This is Raven Cliff Falls in northwestern South Carolina. It requires a bit of effort to reach. Go north from Greenville on winding, twisting U.S. Route 276 past Caesar’s Head State Park. A few miles further on, there’s a parking area to the left of the road. From there, a hiking trail leads 2.2 miles to a wooden platform with the view shown in the photo.

It’s also possible to reach the falls themselves, but it’s a much longer and tougher hike. I’m not sure of this, but I think you take the trail as above, but go right instead of left at a T intersection in the trail. I’d advise getting a map first; you can probably find one on line.

I took this hike on a beautiful spring day in April 2009.

This isn’t something you would see bypassing Beckley on the West Virginia Turnpike. I came upon it while following the signs for US Route 19. I’d just had lunch, so I didn’t stop. The menu is displayed on an exterior wall, and employees come out to your car to take your order.

Drive-​ins were popular in the fifties and sixties, before the rise of fast food restaurants with their drive-​through lanes. Most drive-​ins were independent restaurants or local chains with only a few outlets.

Major tourist destinations often spin off secondary attractions, some of which are “tourist traps.” Natural Bridge, Virginia is famous. What isn’t famous are the various enterprises a few miles up US Route 11: a wax museum, a zoo, and Foamhenge.

It’s a replica of Stonehenge in England.. However, all of the formations shown are made of foam. I really can’t call it a tourist trap, though. It’s free. Not only that, but there was no one around when I stopped by this place two years ago. I didn’t even see an office. A few other tourists were walking around, but there was no one who might have been in charge of the place. It’s worth a look if you like really offbeat attractions.

This is a very obscure cemetery in Pearisburg, Virginia. (it is not the Pearis Cemetery; I’ve done a separate post on that). I’ve read somewhere that it contains the graves of African Americans, possibly former slaves, who settled there after the Civil War. It was a tiring hike up two steep roads. The flat area at the top was so overgrown that I could only find one grave.

Whoever built this cemetery went to a hell of a lot of trouble. The photo is the entrance to it, and the road in the foreground is Virginia Route 100, also called North Main Street in Pearisburg. Look at how that rock face is carved out. To reach the actual cemetery, one must walk up this road and turn right at the first junction.. I found it to be a very tiring climb.

Here are two views of another of Virginia’s “Waysides,” which once served motorists the way “rest areas” do now on the interstates. However, every one of the Waysides was unique. This one has recently been partially restored. It is on US Route 11 south of Pulaski, where the road goes over Draper Mountain.

Look at that stonework in the right photo. It looks like it could be some of the Civilian Conservation Corps’ work. The wayside is on both sides of the road; the left photo is looking toward the portion across the highway. Some of the facilities are still grown over with weeds, but Virginia has done a nice job of restoring this place.

Posted by Tom Hoffman at