“Virginia”

Fries Virginia April 11 – April 17, 2022
Damascus Virginia April 17 – April 25, 2022
Staunton Virginia April 25 – April 29, 2022

We traveled to southwestern Virginia for two reasons. The first was to move further south and avoid the cold weather, and the second was to ride a couple of Rails to Trails (Old Railroad tracks converted into bike or multi use paths). Our first stop was Fries (pronounced freeze – I know – crazy pronunciation) to ride the New River Trail. The trail runs 57 miles from Galax (pronounced Gay Lax – I know – another weird one) to Pulaski, Virginia. Not much was happening in Fries, so we just relaxed and rode the trail almost everyday.

This is a picture of the bike shop, the only restaurant and shop in Fries.

After Fries, we moved to Damascus, Virginia. This is a small town that has a lot going on. The Appalachian Trail runs right through town, so it was not unusual to see thru hikers with their packs walking in town. It is also a popular stop for hikers to stock up and spend the night at a hostel. We were in Damascus to ride on the Creeper Trail. The trail is named after early locomotives that struggled to ride up the mountain carrying lumber because of the steep grade. The trail is 34 miles and begins at Whitetop Station (the 2nd highest point in Virginia) down to Damascus and then up to Abingdon. The trail was beautiful and ran next to the Holston River. We rode most days.

We also hiked one day on the Appalachian trail. We hiked about 5 miles and about 500 feet of elevation (according to Steve’s app).

We rode out bikes a couple of times to the Abingdon Winery. The winery is right off the Creeper Trail, but 8 miles from Damascus.

While in Damascus we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. Upon the recommendation of friends we met in Okeechobee (Brian and Bettie) we had dinner at The Tavern in Abingdon. The food was phenomenal. The Tavern was built in 1779 . Steve sent me flowers (which is hard to do living in a camper and staying in a small town with no florist) and I made my standard almond flour chocolate cupcakes. I had a wonderful anniversary with my wonderful husband.

We were going to head to Pennsylvania to ride on the Greater Allegheny Passage trail, but due to a cold front, riding bikes was out of the question, so we changed our reservations and headed to Staunton (pronounced stan ton – I know – what is it with these Virginia pronunciations?)

Woodrow Wilson’s Museum and Library is located in Staunton. We visited the museum and home where he was born. The museum was pretty good.

Staunton is also home to the American Shakespeare Center. We bought tickets and attended the performance of “Comedy of Errors” The play was great and performed at the Black Frier Playhouse which is a recreation of Shakespeare’s indoor theater.

Because slogan for Virginia is “Virginia is for Lovers”, there are over 300 “LOVE” signs across the state. We only saw a few, but they are pretty cool.

We spent most of the month of April in Virginia beginning in Richmond and traveling through Charlottesville, Fries, Damascus and Staunton. We — wait for it – Loved Virginia! Sometimes I crack myself up!

Next Up Gettysburg.

“Virginia” by The Head and the Heart