Off-Roading Off the Beaten Path Land Adventure

These days almost every soccer mom or dad you encounter is driving some type of SUV. Millions of these off-the-road vehicles are on America’s highways and the biggest workout they’ll ever get is driving the Girl Scouts to a sleep over.
Think of the fun you can actually have taking an SUV to a place where it was designed to be driven, like a 6500-acre wilderness area of great off road driving. Pop on the 4-wheel drive and blow through that mud puddle, navigate over huge fallen trees, and then go straight up a dirt incline steeper than any hill in San Francisco. And do all in the lap of luxury.

Get behind the wheel of the workhorse of the British Empire at The Land Rover Driving School in White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia. The Allegany Mountains serve as the perfect backdrop for this one to four-hour driving challenge on Kate’s Mountain Trail.

Before you get the keys to the brand new Land Rover you’ll have to take a short crash course, so to speak, that teaches you all the techniques you’ll need to survive in the wild. Once you learn the ropes, you’re off with an instructor and up to three guests to hit the miles of trails that are rated from novice to expert. The Land Rover Driving School rates start at $185 for one hour to $485 for four hours including the vehicle. The bad news is you have to give the Land Rover back when you’re done. The good news is you don’t have to wash it. For more information and reservations call The Greenbrier resort at 800-453-4858.

Sure, the Land Rover is fun and comfortable but you wouldn’t want to sleep in it. That’s where the Greenbrier in West Virginia comes in. This 221-year old 5-star resort is located only a few hours drive from Washington D.C. and word is this is the place where politicians come to eat, sleep, and hide when they have to.

The resort has 803 rooms ranging from individual guest rooms to luxury suites. They also offer guesthouses and elegant estate houses for those wanting even more privacy. Gourmet breakfast and dinner are included in the room rate.

They also have a dress code. Casual dress is fine during the day, but evening is reserved for coat and tie for men and dresses or suits for women. Black tie is optional and as we’ve seen, quite common.

Service at The Greenbrier is impeccable. Sixteen hundred staff members cater to the whim and wishes of up to 1500 guests. You do the math. Chances are your water glass will never hit empty. Neither will your wine bottle.

After your Land Rover Driving adventure (which can be booked through the resort), sooth those aching muscles in the healing powers ascribed to the waters of the White Sulpher Springs that flow under and through the multimillion dollars spa of the resort. Since 1778 guests have soaked and drank (it’s a natural laxative) the mineral water and “taken the cure”. And you thought only Pepto-Bismol works.

There are more than 50 activities available at the Greenbrier ranging from golf to fly-fishing and horseback riding. And while you’re visiting take a tour of the Greenbrier’s very own atomic bomb shelter, one of the last remnants of the cold war. Built in 1962, the bunker with its four 30-ton blast doors was a top-secret relocation site for the U.S. Congress in the event of nuclear war. Today the no-longer needed hideaway has been decommissioned and is open to the public. Congress will just have to find somewhere else to hide out.