Welcome to the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley, the breadbasket of the South. Our resort, Skyline Ranch, is nestled in the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Mount Massanutten, near the town of Front Royal. The town got its name from Revolutionary War days. The military mustered in front of the Royal Oak tree, which stood in the town square. This is a great starting point to visit this historic region heading North to Maryland and South to North Carolina.
Winchester, Va: George Washington surveyed the area, when he was a young man. His surveyor's office still stands today and has a variety of his surveying tools, etc. While there he insisted that each tenant plant four acres of apple orchards.
Bank Orchard
During the Civil war Winchester traded hands seventy-two times, thirteen times in one day alone. Ironically much of the old town survived these numerous changes. One of these buildings is Stonewall Jackson's Headquarters. Part of the movie Gods and Generals was filmed there. The house contained many customary furnishings and artifacts. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and fair in her presentation.
Our final stop in Winchester is the Shenandoah Museum. This new museum reflects the life in the Shenandoah Valley from pre-Colombian days to the present time. There are many interactive kiosks and movies describing distinct facets of the group and historical aspects of the region.
On the way back home we stopped at the Arboretum of Virginia, operated by Uva. The students experiment with many distinct varieties of plants. Hiking trails and a three-mile driving trail show off much of the collection.
We passed by a junction of Rtes 340 and 522. This is called double tollgate, because there use to be two tollgates at the crossroads. While the Civil War an eight year old girl was manning the gate. When the Union soldiers came down from Winchester, she demanded the toll from the general. He replied that she should send the bill to the government in Washington. She counted the men as they passed and sent the bill. She was paid.
Massanutten Mountain, which supposedly means yam in a Native American language is a unique phenomenom. This fifty mile long mountain is dropped in a valley with the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and the Blue Ridge Mountains on the East and the North Fork of the Shenandoah River and the Allegheny Mountains on the West. We drove straight through a valley in the mountain, which makes this one of the unique anomalies in the world: a valley in a mountain in a valley. Along the way are many furnaces, now in ruins, from the iron smelting days of the nineteenth century.
We headed to New Market, thirty-five miles south of us. This battle was known as The Field of Lost Shoes. The cadets from Vmi, Virginia military manufacture were enlisted to reinforce the Csa military commanded by Gen. Breckenridge, the old vice-president under Buchannnen and loser to Abe Lincoln in 1860. Reluctantly he put the 250 cadet into the battle line, because the Union was getting the upper hand. With the cadets' help, he won the day. Ten cadets died on the field or from their wounds shortly after and about fifty were injured. They were thought about heroes in the South for their valor under fire. One of the cadets became a illustrious artist, Ezekiel Moses. He moved to Italy and became a customary sculpturer, even being knighted. Two of his most illustrious works in the Us are the sculpture of Thomas Jefferson at Uva in Charlottesville and Virginia Mourning Her Dead at Vmi in Lexington, Va.
We were going to see Luray Caverns, but they were having a birthday celebration and had gargantuan crowds. Instead we drove the Skyline Drive straight through Shenandoah National Park home. The road rises to over three thousand feet. The haze on the mountains from the heat wave we are having hampered our views. If we get a cold front straight through here, we will drive it again. The views on a clear day are close to spectacular (not like the Rockies or Newfoundland but pretty great in themselves). The speed limit is 35 mph along the road. Finding two white tailed does eating by the roadside rewarded us for taking the drive.
Today we went to a piquant place: Route 11 Potato Chip installation in Middletown, Va. This is a small carrying out in size and the visitor can see the process of potato chip manufacture straight through a plate glass window. What makes this place so cool is the variety of chips they make: sweet potato, mixed vegetables and quarterly flavored ones. These contain habanero, green chili enchilada, dill pickle, Chesapeake crab, barbecue, salt and vinegar, etc. The habanero chips are the hottest ones I have ever tasted. They have a real kick. They are sold in gourmet stores and at the Cracker Barrel Restaurants.
We also had to visit the mandatory battlefield. Cedar Creek Battle was fought in the middle of Middletown to the North and Strasburg to the South. On October 13, 1864 Gen. Philip Sheridan heard the battle being waged from fifteen miles away in Winchester. He mustered his cavalry and road to aid the Union forces, which were being routed at the time. He changed the policy of the battle. This was the last major battle in the Shenandoah Valley. The Csa lost their breadbasket and finally the war.
Hupp's Hill, along route 11 was a pivotal vantage point. Because of its strategic location and height, it became the headquarters at various times of both the Union and the Confederacy generals, while in the area. Today a museum occupies George Hupp's house, which was there. It is dedicated to Stonewall Jackson's campaigns in 1862. This is a miniature gem. Displays description the events in chronological order and handouts give detailed accounts of the various battles. Covering is a trail, which winds among the entrenchments, gives various views of the fields on which the battle was waged.
The battlefield itself is secretly owned, but works in conjunction with the Nps. Reenactments occur annually colse to October 13. More than 7,000 re-enactors participate in the event. Agreeing to the operators of the park, re-enactments of the Second Battle of Manassas are also going to take place there in the future (The are not allowed in National Parks).
Today we followed the trail for the Battle of Front Royal a.k.a. As the Brother against Brother Battle. This pitted the 1st Maryland Usa against the 1st Maryland Csa. The Usa military held the town. What they did not know that Belle Boyd, an eighteen-year-old resident, was also a spy for the Csa. When she heard that Jackson was camped Covering of town, she overheard the plans of the Union and ran to tell him the information. The battle was one-sided.
We took a walking tour of the town too. Belle Boyd's house is open for visitation. A docent gives a tour of the four-room house, in which she lived and tells the story of her adventuresome live. She was a very feisty and colorful woman. The Historical community has its offices behind the customary house. Next door is a museum with exhibits of the history of the area. Front Royal was a Pow Camp for the German Hessians While the Revolutionary War and later While Wwii. Many German immigrants had settled in the Shenandoah Valley in Colonial times. The governor recruited them. The Hessians, though Pows, helped build houses and other buildings, some which stand even today.
Shenandoah Valley, Va - The South's Breadbasket
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