RVA Traveler (March 2018)

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ADVENTURE AWAITS AROUND THE BEND Drive, fly or float your way to fun in Virginia and beyond

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GET YOUR VIRGINIA BEACH ON!

VisitVirginiaBeach.com

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COME AND ENJOY

WINE & CIDER TASTINGS AND SAMPLE OUR MENU ITEMS TASTING ROOM HOURS WED-FRI | NOON - 8 P.M. SAT & SUN | 11 A.M. - 6 P.M.

HAPPY HOUR every Thursday 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

ASHTON CREEK VINEYARD | 14501 JEFFERSON DAVIS HWY CHESTER, VA www.ashtoncreekvineyards.com 804-896-1586

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Come experience the New Portsmouth ~ for the History, or just for the Fun of it.

Come stroll the walkway along our waterfront. Wend your way to our lightship and naval shipyard museums. Continue wandering and you’ll discover our huge Children’s Museum and our famous tree-lined streets shading homes more than 250 years old. Close by, too, are the most intriguing of shops and a truly sumptuous selection of chef-owned restaurants. All within one very walkable square mile.

For more details and information call 757.393.5111 | VisitPortsVa.com

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Published by

PRESIDENT / PUBLISHER Richard Malkman

FROM THE EDITOR

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Susan Winiecki CREATIVE DIRECTOR Justin Vaughan RVA TRAVELER EDITOR Tharon Giddens COPY EDITOR Jack Norton CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Chad Anderson, Stephanie Breijo, Bird Cox, Catherine Cribbs, Anne Dreyfuss, Maureen Egan, Bethany Emerson, Tina Eshleman, Rich Griset, Alexis Holcombe, Taylor Horvath, Erica Jackson Curran, Paul Karns, Robey Martin, Sarah McDonald, Jessica Ronky Hadad, Genevelyn Steele, Martha Steger, Joan Tupponce, Susan Winiecki, Ashley Wright PRINT ART DIRECTOR Sarah Barton GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Anna Thompson Lauren Baldwin

Tharon Giddens

THE WORLD AWAITS

T

here’s a place known as Granny’s below Comer’s Rock in the mountains of Grayson County where it always seems like it’s 1929. That’s the year this cabin on a hill was built, and whenever you pull up to this vacation rental property on 23 secluded acres, its old-fashioned-looking radio is set to a local station

that specializes in bluegrass and classic country tunes.

This is home base for one of my favorite Virginia getaways, a place to sit out on the

front porch’s rocking chairs and watch the cows staring back at you from the mountain pasture across the way. There are hiking paths and a mountain lake in the nearby national forest; a drive-up waterfall and antiquing and thrift stores to explore in the county seat, Independence; live music venues and exceptional barbecue in Galax; and a pretty portion of the New River Trail State Park that’s easily accessible in Fries for a leisurely walk or bike ride.

It’s an unexpected pleasure that’s just a 4 1/2-hour drive from RVA. It’s also a trip that

PRODUCTION ARTIST Rachel Lee

exemplifies one of the delights of living here: Richmond is truly in the center of things

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS John Henley

plus world-class cities all within a five-hour drive or accessible via a nonstop flight from

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Martha Hebert, Kelly McCauley PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGER Scott Bunce CIRCULATION AND EVENT DIRECTOR Catherine Wolfe CIRCULATION ASSISTANT & OFFICE COORDINATOR Kathy Emerson VICE PRESIDENT/CONTROLLER Elisa Malkman BOOKKEEPER Ellen Tishman

when it comes to traveling for fun, with mountains, beaches, vineyards and breweries, Richmond International Airport.

And that’s where RVA Traveler comes in. This is your guide to some outstanding destinations well worth a weekend or a longer sojourn. It’s a compilation of some of our favorite recent travel coverage, updated to reflect any changes or new additions worth exploring.

Inside, you’ll find day-trip excursions, destinations for longer weekend trips and some more far-flung locales that are a short flight away from RIC. Whatever kind of traveler you are, whether you’re a fussy foodie with a penchant for pampering, a parent seeking some family-friendly destinations, or a solo explorers with a love of hiking and biking, we’ve got you covered.

Table of Contents 4 / COASTAL CRUISING

EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING OFFICES: 2201 W. Broad St., Suite 105 Richmond, Virginia 23220 TELEPHONE: 804-355-0111 MAIN FAX: 804-355-5442 EDITORIAL AND ART FAX: 804-355-8939 E-MAIL: editor@richmag.com Richmond Magazine’s RVA Traveler, published annually, and Richmond magazine, published monthly, are products of Target Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part of any text, photograph or illustration without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.

39TH YEAR

44 / DAY TRIPPING

Six beachy destinations, from the Eastern Shore to the Outer Banks

Fun family destinations, and some sites where you can bring the dog, too.

14 / HIGHLAND DRIVES

54 / TAKING FLIGHT

Places to hike, bike, or simply rest and enjoy the view

Jet away to these six weekend getaways

24 / THE COUNTRY SIDE OF LIFE

An A-to-Z guide for roadside attractions and oddities

Rural retreats, from a horse resort in South Boston to wineries in Rappahannock County

34 / THE CAPITAL STEPPES Wine, dine and take in some history, too, around Washington and its environs.

64 / VIRGINIA ROADWAYS

ON THE COVER: Afloat on the James River near Scottsville. The James is the historic heart of the commonwealth and a focal point for leisure and fun. Photo by John Henley.

TARGET

COMMUNICATIONS INC.

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FAMILY

ADVENTURE

DINING

SHOPPING THE ARTS

HISTORY

SEASIDE FUN FROM THE EASTERN SHORE TO THE CAROLINAS 6/ VIRGINIA BEACH 7/ VIRGINIA OYSTER TRAIL 8/ PORTSMOUTH 9/ EASTERN SHORE 10/ CAROLINA BEACH 11/ OUTER BANKS Photo courtesy Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau

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COASTAL CRUISING

Virginia Beach has more than 100 miles of bikeways and trails.

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OH, THE CREATURES YOU WILL EAT

Neptune’s Spring Wine + Food Festival

Seafood in Virginia Beach / By Bird Cox

Superb seafood abounds along Virginia’s coast, but some of the very best preparations hail from Virginia Beach. It’s a liquid crossroads, with the Chesapeake Bay spilling into the Atlantic Ocean at its northwest corner. A huge range of freshwater and saltwater creatures call it home, until they travel back to Richmond in either my cooler or my belly.

Under the Bridge

Inlet and Eastern Shore style cakes, at Blue Seafood &

You can roll up to the Dockside (docksideva.

Spirits (blueseafoodandspirits.com).

com), a restaurant and seafood market, in with perfectly steamed shrimp, fresh Eastern

Those less inclined to the sea diet have plenty to enjoy

Shore oysters, buttery Bay crabs and clams

in Virginia Beach, too. You’ll find lunch classics at Taste Unlimited (multiple locations, including Richmond, taste.

casino, then grab some fresh porgy fillets or

online.com), fantastic Chinese at two Peter Chang locations

any of the umpteen types of fish that they sell at the market, to prepare for dinner. Bonus 1: They have a shockingly long wine list. Bonus 2: There’s a sparkling blue, seagull-dotted view across which

Broiled seafood medley at Blue Seafood

(sister restaurants to the locations in Short Pump and Scott’s Addition), and quirky delicacies such as mushroom and triple cream brie pizza at Eat: An American Bistro (eatbistro.net).

the Lesner Bridge stretches its legs.

Under the Volcano

Under the Sea

If the words “Indonesian volcanic island” pique

Indulge your taste buds and get an introduction

your interest, visit the Virginia Aquarium & Ma-

to some of Virginia Beach’s finest bistros at the

rine Science Center (virginiaaquarium.com),

Spring Wine + Food Festival (neptunefestival.

which also features a Chesapeake Bay Touch

com), May 12 at Neptune’s Park, 31st Street at

Pool and an adventure park with a zip line that

Atlantic Avenue. The 15th annual festival features

runs above Owl Creek.

70 wines and food from several local restaurants,

Stay

including Catch 31 (catch31.com) and Salacia (salaciavb.com). Wines are from nine counties and include Virginia wines from Byrd Cellars (byrdcellars.com) in Goochland and Norfolk’s Mermaid Winery (mermaidwinery.com).

Other seaworthy highlights include Pasta e Pani’s (pastaepanionline.com) brilliant, garlicky spaghettini Positano with clams, calamari and shrimp (for extra luxury, beg them to serve it over their house-made linguini).

You also want to indulge in the Signature Broiled Lump Crab Cakes, a fusion of Rudee

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IN THE KNOW If the beach isn’t your typical destination in winter, consider making an exception; it’s the best time of the year to enjoy certain sea creatures like oysters, which usually spawn in the summer, and lobsters, whose shells get too soft in warmer waters.

Barclay Cottage Bed & Breakfast (barclay cottage.com) offers some spectacular amenities: bicycles, beach gear, homemade cookies and a nip of sherry in the evening. Located just a couple of blocks from the surf, Barclay’s the best bet for your summer home away from home.

Beach Spa Bed & Breakfast (beachspabnb. com) combines the cozy charm of a beachy B&B with the luxury of a day spa, and it offers facials and hot stone massages, hydro body massage elements, rainfall showers, and jetted tubs.

Clockwise from top: Virginia Beach Neptune Festival; Cameron Davidson/Virginia Tourism Corp.; Courtesy Blue Seafood & Spirits

Beyond the Sea

flip-flops and yesterday’s shirt and fill a table

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OYSTERS ON THE HALF TRAIL

of oyster stew, no matter the weather. It is Barnett’s mother’s recipe, simple and savory, fully showcasing the Eastern oyster’s delicate saltiness.

A Taste of Gloucester

Make the western portion of Virginia’s Oyster Trail a weekend excursion / By Robey Martin

In Gloucester, stop to see Daniel and Bruce Vogt at Big Island Aquaculture (bigislandaquaculture.com), and take a walk around the farm. The Vogts use floating cages to grow their triploid (non-spawning, year-round) oysters, resulting in topraised bivalves that are both creamy and salty.

Similar to wine or coffee, a multitude of environmental factors can influence the taste of an oyster, from water salinity to the sediment it filters. You can discover eight distinct varieties along Virginia’s Oyster Trail (540-886-1684, virginiaoystertrail.com). Start with an easy weekend excursion around Irvington and Gloucester on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay.

Swing by Yolanda’s On Main (yolandasonmain.com), a family-owned clothing and jewelry shop, to talk jewelry with

cialty Market (kelsickmarket.com), another family-owned establishment. Take in their wine tasting on Fridays or sample the impressive beer collection and learn what to

rooms at The Inn at Warner Hall (warner

Glory Inn (hopeandglory.com). The converted

hall.com), which was established in the

schoolhouse has six rooms and six detached

1600s. Complimentary breakfasts include

cottages. Have Meseret Crockett, the inn’s ever-

Irish Cream liqueurs, or enjoy her food at Dining Hall,

through the small town and visit Kelsick Spe-

End your evening in one of the guest

While in Irvington, check out the Hope and

laxing combination of Amaretto, Kahlua and Bailey’s

Michael Stars shirt. When peckish again, stroll

pair with your next oyster session.

Muddying the Water

present manager and executive chef, stir up a re-

Yolanda herself, buy a Bed Stu belt or pick up a new

a choice of two entrees, served in the dining Kelsick Specialty Market Manager Megan Brockman

room or on the river porch. The bed-and-breakfast also has a complimentary wine and cheese social hour, beginning at 4:30 p.m. each day.

the inn’s boat-to-table restaurant ($72 per person prix fixe, reservations required).

Top: Kelsick Specialty Market; Bottom: Courtesy Rappahannock Oyster Co. /TylerDarden

A Taste of Topping If educational excursions (with delicious food, of course) delight you, head to Topping and take a tour of the working oyster farm at Rappahannock Oyster Co. (rroysters.com).

Eat at their award-winning restaurant, Merroir, which was once a fishing and bait shack. Rappahannock features different oysters at Merroir, including a briny Old Salt from their farm in Chincoteague, Sting Ray oysters presenting with hints of butter, and their namesake oyster, a gateway oyster, if you will, sweet and fat.

Oysters at White Stone While in White Stone, savor the view from William Barnett’s Willaby’s Cafe, (willabys.com). Sit outside and enjoy their oysters, which are from W.E. Kellum Seafood (kellumseafood. com), an oyster shucking house that

Virginia’s water culture is celebrated on the Oyster Trail

started in 1948. Treat yourself to a cup RVA T R AV E L E R 2 0 1 8

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A TOURISM GEM Portsmouth a charming getaway in any season / By Martha Steger

followed the train tracks around the make-believe depot platform to the Lancaster Antique Train and Toy Collection: 814 trains in glass cases and eight mainlines working in the layout on 610

With Portsmouth’s lights shimmering on the Elizabeth River on a December day, my husband, Tom, and I wondered how we had overlooked this city across from Norfolk on the world’s largest and deepest natural harbor. It’s a historic city, with the largest collection of period homes between Alexandria and Charleston, South Carolina.

Virginia Sports Hall of Fame

square feet of track.

Artsy Winter Wonderland Two blocks west at 400 High St. is the Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center (portsmouthartcenter.com), housed in the city’s 1846 courthouse. It showcases the work of local, national and international artists throughout the year. Special activities are offered first Fridays from March through October.

The museum is decked out for the holidays from Thanksgiving weekend through New Year’s Eve. When nearby Coleman’s Nursery closed in 2003 after three decades, the Portsmouth Museums Foundation purchased the lighted holiday displays, which run the gamut from Victorian scenes of animated skaters and carolers to an enchanted forest of bears,

Fun, Food and Accommodations A must-do on High Street is the Commodore Theatre (commodoretheatre.com), a restored 1945 Art Deco-style movie theater presenting

Easy-Walking City

service in the main auditorium. Place an order

etowneportsmouth.com) with the living-history

directly with the kitchen by using the phone at

persona of “William Crawford,” Portsmouth’s

your table.

planner, who laid out the city in 1752. His anec-

Stroll several blocks down to the water-

dotal humor kept the overview — built around

front and you’ll find the Portsmouth Light-

the restored 18th- and 19th-century buildings

ship Museum (portsmouthnavalshipyard

at the beginning of the tour — lively.

museum.com), a 1915 lightship, that served as

The tour reoriented us to the easy access between old and new sections of the city. At the end, we found ourselves at the corner of High and Middle streets, and the Children’s Museum of Virginia (childrensmuseumvirginia.com). The museum capitalizes on Portsmouth’s bustling port with hands-on and role-play experiences on the operation of tugboats and the importation and export of goods. There’s also planetarium and a train exhibit, too. Tom — a railroad buff —

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first-run films — and dining

We took the walking tour of Olde Towne (old

GOOD TO KNOW Norfolk Naval Shipyard, the nation’s oldest drydock facility, is actually in Portsmouth. It was named for its sister city in the 19th century because there was already a U.S. Navy shipyard by that name near Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

part of the U. S. Lighthouse Service until it was retired and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989. The nearby Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, which chronicles 250 years of Portsmouth and naval history, is set to reopen in January 2018 following renovations.

For overnights, we recommend the Renaissance Portsmouth-Norfolk Waterfront Hotel (757-673-3000). It overlooks the river and is located in the historic district.

Clockwise from top: Virginia Sports Hall of Fame & Museum; Courtesy City of Portsmouth; Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Victoria Granado

deer and Santa’s workshop.

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such as green-winged teal,

There are no crowds in winter along Assateague Island’s pristine beach.

pintail and black ducks (don’t forget a birding guide as well as binoculars). My husband, Tom, and I hold a National Park Service/Fish & Wildlife Service lifetime senior pass ($80, covers admission for all passengers in the vehicle) for accessing the wildlife refuge across the causeway from Chincoteague (past the Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center on the left and the trail to the Assateague Lighthouse on the right — note that the lighthouse is closed December through April).

Christmas by the Sea

BACK TO THE ISLANDS

Between Christmas and New Year’s, our family loves pulling on cozy sweaters (average December air temperature is 50 degrees)

The Eastern Shore teems with wildlife and laid-back charm in winter

to walk Assateague’s beach while listening to laughing gulls and the rhythm of breaking waves.

/ By Martha Steger

We’ve witnessed a sunrise over the

Top and inset: Martha Steger; Bottom: Courtesy Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce

Atlantic Ocean and watched sunsets at docks on the Chin-

No winter visions of distant palm trees for us: Our family’s island holidays are closer to home — Chincoteague and Assateague islands, where November and December are special times of year at the top of Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

coteague Channel.

Those who find the New Year’s Eve Horseshoe Drop (chincoteaguechristmas.com) and the Polar Pony Plunge dip into the Atlantic on Jan. 1 a bit too invigorating will find bicycling the perfect winter activity.

The absence of development on Assateague is a big part of what keeps the beach — for my

Geese for Thanksgiving We tuned in years ago to the honking V-for-

money — the most pristine on the Atlantic coastWild ponies grazing.

line. For modern amenities, Chincoteague — with

from their northern tundra breeding grounds

IN THE KNOW

five minutes away. Save some time for walking

to the milder climate of Chincoteague National

The 3.5-mile Wildlife Loop around the refuge’s Snow Goose Pond is reserved for hikers and bikers during the earlier part of each day but open to vehicular traffic from three in the afternoon till dusk.

Get a closer look at Assateague’s famous wild ponies, abundant Delmarva fox squirrels, and sika elk.

mations of thousands of snow geese returning

Wildlife Refuge (fws.gov/refuge/chincoteague).

Created in 1943 as a stop for Canada geese migrating along the Atlantic Flyway, the refuge is home to more than 300 species of birds.The two islands, accessible via causeways, teem with human as well as wildlife activity for Thanksgiving and Waterfowl Weekend. Town accommodations and stores offer special packages, and sales on Thanksgiving Friday are not typical mall shopping.

It’s hard to beat the plumage of waterfowl

its Island Creamery (islandcreamery.net) — is Main Street in this old fishing village.

Staying There Our experiences include Sunset Bay Villas’ three-bedroom condo (Chincoteague Resort Realty) — with kitchen, living/dining that provides ringside seats for sunset over Chincoteague Channel — and rooms at Marriott’s Fairfield Inn & Suites with shared lobby and deck space, where guests can eat food purchased at spots such as Gary Howard Seafood (757-336-5178).

There’s a good selection of island B&Bs, too.

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far as the eye can see in either direcGolden Sands Hotel’s tiki bar

tion, broken to the south only by a tiki bar that occupies a pier at the Golden Sands Beach Resort. Head south to avoid some of the more crowded sections near the boardwalk. Settle in and prepare to while away the day.

Please, Please Me Satisfy your lunch cravings at one of the many restaurants dotting the downtown area near the beach, or head to The Veggie Wagon (theveggiewagon.com). It’s the go-to place for everything from gelato to growlers, house-made pickles to imported Parmigiano-Reggiano, and sundries to sandwiches. You can satisfy breakfast and lunch needs and stir up the ingredients for a great dinner, as well.

If you’re there on a weekend, pick up their freshly made mozzarella.

CAROLINA (BEACH) ON MY MIND

carnival rides near the boardwalk. In addition to many other options, your dining choices include upscale fare from Ocean Catfish Banh Mi at The Surf House

Grill (oceangrilltiki.com) at the Golden Sands, surprisingly good sushi at Nikki’s Gourmet and Sushi Bar (nikkissushibar.com), or solid Mexican fare at El Cazador (elcazadormex.com).

After dinner, follow the lights to the rides — or hang with the big kids at The Fat Pelican (thefatpelican.com). Nearly every surface at this dive bar and beer garden is covered with visitors’ signatures and carved notes, and you’ll find nearly 300 beers in a refrigerated walk-in. Rated as one of the best dive bars in the state and even the country, the Pelican deserves its own feature.

Wake Up Boo!

Sugar, Sugar

The next morning, before you decide to

Start your visit at Britt’s Donut Shop (find them

hit the beach once again, be sure to grab

on Facebook), just off the boardwalk. In opera-

brunch at The Surf House (surfhousenc.

tion since 1939, Britt’s is a cash-only, one-style

com). Widely loved by the locals, Surf

operation, where the doughnuts come hot out

House sources nearly all of its ingredients

of the fryer and are drenched in a sweet glaze. A

locally. The staff is attentive and knowl-

seasonal operation, Britt’s closes for the season in

edgeable, and the menu features but-

September and reopens April 1.

termilk waffles with fruit and the “Good Ol’ Boy” with eggs, bacon, sausage, grits

No Particular Place to Go

and toast. (Note: If you go for brunch,

While you’re still on your sugar rush from Britt’s, head two blocks east to the boardwalk that lines downtown. From there, the beach stretches as

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you won’t be able buy alcohol until after Britt’s Donut Shop

noon.) Don’t ask, just go. In general, that’s the mantra for Carolina Beach.

Convention and Visitors Bureau; Inset: Tina Eshleman

Carolina Beach in North Carolina is a four-hour drive from Richmond, just close enough to load up some tunes and head down the highway for a quick weekend escape. It’s a blend of old-school boardwalk and beach town, with modern hotels that contrast with 1950s-style motor inns. Ample restaurants and bars satisfy all tastes.

grab dinner at any number of the town’s restaurants before hitting the after-dark

Top left and bottom center: Courtesy Wilmington and Beaches

Coastal town mixes retro attractions with modern-day developments / By Paul Karns

Here Comes the Night After a few more hours on the beach,

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FALL INTO THE OBX Beat the crowds with a post-Labor Day visit to the Outer Banks / By Anne Dreyfuss The population of Dare County in North Carolina’s Outer Banks swells each summer from less than 35,000 to more than 250,000. Undeveloped beaches, abundant wildlife and a laid-back attitude attract vacationers who prefer remote shorelines to built-up boardwalks. The coastal getaway can begin to feel crowded, but you can beat the throngs with a visit after Labor Day.

Stay Originally opened in 1985, the Sanderling Resort

Cape Point

(sanderling-resort.com) in the beach town of Duck is situated on 113 acres between the Currituck Sound and the Atlantic

rants-and-bars/kimballs-kitchen) serves seafood caught at the

Ocean. This resort has 120 guest rooms and suites, five vacation

Oregon Inlet — about 20 miles from the restaurant. The upscale

homes, four restaurants, a 6,000-square-foot, award-winning spa

restaurant maintains the coastal casual environment of the

offering seasonal specials, and other amenities, includ-

Outer Banks, while serving food you would expect from a AAA

ing an adults-only pool, fire pits and an upstairs

four-diamond establishment. Take a seat at the bar in the late

Top and bottom: Courtesy Outer Banks Visitors Bureau; Center: Courtesy The Sanderling

deck overlooking the Atlantic.

afternoon and enjoy a view of the Currituck Sound sunset reflecting on the mirror behind the bar.

Eat Formerly Sam’s Grill on U.S. Highway

Play

1 in Richmond, the 1939 Kullman din-

Kitty Hawk Kites (kittyhawk.com) offers a range of

er car that fronts the Kill Devil Grill

adventures, from dune hang gliding to flying a repro-

(thekilldevilgrill.com) brings midcen-

duction 1902 Wright glider, as well as paddleboard-

tury Americana to mind. One of only six diners listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the local favorite features

ing, helicopter and horseback rides, and, of course, Sanderling Resort

tabletop jukeboxes and art deco details, along

an assortment of kites.

Past the end of Highway 12, Corolla Outback Adventures (corollaoutback.com) leads guided SUV tours of wild

with a menu that adds a modern twist to American

horse refuges and sanctuary sites. The family-owned business

cuisine.

started in 1962, when there were no paved roads past Kitty Hawk.

Tucked in the back of an Exxon station off North Carolina

Expect to come face-to-face with the Colonial Spanish mustangs

Highway 12, it would be easy to overlook the Kill Devil Hills Stop N

that roam the natural terrain, but keep your distance. Getting

Shop (stopnshopobx.com), but this sandwich counter might have

within 50 feet of the horses carries a $500 fine.

the best deli offerings on the island.

Its sandwiches are made with Boar’s Head meats. Not a meat lover? Try the Veggie Weggie. The Swiss, Muenster and provolone cheese sandwich, garnished with black olives, is made on freshly baked wheat bread.

Paying homage to Eastern North Carolina’s maritime heritage, Kimball’s Kitchen (sanderling-resort.com/restau-

DON’T MISS Visitors are invited to tour Bodie Island Lighthouse (outer banks.com/bodie-island-lighthouse.html). The 1872 beacon has undergone a $5 million renovation that included strengthening the support of the 214 steps that spiral to the top of the 156-foot-tall structure. The third lighthouse built along that stretch of North Carolina’s barrier islands offers a 360-degree view of the sea and the Roanoke Sound that is definitely worth the price of the guided tour.

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Relax Escape Retire

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1461 Duck Road, Duck, NC 27949 l Phone 855.890.9057 l www.sanderling-resort.com

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Headline – Your Getaway is Only an Hour Away · · · ·

Bullets: Home to Virginia’s Finest Oysters Try our 13 Unique Experiences Explore our Foodie Guide Experience our Signature Events

Your Getaway is Only an Hour Away · Home to Virginia’s Finest Oysters · Try our 13 Unique Experiences · Explore our Foodie Guide · Experience our Signature Events

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FAMILY

ADVENTURE

DINING

SHOPPING THE ARTS

HISTORY

MOUNTAINS FULL OF FOOD AND BREWS, HIKES AND BIKE RIDES AND SOME SHAKESPEAREAN DELIGHTS, TOO. 16/ HARRISONBURG 17/ SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE 18/ LEXINGTON 19/ STAUNTON 20/ WYTHEVILLE 21/ ABINGDON Photo courtesy NPS/N. Lewis

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HIGHLAND DRIVES

Shenandoah National Park at sunrise

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MOUNTAINSIZED CHARM

A duck leg at Food Bar Food

Harrisonburg offers history, food and fun / By Robey Martin When vacationers think about Virginia travel, Harrisonburg is rarely considered a front-runner of prime destinations. However, when delving into the specifics, the city — home to fewer than 50,000 — makes a good case for a getaway that is easy on the eyes and offers an array of activities, too.

Take a Hike With the Shenandoah Valley as the city’s backyard, it only makes sense that guests get caught up in hiking, cavern exploring and breathtaking views. Most of the more popular hiking trails start on Skyline Drive (visitskyline drive.org), accessible at Swift Run Gap about 23 miles east of the city off U.S. Highway 33.

If you are a novice, start with Skyline Drive

mile-long circuit with a trailhead at mile marker 84.4. It offers a gorgeous, encompassing view of the valley.

Enjoy a Brew

(jackbrownsjoint.com), the chain from two college friends with a dream. (There’s also a location in Richmond at 5810 Grove Ave.) Then there’s The Golden Pony (goldenponyva.com), a local

Harrisonburg is home to several breweries, with two sporting

hangout, whose name originates from the novel “The Outsiders”

Great American Beer Festival awards: Pale Fire Brewing Co.

by S.E. Hinton. Want to sample a bit of everything? Rocktown

and Brothers Craft Brewing. The three Shifflett brothers opened

Bites (rocktownbites.com) offers a downtown walking tour that

Brothers Craft Brewing (brotherscraftbrewing.com) in 2012.

will introduce you to seven different restaurants.

It’s known for Resolute, its Russian imperial stout lauded for its intense flavor profile and high ABV.

Historic Lodging

Pale Fire Brewing (palefirebrewing.com) was founded in

To really get a feel for the charming nature of Harrisonburg,

2015. The brewery touts its focus on creativity as the reason

stay in one of its historic homes that have been converted into

behind Salad Days, its award-winning American saison.

bed and breakfast inns.

And Some Fine Food, Too

mansion converted into a restaurant, lounge and inn. Its five

After hiking and imbibing, take a trip to one of Harrisonburg’s

rooms provide views of downtown or the gorgeous patio and

many great restaurants. For something a little out of the ordi-

garden. If you are too tired to head back out after a day of fun,

nary, try the kaya toast at Food Bar Food (foodbarfood.com).

dinner is served nightly.

The dish has a coconut-kaya custard served on toast with fried eggs, asparagus and a soy sauce reduction.

16

For beer and burgers, make your way to the original Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint

The Joshua Wilton House (joshuawilton.com) is a Victorian

Just minutes from downtown, there’s By the Side of the Road Inn & Cottages (bythesideoftheroad.com). This complex with a

The Little Grill Collective (lilgrill.com), is open for breakfast

large structure and five cottages was at one time a Mennonite

and lunch. This all-local eatery has quite a following for its take

church and also served as a hospital during the Civil War. Take

on free-range barbecued chicken and organic seasonal veg-

in some history there, and enjoy the luxury of having a gourmet

gie burrito.

breakfast delivered to your room or cottage each morning.

Top: Courtesy Food Bar Food; Inset: Courtesy visitskylinedrive.org

the Blackrock Summit trail, a

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MAKING WAVES AT SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE From boating to fish feeding, it’s all about the water at this deep-water getaway / By Sarah K. McDonald

in Alabama. The site includes a visitor center and self-guided tour of the property, including a reconstructed slave cabin and horse barn.

Stay Don’t fret if you’re not lucky enough to have family or friends with a house at Smith Mountain Lake (smithmountainlake rentals.com). Rentals vary depending on location, number of bedrooms and length of stay. Just like at the ocean, prices are lower in the off-season (post Labor Day to pre Memorial Day weekend); some homes can be rented for less than a week with a two-night minimum.

Smith Mountain Lake is a great place for a weekend of boating, swimming or just sitting on a deck, watching the sun set.

Located about an hour southeast of Roanoke and about a three-hour drive southwest from Richmond, Smith Mountain Lake was formed in 1966 when the American Electric Power Co. dammed the Blackwater and Roanoke rivers to produce electricity via turbine generators.

Camping and cabins are available at Smith Mountain Lake State Park (dcrvirginia.gov). There are trails and a public, sandy beach at the park.

Smith Mountain Lake

On the Water The Smith Mountain Lake dam (540-985-2587) itself is an interesting destination. Adults will appreciate the awesome task of building the dam, and kids will love the interactive exhibits.

The real attraction of Smith Mountain Lake, of course, is the lake, with a depth that averages 55 feet. Bring your own watercraft if you have it; otherwise several outlets offer rentals (Bridgewater Boat Rentals, bridgewaterplaza.com/marina.

Inset: Courtesy NPS/Booker T. Washington National Monument

Top and bottom: Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce;

html; State Park Rentals, bridgewaterplaza.com/ statepark.html). If you’re new to boating, though,

Historical re-enactors at Burroughs Farm

be sure you understand the rules of the water first, which are basically the same as the rules of the road.

Eat The Blackwater Café (theblackwatercafe.com) opens for dinner, Wednesday through Saturday, at

5 p.m. The menu includes shrimp and grits ($9.99), Pork Bahn Mi ($13.99) and a grilled bone-in pork chop ($19.99).

Discover

For a treat between meals, order a cone at the Ice Cream Cot-

Along the way, stop at Burroughs Farm (nps.gov/bowa) in Frank-

tage (540-721-1305). You’ll find more than 20 flavors of Hershey’s

lin County. It’s the birthplace of Booker T. Washington, who was

ice cream here, including the best birthday-cake ice cream my

born into slavery and went on to found the Tuskegee Institute

husband and I have ever tried.

DON’T MISS After our then-toddler son fed the equivalent of an entire box of Cheerios to the ducks by my in-laws’ dock, we heard about some huge carp at Bridgewater Marina (bridgewaterplaza.com) that needed some food. We hopped in the boat, bought a bag of popcorn and let my son go to work dropping kernels into the water off the dock. The sheer volume and size of these fish is astounding. Even more amazing was the tween boy who postured for his posse by pulling one of the giants up onto the dock.

He sure impressed us.

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MOUNTAIN HAUNTS AND JAUNTS

Institute, but I skipped over higher education to South Main Street and happy hour at the neon-lighted Southern Inn Restaurant (southerninn.com).

VMI’s Friday afternoon full-dress parade had just ended, so the cozy diner booths were filling with cadets in starched grays order-

Eclectic adventures await in Lexington

ing pimento cheese with skillet cornbread and red pepper jelly.

/ By Genevelyn Steele

the quaint, gingerbread-trimmed dining room of The Red Hen

For the main course, I headed to Washington Street and (redhenlex.com), Lexington’s first farm-to-table restaurant.

As I slide into a parking spot in downtown Lexington, a welcoming wave from a local reminds me of Tolstoy’s chestnut regarding plot lines: “All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.”

Across Washington Street, the modest Stonewall Jackson House (vmi.edu/museums-and-archives/stonewall-jacksonhouse/) offered a glimpse of how the general lived with his family before the Civil War. After a spicy cup of Red Hen tea, mixed for the restaurant

by Lexington’s Soothing Herbals Apothecary, I set out for the 90-minute walking tour.

A stranger comes to town

Cline’s droll, lantern-lighted impersonations ended in

At first glance this undulating, walkable historic

the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery with illu-

county seat, named for the Revolutionary war

sion, as he levitated a match in front of a looming

battle of Lexington-Concord in Massachusetts,

statue of Stonewall Jackson, one of two statues

doesn’t look as if it has crossed into the 21st

in town designed by Richmond sculptor Ed-

century. Utility lines are hidden under brick

ward Valentine. The other, a bust of Robert E.

sidewalks running by Victorian, Antebellum

Lee, adorns the Lee Chapel at Washington and

and Georgian-style houses.

Lee. Jackson and Lee are buried in Lexington.

Take a closer look at those walkways and you’ll notice they are fitted with pavers honoring famous past residents, including musician

The Natural Bridge

Patsy Cline and George Crumb, the first documented streaker in North America. The Righteous and Rascals of Rockbridge tour — dozens of histories mapped throughout downtown — is accessible via cellphone (rrrockbridge.org/

Going on a journey A nearby attraction is Natural Bridge State Park (dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/natural-bridge), Virginia’s newest park. The 215-foot tall gorge was once owned by

Thomas Jefferson.

The area features six miles of walking trails.

the-stories). Or, do as I did, and follow artist and actor Mark Cline on his nightly Haunting Tales, Lexington’s Ghost Tour (lexingtonvaghosttour.com).

After checking into one of the 39 Art Deco rooms in the luxurious Robert E. Lee Hotel, (roberteleehotel.com) fully renovated in 2014, I scouted the center and the Rocca Bar Ristorante’s second-floor patio overlooking Main Street.

Italian cuisine figures prominently on the menu; I earmarked the ricotta cheese zeppoli with dark chocolate for later. Pronto, a gelateria and sandwich cafe, is a few doors from the hotel.

The property is within walking distance from the city’s two colleges, Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military

18

Actor and artist Mark Cline lights the way on a ghost tour.

Courtesy Lexington and Rockbridge Area Tourism

grounds and found a f itness

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GET THEE TO STAUNTON Re-created Shakespeare theater inspires a weekend trip / By Jessica Ronky Haddad My husband and I recently headed west for a muchneeded weekend getaway combining some of our favorite activities: outdoor recreation, fine dining and the arts. Our destination was Staunton, less than a two-hour drive over the Blue Ridge Mountains from Richmond.

work of other playwrights, all following the basic principles of Renaissance theater production: universal lighting (which helps to break down the “fourth wall” between audience and performer), minimal sets, lavish costumes and live music.

The theater is beautiful, and though the seats (wooden benches with back rests) can get a bit uncomfortable, the resident troupe is top-notch. We missed our opportunity, but the theater offers daily one-hour tours of the theater for $7.

The World’s Mine Oyster We grabbed a light lunch and midday bloody mary at Byers Street Bistro (byersstreetbistro.com), located in a historic warehouse. Our grilled salmon salad and chicken tostada salad were just the sustenance we needed for a few hours of window shopping and gallery hopping while allowing us to save room — and calories — for dinner.

The Shack (theshackva. com) has become a hot dining destination. Southern Living declared this unassuming, and aptly named, eatery to be one of the 10 best new restaurants in the South in 2014, and chef Ian Boden was a James Beard Award nominee in 2013 and 2017. The prix fixe menu ($45 for three courses, $55 for four) changes daily with seasonal — and inspired — local fare. Standouts in our visit included the Wagyu oyster steak with root vegetable gratin, and young turnips and a cinnamon-

Top: Lauren D. Rogers; Inset: Courtesy Stonewall Jackson Hotel

The cast of “Love’s Labour’s Lost” at Blackfriars Playhouse

chocolate pot de crème with the most sublime orange sugar

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

cookies. It’s wise to make a reservation,

We spent the night at the 124-room Stonewall Jack-

since there is only seating for 26 at

son Hotel & Conference Center (stonewalljackson

communal tables.

hotel.com), conveniently located downtown and next

Although the Last, Not Least

door to the American Shakespeare Center (americanshakespearecenter.com). Staunton is a walkable town, and it was a huge bonus to park the car and

Staunton boasts a number of antiques

explore it on foot. The hotel’s Shakespeare package

shops, art galleries, bookstores and other

($185 to $350) includes one night’s accommodations, a generous breakfast buffet for two, parking and two tickets to a show of your choice.

The Play’s the Thing

independent retailers. Our favorites include Made: By the People, for the People (made-va. com), a modern-day general store featuring American-made clothing (think flannel shirts and organic cotton separates), tongue-in-cheek gifts and handmade goods.

Blackfriars Playhouse, the world’s only re-creation of Shake-

Sunspots Studios (sunspots.com) is a glass-blowing stu-

speare’s indoor, stages a rotating repertory of three to five produc-

dio and gallery. Visitors can watch demonstrations, and even

tions each season, with two or three different plays daily. While

learn to blow their own ornament ($40 to $45) during daily

the theater focuses on Shakespeare’s work, it also performs the

walk-in workshops.

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ding light on the 28th President of the United States.

Andrew Phillips, curator of the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace in Staunton, says, “Sometimes we joke that Virginia really had eight and a half presidents, counting Edith.” She redefined the role of first lady, as she took on many routine duties and details of the executive branch of government during the last 17 months of her husband’s presidency following his massive stroke — when she didn’t want Congress or the public to know how ill her husband was. The president and Edith married in December 1915, a little more than a year after the death of his first wife, Ellen.

Edith’s birthplace in WytheSkeeter’s World Famous Hot Dogs

of Wilson’s bir thplace in Staunton — tells how her early life prepared her for the chal-

lenges of becoming first lady at a time of national crisis. Everything downstairs in the exhibition space, from china cabinets to game tables to the Bolling cradle, was owned by the Bolling family and has been donated to the museum. The upstairs —

World-famous hot dogs and a first lady’s birthplace share one roof in Wytheville / By Martha Steger

the flat where Edith was born — is in substantially the same

Roadside America contains about 250 Virginia listings and “Skeeter-Dogs – The First Lady of Hot Dogs,” is one of six in Wytheville, the mountain town at the intersection of I-77 and I-81. The Skeeter slogan makes sly reference to the fact that it shares space with a presidential wife’s museum.

The other five Wytheville attractions on Roadside America’s list?

condition it was in when the Bollings left in 1899 and the space became a boarding house.

Highway Stars

hot-air balloon - A tiny church that seats six people but has a bell tower (wythesmallchurch.com) - The huge pencil hanging over Wytheville Office Supply, 146 W. Main St.

Edith and Skeeter

gree view for miles atop Big Walker Mountain, about 25

The only public birthplace of the wife of a United States president

miles north off U.S. Highway 52 (scenicbeauty-va.com)

is on the floor above the street-level Skeeter’s World Famous Hot

- The Great Lakes to Florida Highway Museum, with reno-

Dogs (skeetershotdogs.com), which has sold more than 9 million

vated gas pumps and a collection of turn-of-the-previous-

steamed hot dogs on white napkins in Wytheville since 1925.

century garage-mechanic’s tools and equipment inside. It’s

“It’s a big deal to be more famous than a Skeeter-dog, but our Edith Bolling Wilson is trying to be just that,” says Farron

20

- Big Walker Lookout, a 100-foot tower affording a 360-de-

at 975 Tazewell St.

Smith, curator of the Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Museum

Sleep And Eat

(edithbollingwilson.org).

The Bolling Wilson Hotel (bollingwilsonhotel.com) is across

The museum, along with the Woodrow Wilson Presidential

from Skeeter’s and the birthplace museum. As for dining, there’s

Library and Museum in Staunton, and the President Woodrow

Skeeter’s, of course, as well as Graze on Main restaurant, patio

Wilson House in Washington, D. C., plays a significant role in shed-

and bar, part of the hotel.

Inset: Courtesy Wytheville Convention & Visitors Bureau/Mark Soto

- The town’s water tower next to I-81, painted to resemble a

Top: Courtesy Wytheville Convention & Visitors Bureau;

NOT JUST ANOTHER ROADSIDE ATTRACTION

ville — 150 miles southwest

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ABINGDON TRAIL MIX

fers a well-appointed porch, indoor pool and a lovely two-level flagstone-lined outdoor Jacuzzi alongside a fire pit. We added massages at “The Martha,” as the locals call it, to work out the kinks from overdoing the hiking.

Milling around in the southwest corner of Virginia / By Maureen Egan After navigating our way out of the traffic on I-81, my husband and I eased into a slower pace of life, as we pulled into Abingdon, our home base for outdoorsy adventures in Southwest Virginia. Here you should hike, bike or at least sit on a porch with a good view of the breathtaking scenery.

Dine Eating well in Abingdon is as easy as rolling out of bed at The Martha and wandering into the dining room. The hotel serves a free breakfast to its guests, with choices of eggs and ham, fresh fruit, pancakes or waffles, sweet breads and apple butter. By the time we’d finished hiking, we were hungry enough that evening for dinner. The hotel’s dining room boasts a gorgeous old bar with comfortable leather seating. On another night, we dined at The Tavern (abingdontavern.com), in Abingdon’s oldest building, which dates to 1779. Owned by The Virginia Creeper Trail

a German, the restaurant offers food with an intercontinental flair. Schnitzel, spaetzle, rippchen, chicken saltimbocca and stuffed filet mignon Palermo-style are on the menu.

Discover The pace picked up considerably when we rode our mountain bikes along the Virginia Creeper Trail — a euphoria-producing trail that starts at Whitetop Station. You can bike the entire 34mile trail by starting in Abingdon. But most folks use the town of Damascus as their launching point. Six hiking, biking and driving trails converge there and, as a result, it’s full of bike-rental outf itters. We took a shuttle f rom Adventure Damascus (adventuredamascus.com) to the top of Whitetop Mountain

Stay

near the North Carolina border and then biked to

If you want to feel pampered, check in

Damascus along a stunningly beautiful trail, banked

at the Martha Washington Hotel and

by rhododendrons and tall trees. A logging train nick-

Spa (themartha.com), in the heart

named the Virginia Creeper once chugged along this

of downtown. The Martha Washing-

route. We careened downhill, following the rambling

ton — a private residence in 1832 and a finishing school, a Civil War hospital

Courtesy Abingdon CVB

and a women’s college in later years — of-

Laurel Creek as it tumbled down the mountain. With Martha Washington Hotel and Spa

bridge crossings, waterfalls and scenic overlooks, it’s a jaw-dropping ride that bikers of most any age can handle.

DON’T MISS Getting away from the grind should include a trip to the picturesque White’s Mill & Mercantile (whitesmill. org). The working mill is open Wednesday through Sunday (and closed January and February). Powered by water until 1989, the circa 1790s gristmill now uses electricity to grind cornmeal, buckwheat flour and grits. The actual grinding, which makes quite a racket, usually goes on when the mill is closed to the public. But you might get lucky. You can tour the mill, see old and modern equipment and buy gluten-free products milled there; other delectables and collectibles are available at the adjoining old-time Mercantile.

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Never stop playing.

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COUNTRY SIDE OF LIFE

A great blue heron fishing in the Rappahannock River.

24

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FAMILY

ADVENTURE

DINING

SHOPPING THE ARTS

HISTORY

GET BACK IN THE SADDLE OR SIMPLY SIT BACK AND ENJOY SOME FINE WINES. 26/ CLARKSVILLE 27/ SOUTH BOSTON 28/ AMHERST 29/ FARMVILLE 30/ GRAPES AND GRAINS TRAIL 31/ RAPPAHANNOCK COUNTY

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largemouth bass that entice

The U.S. Route 58 Business bridge over Kerr Lake

the anglers.

Occoneechee State Park’s marina (1192 Occoneechee Park Road, 434-374-2210) offers another jump-off point for anglers. Here we rented a pontoon boat to tour the lake (and a pet-friendly waterfront cabin in which to stay). After cruising the shoreline, we dropped anchor and checked out the park, hiking the 7.5mile Panhandle trail before lighting up the grill by the swimming beach.

A 15-minute car ride will get you to the John H. Kerr reservoir and its 100-foot-tall dam near the county seat of

WATER WORLD

Boydton. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake itself is on

Lakefest fireworks

the Roanoke River and is shared with North Carolina. Nearby, at

Fishing and festivities in Clarksville, Virginia’s only lakefront city

the Joseph S.J. Tanner Environmental Education Center (5164 Buggs Island Road, Satur-

/ By Genevelyn Steele

days, Sundays and federal holidays,

Fun is to be found on and around the water in Clarksville, the small, waterfront town (population 1,186) known for its fishing and for Lakefest (clarksvilleva. com), a festival held on the third weekend of July and one of the Top 20 festivals for July in the South for 2017, according to the Southeast Tourism Society.

April 1-Oct. 31), our son enjoyed learning what bears eat for lunch. As for your midday meal, try the New York-style spinach and ricotta pie at Pino’s Pizza (6288 Buggs Island Road, 434-738-6999).

Historic Home You can get a sense of 18th and 19th century gentry life at Prest-

The Life Aquatic

late 1700s and holds outstanding examples of early American

Not surprisingly, fishing rules here. Along the waterfront’s mu-

handiwork. Outside, the original two-family slave quarters, plan-

nicipal dock at Clarksville Marina (411 Fourth St., clarksvilleva

tation store, smokehouse and loom house reference life for the

marina.com), you’ll usually see someone with a line in the water.

enslaved. On our tour, I met a descendant of Margaret Harris,

The U.S. Route 58 Business bridge over Kerr Lake is lighted in a

a wet nurse whose portrait hangs in Prestwould’s nursery, on a

Day-Glo green at night, the better to whip the food chain into

family history expedition.

a frenzy, attracting bugs that draw hungry bait fish, which lure

Antiques, Treats and Eats Antique lovers will find plenty to hold their attention in Clarksville, such as The Virginia Avenue Mall (317 Virginia Ave., 434-3745949), with more than 50 vendors.

We discovered rare Virginia wines and handmade truffles at The Galleria (216 Virginia Ave., 434-374-5999).

We relied on The Lamplighter (201 Virginia Ave., lamplighterva. com) for easy eats; fried flounder, homemade desserts (two words: coconut cake) and growler fill-ups from boutique breweries.

For upscale dining, Traveler’s Tavern at Coopers Landing Inn (801 Virginia Ave., cooperslandinginn.net) highlights produce,

Prestwould Plantation manor

26

cheese and meats from area farms in their three semi formal dining rooms and outdoor tavern.

Courtesy Clarksville Lake Country Chamber of Commerce

would Plantation (429 Prestwould Drive). It was built in the

Clarksville, founded in 1818, is the only lakefront town in Virginia.

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TOWN AND COUNTRY A trek through South Boston / By Tina Eshleman

“I’m heading to Shangri-La,” I gleefully tell coworkers, alerting them that I’ll be out of the office. Borrowed from James Hilton’s 1933 novel “Lost Horizon”, the name suggests a paradise cut off from the world. It’s what draws me and my daughter, Olivia, to the Shangrila Guest Ranch (shangrilaguestranch.com) near South Boston.

The Ranch Leaving behind the city life of Ra-

Saddled up at Shangrila Guest Ranch

leigh, North Carolina, Gary and Julie Holmes acquired their 800-acre property with the idea of offering a getaway where visitors can ride horseback through the woods,

rels for shipping. Longtime artistic director Christopher D. Jones,

groom horses, catch fish, feed farm animals, collect eggs, enjoy

who was instrumental in the effort that led to the arts center

home-cooked meals and sleep in a comfortable cot-

opening in 2005, shows us the 250-seat Chastain Theatre.

tage. All-inclusive per night rates for 2017 are $265

Fine Dining

for adults and $170 for ages 8-15. Hourly trail rides

Bistro 1888 (bistro1888.com), serves up dishes like

and a half-day package are also available.

hoisin-and-brandy-marinated pork tenderloin

Top: Courtesy Shangrila Guest Ranch; Middle: Terrie Lantor; Bottom: Dianna Allen Portrait Design

The Ride

with gingered cranberry applesauce or shrimp-

I’ve had little experience riding horses, but my

and-scallop étouffée. About five miles north in

Tennessee walking horse, Biggie, is used to nov-

Halifax, along U.S. 501, there’s the Molasses Grill

ice riders. Olivia seems much more at ease on Pretty Boy, a spotted saddle horse. About an hour into our ride, it starts to rain, which makes us feel like wilderness adventurers. We forge on and arrive at our

(molassesgrill.com), co-owned by chef Steven Lantor's

Schopen, whose experience includes restaurants in Germany, Sweden and Morocco. We can’t stay this time, but I have a feeling we’ll be back.

destination soaked, but happy.

Main Street

“Hairspray” at The Prizery.

After the ride, we drive into town and look at some of the antiques and consignment shops. We’re also interested to discover Lantor’s (lantors.com), a family-owned women’s clothing boutique that’s been around for 108 years. I find a linen skirt and coordinating top for less than $15 in the gently used clothing section in the front of Mike’s Radio & TV at 317 Main St. — in the back, there’s a workshop filled with TVs.

The Prizery In South Boston’s historic warehouse district, theater performances (such as “Into the Woods” in 2017), concerts, art exhibits and music lessons take place in The Prizery (prizery.com), a 38,000-square-foot renovated building near the Dan River where layers of tobacco were once pressed (or “prized”) into barRVA T R AV E L E R 2 0 1 8

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STRESS NOIR MORE

vines at 1,800 feet above sea level. The result is a perfect getaway, tucked well away from everything. The only sounds other than vineyard management were occasional barks from the family dogs protecting the chicken and sheep roaming the farm.

Amherst mountainside vineyard a peaceful retreat / By Genevelyn Steele

Ankida’s tasting room is open noon to 5 p.m. each Saturday, and for special events. The winery is also available for booking special private events.

Named for the Sanskrit word for where heaven meets earth, the family-owned Ankida Ridge Winery (ankidaridge.com) is a scenic two-hour drive from Richmond to the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This micro-vineyard well off U.S. 60 west of Amherst has limited cell phone service, perfect for an off-the-grid getaway.

Tip: The drive up the mountain is steep and off-grid. Carry printed directions from their website.

…And Beyond I toured Lynchburg, 30 minutes away, walking and antiquing.

I loved listening to the American general case clocks at

Buzzards Roost in Lynchburg

Buzzards Roost (718 Commerce St., lynchburgbuzzardsroost.com) and enjoyed wood-oven-fired pizza at Waterstone restaurant in the historic

From Charlottesville…

Craddock Terry Hotel (1312 Commerce St.,

I pit-stopped in Charlottesville’s Downtown

craddockterryhotel.com). Originally a shoe

Mall to pick up some essentials for an in-

factory, this boutique hotel also has an-

dulgent weekend.

other restaurant, Shoemakers American

Wine Loves Chocolate (508 E. Main St.,

Grille. The complex fronts RiverWalk, a walk-

wineloveschocolate.com), an extension of

able 3.5-mile section of the James River

Little Washington Winery and Vineyards of

Heritage Trail.

Rappahannock County, is well worth a visit.

In Amherst, a 20-minute drive from the vineyard, you’ll find Loose Shoe Brewing Co.

This wine bar matches an artisanal, DIY truffle bar with boutique vino. Their selections include wines from Maryland, New York and Idaho.

Accessory shopping from street vendors netted funky hats

(looseshoebrewing.com), Lazy Days Winery (lazydayswinery.com) and Rebec Vineyards (rebecwinery.com).

and scarves, but listening to a guitar player busking in front of

Don’t Miss

the Paramount Theater was the highlight of my detour.

The Amherst County Apple Festival (amherstapplefestival.

I also picked up noodles and steamed buns from an affordable eatery, Marco & Luca Dumplings (112 W. Main St.), and both

org) is celebrated each year in the third weekend of October at Amherst County High School.

savory and sweet slices from The Pie Chest (119 Fourth St. NE, thepiechestcville.com), sibling

The view from Ankida Ridge Winery

St. SW, alleylight.com), a 2015 James Beard Foundation semifinalist for best new restaurant.

To the Winery…

When Christine and Dennis Vrooman purchased high forest acreage abutting Chestnut Ridge, they planned on weekend retreats, not a winery. But the builder cleared 2 extra acres, and after talking with Lucie Morton (an expert in grapevines who also consulted with Boxwood Winery of Middleburg) they decided to try an environmentally sensitive approach to the vineyard, planting Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

28

Top: Courtesy Buzzard’s Roost; Bottom: Courtesy Ankida Ridge Winery

to The Alley Light (108 Second

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SKY KINGS

Walk or ride at High Bridge Trail State Park

Explore tree-top zip lines and a very High Bridge in Farmville / By Jessica Ronky Haddad

Farmville is known as the home of Green Front Furniture, but there’s lots to do there beyond rug shopping. With its old-fashioned Main Street and a wealth of outdoor recreation options, Farmville makes a great destination for a family day trip or a weekend getaway.

Get Active Pack up your bikes and head to the center of town, where the 31-mile High Bridge Trail State Park (dcr.virginia.gov) crosses Main Street. The historic 2,400-foot-long High Bridge is the centerpiece of the park and is an easy 5-mile bike ride from the center of Farmville. Take a break on the bridge to

a “black diamond” route that’s a knee-knocking 45

enjoy a picnic and the stunning

feet above the ground. A ticket ($50 for adults, $40 for

view from 125 feet above the Appo-

youth) gets you three hours in the treetops.

mattox River. Make sure you bring drinking water.

Walking the ropes at Sandy River Retreat

Top: Courtesy The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation; Middle: Courtesy The Adventure Park at Sandy River Retreat; Bottom: Jessica Ronky Haddad

The Adventure Park at Sandy River

Stay Sandy River Retreat also offers rental cabins and “Glamping

Retreat (sandyriverretreat.com), in Rice offers

tipis” that are stocked with necessities from salt and pepper to

more than 60 obstacles and 20 zip lines on routes that are physi-

coffee and tea. The retreat is located on a family-owned farm, and

cally and mentally challenging. After being fitted with a harness

guests are invited to mingle with the sheep, donkeys and chick-

and gloves, participants receive training from the friendly and

ens, and to collect fresh eggs from the henhouse for breakfast.

safety-conscious staff. Start off on the easiest of the courses, which is about 15 feet above the ground. As your skills and confidence

Eat

progress, the difficulty of the routes increases, culminating in

Walker’s Diner (walkersdiner.com) is a retro lunch counter..

Established in 1951, it features diner staples such as pancakes, burgers, onion rings and club sandwiches. I was impressed with the grilled chicken and portobello mushrooms over a bed of arugula. Charley’s Waterfront Cafe (charleyswaterfront.com), is the closest this laid-back town comes to fine dining. Its pretty riverside patio is a great place to sip a glass of wine — there are plenty of choices, and you can enjoy a generous pour of Vinho Verde for $7. For dinner, try The Fishin’ Pig (fishinpig.com). It offers barbecue, fried seafood and tacos in a rustic, yet sleek space.

Shop It’s hard to escape Farmville without at least taking a peek into one of the 12 massive warehouses that comprise Green Front Walker’s Diner can satisfy an array of appetites.

Furniture (434-392-5943 or greenfront.com). Be sure to check out the English imports in Building 9 and, of course, the rugs — Green Front stocks more than a million of them.

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Richmonders Mindy Vaughan (left) and Allison Johnson visit Hartwood Winery

crème liqueur.

Also on the tour, you’ll find Adventure Brewing Company (adventurebrewing.com), which offers tours of its Spotsylvania County facility on a staff-available basis. After touring the brewing room, we enjoyed a vegetarian Reuben sandwich and fish tacos with a Stonewall Stout appropriate to area Civil War heritage, as well as a Fred Red, a deep-red ale with a creamy head.

Grapes Potomac Point Winer y (potomacpointwinery.com) is a Tuscan-style vineyard and winery-villa in Stafford County.

After a comprehensive tasting of award-winning wines and

SPIRITED LIVING Breweries and wineries abound along the Grapes and Grain Trail / By Martha Steger

some complimentary olive-oil dippings, we lunched at the winery bistro on the veranda overlooking the vineyard, accompanied by Potomac Point’s 2015 La Belle Vie white table wine.

At Hartwood Winery (hartwoodwineryva.com) in Fredericksburg, the husband-and-wife team of Jim and Beverly Livingston celebrated their 28th anniversary in the

When visiting Fredericksburg and environs, my husband and I have encountered “Mary” — George Washington’s mother — and, of course, “George,” who grew up at Ferry Farm north of the Rappahannock River in Stafford County. On our most recent trip, we met namesakes of the first president and his mother on the Grapes and Grains Trail.

wine business this year. While they make several good whites and reds, the 2012 Petit Bordeaux is a standout, featuring a smooth but earthy, smokyraspberry tone with a hint of chocolate and a slightly peppery finish.

Lake Anna Winery (lawinery.net) is laid back, reflecting the attitude of its owner, Jeff Heidig, phy showed as we checked out his winery

Grains

late on a Sunday afternoon. Contemporary

Said George and Mary are two copper stills at A. Smith

background music pervaded the winery and

Bowman Distillery (asmithbowman.com), ), one of 11

contributed to a lack of wine stuffiness as sati-

stops on the trail (grapesandgrainstrail.com), a cel-

rized in the 2004 film “Sideways.”

ebration of vineyards, breweries and distilleries in the

Shop

Fredericksburg area.

Tom and I liked the fact we could set our

We shopped for a gift at Deep Creek Vintage

own pace on the self-guided route. The $15

(deepcreekvintage.com), an antique shop in (deepcreekvintage.com

tickets are good for a year, so we could visit other area attractions over a weekend or on a return visit. Tickets include tours, commemorative tasting glasses and discounts on tastings and merchandise.

The Bowman family distillery — synonymous with its “Virginia Gentleman” bourbon — has greatly expanded since opening in 1935. A craft or small-batch company, it produces bourbons, gin, vodka, rum and a popular caramel-bourbon

30

DON’T MISS In Spotsylvania, try Mattaponi Winery’s Pow Wow, a chocolatestrawberry wine, or the new Golden Horseshoe, a semi-dry, semisweet grape wine. (mattaponiwinery.com)

Spotsylvania that also carries refurbished and painted Americana.

Stay Stevenson Ridge inn (stevensonridge.net) in Spotsylvania is situated on 87 quiet acres convenient to the city and has seven private cottages. Ours was the Corn Crib. (At $150 to $180 nightly — it wasn't quite the corn crib I grew up with on an Eastern Shore farm!)

Top: Courtesy Hartwood Winery; Bottom: Courtesy Bowman Distillery

who believes wine should be fun. His philoso-

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REELING IN RAPPAHANNOCK Fine dining and scenic beauty, rain or shine / By Stephanie Breijo In need of a quick getaway? Head for the hills.

Rappahannock County, 113 miles northwest of Richmond, is home to one of the nation’s top restaurants, historic trails, quaint independent shops and more. The drive there — long, twisting roads through sprawling farmland — feels like a mini vacation in itself.

meat and dairy. I settled on a bowl of broccoli soup (made from broccoli grown in the garden out back, naturally) topped with a dollop of walnut goat cheese.

Another Round The beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains isn’t lost on Rappahannock Cellars (rappahannockcellars.com), a family-owned winery on more than 85 acres in Huntley, with 30 acres dedicated to growing Merlot, Petit Verdot, Norton and other varietals. When I arrived, a mist was lifting off the vines, making for one of my most stunning visits of the day. I’d sadly missed the most recent winery tour, but I consoled myself with a glass of Meritage 2013, their flagship red.

Artful Shopping In Washington (the Rappahannock County village, not D.C.), you’ll find R.H. Ballard Shop & Gallery (rhballard.com). It offers a variety of home and décor goods, from French table linens to Rappahannock Arboreal’s pure, local honey. In the basement, contemporary art is just as tastefully selected for display as its upstairs counterparts.

The Dining Destination The trip’s highlight was dinner at 40-yearold The Inn at Little Washington (theinnatlittlewashington.com). Patrick O’Connell, the James Beard Award-winning chef and proprietor, built his reputation on local, farm-to-table fine dining before the movement was even a thing.

Sip a fine wine and enjoy the view at Narmada Winery.

Course after course placed fantastical dishes before us: from grilled pigeon breast marinated in blueberry vinegar, served atop a zucchini crêpe with local

Nothing Amiss Here

blueberries, to Pommes Anna with chilled, Dijon-dressed Maine

Rappahannock is home to several esteemed wineries, but Nar-

lobster and tomato-lobster gazpacho. Impeccable service, an

mada Winery (narmadawinery.com) in Amissville stands apart

eclectic mishmash of tapestry and upholstery of all patterns and

in its pairings: Its husband-and-wife, Mumbai-born owners focus

colors, and flawless execution round out the experience, which

on matching their 19 wines with Indian food. I opted for a glass

should very much be experienced at some point in your life.

of the signature Narmada Mom wine, a blend of Chardonel and Vidal Blanc, to sip alongside a crisp vegetable samosa as I watched the rain pour onto the winery’s rolling hills.

Public Places in Flint Hill Griffin Tavern & Restaurant (griffintavern.com) is in a bright and cheerful repurposed home from the 1850s in Flint Hill. I wan-

Stephanie Breijo

dered up the polished wooden staircase to find a collection of local paintings and sculptures. At night, it’s a lively place where dartboards and live music take the spotlight.

Just a few doors down stands the Flint Hill Public House Restaurant & Inn (flinthillva.com), a luxurious and eco-friendly bistro and lodge in a 1907 schoolhouse. It serves all-local produce,

Art at R. H. Ballard Shop & Gallery

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Expanded Winery Tasting Room

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TRAILS WINERIES TRAI

BIKING BOATIN NG

STATE PARKS ST

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HIKING HUNTIN NG

RIVERS LAKES

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SOV VA V A WILD BLUEWAY

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A R L I N G TO N VIRGINIA

American Treasures. Homegrown Delights.

The perfect combination of convenience and value in the nation’s capital, Arlington is just minutes from the National Mall, Smithsonian museums, U.S. Capitol, White House and much more. Along with its own American treasures, Arlington is home to more than 40 hotels with rates up to 20 percent less than those in downtown Washington, D.C. Discover Arlington’s unique mix of history, culture and fun! To plan your trip, visit www.stayarlington.com or call (877) 504-8054.

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3/8/18 3:01 PM

FAMILY

ADVENTURE

DINING

SHOPPING THE ARTS

HISTORY

CAPITAL STEPPES

FINE FOOD, SHOPPING AND UNEXPECTED PLEASURES AROUND WASHINGTON D.C. 36/ WASHINGTON D.C. 37/ EDEN CENTER IN

FALLS CHURCH 38/ ALEXANDRIA AND

GEORGETOWN 39/ WASHINGTON D.C.

HOUSE MUSEUMS 40/ NATIONAL HARBOR 41/ GLEN ECHO PARK

34

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FOOD FOR ALL

World of Food Toki Underground (tokiunderground.com) has the best bowl of

Washington’s dynamic and diverse food culture worth exploring / By Ashley Wright

Taiwanese ramen on the East Coast. Drop your name with the host early — there may be a wait for this cozy spot — and then grab a beer at H Street’s resident dive, The Pug (thepugdc.com) while you wait. The Laotian restaurant Thip Khao (thipkhao.

The initials “D.C.” probably bring several things to mind: traffic; the clipped tones of people in a rush; or angry talking heads yelling about what Trump has done now. But it’s Washington’s burgeoning food culture that best exemplifies this city’s kaleidoscopic diversity. The District of Columbia should be at the top of any foodie’s list, traffic be damned.

com) is also worth a visit if you crave more exotic dishes than you could find at your typical Asian take-out.

Johnny Monis’ L i tt l e S e row is th e best Nor thern Thai food in the city, and above that subterranean oasis is Monis’ Komi (komirestaurant.com), a celebration of all things delicious and Greek. If excellently prepared raw fish is more your pace, Dupont Circle’s Sushi Taro (sushitaro.com) deserves a stop, Kimchi ramen at Toki Underground

as does Georgetown’s Fiola Mare (fiolamaredc.com). You should enjoy the latter’s patio on the Potomac during the warmer months, but the beautifully balanced Italian menu will warm your bones in even the coldest weather.

Drinking it In The District also has a thriving bar scene to explore. Admire the soaring glass ceiling of Blue Jacket Brewery (bluejacketdc.com), where all the beer is made in-house near the waterfront. Biergarten Haus (biergartenhaus.com) is a must for its steep selection of German brews in a traditional atmosphere (see also: outdoor beer garden). Whiskey lovers will admire the extensive selection and Old-World feel of Jack Rose Dining Saloon (jackrosediningsaloon.com), while those who love a well-crafted cocktail paired with an intimate speakeasy atmosphere should make

The District has a reputation for being expensive. While

Making Music

this is (mostly) well earned, as far as dining goes, there

Take in a band at the 9:30 Club,

are cheap and middling options available as well. If you

Black Cat, Rock & Roll Hotel or

want a cultural experience, a decadent chili dog — nay,

U Street Music Hall.

half-smoke — and money left over for bar-hopping, Ben’s Chili Bowl (benschilibowl.com) is a must-try. For those

Stay a While

of a sweeter persuasion, compare the pastries from.

Kimpton (kimptonhotels.com) has

D.C.’s Astro Doughnuts and Fried Chicken (astrodough

several adorable (and relatively af-

nuts.com) with the Sugar Shack variety.

fordable) hotels throughout the city,

Taking it up a notch in price, Old Ebbitt Grill (ebbitt.

so if a boutique hotel catches your

com) next to The White House is decorated with trophy

fancy, try the Palomar, the Madera or Donovan House. The District has

mounts from Teddy Roosevelt’s hunting expeditions for a little historical value. Don’t count it out for late-night snacks, either; the grill offers half off on oysters during its regular and late-night happy hours.

36

Try a halfsmoke at Ben’s Chili Bowl.

charming B&Bs as well as inns, including Swann House (swannhouse.com) the Embassy Circle Guesthouse and Woodley Park Guest Park (dcinns.com).

Top: Courtesy Toki Underground; Bottom: Destination DC

a beeline for Denson Liquor Bar.

Cheap(er) eats

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a sandwich. Several bakery/delis offer the sandwiches here, for $3 or $4 each. They’re made with the airy, flaky bread (a Vietnamese version of baguette), grilled pork (or some other grilled meat), Vietnamese sausage or pâté and garnished with cucumber, jalapeno, daikon radish, pickled carrots and cilantro.

Good Fortune Eden Center is anchored by Good Fortune, a massive supermarket filled with exotic fruits and vegetables including durian, taro, ratalu and yams the size of baseball bats. After visiting the seafood counter you can finally make that cuttlefish recipe you’ve always wanted to try ($3.99 per pound). The f rozen-food section includes an area where you can mix and match balls of meat for a home-cooked hot pot. The market also sells sake, candy and Asian-

VIETNAMESE EDEN IN SUBURBAN WASHINGTON

style crockery.

Drinks and Eats Hit any restaurant or café here and you’re bound to find a slew of unique beverages. There are fruit and coconut

Shopping center a focal point for Vietnamese culture and food / By Rich Griset

Huong Viet Restaurant

sodas, bubble teas with milk and chewy fruit jelly balls, smoothies and coffee. Vietnamese coffee is the strongest stuff you’ll ever sip.

We were warned repeatedly at Pandan Desserts and Drinks that we may not like it and they don’t offer refunds. We suggest

After Saigon fell in 1975, thousands of Vietnamese immigrants flocked to Northern Virginia to start a new life outside of Communist rule. Some came to Falls Church in the 1980s and opened 120 shops, cafes, salons and bars in a shopping center now known as Eden Center (6751 Wilson Blvd., edencenter.com).

ordering it with condensed milk.

The café Phu Quy Deli Delight has a treasure trove of snacks.

There’s dried fish, fruit candies and other treats, but my vote is for the 21 bins of beef jerky in the corner. Chili flakes, barbeque, curry powder and lemongrass are just a few of the seasonings that go into these meat masterpieces, alternately sliced into strips, cubed or shredded.

At Huong Viet Restaurant, a long, far wall is covered with articles from The Washington Post, Wash-

Welcome In Courtesy Eden Center

A replica of the downtown Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) clock tower watches over the shopping center, and a large Asian-style gate welcomes visitors at a parking lot entrance. As an entry point into Vietnamese cuisine, it’s hard to go wrong with bánh mì, which means bread, but the term has become synonymous with

ingtonian magazine and other publications

GOOD TO KNOW Bring your appetite, but also bring cash. Though some shops and eateries accept credit cards, many don’t.

recommending this eatery, and we aren’t disappointed. My brother’s pho (a popular noodle dish) has a rich broth and is filled with tender beef round, flank and tendon. I’m feeling adventurous and order a five-spice beef soup with pork feet. The dish is expertly spiced with just enough heat to give it an edge.

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CAREFREE AND CAR-FREE Washington is easy to navigate without the car / By Susan Winiecki Our Fourth of July weekend in Washington, D.C., didn’t turn out as my husband and I had planned, mainly due to a searing toothache for him, but I was still able to hit the pavement and the river between Alexandria and Georgetown for plenty of side-street discoveries and dining options that didn’t break the bank.

Dine In

both

Alexandria

and

Georgetown, I ate at La Madeleine Café and Bistro (lamadeleine.com). This chain is a lovely surprise. While you order cafeteria-style, the soups, breads and pastries are very good. My blackberry/creamcheese croissant hit the sweet

Getting Around

spot on Saturday afternoon,

The King Street Trolley (alexandriava.gov/Trol-

and a cup of vegetable soup

ley), goes up and down King Street in Old Town

and Parmesan crisps made for

Alexandria — a great service. There’s also a met-

a perfect late-Sunday lunch in

ro station on King Street. Get almost anywhere

Georgetown. Also try lunch

in D.C. by riding the Metro, except for George-

or dinner at The Majestic Café

town and National Harbor.

(majesticcafe.com), where every-

Shop

thing, from pickles to chips, is made

I tried to shop the side streets in Alexandria, staying off

on-site. The restaurant also serves a per person. In September, the set menu is lasagna

of packed King Street, and I was pleased with what I found.

A block from the hotel is the Crate and Barrel Outlet (703-739-

Bolognese, Caesar salad, sautéed rapini with

8800). I scored here on Marimekko fabric for

cherry tomatoes, focaccia and tiramisu.

$8 a yard as well as an adjustable beach chair and umbrella for $50. Don’t miss the Shoe

Stay

hysteria.com) in the 100 block of South Fair-

Capital Beltway and ditching my car for the

fax Street. Both shops have well-edited collec-

weekend. I’m able to do both by staying at

tions in creatively compact spaces. The jewelry

Embassy Suites Alexandria (weekend rate of

and bag selection at Hysteria was also worth

$180/night), an easy drive from the King Street

a long look. At Gossypia (gossypia.com), the

exit on I-395. Pull into the hotel’s adjacent parking deck ($24 a day) and pull out only when you are ready to head back to Richmond. This hotel, located across the street from the King Street Metro/VRE/Amtrak station, offers a complimentary cooked-to-order buffet breakfast every morning, making it oh-so popular with families and school groups.

38

Hive (theshoehive.com) and Hysteria (shop-

My idea of visiting D.C. involves avoiding the

DON’T MISS Take the Potomac River Boat Company’s Monument Cruise (potomac riverboatco.com) from Alexandria’s City Marina, which is directly behind the Torpedo Factory Arts Center.

store was heavy on Eileen Fisher and Flax. In Georgetown, don’t miss Barney’s Co-Op (202350-5832) and Cusp, both with edgy designer labels and accessories. If you have the time on a Sunday, try the Georgetown Flea Market (georgetownfleamarket.com) at 1819 35th St. NW. More than 40 vendors gather here weekly from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Courtesy Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association

family-style Nana’s Sunday dinner for $22

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Ornate displays are part of the holiday fun at the United States Botanic Garden

(woodrowwilsonhouse.org), home to the only presidential couple to continue to live in the nation’s capital after leaving the White House. Although there’s no special holiday event, gifts do abound – those given to the 28th president by world dignitaries before and after World War I, that is. Originally built for a corporate executive, the house’s marble entryway and grand staircase, Palladian window, dumbwaiter, butler’s pantry and solarium overlooking the formal garden are impressive.

Other D.C. Homes (And A Garden) For The Holidays Celebrate winter as well as the holidays at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, 4115 Linnean Ave. NW (hillwoodmuseum.org), home of cereal heiress and philanthropist Marjorie Post. The annual Russian Winter Festival (second weekend in December) includes lively Russian folk music and dances and a fun

A CAPITOL CHRISTMAS

play based on traditional Russian stories of Grandfather Frost (Santa Claus) and his granddaughter, the Snow Maiden.

Tudor Place (tudorplace.org), the

Top: Courtesy United States Botanical Garden; Inset: Courtesy Hillwood Estate and Museum; Bottom: Courtesy Heurich House Museum

D.C.’s historic house museums offer holiday surprises / By Martha Steger Hidden away in a city of world-class tourist attractions you’ll find some gems that glow especially bright during the holidays. Several house museums around metro Washington are well worth a weekend excursion at any time of year, but with special attractions and festive period décor, they are must-sees in D.C. in December.

1816 estate built by a granddaughter of Martha Washington and her husband The French Drawing Room at the Hillwood Estate and Museum

Thomas Peter, is elegantly adorned for the holidays. The mansion, located at 1644 31st St. NW in Upper Georgetown, plays host to seasonal events including candlelight tours, and

an opportunity for “history detectives” to find decorations and clues to celebrations past.

While home only to plants and trees, the United States Botanic Garden, 100 Maryland Ave. on the National Mall (usbg. gov), is the biggest holiday bargain in town — visits are free. Its

Dupont Circle And Embassy Row

annual themed holiday exhibit runs Thanksgiving Day through New Year’s Day and includes a model train show.

My husband and I hopped up (pun intended) to DuPont Circle to enjoy a brew in tribute to the family of Washington brewmaster Christian Heurich at the mansion he had built for his family in the 1890s. At its height, his brewery was the largest non-government employer in the city.

One-hour tours of the Heurich home/castle/museum, 1307 New Hampshire Ave. NW, always include tastings and snacks, but the home becomes a destination on first weekends in December for the annual Christkindlmarkt (heurichchristmas.org).

The event offers a re-creation of a German Christmas market and also showcases the Victorian splendor of its holiday decorations.

It’s also worth a visit in any season for one of DuPont Circle’s First Friday events (firstfridaydupont.org).

For a peek at 1920s-style holidays (the era of wind-up tin toys), visit the Woodrow Wilson House, 2340 S St. NW

Heurich House Museum

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AN EASY BET

Getting Around You can park your car and walk or get around via the Circulator

National Harbor is an all-ages attraction near D.C. / By Joan Tupponce

(bus) for an all-day fee of $5.

Fun The National Harbor Waterfront Plaza is home to the Capital

Driving north on Interstate 95 around Washington, I always glance at National Harbor as I cross the Potomac River into Maryland, but I never knew what that area had to offer until recently. Opened in 2008, National Harbor (nationalharbor.com) is a micro-city that has become a tourist destination with everything from water activities to gaming.

Wheel, a Ferris wheel with air-conditioned and heated glass-enclosed gondolas that provides 180-foot-high views of the riverfront and on clear days, of the city. For a real treat, take a ride at sunset when the sky is ablaze with color. Nearby is a 36-foot Americanathemed carousel, playground and picnic tables.

The waterfront area is also the place to rent a kayak, pedal boat or a stand-up paddleboard. Other activities include trips on a pirate ship or on the glass-enclosed Odyssey, with live entertainment, dining and dancing.

Stay And Shop

For a nice day trip, take a water taxi to Washington (40 min-

The development is anchored by two huge hotels — the MGM

utes), Old Town Alexandria (20 minutes) or Mount Vernon (50

National Harbor and the Gaylord National Resort & Convention

minutes). Fees start at $16.

Center. The harbor boasts five additional hotels, 40 restaurants and 160 stores. You’ll find lots of local shops near the waterfront, including Betty, a highend — think Christian Loubou-

MGM’s 125,000-square-foot casino is a great place to cool off and people watch. Always buzzing with folks testing out

MGM National Harbor

their luck, it offers everything from slots to poker.

Dining

tin, Ferragamo, Chanel and

The harbor has 40 restaurants that range from seafood

Louis Vuitton — consignment

to Thai. Ginger, in the MGM National Harbor, is a charm-

shop for accessories. If you’re

ing restaurant featuring a menu that includes Japanese,

a shoe fanatic and loved “Sex

Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Korean selections. Portions

and the City,” wander through

are large, so plan on sharing.

The District at MGM National

Old Hickory at the Gaylord specializes in artisanal

Harbor and slip into Sarah Jes-

cheeses and steaks and offers great views of the wa-

sica Parker’s shoe store, SJP.

ter. Local restaurants include Succotash from five-time James Beard Award nomihome décor hints that you’ll have Southern cuisine, but the Korean touches are a surprise.

Entertainment The main entertainment district in the harbor runs along Fleet Street — you’ll recognize it by its red-painted roadway. Here you’ll find the Brass Tap craft beer bar, Bobby McKee’s Dueling Piano Bar and Cadillac Ranch, where you can cowboy it up on the mechanical bull. Other offerings include the Public House restaurant and the Irish Whisper pub.

For top-name entertainment, check out the intimate, The Capital Wheel lights up the waterfront.

state-of-the-art theater at MGM National Harbor.

40

Top: Courtesy MGM National Harbor Resort & Casino; Bottom: Courtesy National Harbor

nee Edward Lee. The down-

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ECHO OF THE PAST A Maryland landmark has entertained and informed generations of visitors / By Tina Eshleman Glen Echo Park (glenechopark.org) in Maryland has always been about entertainment. It had its origins in a Chautauqua retreat founded in 1891 to bring culture and education to the masses. It evolved into an art deco era amusement park and is now a hub for arts, culture and recreation.

Explore It’s easy to get to the park from Interstate 495. From the parking lot, we walked down the path over Minnehaha Creek, past the Living Classrooms for chil-

The Dentzel Carousel has been returned to its circa 1921 glory.

dren and around the 1970sera yurts that house calligraphy and pottery studios.

We wandered through the Stone Tower Gallery, the only structure that remains from the Chautauqua retreat,

echo.com). Patrons have their choice of atmosphere — formal dining rooms, casual pub or outdoor patio — in which

where several artists were at

to enjoy their shepherd’s pie, fish and chips or lamb chops,

work on paintings, and met J.

along with a pint of Guinness.

Top and Inset: Daniel Schreiber; Clara Barton:Courtesy NPS

Jordan Bruns (jjbruns.com), a resident artist and instructor who has a studio

Upcoming

there. The Popcorn Gallery holds exhibits from

The Puppet Co. (thepuppetco.org), at Glen Echo

artists working at Glen Echo and around the

Park’s 2018 main stage schedule includes “Little

region. We admired the pottery on display,

Red & the Pigs” March 29-May 12; and “Sleeping

and I later regretted not buying one of the

Beauty” May 13-June 24.

The Adventure Theatre (adventuretheatre-

pieces as a gift.

The meticulously restored Dentzel Carousel, at the park since 1921, wasn’t open for the season

mtc.org) at Glen Echo’s professional theater

yet when we visited in April, but a park ranger

DON’T MISS

allowed some visitors in and turned on the lights

The Clara Barton National Historic Site (301-320-1410), adjacent to Glen Echo Park, is where the American Red Cross founder lived during the last 15 years of her life. As of midMarch, it was closed for rehabilitation work.

Check the National Park Service website (nps. gov) for updates.

so we could see its grandeur. Rides, just $1.25, are accompanied by music from a 1926 Wurlitzer with 256 wooden pipes.

Eat Praline at Glen Echo Park offers bakery items, soups, sandwiches, salads and other light fare.

Picnic tables and a playground are close by.

Another option right next to the park is the popular Irish Inn at Glen Echo, (irishinnglen

lineup for 2018 includes “Judy Moody & Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Treasure Hunt” April 20June 3.

The park’s annual Labor Day Art Show, spotlights works from more than 250 regional artists.

Stay We checked into the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center (301-965-4000) in Oxon Hill, a spectacular-looking place with access via water taxi to Alexandria. We’d have been happy lounging at the pool all day, but adventure called us forth.

RVA T R AV E L E R 2 0 1 8

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April 19 - 22 | The Williamsburg Taste Festival is the newest event in the Williamsburg Spring Arts line up. Come discover our mouthwatering cuisines, enjoy a craft cocktail or sommelier-paired glass of wine, and meet the chefs, brew masters and vintners making one of America’s oldest foodie destinations one of the newest.

WilliamsburgTasteFestival.com

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TO

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il

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DAY TRIPPING

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FAMILY

ADVENTURE

DINING

SHOPPING THE ARTS

HISTORY

STAY-CATION EXCURSIONS FOR THE FAMILY 46/ CENTRAL VIRGINIA 47/ WILLIAMSBURG, YORKTOWN

AND JAMESTOWN 48/ CHARLOTTESVILLE 49/ NELSON COUNTY 50/ DOG TROTTING 51/ CULPEPER Yorktown Battlefield

Alexander Kravets Photography

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The owner has a great eye for lamps, artwork and furniture, from primitive to midcentury modern, and we were told that interior designers and dealers from Richmond often stop by.

In Bedford, after seeing the striking but somber National D-Day Memorial (dday.org), our mood was lifted with some antiquing at North Bridge Antiques (540-586-2220).

We also stopped in Farmville at Green Front Furniture’s clearance warehouse (greenfront.com) and Prince Edward Art and Antiques (434392-1914), next to Green Front Building No. 6 on Main Street. It’s another terrific source for lamps, Appomattox Court House

STRAIGHT TO THE CORE

primitives and art.

Visit The National Park Service rang-

ers at the visitors center for the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (434-352-8987) are terrific. Be sure to pepper them

Central Virginia offers history, antiquing and plenty of home décor / By Susan Winiecki

with questions, watch the movie and look for “The Silent Witness Doll,” which was in the McLean House’s parlor at the time of the surrender. A Union officer grabbed 7-year-old Lula McLean’s doll as a souvenir, but it has

Magnolia Foods

been returned.

Also make sure you take a trip down Rivermont Avenue in Lynchburg, where beautiful

old homes, a great little row of shops and restaurants including the gourmet takeout joint Magnolia Foods (magnoliafoods.com), and the serene campus of Randolph College all reside.

Sleep We’re sold on bed-and-breakfasts, and we found a great one in Appomattox. The circa-1884 Babcock House (babcockhouse.com), minutes from the Appomattox Court House National Historical

Shop

Park, was quiet and cozy.

Appomattox left a lot to be desired in the way of shops, so we hit the road to Lynchburg and

DON’T MISS

Bedford. In downtown Lynchburg on Main

Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest (poplarforest.org) in Forest is open daily from mid-March through Dec. 30 (closed on Easter, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The third U.S. president’s restored retreat is open for self-guided tours on weekends from mid-January through mid-March, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Street, we stumbled upon James River Framing and Art (434-846-0096) in a storybook cottage. It was the outdoor display of furniture and architectural salvage that drew us in.

This was not just your ordinary framing shop.

46

Top: NPS staff photo; Middle: Laura Owen Sutherland; Bottom: Warfieldian

The game plan was simple: an early-in-theworkweek getaway that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg while offering equal doses of history and antiquing. My husband, who lives for presidential and Civil War history, hadn’t checked off Appomattox Court House, the site of the Confederate surrender, from his list of Virginia sites, so it served as the hub for our mini vacation. A Facebook message to buddy Martha Steger, the former public-relations director for the Virginia Tourism Council, provided some mustsees for us in Lynchburg and Bedford, and Farmville was chosen as our midway stop there and back.

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HISTORIC FUN

In Yorktown, quaint waterfront streets offer shopping and dining options, while the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown (historyisfun.org), which opened in 2015, explores the

Antiquarian adventures await just down the road / By Erica Jackson Curran

“causes, impact and meaning” of the Revolution. Visitors can participate in Continental Army military drills, load a real cannon and tour a working 1780s farm.

Just an hour east of Richmond, Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown and environs offer more than four centuries of history presented in engaging, interactive ways. There are international-caliber museums and attractions in each town, but along the way, you’ll also find historic homes and plantations, and Native American reservations and museums, and some major amusement parks, too.

The American Heritage Annual Pass includes admission to the Yorktown museum and the Jamestown Settlement. Cost is $23 for adults and $12 for ages 6-12.

Contemporary Fun Two theme parks, Busch Gardens (buschgardens.com/va) and Water Country USA (watercountryusa.com/en/williamsburg/), offer thrilling rides, roller coasters and slides. Great Wolf Lodge (greatwolf.com) boasts a 67,000-squarefoot indoor water park.

American Indian Reservations King William County is home to three of Virginia’s 11 state-recognized American Indian tribes and the state’s only American Indian reservations. The Upper Mattaponi Festival and Powwow takes place Memorial Day weekend. The Mattaponi Museum (804-769-2229) is open on weekends.

The Pamunkeys, the only Virginia tribe to gain federal recognition, share their story at the Pamunkey Indian Museum and Cultural Center (804-843-4792 or see them on Facebook). It’s open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays. Tours by appointment.

Plantations Take in the beauty and history of the James River plantations (jamesriverplantations.org), only a 45-minute drive

Colonial Williamsburg features historical re-enactors

from Richmond along state Route 5. Many of the plantation houses and grounds are open to the public.

Colonial Triumvirate

There’s Berkeley (804-829-6018 or

Colonial Williamsburg (colonialwilliamsburg. com), the nation’s largest outdoor living-history museum, has 500 restored or reconstructed pub-

berkeleyplantation.com), where settlers The Verbolten roller coaster at Busch Gardens

lic buildings, homes, stores and taverns. It’s a great way to immerse yourself in 18th century life. An annual

Photos courtesy Percepture

pass, which includes access to the historic area and the two

observed the first official Thanksgiving, in 1619. The plantation at 12602 Harrison Landing Road, in Charles City was also the birthplace of Benjamin Harrison V, one of the signers of the

Declaration of Independence.

art museums, a free shuttle and guided tours of government

An 1849 landmark that’s now a bed-and-breakfast, Edgewood

buildings, costs $66.99 for adults and $33.49 for ages 6 to 12. Ad-

(829-2962 or edgewoodplantation.com) features 10 fireplaces,

mission is free for younger children.

a flying staircase, gardens and a gristmill. In addition to regular

At Historic Jamestowne ($14, or free for active military and ages 15 and younger, historicjamestowne.org), visitors can ex-

tours, Edgewood offers candlelight tours and ghost tours at 4800 John Tyler Memorial Highway, in Charles City.

plore England’s first successful North American colony. At nearby

Other choices range from Belle Air, circa 1670, making it the

Jamestown Settlement (historyisfun.org), costumed historical

oldest frame house in Virginia, to Shirley, which was established

interpreters demonstrate daily life in the 17th century.

in 1613, and is the oldest plantation in Virginia.

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We started with a visit to Albemarle Baking Company (albemarlebakingco.com), the original anchor of the group of vendors.

For lunch, try Feast! (feast virginia.com). It’s owned by Eric Gertner and Kate Collier and specializes in artisanal cheeses, cured meats, olives and other gourmet fare. They make tasty sandwiches that can be packed to-go. It’s one of 10 specialty stores in the Main Street Market.

A stone’s throw away is the original location of Gearharts Fine Chocolatier (gearharts chocolates.com). Owner Tim Monticello

Gearharts told us that most visitors assume they are entering

worth seeking out. The “Taj,” bittersweet chocolate ganache infused with candied ginger, cardamom and rose, and then dipped in dark

You’ll find fine food and worldclass attractions in this historic college town / By Bethany Emerson

chocolate, was divine.

Learn Head to Monticello (monticello.org) for insights into our third president, Thomas Jefferson. Guided house tours of the

Less than an hour’s drive from Richmond, Charlottesville offers the perfect weekend road trip, with an array of pampering lodging and a plethora of history, shopping, food and fun.

first floor are offered throughout the day. Tours that detail the lives of the enslaved at Monticello are offered daily.

Weekends from February through November you can see Monticello through the eyes of the Hemings fam-

Stay

Downtown Mall

You can book a private cottage through an agency

Also be sure to take in a Gardens and Grounds

called Guesthouses (vaguesthouses.com), which

tour, offered April through October, and try to fit

handles accommodations in Charlottesville and

in a hike on the Saunders-Monticello Trail.

its surrounding areas. Milton Cottage, our home

Jefferson is also the founder of the University of

for the weekend, was idyllic. Six French doors in

Virginia. His handiwork is evident in the Academi-

a row led to a large porch with rocking chairs

cal Village (tclf.org), the heart of the campus, and

and views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The cozy

like Monticello, a World Heritage Site.

interior was tastefully decorated with original

Shop and Stop

art and fresh flowers. Before heading into town the next morning, we leisurely nibbled on fresh strawberries and nutty granola provided by our

DON’T MISS

hosts. Passing horse farms, the roads were awash

Charlottesville was also home to our fifth president, James Monroe, whose estate Highland (highland.org) is open year-round, except for major holidays.

with naturalized daylilies.

Dining Dining options are varied, from college town joints to upscale bistros.

48

ily members, the best known and best documented enslaved family at Monticello.

People watching and listening to buskers makes for an interesting afternoon along the pedestrianfriendly Historic Downtown Mall (downtowncharlottesville.net), eight blocks of shops, clubs, restaurants and general college town life. One end of the mall is anchored by the Sprint Pavilion, a 3,500-seat amphitheater that plays host to national and regional musical acts.

Top: Courtesy visitcharlottesville.org/Jack Looney Photography; Middle: Courtesy visitcharlottesville.org; Bottom: Gene Runion

A TASTE OF CHARLOTTESVILLE

a jewelry store. Displayed in a striking glass-topped wood case, his hand-dipped chocolates are

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UPWARD OVER THE MOUNTAINS

Victuals A latte stop at Greenwood Gourmet Grocery (greenwoodva. com) in Crozet amps up the ride and supplies Virginia meats and cheeses, JAM According to Daniel seasonal spreads, and chocolates.

In Nellysford, barbecue lovers should seek out the smoky, peppery ’cue at the cash-only Blue Ridge Pig (434-361-1170). Enjoy a

Exploring Nelson County

meal at Basic Necessities (basicnecessities.us), or stock up on wine, cheese and smoked salmon spread to go.

/ By Genevelyn Steele

Saturdays from May through October, find organically raised

Along state Route 151 in Nelson County, you’ll find unexpected culinary delights. Also known as Rockfish Valley Highway, this road off Interstate 64 buttresses the Blue Ridge Mountains, stitching together an array of beverage and bucolic interests with nary a stoplight in sight.

produce, meat and lavender; hickory nuts; and native paw paws at the producer-only Nelson Farmers Market Cooperative (nelsonfarmersmarket.com), voted third best on the East Coast.

Potables I hit up the bustling, tour-busfilled Blue Mountain Brewery (bluemountainbrewery.com) in Afton for a patio beer. Cottony clouds fill the blue and white tie-dyed sky, but a few sips later, I press on to Veritas Vineyard & Winery (veritaswines. com). A stone fireplace warms Veritas’ ritzy tasting room. The manicured setting and impressively built wines could substitute for some of Napa Valley’s finest, but they’re affordable

Lock'n Music Festival

in comparison.

Top: Courtesy Nelson County /Camden Littleton; Bottom: Stephanie Gross

I zigzag further off the main road to visit Afton Mountain Vineyards (aftonmountainvineyards.

To Do

com), where scaled-down elegance means no waiting to taste

Swannanoa Palace (540-942-5201), the abandoned, desolate

their lighter-style cabernet sauvignon brimming with cherry

Italian Renaissance Revival summer home in Afton that was

flavors. I hate to spit out the wine, but I’m driving.

commissioned by Maymont’s James H. Dooley, is rarely open

I double back to Route 151 for Virginia vodka, gin and white lightning at Silverback Distillery (sbdistillery.com).

to the public, but seeing this site merits the 90-minute drive from Richmond alone.

Bold Rock Cidery (boldrock.com) operates a tast-

In summer, check out the annual Lockn’ Music Festival (locknfestival.com). The Avett Brothers and the

ing room and barrel barn in Nellysford. I loved the drier ciders available by glass or growler,

Dead’s Phil Lesh and Bob Weir performed in 2017.

or by the bottle in the gift shop.

To Stay

A hop, skip and a jump away, the kidfriendly Wild Wolf Brewing Co. (wildwolf

Blue Haven 151 Farm and B&B (bluehaven

beer.com) is equipped with a toddler play

farmandbnb.com) features nine lovingly re-

area, gazing ponds and live music. There

stored American travel trailers for guest stays. A

are 13 beers on tap, including seasonal and

tricked-out 1990s Airstream Excella with a queen

signature brews.

bedroom and pink-accented salon caught my

The sporty set rides the bar at Devils Back-

eye. But the main house proffers five bedrooms and

bone Brewing Co. (dbbrewingcompany.com) in Roseland, where a stuffed mountain lion and other big game watch over the crowd.

jaw-dropping views in the great room facing DePriest Brunch at Basic Necessities

Mountain, whose 4,063-foot summit is accessible from the Appalachian Trail.

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DOG TROTTING The joys of roving Virginia’s roads with Rover / By Genevelyn Steele I adore the dog days of summer! No, I’m not talking August scorchers, but the time of year when weekends mean time with my fur baby at Fido-friendly museums, wineries and patios.

These getaways go beyond mere acceptance of my canine companion and provide delightful hospitality, commanding us to sit and stay.

This jaunt takes you on U.S. 301 north to avoid the stressful parking lot that’s peak-season Interstate 95.

Unlike that concrete serpent, this route is primed for pit stops and play.

Pups are welcome to accompany you on the grounds of Mount Vernon.

We begin with a stop in Ashland at Taylor Dog Park (12471 Taylor Complex Lane) to introduce my boxer, Dodger, to agility equipment inside the fenced dog

Twenty-minutes later and we’re riding down the Chesapeake

park. Dodger is shaky on the ramps, preferring the 5 kilome-

Bay Wine Trail, home to Ingleside Vineyards (inglesidevineyards.

ters of adjacent walking trails to the trickier sloped pallets.

com), one of the oldest wineries in Virginia. Dogs are allowed on

After burning off some energy, we take a break in Hanover for

Ingleside’s grounds and in the European courtyard.

hand-cut fries and softshell crabs on the front porch of Liliana’s

I taste through eight wines inside while my friend walks

Houndstooth Cafe (13271 Hanover Courthouse Road), at the in-

Dodger, then I select a crisp Albariño for us to sip al fresco.

tersection of Virginia Highway 54 and U.S. 301, where polite dogs

Dodger cools his belly on the stonework by the fountain.

Back on the road, we roll by Horne’s Restaurant and Gift

After an overnight stay in National Harbor, Maryland, we take U.S. 1 south to Mount Vernon (mountvernon.org).

Shop in Port Royal. The diner is the last operating location of

George Washington, an avid dog lover, raised every group of

Bob Horne’s Midcentury, Southeast restaurant chain, known for

dog registered by today’s American Kennel Club, including a

its iconic pitched roof, red trim and neon accents. Behind the

hound named Sweetlips. We confirm our tickets for the All the

counter, shakes whir in 1960s milkshake machines.

President’s Pups Walking Tour (10 a.m. Saturdays, April-June

Collectors of vintage Fire King and Pyrex should stop at the Port Royal Trading Post (port

50

and September-OctoIngleside Vineyards welcomes canine companions on its grounds.

ber) as Dodger paces by the door.

Dogs are allowed on

royaltradingpost.com).

Mount Vernon’s grounds,

The former car dealer-

where you’ll find 12 out-

ship houses more than

buildings and upper

70 antique dealers.

and lower gardens. Wa-

Purse-sized dogs are

ter bowls stand filled by

permitted inside. Nearby

the entrances. Leashes

attractions are an ex-

— and poop scooping

tended fishing pier and

— are required for the

the Port Royal Museum

hour-long traipse, where

of American History

we learn of other favor-

(506 Main St., open Sat-

ite presidential pups, in-

urday only), which con-

cluding a ham-stealing

tains presidential relics.

canine called Vulcan.

Top: Courtesy Mount Vernon/ Russ Flint; Bottom: Courtney Sisson

are welcome.

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CHARMED BY CULPEPER

Libations Culpeper can’t compete with Charlottesville for the sheer number of wineries in the vicinity, but you can still find a good variety of booze. Throw back a few samples of Virginia Lightning moonshine at Belmont Farm Distillery (belmontfarmdistillery.

There’s much to explore in and around this small town

com), off U.S. 522 south of town, or walk among the vines at Old House Vineyards (oldhousevineyards.com) east of Culpeper; or Gray Ghost Vineyards (grayghostvineyards.com) along

/ By Catherine Amos Cribbs

U.S. 211 in Amissville. Back in town, we sampled a hefty flight

From the independent shops and travel-worthy restaurants to the tight-knit community of natives and transplants alike, Culpeper’s charm makes it a must-visit Virginia town.

of pooch-named brew at Beer Hound Brewery (beerhoundbrewery.com), like Kujo, a “rabid” pale ale, and their Olde Yella American wheat.

Shopping It's About Thyme

It’s only a few blocks, but the tiny, historic downtown is packed with swoon-worthy finds. We spent the day getting lost among the oh-sotrendy Americana goods at Harriet’s General (blog.harrietsgeneral.com).

I treated myself (and the environment!) to some eco-friendly gifts at Green Roost (shopgreenroost.com) and browsed international wares at The Cameleer (thecameleer. com). If you’re feeling so inclined, kick off a date night with Neuhaus chocolates from The Frenchman’s Corner (frenchmanscorner.com) and specialty cheeses and wines from the Culpeper Cheese Co. (culpepercheese.com).

The Archive Built into the side of Mount Pony sits a former Cold War-era bunker that the Federal Reserve once used to store currency. Today, the gorgeous facility houses the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation

Courtesy Paige Read/Town of Culpepper

Center, home to the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection

Food

of films, television programs, radio broadcasts and

The casual European cuisine at It’s About

sound recordings. The campus includes a 205-seat

Thyme (thymeinfo.com) or its sister Thyme

Art Deco-style theater with state-of-the-art film

Market — from grilled rockfish with broc-

projection. It screens free movies and holds other

colini to daily puff-pastry specials — is worth

events, usually Thursdays through Saturdays. For a

the trip alone. But there’s also Baby Jim’s Snack Bar (701 N. Main St.) if you’ve got cash

Old House Vineyards

and are looking for a classic, old-school burger and

listing of upcoming events, visit loc.gov/avconservation/theater/schedule.html.

fries; Knakal’s Bakery (146 E. Davis St.), where you can

The Scenery

get a Westhampton Pastry Shop-style glazed doughnut; or the

Whether you’re just up for the day or staying overnight at one of

opportunity to dress up for fine dining at Foti’s (fotisrestaurant.

the posh boutique hotels — like the contemporary, luxury Suites

com) or Lucio (luciorestaurant.net). Start your day at Raven’s

at 249 (suitesat249.com) that overlooks downtown — Culpeper

Nest (ravensnestcoffeehouse.com) for a latte and house-made

offers beautiful views of the Blue Ridge, historical Civil War

lemon poppy-seed scone.

battlefields, horse-show parks, vineyards and sprawling farms.

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feel the festival LOCKN’ Festival

|

August 23-26

Locknfestival.com

Devils Backbone Hoopla

|

September 28-30

dbrewingcompany.com

The Festy Experience

|

October 5-7

Festy.com

nelson county VIRGINIA

nelsoncounty.com Register for a weekend getaway: 800.282.8223

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VIRGINIA

Trending Vibrant!

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1/10/18 12:52 PM

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FAMILY

ADVENTURE

DINING

SHOPPING THE ARTS

SIX DESTINATIONS WORTH A QUICK FLIGHT FROM THE RIC 56/ ATLANTA 57/ CHARLOTTE 58/ NASHVILLE 59/ MINNEAPOLIS 60/ NEW YORK CITY

HISTORY

TAKING FLIGHT

61/ SANDUSKY, OHIO

54

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ATLANTA BY DESIGN

DINE A late-night Saturday dinner was on tap in Inman Park. One Eared

Fine arts and fine foods are part of the fun in Georgia’s capital city / By Susan Winiecki

Stag (404-525-4479 or oneearedstag.com) was one of Eater’s 38 Essential Atlanta Restaurants

I love a plane ride that’s over before the flight attendants can even roll their cart the full length of the cabin, and a nonstop flight to Atlanta is just that, clocking in at under 90 minutes. Say hello to a city of inventive neighborhood restaurants, artist-run shops and inspiring museums.

for Summer 2017, and it delivered. Raisin chutney was the unexpected addition to my cauliflower soup with fenugreek.

Richmond butchers beware: There soon will be a run on beef spinalis (aka the cap steak). My roasted

Hot Chicken at One Eared Stag

version with green-chile salsa, black garlic and cippolini onions was a perfect foil for a chilly evening. An individual brown-butter

Sleep

sponge cake slathered in buttercream and a meringue on top,

The Crown Plaza Atlanta-Midtown (cpatlantamidtown.com),

for $9, was the best money I had spent all weekend, until the

ing lobby with a Thrive Farmers sustainable coffee shop, and a firm bed make for a restful overnight.

Explore After brunch at Empire State South (999 Peachtree St. NE, No. 140, empirestatesouth.com), which is across from the Margaret Mitchell House (margaret mitchellhouse.com), I walked to the Museum of

next morning.

A mural by artist Louis Delsarte on the MLK Jr. natatorium

Sunday brunch begins at 10:30 at Empire State South (404-541-1105 or empirestatesouth.com), chef/owner Hugh Acheson’s Atlanta restaurant. I arrived on the dot and ordered pimento cheese with bacon marmalade and toast. I added a bowl of house-made granola with fresh yogurt and blood oranges and a biscuit served with pepper jelly. The restaurant also has a bocce court outside and a cash-and-carry section with delectable sweets. I went away happy with raspberry caramels.

Worth The Trip

Design Atlanta (museum

Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site (nps.

ofdesign.org). Nearby, you’ll

gov/malu/index.htm) is actually a collection of sites that

find the High Museum of Art (high.org), where a major exhibit of works by influential Japanese art-

celebrates the civil rights icon, including his birthplace, the King Center and the original Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he and his father served as pastor.

ist Yayoi Kusama opens in November 2018.

Shop Don’t miss the Beehive (404581-9261 or thebeehiveatl. com), a designer collective in the Edgewood neighborhood.

From local food products to locally designed clothing, the variety and quality of merchandise was outstanding. I left with three infinity scarves, preserves, letterpress cards and a vow to return. Two outside-the-perimeter stops include the Ballard Designs outlet in Roswell (ballard designs.com) and Boca Bargoons (770-475-1219 or boca bargoons.com) discount fabric store in Alpharetta.

56

High Museum of Art

Top: One Eared Stag; Middle: Jenni Gartman, courtesy of ACVB & AtlantaPhotos.com; Bottom: Gene Phillips, Courtesy of ACVB & AtlantaPhotos.com

is about $127 per night. Friendly staff, a welcom-

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The Charlotte skyline lights up the twilight.

Bike Share Tour Dilworth using one of the largest urban bike-share programs in the Southeast. Grab a Charlotte B-cycle (charlotte.bcycle.com) at East-West Station, pass turn-ofthe-century homes along Dilworth Road and ride on East Boulevard, where the locally owned gift shop Paper Skyscraper (330 E. Boulevard, paperskyscraper. com) should be on your afterride agenda.

Freshly Minted The Mint Museum (2730 Randolph Road, mintmuseum.org) has three expansive galleries filled with men’s, women’s and children’s clothing. Be sure to check out the exhibit of contemporary Mexican photography, which runs through June 18 at the uptown branch. Admission is free 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays.

QUEEN CITY STANDOUTS

Morning in Myers Park On Sunday morning, we took a drive through the Myers Park neighborhood. Named for William R. Myers and his son,

The neighborhoods of Dilworth and NoDa link Charlotte’s past and future / By Susan J. Winiecki

Jack, it’s a 1,000-acre community filled with tree-lined streets and flowers.

Built in 1915, The Duke Mansion in Myers Park was expanded by owner James Buchanan Duke, who founded Duke Energy and

Top: Courtesy CRVA; Bottom: Courtesy Amelie’s French Bakery

the Duke Endowment. The 20-room inn (400 Hermitage Road,

I grew up in the Queen City of the North — Buffalo, New York, — but I was overdue for a first-time visit to the Queen City of the South — Charlotte, North Carolina — where a college friend is only a direct flight away from Richmond. Museums, shopping and hikes through historic neighborhoods were on tap for the long weekend.

dukemansion.org) now operates as a nonprofit, with proceeds used to preserve the home.

NoDa The North Davidson neighborhood, aka NoDa, has undergone 30 years of redevelopment after artists discovered this former mill community in the 1980s. Don’t miss a lunch at Cabo Fish Taco (3201 N. Davidson St., cabofishtaco.com).

Blackened tuna tacos with pineapple-kiwi sauce were a great start to an afternoon of gallery hopping and shopping. Dessert was found at the flagship location

The Olmsted Connection

for Amelie’s French Bakery (2424 N. Davidson St.,

In the 1870s, landscape architect

ameliesfrenchbakery.com), where crunchy palmiers

Frederick Olmsted changed the

left their telltale shards all over my lap.

face of Buffalo by connecting neighborhoods with six parks and seven parkways. His sons had a similar im-

Amelie’s French Bakery

pact on Charlotte. Their work is seen in Dilworth, the city’s first streetcar suburb, where

The Sleepy Poet It doesn’t look like much from the outside — a lowslung brick warehouse off South Boulevard, but it’s what is inside that counts. The Sleepy Poet Antique Mall (4450 S.

curving, tree-lined streets follow the topography, not a formal

Boulevard, sleepypoetstuff.com) contains 55,000 square feet

street grid. This neighborhood set the bar for the city’s future

of well-organized booths, from vintage clothing and jewelry to

suburban development.

repurposed industrial finds.

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HOT CHICKEN, HOT TIMES

South And East On Rutledge Hill, south of Broadway, sits chef Sean Brock’s Husk restaurant (husknashville.com) in a converted 1880s mansion.

A huge chalkboard lists familiar Virginia product names like Rappahannock River Oysters and Foggy Ridge Cider. My Bear

Good food and great music make Nashville memorable / By Susan Winiecki

Creek Farm pork, succotash and West African mustard greens were a perfect Southern blend.

Sock sausage, caramel cake and “shutthe-cluck-up” chicken caught my fancy in Nashville, Tennessee, and all three left me planning a return trip. Filled with museums and other restaurants to try, the city’s neighborhoods are reverberating with creative energy.

In East Nashville, you can enjoy a cozy dinner at Margot Café (margotcafe.com), founded in 2001 by chef Margot McCormack, who has been called the “Alice Waters of Nashville”; and be sure to stop The Hermitage Hotel

by artisan chocolatiers Olive and Sinclair (oliveandsinclair. com), which offers public factory tours on Saturdays.

Germantown The 18-block Germantown neighborhood dating to the 1850s houses some of Nashville’s f inest restaurants, including City House (cityhousenashville.com). A Thursday-night dinner started with a tangy Bandit, a cocktail combining Averna with grapefruit juice, and finished with the best panna cotta I’ve eaten, laced with blackberries, topped with cream and garnished with crumbled oatmeal cookies. The house-made linShrimp and grits at Husk

guine with chickpeas, fennel, kale and chilies was another

On the north side of Broadway downtown is The Hermitage

West Nashville

Hotel (thehermitagehotel.com), Nashville’s first million-dollar

A visit with friends who live in Sylvan Park meant a jumbo

hotel when it opened in 1910. From its grand lobby with a paint-

chicken-tender dinner buffet, complete with pimento macaroni

ed-glass skylight to its bath-drawing service, the hotel exudes

and cheese, from Hattie B’s (hattieb.com). My friends ordered

Southern graciousness. The hotel also has its own garden five

the “damn hot” chicken for me, but I intend to try “the shut-

miles away and its own cattle farm called the Double H. Both

the-cluck-up” version next time.

properties play into what is offered at the hotel’s Capitol Grille restaurant. From a golden buttermilk breakfast biscuit served with pork-and-pepper sock sausage to a blue-plate lunch special of sliced Double H roast beef, buttermilk mashed potatoes and collard greens, there was no need for supper.

58

DON’T MISS Yes, the Ryman Auditorium (ryman.com), home to the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974, is definitely worth a stop, but the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (countrymusichalloffame.org) in the growing South of Broadway (SoBro) neighborhood is truly something to sing about. The exhibit “Loretta Lynn: Blue Kentucky Girl” runs there through Aug. 5. Also worth a stop is the Johnny Cash Museum (johnnycashmuseum.com), a 18,000-square-foot trove of Cash family memorabilia, including tin cups from Folsom Prison, where Cash recorded his famous live album.

Top: The Hermitage Hotel; Middle: Courtesy Husk Restaurant; Bottom: Courtesy the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

bright spot.

Midtown Hub

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MINNESOTA NICE? YOU BETCHA!

Minneapolis skyline from the Hewing Hotel

Minneapolis is a pleasant, polite and sophisticated destination / By Alexis C. Holcombe Bitter cold winters. That’s what most people think of when asked about Minneapolis. However, my traveling partner and I searched for another side of this great Mississippi River city: Scandinavian heritage and cuisine, beautiful lakes, and some of the country’s best museums and cultural venues.

Mega Mall A Must If shopping is on your itinerary, use the light rail to the suburb of Bloomington to visit the Mall of America (8100 S. 24th Ave., mallofamerica. com). Legoland, Nickelodeon Universe and American Girl are some of the featured attractions, along with more than 520 stores and 50 restaurants.

Top: rau+barber, Courtesy of the Hewing Hotel and Meet Minneapolis Bottom: Hanna Voxland, Courtesy of The Bachelor Farmer and Meet Minneapolis

Lakes And Hills

By Wheels Using Uber to reach the shore of Lake Calhoun on the Chain of

Flour Power

Lakes, we also stopped by Wheel Fun Rentals (wheelfunrentals.

The Mill District on the Minneapolis riverfront commemorates

com/Locations/Minneapolis) to rent road bikes. Along well-marked

the city’s former glory as the world’s flour milling capital. The

paths we marveled at the quiet grace of the mansions lining the

“Tower of Flour” audiovisual tour at the Mill City Museum (704

Linden Hills neighborhood between lakes Calhoun and Harriet.

S. Second St., millcitymuseum.org) is a must-see for visitors of all ages and ends at an observation deck, with an expansive

Nice Way To Travel

view of St. Anthony Falls and the Stone Arch Bridge.

Minneapolis is widely considered one of the best

The “You betcha!” offered by the cashier at the

bike cities in the United States. The sturdy lime-

museum’s gift shop was a bonus.

green bikes offered by Nice Ride Minnesota (niceridemn.org), the local bike-share pro-

On The Town

gram available from April to November,

Museums and exhibits not to miss include

give easy access to numerous stations for

the Walker Art Center (1750 Hennepin Ave.,

cruising hundreds of miles of bike lanes.

walkerart.org), where a major retrospective

(Nice Ride doesn’t provide helmets, so bring

of works by Allen Ruppersberg runs March

your own.)

Nordic Niceties

17-July 29, 2018. Also worth a visit is architect The Bachelor Farmer

“Minnesota Nice” reflects the agreeableness that is so typically Scandinavian. At the American Swedish Institute (2600 S. Park Ave., asimn.org), we ate a savory Swedish lunch

Frank Gehry’s Weisman Art Museum (333 E. River Road, weisman.umn.edu), where the life and work of Prince is celebrated in a photo exhibit running through June 17, 2018.

from the Institute’s onsite cafe, FIKA. Continuing our search for

Getting There

New Nordic cuisine, we also dined at The Bachelor Farmer (50 N.

Delta offers direct flights from Richmond International Air-

Second Ave., thebachelorfarmer.com) with pre-dinner cocktails

port to Minneapolis-St. Paul. From there it’s best to skip the

at Marvel Bar, an unmarked speakeasy in the Bachelor Farmer’s

expensive airport cab and instead take the Metro Blue Line’s

basement. After dinner we stopped by Askov Finlayson (200 N.

light rail (metrotransit.org), part of the region’s rail and bus

First St., askovfinlayson.com), men’s clothing boutique.

rapid transit system.

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IT’S UP TO YOU

Yankee Stadium

Making the most of the Big Apple with kids in tow / By Chad Anderson Just as there are 8 million stories in the naked city, there are probably 8 million ways to visit New York with children — this is just one of them.

Location, Location We took up residence at the Hotel Wales (hotelwalesnyc. com), an Upper East Side establishment featuring a charming rooftop terrace and plenty of neighborhood conveniences. The much-loved breakfast spot Sarabeth’s (sarabeths restaurants.com) has a location in the hotel. Nearby, there’s the Corner Bookstore (cornerbookstorenyc.com), an independent shop that’s small in stature but staffer helping us offered numer-

Central Park

ous suggestions for our son and

genie still made me laugh.

Simple Sustenance

daughter, and each was a hit.

My kids aren’t foodies, at least not yet. As a result, our New York

Going Green

dining was more about function than form, with meals at my old

The Wales is only a block from

pizza standby, Two Boots (twoboots.com); Hill Country Chicken

Central Park. In addition to

(hillcountrychicken.com), a fried-chicken spot with tasty pies

mapping out the park’s numer-

and old-school video games downstairs; and whatever I could

ous attractions, the Central Park

find when hunger hit by calling up New York magazine’s infor-

Conservancy (centralparknyc.

mative, organized-by-location restaurant guide (nymag.com/

org) has a super-useful free app

restaurants) on my smartphone.

that will direct you to the nearest restroom and (perhaps even better) the closest playground.

Day At The Museum

As you explore, the app also features free celebrity audio guides

My daughter had “From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frank-

on park attractions. Alec Baldwin talks about the Great Lawn,

weiler” assigned for summer reading, and given that the book’s

and Whoopi Goldberg opines on the Alice in Wonderland statue,

protagonists hide out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

among others.

(metmuseum.org), we had to stop by. Many of the displays the

Under The Big Lights I wish I could hate the new Yankee Stadium (yankees.com), but the much-improved food and

book references are now gone, but the Egyptian artifacts and an impressive collection of armor held our kids’ interest.

Staten Island Ferry

Ferry Tale

beverage offerings have won me over, even if I

When I lived in New York, the Staten Island

still miss the old place and its friendlier ticket

Ferry (siferry.com) was one of my go-tos for

prices. The kids got introduced to the magic

out-of-town guests. It’s free, it gets you out

of rally caps, albeit defective ones, as the To-

on the water, and it offers great views of lower

ronto Blue Jays topped the Yanks on our visit.

Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. There’s a

A couple days later, we took the children to their first Broadway show, “Aladdin” at the New Amsterdam Theatre. They loved it, and despite

60

repeated viewings of the Disney film, I have to admit that the

Dairy Queen at the terminal on the Staten Island side, so we enjoyed some soft serve during our trip back to Manhattan.

Top: New York Yankees; Middle: NYC & Company/ Christopher Postlewaite; Bottom: InSapphoWeTrust

large in literary knowledge. The

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A GREAT LAKE GETAWAY Safaris, roller coasters and other amusements abound around Lake Erie / By Taylor Horvath Fly in to Cleveland and drive about an hour west and you’ll find yourself in Sandusky, Ohio. You’ve probably never heard of it, but there’s a bit of everything here, from Cedar Point, where you can take your amusement park thrill seeking to new levels, to subtle and sublime lakeside life around Put-in-Bay.

There are five places to stay, including the Hotel Breakers (reservations.cedarpoint.com) which dates from 1905 and was refurbished in 2015. It offers a beautiful beachfront view and boardwalk.

The park has dozens of dining options (Pink’s hot dogs and Johnny Rockets ‘50s-style diner top my list), plus typical amusement park concessions, including boardwalk fries, burgers and hot dogs. Sticking to a tighter budget? No problem, because the park has a nice picnic area, where you can enjoy your own food. A tip: Buy a souvenir bottle ($11.99) and you’ll get free drink refills all day.

On Safari Across Sandusky Bay in Port Clinton, you’ll find African Safari Wildlife Park (africansafariwildlifepark.com), which offers drivethrough or walk-through expeCedar Point

riences for all ages. You can see and feed animals from around the world, not just Africa, all from the comfort of your car.

The walk-through safari would be great for older children and couples without kids.

Island Time If you’re in need of an island getaway, try the village of Put-in-Bay (putinbay.com), a 20-minute ride by ferry (millerferry.com) from the mainland.

Whether it’s just for the day or overnight during the long weekend, there’s plenty to do in Put-in-Bay. Rent a go-cart, moped, bike, or just go about it the old-fashioned way — walk-

Top: Courtesy Cedar Point; Inset: Courtesy African Safari Wildlife Park

ing — it doesn’t matter how African Safari Wildlife Park

you get around.

Water sports and activities including personal watercrafts and parasailing are popular here, as you’d expect on

Amuse Yourself Start with Cedar Point (cedarpoint.com), the world’s top amusement park, or so says Amusement Today. Cedar Point is also known as the Roller Coaster Capital of the World and is

an island.

Must-sees include the Putin-Bay Winery (putinbaywinery. com), and Chocolate Café & Museum (chocolateohio.com), where

a sister park to Kings Dominion in Doswell. Its first roller coaster

you can enjoy confections and see the

was built in 1892, but it is now home to 18 roller coasters and

antique chocolate collectibles, and Kim-

more than 70 rides, including water, thrill, family and kids rides.

berly’s Carousel, a circa-1916 restored carousel.

But the roller coasters are the main attraction. Ride the Mag-

You can learn about the lake’s crucial role in the War of 1812

num roller coaster, which is more than 200 feet high, and you

at the 352-feet-tall Perry’s Victory and International Peace

may catch a glimpse of Canada. The Valravn, crushes 10 world

Memorial (nps.gov/pevi). It’s named for Oliver Hazard Perry,

records, including the world’s tallest and the fastest dive coaster.

the American Navy commander who played a key role in that

This park is like Walt Disney World in that it’s massive and also

conflict. From this tower, all Lake Erie Islands can be seen, as

offers food and dining options.

well as the shores of Ohio, Michigan and Ontario.

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VIRGINIA ROADWAYS A TO Z Informative, fun or just plain odd sites across the commonwealth A

Apple picking, Jenkins

Orchards, Woodville Pick your own or mix and match a bushel or two. Find them on Facebook.

B

A rocket ready to soar at the spaceport on Wallops Island

Busch Gardens, Williamsburg

Check out the new VR ride, Battle for Eire. buschgardens.com C

Carter Family Fold, Hiltons

K

Kings Dominion

for 2018. kingsdominion.com

The Confederate general’s amputated left arm has its own marker. nps.gov

L

Luray Caverns

The only place to hear a stalacpipe D

DEA Museum, Arlington

organ. luraycaverns.com

Where else can you buy a DEA keychain or beanie? deamuseum.org Edgar Cayce’s Association for

Research and Enlightenment,

T

Tank Museum, Danville

Homage to military armor. aaftankmuseum.com

M

Middleburg horse country

Check out the Middleburg Spring E

Stonewall Jackson’s arm,

Locust Grove

Carter Festival on Aug. 4. carterfamilyford.org

S

Twisted Timbers rollercoaster is new

U

Upper Falls, Doyles River

Races and Virginia Fall Races.

Round trip of 3.3 miles includes

visitmiddleburgva.com

lower falls, too.

Virginia Beach the Sleeping Prophet. edgarcayce.org F

N

Natural Bridge

foam version in the fall. coxfarms.com

rock arch. dcrvirginia.gov

to hiking/biking recreation trail. vacreepertrail.org

O

Old Fiddlers Convention, Galax

The convention is Aug. 6-11 this year. oldfiddlersconvention.com

G

Great Dismal Swamp

Hike, bike or kayak through this pristine expanse. fws.gov Hampton University Museum

Patsy Cline House, Winchester

patsycline.org

Isle of Wight County Museum

The world’s oldest, edible Smithfield

tangierisland-va.com X

eXploration

NASA Wallops Flight Facility celebrates space exploration. nasa.gov

Q

Quantico, National Museum

of the Marine Corps I

Watermen, Tangier Island

House museum honoring the life

Massive collection of African-American fine art. museum.hampton.edu

W

Get a hint at the life of families making their livelihood along Chesapeake Bay.

P

of this country crooner. celebrating H

Virginia Creeper Trail

Onetime railroad track converted

Foamhenge, Cox Farms, Centreville

If you can’t go to Stonehenge, see the

V

Thomas Jefferson once owned this

Y

Yogaville

Don’t miss the Marine Corps Combat

Ashram community is home to the Light

Art Gallery. usmcmuseum.com

of Truth Universal Shrine. yogaville.org

ham is here. historicisleofwight.com R

64

Jamestown-Scotland Ferry

Raven Room, UVA, Charlottesville

Z

Zip line, Virginia Canopy Tours,

Shrine to Edgar Allan Poe, who

Bentonville

Free ferry ride across the James.

attended the college in 1826.

High-line views of the Massanutten

virginiadot.org

aig.alumni.virginia.edu

mountains. zipthepark.com

J

NASA/Bill Ingalls

Walk the labyrinth and learn more about

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Just minutes from the hustle and bustle of D.C. you’ll discover the town that George Washington once called home. Come stroll down historic King Street.

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