A couple of friends and I will be driving from Jacksonville, FL to Baltimore for the National Hombrew Conference in Baltimore (I refuse to call it "homebrewcon"). Due to work, etc., we will be leaving JAX around noon on June 7, and will stay on the road that night before finishing the trip to Baltimore on Wednesday. We want to stay somewhere with an interesting/decent local or craft beer scene. Options should be between Rocky Mount, NC as a southern limit, and Richmond, VA at the northern end. Should not be too far off I-95. Help us out!
Divert yoursleves to Asheville, NC. It will add a couple hours to your trip. you could be there by 7 and the best mosaic of microbreweries on the East Coast is there. Baltimore is about 8 hours from there. All interstate-take 81, avoid 95. It will save you time avoiding DC too.
Richmond. There is nothing in Rocky Mount. You could go a little out your way through the Raleigh Durham area and you would have plenty of places worth visiting. If you were thinking one brewery, Double Barley right off 95 in Smithfield is worth a look.
Richmond is 100 miles or so past Rocky Mount. There are maybe 2 breweries nearby to Rocky Mount, Duck Rabbit and I think there's a new one. Richmond on the other hand has a thriving beer scene.
JAX to RVA is abt 9+ hours...plan accordingly...don't detour to Asheville...way outta yr way...leave earlier and get beer and dinner at Mekong....
I say Richmond too. You can always divert to 301 just north off town instead of going 95. I'd actually go that route anyway. Takes NoVa/D.C. traffic out of the equation. Might add 20 minutes to the trip, but I prefer it when going to MD.
