, the Downtown Mall is a pedestrian mall lined with oak trees and brick buildings.





The mall runs a total of eight blocks and includes a number of restaurants, shops, offices and galleries.



Towards the east end of the mall is the very modern almost futuristic looking Charlottesville Downtown Transit Center which was completed in 2008. The building is Virginia’s first LEED Gold-certified municipal building and uses a combination of modern overhangs, wood trellises, and expansive glass walls mixed in with classic materials like red brick and copper.



Day 3: Left Charlottesville around 7:30 AM and it was about 100 miles to Chantilly, VA, home of the Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center which is the companion facility to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington DC. Udvar-Hazy is one of the biggest players in airplane leasing business and in 2011; Forbes ranked him as the world's 409th richest person. Udvar-Hazy’s US$66 million grant to the Smithsonian Institution allowed the U.S. National Air and Space Museum to build the Center and accordingly his named is placed on the front door.

Below is Space Shuttle Discovery which made its first flight on August 30, 1984 and completed its final flight landing on March 9, 2011. Discovery flew more than any other spacecraft, having completed 39 successful missions in over 27 years of service and was responsible for flying the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.






Immortalized in the 1986 movie “Top Gun” below is a Grumman F-14D(R) Tomcat. Tomcats were manufactured from 1966 to 1991 and remained in service through 2006.



Next is the Spirit of Tuskegee, a PT-13 Stearman. While I was initially attracted to the plane for its colorful livery, the real gem here is the story of the Tuskegee Airmen who were a group of African American military pilots who fought in World War II. Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no African American had been a U.S. military pilot. The Airmen faced discrimination and segregation but their struggle and perseverance were crucial in ending segregation in the US armed forces and the nation, and their contributions were central to the war effort in World War II. This Stearman was one of the actual planes used to train the Tuskegee Airmen.




Below is a Curtiss-Wright Helldiver. The Helldiver was used by the US Navy bombing squadrons during the latter part of World War II. However changes in technology made dive-bombing (delivering a bomb at a steep angle to increase accuracy) obsolete as the war progressed. The Helldiver was the last dive-bomber operated by the Navy and the last significant combat aircraft produced by Curtiss-Wright. This particular Helldiver was completed in May 1945, but the war ended a few months later and it never saw combat. It was stationed on the USS Lexington in the western Pacific from September through December 1945.



On December 7, 1941, a US Navy squadron consisting of ten Sikorsky JRS-1 seaplanes was on station in the Hawaiian Islands. Shortly after the Japanese attack that Sunday morning, the planes were launched in an effort to locate enemy submarines and ships near Oahu. Below is a surviving JRS-1 and it is currently located at the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Udvar-Hazy Center



First flown in late 1938, the Boeing 307 Stratoliner was the first airliner with a pressurized fuselage. It could carry 33 passengers in great comfort while cruising at 20,000 feet. This enabled the Stratoliner to fly above most bad weather, thereby providing a faster and smoother ride. Ten Stratoliners were built. The prototype was lost in an accident, but five were delivered to TWA and three were purchased by Pan American Airways. TWA owner Howard Hughes purchased a heavily modified version for his personal use.



Last is a Bücker Bü-133C Jungmeister chased by a De Havilland-Canada DHC-1A Chipmunk - Pennzoil Special. The Jungmeister dominated the aerobatic scene in Europe and the United States from the mid-1930s through the 1940s. The Chimpmunk was introduced in 1946 and this particular one was owned and modified by Art Scholl. Scholl was a member of the U.S. Aerobatic Team, an air racer, and a stunt pilot. At air shows, he often flew with his dog Aileron on his shoulder or taxied with him standing on the wing.





End of the trip: After leaving the Udvar-Hazy Center I headed back home. Total distance driven over the three days was just short of 900 miles. The 640iX ate up the miles and makes for a superb long distance cruiser. With the 6 series, BMW has delivered a fantastic mix of sport, luxury, technology and design.
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      07-10-2014, 03:31 PM   #2
DR1er
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Excellent roadtrip and report. Congrats on the car. I also took a long drive right after taking delivery at PCD, much shorter than yours though, on the Blue Ridge Parkway (NC). I love this car!

Enjoy your new ride!

Last edited by DR1er; 07-10-2014 at 10:12 PM..
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      07-10-2014, 10:08 PM   #3
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Thank you!

Great trip, awesome captions. Thank you for your time and nice writing over a wonderful experience, congratulations.
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      07-11-2014, 05:24 AM   #4
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Love this pic!
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