Front Royal, Virginia

We arrived in Front Royal about 5pm and started to hunt for a place to stay. We had those coupon books that you pick up at the Welcome Centers so at least we knew a price range. The cheapest was about $32and went up to $52. After stopping at three that didn’t have a coupon and they wanted about $50, we decided to try the cheapest one with the coupon which was the Front Royal Motel. It was a cute one level u-shaped motel and the desk clerk was extremely friendly. She was willing to honor the $32 coupon and showed up the room first. After deciding we liked the room, we checked in. Our room had a queen size bed, microwave, refrigerator, color TV with HBO, and free wireless internet. What more could I ask for and for only $32!

For dinner, the clerk suggested that we go to the Royal Oak Tavern which is right down the road from the motel. We had an excellent dinner for $23. I had eggplant parmesan with pasta and Don had a philly cheesesteak sandwich with fries plus our two sodas. We will probably stop here on the way home.

After dinner, since it was still early, we decided to drive down Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. It is so beautiful and different compared to the national parks out west. Our Toyota Prius is so soundless that we actually drove up on twelve deer who didn’t even hear us. In fact, one deer was in the middle of the street licking the road when our car pulled up right beside it. If Don had rolled down his window, he could have touched it. Driving slowly, we got past the deer but we were afraid it would spook and jump on the car so we held our breath until we got past. I think the animals don’t know what to think about us since our car doesn’t make any noise.

It was a wonderful day for traveling and tomorrow we head towards Arlington, VA and Washington DC.

Photo credit: Shenandoah National Park by heartonastick