ROAD TRIP
T
his month’s Road Trip was a first….we invited guests to join us for a two night stay at The Summit Lodge at Riverbend Farm in Bentonville, Virginia. The Todhunter’s and the Condon’s were the perfect pals to extend the invitation to. Lots of good eats, drinks and laughs! Bentonville is halfway between Luray and Front Royal along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. The Lodge is a magnificent five-story escape nestled on 64-acres along a bend in the river. There is more to this property than a getaway, it was formerly the home of Tom and Bettina, a couple who started out in the cabin up the hill where their love story began and the concept for the Lodge was born. As I write about our adventure I will write some excerpts from a book we found at the property called The River Oak Suite by Tom and Bettina’s friend, Tony Baker. The excerpts will tell the story from the beginning. “For years and years, in the minds of those who were privileged to visit there, River Oak was the small hunting cabin, which sits high on a hill above a wide turn in the Shenandoah and the lovely river meadow that runs alongside it. But always the plan had been to build a big fine house, just down the hill from the cabin. In May 2010, we few friends met at River Oak to celebrate the opening of this new house. On the river side of the 26 | September 2021
View from the Top
BOB TAGERT
house rises a fifth-story enclosed tower, which Tom and Bettina dubbed the Skybox. It would be, for the short time left him, the place where Tom would take Bettina and the dogs of an evening to drink wine, watch families of deer emerge from the trees to play beside the river at sundown, and celebrate married love.” There are some fun back roads to Bentonville - through Warrenton, by Sperryville, over the mountain toward Luray and then take 340 north, however, we chose Route 66 because it was early and traffic was still light. We also stopped in Marshall and had lunch at the Old Salem Café. This downhome café is an icon in Marshall and has been around forever. This is country food at its finest and lots of it. If you are out that way make a point to stop in. After about an hour on Route 66 we picked up Route 340 south toward Bentonville taking a right onto Rt. 621 and followed it across the Shenandoah. It seems like you are in the middle of nowhere but eventually we drove up the hill, past the cabin and into the driveway of the Lodge. With wrap-around porches this structure is immense – 5 bedroom with baths and many inviting spaces to just chill. As you walk into the great room you notice the glass paned wall with a huge stone fireplace centered in the middle. ROAD TRIP > PAGE 26
The Book
Back Bar at Old Salem Old Town Crier
