We snuck away last week to celebrate a belated anniversary. We didn’t want to go far, as we only had a couple of days to get away.
Tucked in the southern part of the Blue Ridge mountains in the Shenandoah Valley lies the quaint, historic Virginia town of Staunton. It’s pronounced Stanton. It was a 3 hour drive from our home. The area was hit with a snow storm days before we arrived so the drive was breathtaking as we drove through the snow-covered rolling hills of the Blue Ridge.
We we lucky to stay at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel. The hotel is historic as it was opened in the 20’s and is one of the last standing original hotels in Staunton. It was renovated in 2004 and has a King and a Queen wings. We stayed in the king wing. We stayed in a lovely corner room that overlooked parts of the town. The hotel is within walking distance to everything this town has to offer (I’ll write more on the hotel later).
Staunton was all decked out for Christmas as most of the main street shops and restaurants decorated for the holidays. It is nice to see that the shops and restaurants in Staunton are small independently owned and operated.
We tried to fit as much as we could in the short time we had in Staunton. I have comprised my list of the 5 things you should do in Staunton.
1. The Camera Heritage Museum is number one thing to do in Staunton list. If you are a photography buff then this museum is for you. It’s jammed, I mean jam-packed with cameras from the beginning to the end of the camera as we know it. It’s a true treasure trove.
2. Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum. It was small but told the whole story of the President. His homestead is part of the tour and we were fortunate to be the only ones on the tour.
3. American Shakespeare Center and Blackfriars Playhouse. It is of the hubbies steps from the Stonewall Jackson Hotel. They do offer room and theater ticket packages. We had tickets for Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some). The theater is modeled after the Globe theater of course. The Christmas play was laugh out loud funny.
4. Sunspots Glass Blowing Center. They open at 10 AM and have glass blowing demos until 4 PM. They sell local glass artist’s work as well as other glass.
5. The Shenandoah Beerworks Trail. We started this quest in June in Harrisonburg, VA. The premise is you get a passport, visit 6 different breweries, when your passport is complete you mail it in and get a tee-shirt. Now that we are done we will send our passport in and wait for our shirt!!
There seems like much more to do but we had limited time and of course this is what we did. Do you like to list some of the top sites when you visit a new location?
This blog makes one want to stop by and take in the interesting places and events. One of the most interesting places is the Shakespeare Theater. Lots of action packed into a short trip. Should inspire many to make the trip. Super presentation with great photos and good descriptions of the places visited.
What a great article. Sure makes one think about a stop along the way to somewhere or a special trip to experience the very interesting events in this beautiful area. This little town is loaded with great things to do and now you know why to stop as you head South or North. Or better still, make a weekend of it. Photos are great, too!