Virginia's Shenandoah Valley: Lexington, Roanoke, Front Royal, Winchester

Virginia Shenandoah Valley: Lexington, Roanoke, Front Royal, Winchester

Blair Howard, Mary Burnham & Bill Burnham

Hunter Publishing, Inc.

Web site: www.hunterpublishing.com

E-mail: comments@hunterpublishing.com

IN CANADA:

Ulysses Travel Publications

4176 Saint-Denis, Montréal, Québec

Canada H2W 2M5

514-843-9882, Ext. 2232 / Fax 514-843-9448

IN THE UNITED KINGDOM:

Windsor Books International

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Oxford, OX44 9EJ England

01865-361122 / Fax 01865-361133

©  Blair Howard, William Burnham, and Mary Burnham

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

The publisher, author, affiliated individuals and companies disclaim any responsibility for any injury, harm, or illness that may occur to anyone through, or by use of, the information in this book. Every effort was made to insure the accuracy of information in this book, but the publisher and author do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any liability or any loss or damage caused by errors, omissions, misleading information or potential travel problems caused by this guide, even if such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause.

Introduction 

The Five Regions 

The Land 

Flowers & Trees 

The People 

Major Cities 

History 

Climate 

Scenic & Historic Attractions 

Government 

Education & Culture 

Manufacturing & Employment 

Transportation 

Fishing & Hunting 

Outdoor Recreation 

Information & Services 

Shenandoah Valley 

Front Royal & Warren County 

Sights 

Recreation 

Shopping 

Annual Events 

Dining 

Accommodations 

Transportation 

Information 

Harrisonburg & Rockingham County 

Sights 

Shopping 

Galleries 

Recreation 

Annual Events 

Dining 

Accommodations 

Transportation 

Information 

Lexington & Rockbridge County 

Sights 

Tours 

Entertainment 

Annual Events 

Recreation 

Galleries 

Shopping 

Dining 

Accommodations 

Transportation 

Information 

New Market & Luray 

Sights 

Annual Events 

Recreation 

Shopping 

Galleries 

Wineries 

Dining 

Accommodations 

Information 

Roanoke, Roanoke County & Salem 

Sights 

Recreation 

Entertainment 

Shopping 

Galleries 

Theater 

Annual Events 

Dining 

Accommodations 

Transportation 

Information 

Staunton & Augusta County 

Sights 

Day Trip: Highland County 

Recreation 

Shopping 

Annual Events 

Dining 

Accommodations 

Transportation 

Information 

Winchester & Frederick County 

Sights 

Tours 

Shopping 

Theater 

Annual Events 

Dining 

Accommodations 

Transportation 

Information 

Introduction 

Virginia is a spectacular state; ask any Virginian. And anyone who's ever visited the Old Dominion will tell you it's true. From the majesty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west to the mighty river deltas in the east, Virginia is a great green blanket cast down upon the landscape to delight us all. The Commonwealth is the grandfather of these United States. It saw the beginnings of this great country as it was hewn from the virgin timber. It saw the birth of a new nation when the English surrendered at Yorktown. And it saw the nation's rebirth when General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox, thus bringing the great Civil War to an end. 

Visitors to the Commonwealth can step back into a bygone age when those pitifully few pioneers founded Jamestown, the first English settlement in the New World. They can visit numerous Revolutionary War battlefields, and follow in the footsteps of men like Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson from Manassas to Fredericksburg, from Petersburg to Appomattox. 

Virginia at a Glance

Nickname:The Old Dominion 

Motto:Sic semper tyrannis (Thus always to tyrants) 

Population:6.7 million 

Major Cities:Arlington, Hampton-Newport News, Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Richmond, Roanoke 

Major Rivers:James, Rappahannock, York, Potomac and Shenandoah 

Capital:Richmond 

State Bird:Cardinal 

State Flower:Dogwood 

State Tree:Dogwood 

Shell:Oyster 

Nature lovers can hike the Appalachian Trail, explore the vast wooded expanses of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, and drive the Blue Ridge Parkway and hundreds of miles of scenic highways. They can descend to the center of the earth in the great limestone caverns of the Shenandoah Valley and wander the wetlands of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. 

For outdoorsmen and women, there's swimming, fishing, biking, golf, and skiing at Virginia's four-season resorts. They can explore more than 50 national and state parks, hundreds of freshwater lakes, and more than 3,000 miles of rivers and streams. 

For water lovers, there are magnificent beaches and barrier islands to explore. The Eastern Shore on the Delmarva Peninsula offers some of the finest boating and fishing anywhere in the United States. 

Today, Virginia, after a somewhat turbulent history, has settled down, and evolved. It's achieved a state of tranquillity, content with the part it has played and will continue to play in our nation's heritage.Geography 

Virginia is in the southeastern United States and is shaped roughly like a triangle, with its southern boundary as the base and its borders following the topography. To the northeast, Virginia is separated from Maryland and the District of Columbia by the west bank of the Potomac River. To the west and northwest it is bounded by the states of West Virginia and Kentucky, and to the south by Tennessee and North Carolina. To the east, Virginia is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. America's largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay, separates the low-lying coastal plains of eastern Virginia and the state's two eastern counties, Northampton and Accomack, which are located on the Delmarva Peninsula. 

The name Delmarva comes from the names of the three states – Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia – that occupy the area. Virginia's portion occupies the southernmost tip. 

Virginia's southern border is 440 miles long, and the greatest distance, from north to south, is 196 miles. Its total area is 40,817 square miles, which includes more than 1,000 square miles of inland water surface. 

The Blue Ridge Mountains

The Five Regions 

There are five distinct and natural regions in Virginia, which slopes gently upward from sea level in the east to more than 5,000 feet in the mountainous regions of the west. Mount Rogers, located to the southwest on the border between Smyth and Grayson counties, is the highest point in the state at 5,729 feet. 

Northern Virginiaencompasses the section of the state southwest of the Maryland border from Arlington to Leesburg, to a line running roughly along the southern borders of Greene, Orange, Spotsylvania, and Caroline counties. 

The history of Northern Virginia spans more than three centuries. While still very much representative of The Old South with its plantations, colonial homes, cobblestone streets and old-world charm, this region is also Virginia's most urbanized and dynamic. Burgeoning suburban communities are interspersed with modern skyscrapers, highways, shopping centers and malls. 

Visitors to this region can visit the Eternal Flame at the Kennedy Gravesite in the Arlington National Cemetery; gaze in wonder at the world's largest cast bronze statue, the great Iwo Jima Memorial; and tour the Pentagon, the world's largest office building. They can also visit Mount Vernon – George Washington's home – or simply relax and enjoy the relics of a time gone by. 

The Coastal Plain includes the increasingly metropolitan area of Hampton Roads, the two counties on the Delmarva Peninsula known as the Eastern Shore, and the rural counties that make up the Chesapeake Bay region. The coastal plain extends inland for about 100 miles to a line that runs north and south from Arlington through Richmond, and down to Emporia in Brunswick county on the North Carolina border. The elevation of the Coastal Plain ranges from 0 to 300 feet above sea level. In places, the great plain, slashed from east to west into three peninsulas by the Potomac, the Rappahannock, the York, and the James rivers, remains swampy, undeveloped wetlands. Typical of this is the 750-square-mile Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Area south of Suffolk and Chesapeake in the extreme southeastern corner of the state, and extending into North Carolina. 

Roads is an Old English term for waterway. 

In the Hampton Roads region, water impacts every aspect of life. Here, freshwater carried by the James and York rivers mingles with ocean water in fertile tidal deltas. Crabbers, oystermen and fishermen plied a living here for generations. Perched strategically at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Hampton Roads is thick with military installations. The white sand beaches of Virginia Beach have elevated the region to a major vacation destination. 

Central Virginiaconsists primarily of the Piedmont Plateau west of the Coastal Plain. It is a region of low rolling hills about 40 miles wide to the north and some 150 miles wide along its southern border. It's an area where the old and the new come together, where quaint old country towns and villages lie side-by-side in perfect harmony with Virginia's modern cities. Here, the foothills of the Blue Ridge give way to the valleys of the great tidal rivers. This is where many great patriots – men like Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and James Madison – dreamed the dreams that gave birth to a nation. 

The Shenandoah Valley region, renowned for its majestic mountains, its breathtaking scenery and glorious valley, covers most of western Virginia. It's a section of the Great Valley that extends from New Jersey to Tennessee. In Virginia, it funnels between the Allegheny and Blue Ridge mountains. The Shenandoah Valley, daughter of the stars, with its rich limestone soil, is one of the most fertile regions in the state – an area that once was