For the holidays last month, we were planning to go to Memphis for my in-laws 50th anniversary, and then stay down there through Christmas. Upon our return to Chicago, we scored super cheap tickets to Tokyo over New Years and had a weeklong trip planned around Japan. Of course, COVID had other plans for us. Japan had just started slowly opening back up when the omicron variant hit and they slammed the door shut again. I had half-joked that we should go to Pittsburgh instead but we wanted to do something BIG. We looked around for a week or two and couldn’t find any reasonably priced flights. We had accidentally started a National Park trend earlier in the year, so I took a look at what was drivable. I found ones in Kentucky, Virginia, and Ohio that seemed doable in a week. I pitched the idea to Jaime and she was onboard — only then did I tell her that Pittsburgh was between the Virginia and Ohio parks and that we’d be spending New Years there! Jaime had the great idea to start from Memphis instead of coming back to Chicago first, which saved us a full day of driving.
Memphis
We started the adventure after work on a Friday, made it about half way to Memphis, and spent the night in Marion, IL. The next morning we got up and continued onto Memphis. Jaime and her sister Emily planned and carried out a great 50th anniversary get together at a nice restaurant with all of their parents friends. The event went off without a hitch! The only snag was that the restaurant had a high minimum cost, so after taking the girls back to the in-laws house for bedtime, I had to return and drink with a few party stragglers and staff until we hit the right amount. We then went to a local dive bar to cap off the night.
Hot Springs
Since Christmas was a full week away from the party, we added detour over to Arkansas for a few days to check Hot Springs National Park off the list. We stopped at a great restaurant called Big Orange in Little Rock on the way out to Hot Springs (the city). We checked in and quickly headed over to an observatory tower in the park but it was too late to make it to the top, so instead we drove to a nearby trailhead and hiked the Goat Rock Trail. Back in town, we ate yummy pizza at SQZBX for dinner before heading back to the hotel.
For our first full day in Hot Springs, we started with coffee at Red Light Roastery and then parked on the main drag called Bathhouse Row, where there are a series of old bathhouses that people used to flock there for, including famous baseball players and gangsters. Only two of them are still operating as bathrooms, though in a more limited and educational capacity. One of them has been converted into the official visitor center, so we started there and took a self-guided walking tour. The National Park and city are across the street from each other, and being Arkansas, that meant mask-free retail and restaurants on one side, and strict masks required in the federal park. One of the working bathhouses called Quapaw Baths contains hot communal pools and individual private baths. Jaime wanted to do a private bath and was able to get in without an appointment, so the girls and I went off to see the town for an hour or so. We started at a locally-famous Arlington Hotel which had a large gingerbread house, a letter to Santa station where the girls left messages, and a small museum dedicated to the area. Next up, we walked down the main street and did three different 4D experiences at two places near each other. We walked around a bit more, got some popcorn, and then met Jaime at a bathhouse that’s been converted into a brewery! It’s called Superior Bathhouse Brewery, and they had tasty lunch options in addition to the beer flights we had. The beer is made from the hot springs water too which made it an extra unique experience. Behind the row of bathhouses, there’s an older brick path called Grand Promenade that people used to and from the bathhouses. There are still active Hot Springs in the hillside, mostly covered up, but one larger steaming stream remained. Jaime dipped her toes in but it was way too hot to be relaxing. We then returned to the Observatory Tower to take in the views of the town and surrounding hills. From there, we hiked the Hot Springs Mountain Trail up and down and around the mountain with the tower. We had some time to kill before dinner, and found a very unique building called Anthony Chapel about 25 minutes away that we had to check out. It seems to be primarily an event / wedding space today. The building is striking and beautiful with lots of sharp angles and glass. On the way back, we stopped at a waterfront restaurant called Bubba Brews for a great dinner.
Most of the next day was spent about 1.5 hours away at Crater of Diamonds State Park. Jaime had read about it and it was a must-see for us. It was a very unique experience that we were woefully unprepared for. Everyone else had rain boots, thick gloves, and a predefined strategy. We rented the digging equipment and walked slowly through the muddy fields in our gym shoes, did lots of digging, and froze our hands while sifting. Unfortunately we didn’t find any diamonds, but we did find a fair amount of other interesting stones and crystals to make it a worthwhile trip! There were no restaurants anywhere around there, so we headed back into Hot Springs for another pizza night at Grateful Head Pizza Oven & Beer Garden. There was a bit of a wait, so we went back to get more popcorn for the rest of the trip at Ginger’s popcorn while we waited for a table. The pizza and beer were both great. We ended the day getting dessert down the street at Kringles and Kones, which I’m assuming is Christmas-themed year-round.
The next morning, we had breakfast at The Pancake Shop before both trying out the other operating bathhouse. Since the girls were too young, I had made back-to-back appointments the day before at Buckstaff Baths. I went first, and it was quite the experience. There are optional bells and whistles you can add on, and a couple things I believe were supposed to be part of my experience but were skipped for whatever reason. It boiled down (pun intended) to three activities. First, the bath itself for roughly 20 minutes, then sitting in a steam box for 15 or so minutes, and finally resting on a table with hot towels over designated areas. Did I mention that you’re naked and an attendant is escorting you and checking in on you the whole time?! It was definitely an interesting and memorable experience! I wrapped up a little early to meet Jaime and take the girls. While Jaime did her bathhouse experience, I went and filled up three gallon jugs and a large water bottle directly from one of the nearby hot springs fountains. The water was so hot I had to take breaks every 50 feet or so to let my hands cool down. Jaime finished up and we headed out of town. Back through Little Rock, we stopped at a geological society where Jaime’s late uncle had donated a large crystal collection upon his passing. It was a great stop and the society were very welcoming and seemed to enjoy getting visitors. They gave the girls some coloring books and samples of rocks from Arkansas. For lunch, we went to the hip Heights neighborhood and ate at Taco & Tamale Co. On the way out of town we drove by the Clinton Presidential Library and continued on our way.
Memphis
We got back to Memphis a few days before Christmas. We had a lot of great family time, and of course had our favorite Gus’s Fried Chicken one evening for dinner. On Christmas Eve, we let the kids open a single gift, which is a family tradition of mine. I hand-selected the gifts though — old Batman action figures from when I was 11 that were still new in package. I have no idea why I decided to keep them in the package at age 11 and why I’ve held on to them for 30 years, but the torch has officially been passed! For dinner, we went out to a nice restaurant called Firebirds. Christmas Day was a successful itself. We traded lots of presents and had a great homemade dinner.
Mammoth Cave National Park
After Christmas, we began the longer part of the road trip, heading towards Kentucky via Nashville. We originally had planned to spend the night in Nashville but found that tickets to Mammoth Cave National Park were already sold out, so we decided to stay at The Lodge in the park itself and try to get same-day tickets first thing the next morning. They must have released additional tickets because we were able to make a reservation several weeks later, but we opted to leave our accommodation change as-is. Since we were driving through Nashville anyway, we decided to stop for lunch. I picked a random highly-rated place on the South Side which turned out to be a little too sketchy for us (the neighborhood, not the restaurant), so we tried again in Midtown and landed at The Stillery for a hearty meal. We then drove through downtown Nashville and it was PACKED with people, so we were kind of glad we didn’t stay the night. Continuing on to Kentucky, we checked into The Lodge and went on an early evening nearby hike to Sunset Point, where we saw, you guessed it, the sun set. It was a gorgeous one too! After the hike, we went to the closet town called Cave City for dinner at a Mexican restaurant called El Mazatlan #4.
The next morning, we went back to Cave City for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We were ahead of schedule so we stopped at Big Mike’s Rock Shop to kill some time and buy some souvenirs before our tour. At the park itself, there were lots of different tours leaving from different places at various times. Our tickets were for the longest tour called Domes and Dripstones, which started with a bus ride, then a long and narrow pathway down into the cave where we walked about 3/4 of a mile underground. It was mostly natural tunnels without much to see until the most popular spot at the end called Frozen Niagara. Not sure we’d recommend the longer tour but there are lots of shorter tours we could do next time.
Charleston, WV
Once we wrapped up at Mammoth Cave, we started the long trek to Charleston, WV. We needed a stop between Kentucky and Virginia and it’s the state capital so we thought it seemed like the best option. There wasn’t much to see in the city itself, but we had a nice Japanese dinner at Fujiyama before heading to the hotel.
After a good night’s sleep, we ventured into the small downtown area to eat breakfast at a popular local restaurant called Swiftwater Cafe before continuing on our way.
New River Gorge National Park
While driving to Virginia, we saw a sign that said New River Gorge National Park was coming up. We had never heard of this park before and it certainly wasn’t on any of the National Park maps we used for planning this trip. We quickly searched online and found that it’s actually the newest National Park! It’s a long stretch of a park and the highway cuts right across it, so it was a quick stop. The visitors center was closed (as were many others this time of year), so we headed to the nearest trailhead. We took a quick hike to a nice viewpoint of the main river, took in nature for a new minutes, and then got back on the highway.
Shenandoah National Park
Our next destination was Shenandoah National Park, which is popular for a few reasons: its proximity to Washington DC, the 100 mile scenic road through the entire park called Skyline Drive, and that the Appalachian Trail cuts through it. The full Skyline Drive route can take 3-4 hours, so we focused on the more popular middle section. The road is full of scenic overlooks, and we stopped at several of them along the way. We also stopped and “hiked” the Appalachian Trail for a couple hundred yards at one of the stops. The girls now want to go on a several day hiking trip, ideally this summer! The main stop we did in Shenandoah was a hike to Dark Hollows Falls, a 70-foot waterfall. It was a great way to break up the day and while a little steep in parts, it was a great trail.
Washington DC
Arriving in DC, I had spoken highly of my favorite pizza place there called 2 Amys. We went there and unfortunately there was a closed sign on the door with a note that they hoped to open in a couple days. We were still in the mood for pizza, so we found a backup and had a nice dinner at Pizzeria Paradiso across town. Afterwards, we went to our hotel and discovered it was next to NASA, which the girls got a kick out of.
The next day was our full day to be tourists. We started with an amazing breakfast at Ted’s Bulletin (one specialty to try is their homemade pop tarts). We then went to most of the major memorials, starting at the Jefferson Memorial. Just around the bend from there we did the Roosevelt Memorial and the more recent MLK Jr Memorial back to back. Driving across the Mall and parking on the north side, we then walked through the Vietnam War Memorial, over to the Lincoln Memorial, and down the other side through the WWII Memorial. On the way back to the car, we stopped at a small island in a lake where there was a memorial we were unaware of — the Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence. It was a neat surprise. Back in the car, we drove north east to DC’s Chinatown where we ordered boba tea from the popular Sharetea and ate some quick appetizers at nearby Full Kee Restaurant while waiting for our drinks to be made. That pretty much wrapped up our day in DC — we had a lot more we wanted to do but they were closed this time of year, so we’re planning to come back for a longer time soon. For dinner, we went to Chadwicks in historic Alexandria and met an old friend of Jaime’s from college.
For breakfast, we headed back to the same area as the day before and this time had some great bagels at a place called Call Your Mother Jewish deli and then got on the road towards Pittsburgh.
Flight 93 National Memorial
Another highway surprise, I saw a small billboard that advertised the Flight 93 National Memorial. We had no idea we were passing by Shanksville, PA on this trip. A quick Googling found that it was a 30 minute detour but since we had no idea the next time we’d be in the area, we decided it was definitely worth the added time. Most of that added time was weaving through local roads to get to the memorial, which is in the middle of nowhere. When you first arrive, there is a large Tower of Voices full of wind chimes representing the victims and the road continues for a couple miles to the larger memorial itself. It was extremely well done. It’s a solemn place. There is a sidewalk that follows the flight path with a timeline. A museum of the day’s events juts out to one side, and the sidewalk ends where the flight went down. You can gaze over the debris field and see a boulder where the flight ended. There’s another road that leads down into the field where you can see a wall of names, though we ran short on time and didn’t make it down there. It was still a very worthy stop and we’re glad we did it.
Pittsburgh
I’ve been to Pittsburgh before a few years ago and spent most of my time in the South Hills area, so this time I wanted to explore the north side a bit. Friends had recommended checking out the Millvale and Sharpsburg neighborhoods, specifically naming the Grist House Brewery in Millvale, so we started there for a couple pints. We planned to have dinner in Millvale too but the couple places we checked were closed for the holidays, so we looked for restaurants in Sharpsburg. We landed on an Italian restaurant called CC’s Cafe, partially for the ratings and partially because that’s the nickname our girls gave to my sister. It looks like a sleepy almost dive bar from the outside, but inside it was very nice and full of well-dressed people. They nearly didn’t let us dine there as they had recently switched to reservations only (unbeknownst to us of course). We’re glad they made space though as the dinner was among the best on the trip! After dinner we went to another brewery nearby called Hitchhiker Brewing Co for a drink. They had some unique styles which we enjoyed before heading over to the Renaissance Hotel downtown. My favorite pizza place from my last visit, Fiori’s Pizzaria, was carryout only at this time, so I decided to sneak out around the girls’ bedtime to get a small pizza to reminisce. It was as good as I remembered it!
Our full day in Pittsburgh was New Years Eve. We started the day riding a funicular built in 1877 and called Duquesne Incline. The girls really enjoyed the ride and we all enjoyed the sweeping views of Pittsburgh from the top of Mt. Washington. We spent the rest of the morning and into the afternoon at the popular Strip District. It’s an area about a mile long full of restaurants and shops, and most of them spill onto the sidewalks. We stocked up on popcorn from Pittsburgh Popcorn (not that we needed it, we still had plenty of popcorn from Hot Springs!), strolled around, and stopped for lunch at a local favorite called Primanti Bros. After lunch we stopped at Helltown Brewing on the main drag, bought some souvenirs, and had custom poems written for the girls from a street author. Leaving the Strip District, we decided to check out a few more breweries. The first one was The Church Brew Works inside an old church and the brewing process is on full display at the altar, then another pint at Trace Brewing, and lastly we stopped at Roundabout Brewery to pick up some cans to try later. We had a nice dinner at Revel downtown. I’m very glad we made reservations and stayed downtown. It was a busy day downtown and most roads were being shut down for their NYE festivities which they call First Night. After dinner we wandered around downtown and throughout the Fight Night activities / events. There was a large tree made out of screens so it was changing into different patterns based on the music playing. There was a family area where the girls could do various activities and win prizes. We called it a night around 8pm and went back to the hotel. Once the girls passed out around 9pm (after a fake countdown on TV), I went back out to see more of First Night. There was a massive bunny art installation and some good live music. I went back to the hotel room just before midnight. Jaime woke up and we watched the Pittsburgh ball rise (it goes up rather than down) and the fireworks show from the hotel window.
New Years Day morning, we had made another reservation expecting it to be busy but I think most people were still sleeping at our 8:30am time slot. The Commoner was nearly empty at that time but we still enjoyed a good breakfast before leaving Pittsburgh.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Our final destination of the trip was Cuyahoga Valley National Park just outside of Cleveland. We originally planned to spend a day in Cleveland but after being away for so long, we decided to just power through and get home on a Saturday so we’d have Sunday to relax and catch up on things. There are several different visitor centers in the park, and we opted to stop at the Boston Mill Visitor Center. Like other parks though, it was closed. There’s a well-known scenic train that goes through the whole park, but that was also closed for the season. We did take in the views of the river and old buildings around the visitor center before seeking out another activity. We found Everett Road Covered Bridge, built in the late 1800s. It was a short, flat hike to get there from the parking lot, and fun to think about the area from back in those days.
Well that’s it! Not as adventurous as Japan would have been but we still had a great time as a family and enjoyed everywhere we went. Let’s see if we can get out of the country in 2022 or else you’ll be hearing about more National Parks….