Customer Reviews

Scenic Driving Virginia

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bruce Sloane has produced a handy, detailed, and helpful guidebook that should be in the glovebox of every Virginia motorist who likes to explore the beauty and history of this state. The directions are clear, the research is solid, and the choices of itineraries are interesting and imaginative. This is a perfect book for weekend meandering and sightseeing in one of the most scenic and historically rich states of the USA. As a bookseller (I have a bookshop in rural Virginia) I know that this book sells itself when customers look it over. Since it was published in August, it has quickly become a best seller in our shop. If you live in Virginia, or plan to visit there, Don't Leave Home Without It.

The book has many beautiful photos & maps, and contains an abundance of historical, statistical and general information increasing its overall value. As a new resident of Virginia and one who loves to explore I strongly suggest this book because the directions are very easy to follow, it is packed full of very helpful and insightful information and it contains a large variety of places to visit and activities to do.

On the front of this book it clearly states 'With Color Photographs by Jeff Greenburg'. Don't be misled. ALL the photos in the book are black and white and of poor quality.
Very disappointed.

I live in New Zealand and was going to be visiting Virginia in October. I ordered this book through Amazon and it arrived in NZ long before I left for my trip to the USA. I found the book very useful to sort out the places I would like to go to, how to get there and the sort of things I was likely to see while I was there. The reason I have only given 4 stars, is that the back cover states that there is an 8 page colour section of pictures in the book, and my book had none. I was very disappointed as they would have been a lovely record of my holiday.

I like what author Sloan likes. Maybe that's an odd way to put it, but the kind of things that are interesting to him are also interesting to me. I've lived in Virginia on and off for 19 years since 1977 and wish I'd found this book earlier.

But not a 5-star review:

(1) The repro for the photos is pretty grim. And it would help if whoever set up the shots for the book knew how to keep the photos "level".

(2) This is a guidebook. The next time it gets updated and/or printed, do us a favor -- print the directions in bold face. Directions are distributed through the narrative paragraphs in the same type face and it is difficult to "pull" them out of the text. I was trying to pre-mark a map and the task was more difficult than it needed to be. And if your navigator is using the book as you drive along, it is going to be just as difficult for him/her.