A Firsthand Experience of Virginia’s Iconic, Historic Hotel

It was a particularly cold night the evening I drove to the Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Va. It was a beautiful, scenic drive—the mountains and rural towns of Bath County acting as a precursor to heighten my anticipation. Finally, around a bend I could see the resort in the distance. It was dark, but the lawn and resort were intricately decorated with Christmas lights. The sight was overwhelming; I knew my stay would be memorable.

When I stepped into the thankfully very warm lobby, I admit, the long hall adorned with columns and fireplaces was a little intimidating. It was equal parts shopping mall, fine dining, fancy estate and hotel. It felt like something out of a movie; something I might not be fit for. The staff, with their warmth and attention, assured me otherwise.

The Homestead is, at times, a place where you may feel underdressed in your Sunday best. But, that’s all right. Because, for every luxurious amenity, there are plenty of homey touches that encourage relaxation.

Whatever your background may be, Homestead Marketing Manager Eileen Judah assures that there are several draws to make the resort a personalized experience. “It’s very flexible.”

The History
About 10 years before the ink dried on the Declaration of Independence, the Homestead opened to the public in the rural town of Hot Springs. The resort just wrapped a full year of activities and events to celebrate its 250th anniversary.

Hot Springs is named after the earthy springs that were staples of the area, drawing the likes of political figures such as Thomas Jefferson and Robert E. Lee.

The Homestead proudly displays its rich history—from the Jeffersonian architecture to the daily history tour. The South Parlor is surrounded by painted panels displaying imagery that tells the story of the Homestead’s many milestones, starting with its founding in 1766 to the fire of 1901 that lead to much of the current building you see now through reconstruction.
Homestead Historian Keene Byrd—a man with a dry delivery, accompanied by a surprisingly cheeky sense of humor—is an expert on the lodge’s past.

“So much history happened here in this one place,” Byrd said.

Byrd says the springs were the height of the Homestead’s activities in the 1800s, but the traditions of the time demanded men and women enjoy them separately. Different color flags were used to indicate which gender was currently soaking. According to Byrd, sometimes pranksters would switch the flag colors causing embarrassing results.

Byrd also showed me the lobby bar that had walls covered in portraits of American presidents who have visited the Homestead during their time in office. Over the span of 250 years the expansive resort has built an impactful legacy, that fire or time seem unable to mar.
“We must be doing something right,” Byrd said.

The Celebration
In an age of trends, technology and businesses with shrinking life spans, the milestone of 250 years—older than America—is nothing short of remarkable. And the Homestead celebrated that anniversary in a grand fashion.

“We started planning our 250th anniversary a couple of years ago.

We had a very long list of ideas,” Director of Marketing and Communications Lynn Swann said.

Those ideas manifested themselves in several unique ways, big and small. For instance, the bakers were challenged to create a different cake recipe for every day of the year. The initiative brandished the fun slogan, “A historic anniversary that truly takes the cake.” Additionally, every month had its own theme. For example, January celebrated associates (staff), while February focused on presidents.

Swann says they even used the 3 p.m. tea time as an additional opportunity to celebrate the anniversary. A guest suggested the time be changed to 2:50 p.m. Swann was amused they had not thought of it.

The Staff
According to Swann, the Homestead is staffed with roughly 1,100 associates during its peak seasons, the holidays and summer.
The staff help to provide what Swann describes as “genuine southern hospitality.”

“The associates are the core of who we are,” Swann said.

Some staff members follow a legacy of family members who have served the Homestead for generations. Those Homestead mainstays—
often remembering names and even food orders—are cherished by the guests.

“Guests come back, and they form bonds with our associates.

It’s almost like a reunion of sorts,” Swann said.

Kenny Gwin is a perfect illustration of the legacies some associates share with the Homestead. He has worked at the resort for 46 years, and his family has worked at the Homestead for three generations.

Gwin, dressed in all white and covered in paint, spoke softly but passionately during our interview about the resort and its positive impact on his life. He stated that he had nothing but good to say about his workplace and home, the “old girl.”

“Me and the ‘old girl’ [have] been together a long time. She’s an old girl, but she’s a beautiful girl. She’s seen her times, she really has,” Gwin said.

The Experience
It is quite the task to attempt to experience everything the Homestead has to offer. Even more challenging is remaining concise while trying to describe it all. The Homestead boasts more than 2,000 acres, 483 guest rooms, and over 30 activities for guests to discover.
When I found my room, I was awestruck. It had all the perks you’d expect at any hotel, but touched with Homestead’s unique brand of colonial warmth. The attention to detail was refreshing.

My first evening there was little time to rest, as I had a dinner reservation at Sam Snead’s Tavern—a quaint and subtle eatery nestled away from the main resort site.

The tavern honors Snead, Bath County local celebrity and the Homestead’s own golfer extraordinaire. The meal and the atmosphere were a little closer to what I’m used to, with a simple menu and rustic aesthetic you would expect in a sports bar. French onion soup, fish and chips, and one big cookie were my company for the night, as I feasted like a very modest king.

The next day, I was treated to a breakfast buffet that was almost as extensive as the resort itself. This day was particularly exciting, as I experienced a few of the Homestead’s many activities. My choices: horseback riding, a much-needed massage afterward, and a trip to the resort’s unique spa area, the aqua thermal suite. The suite houses various, unique spa treatments including aromatic steam rooms, a chilling mist room, and experiential showers that combine light, sound and temperature to create the feel of a Caribbean or Atlantic storm.

Throughout my day I enjoyed my experiences alongside other guests and families and got a chance to chat with them about what brought them to the resort. For many, the Homestead is a family tradition. Others were exploring the resort on a tour to plan a future trip. Some were simply in town on business or said they visit to see the leaves change.

“This is also sort of that grand, old-fashioned, American family vacation,” Swann said.

Whatever the reason for their stay, all agreed that the Homestead was a unique place with a special environment.

“It’s just really nostalgic in a weird way,” businessman Matt Childers said.

Before I would leave in the morning, I had one more dinner to attend at Jefferson’s Restaurant. Although the menu seemed high class, it was comprised of several meaty dishes that appealed to those unique American sensibilities. The meatballs and a braised lamb stew were delicious and so well presented that I could not help but take a few photos.

On my last morning, a particularly sunny day, I did some exploring, ate as much of that breakfast buffet as I could, and attended the Homestead’s history tour.

I was thankful for the weather because when it was time to leave, I was able to take in the amazing view of Bath County, home to a one-of-a-kind destination full of history and culture.

By Jeremy Angione

Think there’s nothing to do when the weather turns cold? Don’t whine—there’s always wine. At wineries across Central Virginia, you can spend winter weekends warming up with a glass— or bottle—of locally-made wine.

Area winemakers will tell you that wintertime, what some might consider the off-season, is a great time to visit wineries. George Hodson, general manager at Veritas Vineyard & Winery in Afton, says at Veritas winter is “more of a mindset.”

In addition to the ambience of the fireplace—a good place to “snuggle up,” he said—winter is a quiet season, but in the best way. “We have our fireplace burning constantly,” Hodson said. “The other aspect is how quiet it is. Wintertime is the perfect time to do the wine trails because there’s less traffic.”

In addition, he said, the winter tasting room staff is “more tenured,” which can mean a better experience. “They can have a really good interaction with people who have worked at the wineries a long time, that core tasting-room staff,” he said.

Wineries also can be a great place to enjoy the winter weather, albeit probably from indoors. After all, as Afton Mountain Vineyards puts it on their website, “Grapes don’t grow in ugly places.”

At Afton Mountain, which along with Veritas is one of several wineries located along State Route 151 in Nelson County, visitors can sip wine in an enclosed pavilion overlooking the winery.

“It offers all the beautiful views, like you’d be sitting outside, but it’s enclosed, and you have heat and a nice place to relax,” tasting room manager Michelle Kimmell said. “It’s a large, relaxing space for people to gather.”

The tasting room at Afton’s Valley Road Vineyards offers a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Rockfish Valley. CEO Stan Joynes calls it “the money shot” and said they plan to install a fire pit outside as well.

The Homeplace Vineyard, in Chatham, hosts its tastings in a rustic log cabin, and for history buffs, the tasting room at Chatham’s Tomahawk Mill Vineyard & Winery is a grist mill, built in 1888 by Confederate veteran James Anderson.

Close to Wintergreen Resort, Flying Fox Vineyard is a good place to wind down after a day on the slopes, “It’s really cozy here,” owner Chloe Watkins said, adding, “When they’re sick of skiing, they’ll come see us.”

Bring out Your Reds
The staff at area wineries will tell you winter is the time to bring out the red wines. With holidays and heavier foods, reds are more popular. “In the winter, we find that a lot of people come in to get red wine because they’re having a party or an Italian meal, something like lasagna or a pasta dish,” Kimmell said.

Ports are a big seller, too. “We have a fabulous, port-style wine,” Kimmell said of Afton Mountain’s VDN. “[It’s] fortified with brandy. It’s made from our grape juice, and we send it off to be distilled—aged—in bourbon barrels. It’s a definite cold-weather favorite. It’s the perfect wine to cozy up in front of a warm fire with in the wintertime.”

Valley Road, which released its first bottles this past April, has what Joynes describes as “particularly spectacular” reds. “What we’ve been told is our Meritage is really special and will be more special if we put it away for a while,” Joynes said of the blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

At Flying Fox, Watkins said Red Table is a popular winter wine. Described on the website as an “off-dry blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot,” it’s said to appeal to both red and white fans. It’s also the wine Watkins uses to make mulled wine, a spiced, heated wine offered at some wineries during the winter.

Around Thanksgiving, Cardinal Point Vineyard & Winery, in Afton, releases a nouveau, a holiday wine that’s made from grapes harvested just weeks before. “It’s not aged very long,” said Rose Harper, who works in the tasting room. “It’s a pretty quick process.”

For that reason, Harper said, it “only lasts about three months before it starts to go,” and nouveau wines are sold only until about mid-January. “You’ve got to get it and drink it. It’s a pretty limited batch.”

While not a red and technically not even a wine, Sans Soucy Vineyards’ Ginger wine is a popular choice for winter. According to co-owner Jackie Anctil, Ginger is “more of a cordial, after-dinner drink” and is a good partner for Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.

Anctil also suggests mixing it with bourbon or whisky to make a “Whisky Mac” or with champagne, her favorite. “It’s quite sweet and very gingery,” she said.

According to Anctil, Sans Soucy, located about a half-hour from Lynchburg in Brookneal, is the only winery in the Commonwealth and possibly beyond that makes ginger wine. “We’re the only ones who make ginger wine,” she said. “We’re the only ones in the state, for sure, and we pretty much believe we’re the only ones on the East Coast.”

Holiday Happenings
When thinking about the “Twelve Days of Christmas,” what’s likely to come to mind are drumming drummers, milking maids and partridges roosting in pear trees. This holiday season, consider a new, grownup take on the classic ditty: 12 days of holiday spirits—more specifically wine — along State Route 151 in Nelson County.

Nelson 151 (www.nelson151.com), a group that promotes wineries, breweries and distilleries along the scenic byway, will present its “Twelve Days of Christmas on Nelson 151” from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5, 2017.

Five wineries along the route—Flying Fox, Afton Mountain, Hill Top, Veritas and Cardinal Point—are participating in the fundraiser, which benefits several area charities.

“Each member of 151 chooses a local charity that they want to support on their designated day,” Hodson, of Veritas, said. “They also choose how they want to determine their contribution. Some will do a percentage of total revenue, some will have the value of tastings.”

Take a Drive
Route 151 Wine Tour (From Lynchburg, south to north)
Hill Top Berry Farm & Winery,
2800 Berry Hill Rd., Nellysford.
11 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days.
www.hilltopberrywine.com.

Flying Fox Vineyard,
27 Chapel Hollow Rd., Afton.
11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday through Monday.
www.flyingfoxvineyard.com.

Cardinal Point Vineyard & Winery,
9423 Batesville Rd., Afton.
11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., seven days (November/December), weekends only, January through March.
www.cardinalpointwinery.com

Afton Mountain Vineyards,
234 Vineyard Ln., Afton.
11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., seven days (weather permitting).
www.aftonmountainvineyards.com.

Veritas Vineyard & Winery,
151 Veritas Ln., Afton.
9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.
www.veritaswines.com.

Valley Road Vineyards,
9264 Critzers Shop Rd., Afton.
10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, and 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday and Monday.
www.valleyroadwines.com.

Southside Wine Tour
The Homeplace Vineyard,
568 Rigney Circle, Chatham.
11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Saturday. Closed January and February.
www.thehomeplacevineyard.com.

Tomahawk Mill Vineyard & Winery,
9221 Anderson Mill Rd., Chatham.
11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Sunday, through mid-December. Mid-December through mid-March, by appointment.
www.tomahawkmill.com.

Sans Soucy Vineyards (and Staunton River Brewing Company),
1571 Mount Calvary Rd., Brookneal.
1 to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday (check Facebook for additional hours).
www.sanssoucyvineyards.com.

By Suzanne Ramsey

Mulled Wine
Pictured Above. (Sans Soucy Vineyards)

Ingredients
1 bottle Sans Soucy Oak N’ Berry wine
1 quart apple cider
1 cup orange juice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. orange zest
2 tsp. butter (not margarine)
Cayenne pepper, to taste
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Handful of cinnamon sticks

Directions
Mix first nine ingredients in a pot or slow cooker and simmer on low one to two hours. DO NOT BOIL. Serve in cups with a cinnamon stick. Enjoy!

Bacon-Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Blue Cheese
(Pairs well with ports, www.allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
1 pound thin-sliced bacon, cut in half
1 pound pitted dates
4 ounces blue cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice dates in half and stuff with blue cheese. Wrap a half-slice of bacon around each stuffed date. Secure with toothpick. Arrange dates on rack in baking dish. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, turning halfway, until bacon is crispy.

Whisky Mac
Ingredients
2 shots whisky or bourbon
1 shot ginger wine
Ice

Directions
Mix ingredients, stir, enjoy.

A few years ago, Valeria Chambers, clerk of Lynchburg City Council, told a coworker she’d like to travel abroad someday.

As it turns out, the coworker was a member of Lynchburg Sister City–Plus, a local nonprofit that promotes cultural exchange and general goodwill between people in Lynchburg and its sister cities, Rueil-Malmaison, France, and Glauchau, Germany.

“She said, ‘I belong to this group called Sister Cities,’” Chambers recalled. “I’d heard of it, and she said, ‘We’re having a picnic. You can come with me and be my guest and find out more.’”

Chambers went to the picnic and then joined Lynchburg Sister City–Plus. The group is part of Sister Cities International, an organization created in 1956 by President Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower, supreme commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II, thought future wars might be prevented if people from other countries just got to know each other better.

Since 1956, 545 U.S. communities have been paired with sister cities in 145 countries—2,121 total partnerships. Some cities, like Lynchburg, have more than one sister city. Lynchburg partnered with Rueil-Malmaison in 1996 and Glauchau in 2007.

This year, Lynchburg celebrates the 20th anniversary of its relationship with Rueil-Malmaison. In the spring, a delegation from the French city, including Mayor Patrick Ollier, will travel to Lynchburg to celebrate.

“We decided to have it [in 2017] with the new city manager and new mayor and vice mayor,” Bert Dodson, president of Lynchburg Sister City–Plus, said, adding, “We’re looking forward to that event.”

In addition to special events like the French mayor’s visit, Lynchburg Sister City–Plus hosts social gatherings and fundraisers throughout the year. Lynchburgers also have traveled to both Rueil-Malmaison and Glauchau, and people from the sister cities have visited the Hill City, too.

In 2013, for example, a choir from Glauchau performed three concerts in Lynchburg. The concerts included songs in German and English, including gospel music. “That was really fun, hearing Germans singing gospel,” said Angelia Mibus, who with husband Manfred serves as Lynchburg’s liaison with Glauchau. “That was fun. They were really terrific.”

There also have been exchanges of firefighters, police officers and students; in October, four firefighters from Glauchau will visit Lynchburg.

Lynchburg Fire Chief Brad Ferguson visited Rueil-Malmaison several years ago with a group of Lynchburg firefighters.

“I certainly enjoyed it,” he said. “Sightseeing [at] different places around Paris. We took a bus trip to Normandy and really enjoyed that. We had some free time to do what you like. It was a really good trip.”

In times of crisis, Lynchburg and its sister cities have reached out to each other. After the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015, for instance, Lynchburg Sister City–Plus held a vigil at Monument Terrace. It was filmed, and the video was made available to the people of Rueil-Malmaison, which is a suburb of Paris.

“That’s one of the reasons Mayor Ollier is coming to see us, because they were just taken aback by the vigil we had,” Dodson said, adding, “It showed how we felt about what went on in relation to the attacks that happened, since a number of us have been to Rueil in the past and made many friends over the years.”

Soon after she joined Lynchburg Sister City–Plus, Chambers learned the group was planning a trip to Rueil-Malmaison. She wanted to go and asked longtime friend Pat Gentry if she’d like to join her. Gentry, who had recently moved back home to Lynchburg, had heard about Sister City from Chambers.

“She was telling me about belonging to Sister City, and she was talking about going to Paris and all, and I was telling her, ‘I think I’d like to go. That would be a nice trip,’” Gentry said. “So one day, she just called me and said, ‘Pat, are you ready to go to Paris?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ and she said, ‘I’m going, and I need a companion to go with me,’ so I volunteered and I went.”

Chambers, Gentry, Dodson and about a dozen others from Lynchburg traveled to Rueil-Malmaison in October 2012. While there, they toured many sights, among them the local history museum, Saint-Pierre Saint-Paul Church, and Chateau de Malmaison, home of Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife Josephine.

“It’s a very attractive place to visit, and it’s on the road of the impressionist painters,” Francoise Watts, Lynchburg’s liaison with Rueil-Malmaison, said of the chateau, adding the empress was known for “importing plants and trees from the new world” and for her “elegant lifestyle.”

The group also traveled to Normandy, where U.S. military forces landed on D-Day. Gentry, who retired from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, said visiting Omaha Beach was “so emotional.” She said she’d read about the “Bedford Boys,” but “once you visit, it was just heartbreaking.”

In Central Virginia, Watts said, the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford is a must-see for those visiting from Rueil-Malmaison. “The people of Rueil-Malmaison love the relationship with Lynchburg because of the proximity of the memorial in Bedford,” she said.

“When they come … they will ask to go and reflect at the memorial. They are very thankful to Americans for the role they played in the liberation of France and the liberation of Paris, and somehow Lynchburg is a symbol of that relationship.”
During the week-long trip in 2012, the Lynchburg delegation stayed with host families, which is a big part of Sister City.

“The idea of Sister City is for people to get to know people from other countries in their family environment,” Watts said. “The idea is not to stay in a hotel [but] to get to know the families.”

Chambers and Gentry stayed with a couple and their children. Having never traveled out of the U.S. before, Gentry said spending time with the host family was “pretty interesting.” From how the two women described it, the cultural differences were also interesting, sometimes humorous.

For example, Chambers said, if you bought a chicken at the market in Lynchburg, it would be wrapped in plastic wrap. In France, it’s in a brown paper bag. And bread goes directly on the table, no bread plate. “What they said about the Americans was we’re too clean,” she said.

Before traveling to France, members of the Lynchburg delegation were instructed about customs and etiquette. One tip was, “Meals last for a long time and are typically served in a sequence of courses; so do not fill up too fast: there is more to come!”

For Gentry, this was a new experience. “It just took so long to eat dinner,” she said. “I thought we’d never finish dinner because they would bring one thing, and you’d sit there and eat that and drink wine and talk, and then it seemed 15 minutes later they’d bring you something else and you’d eat that and sit there.

“I’m thinking, ‘Gosh, do these people ever stop drinking wine
and eating?’”

Staying with host families not only helps travelers better experience another culture, it also keeps costs down. “Traveling does not have to be expensive,” Watts said. “When you travel with Sister City, you stay with families. You don’t pay for hotels. … It’s not the same expenses as if you were a tourist, living in hotels and having to go to a restaurant all the time.”

Watts said traveling with Sister City can be “very affordable,” particularly if you have airline miles and are able to travel at times of the year when flights are cheaper, such as early fall and early spring.

“There are a lot of creative ways to travel, and you just have to understand that when you are there, you have friends,” she said. “You have friends to take care of you for an extended period of time. So that’s a very generous way of traveling, a very creative way of traveling.”

As for Chambers, who is now the secretary for Lynchburg Sister City–Plus, she’s looking forward to traveling abroad again. “Now, I’m trying to go to Germany,” she said.

Lynchburg Sister City–Plus membership is open to everyone. Annual dues range from $25 for students to $100 for patrons.

Funds are primarily used to cover expenses related to visitors from the sister cities and with student exchanges. For more information, visit www.lynchburgsistercity.org.

By Suzanne Ramsey

Natural History Meets American History in the Shenandoah Valley

On a Aug. 13, 1878, a small, entrepreneurial group of explorers discovered what would become known as Luray Caverns. The group, made up of the town tinsmith and other local men, had been looking for a cave that summer—so much so that townsfolk had dubbed them the “Phantom Chasers.”

Until that hot, summer day, they’d had no luck, and at least one man was ready to give up on the quest. However, as the story goes, they decided to give it one more try. That’s when one of the men, in an area that had already been explored, felt cold air rushing from the ground.

What they found beneath the surface were great rooms full of stalactites and stalagmites and an underground lake reflecting the formations like a giant mirror. What they also found was a natural marvel that would attract people from all over the world.

“We were very fortunate early on,” John Shaffer, public relations director for Luray Caverns, said.

“The Smithsonian sent a team to work on it. A writer from the New York Herald came down. Trains were beginning to take hold in eastern America and many excursions came, bringing people from the northeast.

It became very popular early on.”

Since then, Shaffer said, “10s of millions” of people from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries have visited Luray Caverns. On a single day in the 1880s, there were 10,000 visitors. According to Shaffer, it’s the most-visited, ticketed attraction in Virginia and the “fourth largest cavern in the country.”

Guided tours of the privately-owned caverns are offered seven days a week and last about an hour. Visitors travel as far as 160 feet beneath the earth’s surface and see countless formations, some of which are millions of years old and take hundreds of years to grow a single inch.

Each tour ends with a performance by the Great Stalacpipe Organ. The massive lithophone—think glockenspiel or xylophone—was created by Leland Sprinkle in 1954. Rubber mallets gently strike stalactites and stalagmites to make 37 perfect tones.

While the instrument can be played like a pipe organ, it’s usually operated by an automated system. The organ’s playlist includes Sprinkle’s favorite song, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”

But the wonders in Luray, population 4,000, don’t end there.

A caverns ticket also includes admission to The Car and Carriage Caravan Museum, located near the caverns. There, visitors will find a dazzling array of antique cars, horse-drawn carriages and other conveyances. “Some of the most iconic cars,” as Shaffer put it.

On the self-guided tour, there’s everything from a primitive 1840 Conestoga wagon to a flashy 1925 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost once owned by silent film star Rudolph Valentino. Other highlights include a 1727 Portuguese Nobility Carriage, touted as the “oldest carriage on display in the western hemisphere,” and a Baker electric car, made in 1908.

The ticket also is good at the Luray Valley Museum, located a short walk from the caverns. There, the museum and its adjacent historic village tell the story of the Shenandoah Valley in the 18th and 19th centuries.

In the museum, there are exhibits on Native American, African-American and Civil War history, along with a collection of 18th- and 19th-century cast-iron wood stoves. The “plate stoves,” as they’re called, are decorated with animal, biblical and other themes.

Visitors also will see pottery, painted blanket chests, hand-painted and lettered birth and death certificates, samplers, quilts, printing presses, tools and other items that were part of Shenandoah Valley pioneer life.

Outside, visitors will find a host of 19th-century buildings, among them a meeting house, blacksmith’s shop, farm house and African-American schoolhouse. The buildings were moved from various parts of Virginia and reconstructed in Luray. There’s also a cafe, which offers food and Shenandoah Valley wine, and a gem mine for the kids.

When leaving the caverns area and heading into Luray proper, it’s impossible to miss the most prominent landmark in town, the Luray Singing Tower. Inside the 80-year-old tower is a 47-bell carillon—think church bells—that’s played by a musician called a “carillonneur.”

Free concerts are held regularly, summer and fall.

The two-mile-long Hawksbill Greenway is a popular place in Luray to enjoy the outdoors and spot birds, butterflies and other wildlife. Trail users have reported seeing several varieties of herons, kingfishers and other birds, along with muskrat, beaver and mink.

Hawksbill Creek, from which the greenway gets its name, is a “Class A” trout stream, stocked with trout from October through May. Licensed fishermen may fish the creek year-round. There’s also a youth trout-fishing tournament held each April. The event reportedly draws hundreds of children and spectators.
Numerous other events are held along the greenway each year, including evening concerts in the summer and a Turkey Trot footrace on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

Along the greenway and on some buildings and structures in Luray, visitors will see colorful murals. The murals are painted by school children and local artists. “It’s still an ongoing project,” Jeff McMillan with Luray Downtown Initiative, said, adding the murals are a way “to make your town unique.”
While Luray is only about two hours from Lynchburg, there are many lodging options for those planning a multi-day visit. One is the Mimslyn Inn, which began welcoming travelers in 1931. Caverns PR director and Luray native Shaffer told a story about the Mimslyn, more specifically about one of its famous visitors.

According to Shaffer, in the summer of 1936, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor, were in Luray to dedicate nearby Shenandoah National Park. The president announced he would be camping in the park, or as Shaffer put it, “in a beautiful presidential tent.”

Having none of it, Eleanor told her husband she would be staying at the Mimslyn.

At the Mimslyn, guests may stay in one of two “Roosevelt Suites.” There also are standard guest rooms, cottages and the “Manor House,” which sleeps 20. The inn has two restaurants—Circa ’31 and the Speakeasy Bar & Restaurant—both of which have a Prohibition-era theme. The Speakeasy also has live music several times a month.

At Hawksbill Trading Company, located on Virginia Avenue next to the railroad tracks, shoppers can buy local arts and crafts, produce and baked goods, and decorative, antique and vintage items.

The cooperative and business incubator opened in January 2016. There are currently more than 40 vendors, a number that co-op president Jay North said “keeps growing every day.” Hawksbill Trading Company is open seven days a week, and there are open-air farmers and crafters markets on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

History buffs will find much to love about Luray and the surrounding area. In addition to the Luray Valley Museum, there are numerous Civil War Trails markers in the area. One of these markers is located at Willow Grove Mill, a large, red-painted millhouse that was burned by Union Gen. Philip Sheridan’s troops in 1864.

On Monday mornings or by appointment, visitors to Luray may tour the Massanutten School. The circa-1880, one-room schoolhouse is located next to Luray’s public library. Tours begin at 11 a.m.

Outside the schoolhouse, although not in its original location, is a slave auction block that was once used in Luray. According to an adjacent interpretive sign, the sandstone block “was used as a perch for slaves about to be sold at auction” and “is said to be one of the few now in existence.”

The biggest annual event in town is the Luray Triathlon, which attracts athletes from all over the U.S. The 2016 triathlon, which has both sprint- and international-distance races, will be held on Aug. 20 and 21 at Lake Arrowhead Park.

The park is located about four miles outside of downtown Luray and is a popular place for swimming, boating and fishing. “It’s super hilly,” Kelly Zitzer, tourism associate with the Luray-Page Chamber of Commerce, said of the course. “It’s very popular because it’s very challenging.”

The Page Valley Fair opens the same weekend as the triathlon and runs through Aug. 27. Zitzer said there also will be live music in town that weekend. “Triathlon weekend is our main weekend,” she said. “The start of the fair, hundreds of athletes in town and live music that weekend. It’s super busy. It’s really fun.”

By Suzanne Ramsey

Don’t Miss Out on the Big Ticket Shows & Small Town Charm in Rocky Mount, Virginia

It’s a Tuesday night at the Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount, and Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst, the indie folk duo Shovels & Rope, are doing it all. At any given moment during the near-sold-out show, the Charleston, S.C.-based pair is playing four or five different musical instruments. And singing.

And it’s obviously working for them, because once they’ve stopped crooning and put down their guitars, harmonica, tambourine, drumsticks and accordion, the audience—which has yelled “I love you!” so maNY Times it’s become a running joke—begs them back to the stage for more.
The same could be said for Rocky Mount itself, which over the past few years has launched an all-out campaign to attract visitors to the Southwest Virginia hamlet. And obviously, it’s working.

In 2011, the town bought an old International Harvester dealership and turned it into a first-rate music hall that, according to assistant town manager and Harvester CEO Matt Hankins, has attracted music lovers from 39 states and nine foreign countries.

“We’re really excited that we’ve had that kind of reach,” Hankins said, adding that the Harvester draws “pretty consistently” from about a two-hour radius that includes Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Blacksburg and other cities.

“We’ve also had a fair number drive down from D.C. because they want to see a particular act play and can’t get tickets up there, or whatever. … They’re staying in bed-and-breakfasts and hotels here and enjoying the experience—coming and seeing world-class music and enjoying themselves without the hassle of traffic.”

When Hankins says “world-class music,” he’s not lying. Over the past few months, the Harvester has seen the likes of Arlo Guthrie, Gregg Allman and George Winston. Upcoming shows include, among others, the Indigo Girls on June 17 and The Bacon Brothers—actor Kevin and brother Michael—on Aug. 23.

Music lovers will also converge in Rocky Mount and throughout Southwest Virginia for The Crooked Road’s Mountains of Music Homecoming, June 10 through 18. During the music and cultural festival, events will be held at more than 50 communities along The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail.

In conjunction with this, on Saturday, June 11, Rocky Mount will host Franklin County Court Days, a festival that has been described as a
“re-creation of a time when local citizens traveled to Rocky Mount for the day to conduct business and socialize.”

The inaugural Court Days in 2015 treated approximately 2,500 locals and visitors to arts and crafts, live music, food vendors, quilting and tobacco twisting exhibits, storytelling and others events.

Daytime events are free. In the evening, musical concerts will be held at the Harvester, Bootleggers Cafe and other venues.

“This year’s going to be a little different,” Adam Lynch, marketing director for the Community Partnership for Franklin County, said of Court Days, adding that because Rocky Mount is the “eastern gateway” of The Crooked Road, they’re going to “double up on the music” this year.
If the town’s coffers are any indication, the Harvester, and other businesses that have sprung up in response to it, have provided a significant economic boost to the town of fewer than 5,000 souls.

“It shows in our meals tax,” Hankins said, adding that before the Harvester opened in 2014, the town would only “occasionally see a month where meals taxes exceeded $100,000. There’s only been one month where we didn’t [see that] since the Harvester opened.

“It’s a good indication that lots of people are enjoying our community. … We’re seeing a lot of people who wouldn’t come to Rocky Mount without giving them a reason. We’re trying to build on that success by attracting more hotels and businesses to downtown.”

Bootleggers Cafe opened around the same time as the Harvester. Located in an old Coca-Cola Bottling Company, around the corner from the Harvester, Bootleggers offers a full bar and a menu of what it describes as “Contemporary American Cuisine.”

In addition to its musical heritage, Rocky Mount also embraces the area’s infamous designation of “Moonshine Capital of the World.”

In April of each year, the Franklin County Historical Society sponsors the Moonshine Express, bus tours that celebrate the county’s notorious history. During the vintage bus tours, participants encounter more than 75 people—“from both sides of the law,” as one overview says—telling true stories of Franklin County moonshining.

The 2016 tours were held in April, but tour booklets and scripts are available throughout the year at the Franklin County Historical Society. Also held in April is the Franklin County Moonshine Festival. This year’s festival featured moonshine tastings, live music, a 5K race, a Prohibition-era car show and other events.

Not only can you learn about moonshine in Rocky Mount, those of legal age can drink it. Twin Creeks Distillery, owned by Rocky Mount native Chris Prillaman, recently started distilling legal moonshine. It can be purchased at area ABC stores, Bootleggers Cafe and other locations.
Prillaman grew up in nearby Ferrum, which, according to Twin Creeks sales and marketing director Matt Hartberger, “has a long tradition of moonshining families.”

Hartberger said two of Prillaman’s great-grandfathers were caught up in the “Great Moonshine Conspiracy” trial of 1935. “He’s got roots in it and has been around it and interested in it all his life.”

Future plans for Twin Creeks include buying a building in Rocky Mount to house the distillery, retail store, banquet hall, tasting room and what will be the Moonshine Still Museum. “We’re going to build replicas of stills, from early settlers from Europe all the way up through the 70s and 80s and today,” Hartberger said.

As for the taste of what Twin Creeks has dubbed “Franklin County’s Finest,” Harvester CEO Hankins said, “It’s really outstanding,”
and added, “It’s great to have it made in the ‘Moonshine Capital of the World.’”

Another upcoming event in Rocky Mount is a Confederate re-encampment on June 4 and 5 at the Franklin County History Museum. The 57th Virginia Infantry, Company B, re-enactors group will set up camp on the museum lawn.

While the group’s leader is a descendant of George Pickett, the Confederate general known for his charge at the Battle of Gettysburg,
the re-enactors hail from the New York City area.

“They’ve got these funny accents, but they’re really patriotic,” Linda Stanley, managing director of the Franklin County Historical Society, said good-naturedly, adding that folks can visit the campsite and talk to the men, each of whom represents a particular soldier.

Rocky Mount is also a place for art lovers and shoppers of all kinds.

The Rocky Mount Center for the Arts (RMCA)—also known as “The Grainery,” because of its past life as a storehouse—is home to artist studios, art classes and a gallery where visitors can buy work by local artists.

During the cooler months, there are glass-blowing demonstrations on Saturdays and some Tuesdays and Thursdays. According to glass blower Carolyn Rogers, “large-scale glassblowing” is a “winter thing,” as temperatures from the furnaces, which heat to more than 2,000 degrees, make it too hot to do inside in the summer.

Over the summer, Rogers said she’ll create smaller items, such as beads and small sculptures, and the RMCA will offer bead-making classes. Other art classes, which range from “paint and sip” events to more in-depth, weeks-long courses, are listed on the RMCA’s website.

While in town, visitors also can peruse antiques and collectibles at Old’s Cool Vintage Finds, indulge their sweet tooth at the Kupkakery Bakery and poke around at Angle Hardware Company, which opened in 1887, four years after the town was founded.

“We’re one of those cool, small towns that has a major draw right now with the Harvester,” Hankins, said, adding that visitors can top off a day of shopping and dining by “hearing world-class music in an amazing facility.”

Speaking of world-class music, toward the end of their show, Shovels & Rope said they’d love to play the Harvester again.

Perhaps it was all those times the audience shouted “I love you!”

Or maybe there’s just something about Rocky Mount.

Asked about that, Harvester general manager Gary Jackson said it’s become commonplace for artists to say they’d like to visit Rocky Mount again. “They had a lovely time,” Jackson said of the couple. “They had rooms at the Early Inn, across the street, 10 acres for their dog to run around, a place for their child to crawl around. They had a wonderful time.”

By Suzanne Ramsey

Three years ago, Jerry Hale woke up in the middle of the night with an idea: Smith Mountain Lake needed a theme song.

The idea didn’t come out of nowhere. At the time, Hale, who’s been called the lake’s “Camp Counselor in Chief,” had been having discussions with others in the community—Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, business owners, residents, etc.—about how best to celebrate the lake’s 50th anniversary in 2016.

Vicki Gardner, executive director at the Chamber, “called a meeting with a number of us with a passion for the lake,” Hale said, adding that Gardner said, “We ought not let [the anniversary] go by without making it a significant occasion for the lake and people who love the lake.”

The group started brainstorming about what the yearlong celebration would look like.
What kinds of events would there be? How would it be funded?

And as they talked, Hale said he began to realize, “This is going to be a big deal, no small, blink-of-an-eye thing.”

Soon after, Hale, who’s also a songwriter, had his midnight epiphany. He got out of bed, went to the computer and within about an hour had written “Jewel of the Blue Ridge,” a song about Smith Mountain Lake.

Hale said he played the song for some friends, including Bill Piatt, chairman of the 50th anniversary steering committee. Piatt found the song and its title, once used as a slogan to promote Smith Mountain Lake, a fitting tribute.

“Lots of us think that’s still an apt description of the lake,” Piatt said.

“The emerald-green water, and it’s really a precious thing, this lake. It’s a gem.”

“Jewel of the Blue Ridge” was later recorded by local musicians Bubba Chandler, Johnathan Dillon, Tim Massey and Mary Prillaman at Blackwater Recording Studio in Wirtz. Everyone donated their time. Hale said he and others are now using the song as an “attention-getter” to promote the anniversary and encourage local organizations to plan events in celebration of it. Apparently, it’s working.

Currently, there are about 100 events on the 50th anniversary calendar. “We’re looking for things that we could do that would honor the 50th but live on well beyond the celebration,” Piatt said, calling these initiatives “legacy projects.”

One of these projects is the Dam 50 Festival on April 2, at the Smith Mountain Lake dam in Sandy Level. Presented by the Franklin County YMCA, the event features three footraces: a 5K, a one-mile fun run and, the premiere event, the Dam 50K.

The 31-mile course was designed by local running legend David Horton who also is the race director.

Awards, given to overall and age-group winners in the 50K, will be made from core samples “drilled out of the rock when they made the dam,” Horton said. “They’re really cool, and they will be shellacked and painted.”

Horton said he expects the 50K to draw a couple hundred runners, and the plan is for the race to be an annual event.

For more information, visit www.franklincountyymca.org.

May 9 through 15 will be “60’s Week” at Smith Mountain Lake, commemorating the decade when the dam was built, and the lake started to fill with water. On May 13 and 14, there will be concerts by the New Crusty Minstrels, a local musical group that includes the aforementioned Jerry Hale, at the Smith Mountain Lake YMCA. In addition to hits from ’60s pop radio, the band will perform “Jewel of the Blue Ridge.” There also will be a weeklong film festival at the Mayberry Drive-in, and a vintage plane and car show will be held at Smith Mountain Lake Airport on May 14.

On May 20, members of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Wiley, will perform at Resurrection Catholic Church. For the concert, Wiley has composed what Hale described as a “tribute piece for the 50th anniversary, a composition that will be debuted for the first time at this concert.”

Tickets for the concert are available from the Smith Mountain Arts Council (SMAC), the Smith Mountain Lake Visitors Center and The General Store in Westlake. Premium tickets, which include reserved seating and an after party at Bridgewater Bay Clubhouse, are $60 for SMAC members and $67 for non-members. General admission is $32 for SMAC members and $40 for non-members. Organizers recommend people buy tickets in advance.

“It’s his second time to compose music to fit the lake and honor the lake,” Hale said of Wiley, who collaborated on the score for the movie “Lake Effects,” which was filmed at the lake. “He has a big following here [and] anything lake connected has a big following. I’m pretty sure it will sell out.”

On May 21, the Blackwater Yacht Racing Association will sponsor the BYRA/Pelican Point 50K Around the Lake Yacht Race. The regatta begins and ends at Pelican Point Marina in Union Hall.

“It’s a brand new event,” Pete Phillips, BYRA’s fleet captain, said. “It’s a pretty aggressive idea in this part of the world. … A lot of things were being done for the 50th anniversary, and we felt we needed to do something kind of epic for the sailing community.”

During the race, which could take anywhere from 10 to 24 hours depending on wind conditions, sailing enthusiasts can track their favorite craft via GPS on MarineTraffic.com.

“[It] makes this more of an opportunity for the public to follow, and the press to get excited about,” Phillips said. “They can actually go online and follow, this race and see where all the boats in the race are the whole time.”

The race is a fundraiser for the National Kidney Foundation, and there will be a special award given to the team with the lowest adjusted finishing time, based on donations.

For more information or to register, visit www.byrasailing.org.

The Moneta/Smith Mountain Lake Library will host an exhibit of historic lake photos from June 1 through August 31. An opening reception will be held on June 2. Photos in the exhibit will be provided by local residents.

Library manager Rosey Clark is asking people to bring in photos from the 1960s or earlier, “when the lake was built or before the lake was built.” Family photos are welcome, and people are asked to enlarge the photos and mount them in black frames, if possible.

Clark said the library can help with scanning, if needed. For more information, call (540) 425-7004.

On June 4, the Jersey Girls, a club made up of lake residents who hail from the Garden State, will host “Walk for the Animals,” a fundraiser to build a dog park at Smith Mountain Lake. The 5K run/walk will be held at Moneta Park.

In addition to the walk, the event will include vendors of dog- and cat-related products, pet photo opportunities, music, refreshments, local art and an obstacle course. Registration is $25.

For online registration and more information, visit www.jgofsml.com.

The Smith Mountain Lake Cardboard Boat Regatta will be held July 30 at the W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center in Wirtz. As one might imagine, this involves people racing boats made from cardboard. Participants will use cardboard, donated by Corrugated Container Corporation in Roanoke, to design and build their own watercraft.

Piloted by at least two sailors, the boats will negotiate a 200-yard course. Race team categories include, among others, corporate and family. In addition to speed, teams will be judged for things like design, decor, construction and “most spectacular sinking.” Locals might have seen the Santa Maria, a cardboard model of Christopher Columbus’ ship, promoting the regatta at the Rocky Mount and Smith Mountain Lake Christmas parades in December.

There will be a pre-race party the evening before the regatta on July 29. The Picnic Jamboree, as it’s being called, is open to both racers and non-racers and includes live music, food trucks, local wine and craft beer. Admission for the Jamboree is $10. There is no admission fee for the regatta on Saturday.

The Cardboard Boat Regatta is a fundraiser for 4-H camp scholarships. For more information, visit 4-H center’s website, www.retreatatsmithmountainlake.com.

On Aug. 6, at Bernard’s Landing in Moneta, the Franklin County YMCA will sponsor a Guinness World Record challenge. The goal is to break the record for “most people floating in a line,” Lauren Acker, the Y’s executive director, said.

According to GuinessWorldRecords.com, the current record of 634 people was set in 2014 by a group of Harley owners in Taiwan in 2014. Acker’s goal is 700 people. Participants can sign up in advance at the YMCA or on the day of the event at Bernard’s Landing.

Acker said, “This is going to be a fun event for the entire community with lots of community support, and we hope everyone from near and far can come out and help us reach our goal.”

A complete calendar of Smith Mountain Lake 50th events can be found at
www.smithmountainlake.com/community/sml_50th.

By Suzanne Ramsey