Road Trip 2026, #3

I dilly dallied this morning, and then headed out to Dunkin! (Yay, Dunkin!) It just happened to be on US-11 as I was leaving Bristol. (I'm still not sure if I was in Tennessee or Virginia!) Leaving town, I saw the cabbages.

The route was scenic. This part is definitely in the hills. The terrain is no longer flat, and there are real mountains in the distance. (Note to self: Get some shots of the mountains.) Today had lots of agriculture: corn, cows/cattle, and soybeans or cotton. It's hard to tell from 55mph whether those plant are soybeans or cotton -- from a distance they look very much the same.

There continue to be lots of churches. Fewer Baptist churches, and more Lutheran with an occasional Catholic church. Also a good number of Church of Christ. They often appear near an intersection with a smattering of houses (6 - 10) and sometimes an open (and often a closed) gas station. Occasionally there is a closed general store, and even more rarely an open one (without gas pumps).

The first big town I went through was Abington. It is an incredibly cute town. It seems larger than what Wikipedia reports for its population (8,375). A nice downtown. Architecturally, it seems to have almost every style represented. There are early settlement buildings (hewn logs with daub between), classic wooden Colonial era buildings, solid brick homes and storefronts, and the more modern. (On reflection, I am not sure I can identify a 21st Century style, but all the others were present.) Lots of arts and crafts stores and Main Street (Lee Highway) seemed pretty active for a mid-week morning. But, that could be because it is summer!

I kept on US-11 all the way to Wytheville. Another cute downtown where I stopped for lunch.

Driving along had me thinking about the businesses I was seeing. (I think it was the Ashley Furniture on Main Street Wytheville that set off this chain.) There are national chains everywhere: CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Target. The first two often in the business district the other two more likely to be on the outskirts of town. There are churches (see above). There are the banks. Most of the banks are local or regional often with names like {ordinal number}{optional place name} [State/National] Bank {of place or region}. Which makes one of my favorite names Fifth Third Bank. While there seem to be regional grocery stores, they tend to be more regional. I know saw one Kroger, and have seen several Food Lion. Any other chains are not familiar enough for me to remember.

Driving on US-11 yesterday was not particularly quick, and after Wytheville, I decided to get back on the Interstate to make time to Luray Caverns. The universe had other ideas. There was an accident on the Interstate and Waze helpfully navigated me off. But, I think I put a lot more miles, and I know it felt much less direct. As a result ... no caverns. That will happen as the start to Day #4.