Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for virginia
A Gem on the Blue Ridge Parkway
By Linda Tancs
You’ll find a charming bit of history at milepost 176 on Virginia’s Blue Ridge Parkway. That’s the location of Mabry Mill, an industrial complex emphasizing the pioneer culture of the Blue Ridge Highlands. The gristmill and sawmill (dating from the 1900s) have been fully restored, and live demonstrations (including sorghum molasses making, apple butter making, and grinding corn and buckwheat) occur regularly. You’ll also find a woodworking and blacksmith shop. Viewable any time of year (so long as the parkway is passable), the mill is one of the most iconic and photographed structures on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The interior, including the restaurant and gift shop, is staffed between April and early November.
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Walton’s Mountain
By Linda Tancs
The Waltons was a popular, long-running drama television series about a close-knit family in rural, Depression-era Virginia, based on the experiences of series creator and narrator Earl Hamner Jr. If you’ve ever wondered where the mountain scenery depicted in the show is really located, then head on over to Schuyler, Virginia. The hamlet was home to Earl Hamner Jr., and the family home there is now a Virginia Historic Landmark. The quiet village is located 25 miles south of Charlottesville in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountain range.
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Camera Heritage Museum
By Linda Tancs
Touted as America’s largest camera museum, the Camera Heritage Museum in Staunton, Virginia, is devoted to the history, science and art of photography. The facility boasts a collection of over 7,000 cameras from the 19th century to modern times as well as accessories and photographs. Self-guided and audio tours are available. Call ahead for a personal curator tour.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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Richmond’s Valentine
By Linda Tancs
Opened in 1898, the Valentine Museum was the first private museum in Richmond, Virginia. It’s named after Mann S. Valentine, Jr., the museum’s founder, who made his fortune with the creation and production of Valentine’s Meat Juice, a health tonic made from pure beef juice. Originally boasting a collection of the Valentine family’s art and artifacts, the museum now focuses on collecting, preserving and interpreting Richmond’s history. The museum complex includes the 1812 Wickham House, a National Historic Landmark and outstanding example of neoclassical architecture featuring rare wall paintings.
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Air Power in Virginia
By Linda Tancs
Located in the heart of the Mid-Atlantic region, Hampton, Virginia, is home to Air Power Park. An outdoor park displaying restored aircraft and spacecraft, it chronicles the air power that played a vital part in America’s early space exploration and aircraft testing. Many of the park’s jets, missiles and rockets have connections with nearby Langley AFB and NASA Langley Research Center. Enjoy the outdoor displays daily from sunrise to sunset. You can also tour inside displays during regular business hours. Admission is free.
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Honoring NATO
By Linda Tancs
One of the longest running festivals in Virginia’s Hampton Roads region, the Norfolk NATO Festival is the only one of its kind in the United States honoring the NATO Alliance and its member nations. The festivities include a parade of nations, an international village featuring cultural performances, international art and cuisine and a military tattoo sporting an international cast of over 900, including bagpipers, drummers, military bands, dancers, singers, drill teams and color guards. This year’s event runs from April 20 to April 22 in downtown Norfolk.
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The Wonders of Delmarva
By Linda Tancs
The Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula embracing the state of Delaware and the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland and Virginia. Its name derives from this tri-state reach (DelMarVa) of about 170 miles. It’s one of the earliest sites of European settlement and boasts a record of indigenous occupation since the last Ice Age. Among the many tourist destinations in the region, some highlights are Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, Ocean City in Maryland and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.
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An Agent of Change in Richmond
By Linda Tancs
The home of Maggie L. Walker in Richmond, Virginia, became a prime location in the heart of Jackson Ward (a National Historic Landmark), the center of Richmond’s African American business and social life at the turn of the century. At that residence she devoted her life to civil rights advancement, economic empowerment and educational opportunities for Jim Crow-era African Americans and women. She was no less an inspiration in her own right, being the first Black woman in the U.S. to found a bank. She also established a newspaper and spearheaded a variety of civic groups. Her home is a National Historic Site on North 2nd Street.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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A Halfway Point in Virginia
By Linda Tancs
Middleburg, Virginia, was established in 1787 by American Revolutionary War Lieutenant Colonel and Virginia statesman John Leven Powell, who named it Middleburg because it was the halfway point between two towns on the popular Ashby Gap trading route. Historically, it served as the site of two battles of the Gettysburg Campaign during the Civil War and counts more than 160 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Later, it became so popular for fox hunts and horse racing that it earned the moniker “Nation’s Horse and Hunt Capital.” It’s still a hotspot for equestrian events today, hosting an abundance of nationally renowned events. Equally popular are the vineyards, nestled scenically along a stretch of Route 50 dotted with old stone cottages and horse farms with the Blue Ridge and Bull Run mountains as a backdrop. You’ll find 20 wineries just 30 minutes away from this historic town.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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A Crown Jewel of Civil War Sites
By Linda Tancs
Called “the new crown jewel of Civil War sites in America” by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James M. McPherson of Princeton University, Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier is a 424-acre historical campus commemorating people and events related to the war. Set amidst a once-threatened Civil War battlefield near Petersburg, Virginia, the site features numerous museums, a restored plantation, walking trails, encampments and costumed interpretation. The local railroad’s ability to supply Confederate forces was an appealing reason for battles in this area. You can still see the depot in Old Towne Petersburg.
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