When Mother Nature created the spectacular phenomenon of Natural Bridge in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, she orchestrated it only with swiftly flowing water of Cedar Creek, limestone erosion and the passage of time. The iconic arch, reaching more than 20 stories high, cuts a stone bridge through the deep forests of Rockbridge County. It is pretty enough that when Thomas Jefferson first saw it in 1767, he was so spellbound that seven years later he bought it from the King of England for just 20 shillings.
No one knows the age of Natural Bridge. Some say it was formed hundreds of thousands of years ago, while others say millions, but it’s safe to say it happened a long, long time ago. Yet only in 2016 was it designated a Virginia state park. Natural Bridge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, also features more than six miles of hiking trails, a visitor center, living history programs and Lace Falls, a 30-foot cascading waterfall also formed by Cedar Creek.
I went to Natural Bridge as a side trip from Lexington, the county seat, where I had come for work, and then chose to stay for a couple of days. It’s a small Blue Ridge mountain town at heart, although others would call it a college town in that it’s anchored by Virginia Military Institute, the nation’s first state-sponsored military college, and Washington and Lee University. After seeing it myself, I’m more inclined to call it a cliché town, in that I can accurately use plenty of clichés to describe it, among them charming, quaint and postcard-pretty.
It had snowed days before I arrived, and everything was white, from the mountains, meadows and valleys of the Blue Ridge to the sidewalks and narrow streets of downtown Lexington. Puttering around the town and then out into the county, it was as if I had driven straight into a living Christmas card. This swath of Virginia countryside, even in winter, makes for the perfect romantic escape.
Chasing history
Civil War generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are forever linked to Lexington. Lee came to Lexington after the end of the war to take the reins as president of then-Washington College, named after George Washington. After Lee’s death, the school, its white-columned, red-brick buildings balanced on the hilltops of downtown, was renamed Washington and Lee University. At its University Chapel, I took a quick tour to see the final resting place of Lee and several members of his family, including his wife, Martha, and their children.
“There are a million things to say about this building and its history,” said Lynn Rainville, who led the small tour I was on, “but you can’t do it in half an hour.”
She did an excellent job in cramming a great deal of information into such a short time, including showing us Lee’s office and the basement crypt where his family is interred.
The museum at Virginia Military Institute is a major repository of personal items of Jackson, who taught a mishmash of subjects at the college, among them physics, philosophy and artillery tactics before he joined the Confederacy. If Civil War history is your thing, also check out the Stonewall Jackson House in Lexington, where the general lived, and Oak Grove Cemetery, where he is buried. If you want more history of VMI, cadets lead guided tours every day at noon.
Among other scenic historic sites near Lexington are the McCormick Farm, where Cyrus McCormick developed the mechanical reaper that harvested grain more efficiently than traditional, labor-intensive scythes and sickles. Set amid the rolling hills of the Raphine community, the farm, blanketed with snow under a 25-degree day, was quiet and serene.
Drinking wine and beer
The views are as good as the wine at the few wineries that dot Rockbridge County. On the way back from Natural Bridge, I stopped at Great Valley Farm Brewery and Winery and sampled an aromatic red blend. The winery is high on a ridge overlooking the vineyards, the vista including the venerable peaks of the Blue Ridge in the distance. The next day, I sampled a flight of vinos, paired with cheese, of course, at Ecco Adesso Vineyards in Fairfield, a family-owned estate winery with an incredible landscape of vineyards, orchards and forests that in the snow looked like a winter wonderland. Other stops on Rockbridge County’s wine trail are Rockbridge Vineyard and Brewery, Lexington Valley Vineyard and Jump Mountain Vineyard.
For a brew with a view, you might want to sample craft beer at Devils Backbone Outpost Tap Room and Kitchen, just north of downtown Lexington, which offers a restaurant, a taproom, local music and weekend brewery tours. Heliotrope Brewery is known for regional malts, but go for its pizza as well. Sample one or more of the 18 taps of craft beer, many made in Virginia, at Brew Ridge Taps (Get it? Brew Ridge, Blue Ridge?). Salerno Wood Fired Pizza and Taphouse also has an enormous selection of craft beer, the perfect accompaniment for wood-fired pizza. If beer isn’t your thing, try Halcyon Days Cider Co. In addition to cider tastings, enjoy its labyrinth apple orchard with some 2,000 trees.
Good eats
My only regret in my visit to Lexington is that I didn’t have enough time to try more restaurants. There are so many good ones that were recommended, including Haywood’s, the Juniper Lounge and Bistro on Main. But I did manage breakfast at Pure Eats, known for its homemade doughnuts that paired well with my eggs and locally made sausage. Lunch was at Tonic, where I had a simple chicken sandwich spread with rich fig preserves that added a touch of sweetness. By later that afternoon when I stopped at Sweet Things for a quick cup of super-creamy peanut butter and chocolate ice cream, it was almost time for dinner.
My most memorable dining experience was at the Red Hen, renowned for its farm-to-table approach to food. The Red Hen, housed in a cozy red-brick building, at first glance sort of looks like a henhouse, but it's far from it. For a starter, I chose the French onion soup over the salad, and I chose correctly in that it was, with its gobs of gruyére, hands-down the best French onion soup I’ve ever tasted. For the entrée, I selected the blackened Norwegian salmon with polenta and pine nuts that was perfection on a plate.
Good sleeps
For my visit to Lexington, I stayed at the St. Georges, a small historic inn within walking distance of pretty much everything in downtown. Included in the rate is a freshly made gourmet breakfast at Taps, that is, along with Haywood’s, one of the hotel’s two onsite restaurants. But there are a number of bed-and-breakfast inns scattered throughout the county, among them the over-the-top luxurious The Inn at Forest Oaks, Fox Hill Bed and Breakfast for those who travel with their pets, and Grace House, built in 1890. The local Hampton Inn isn’t your typical chain hotel, as this uniquely different property dates to 1827 when it was known as the Col Alto Manor House. Ecco Adesso also has several lodging options, among them a vineyard cabin, a barn loft and a farmhouse.
A trip to Lexington and Rockbridge County is all about romance, red-brick sidewalks, horse and carriage rides, the outdoors, history, shopping, antiquing, country stores, coffee shops, bakeries, galleries and unparalleled stargazing under skies not polluted with light. Most of all, it’s about getting away from it all, even if it’s cold and the mountains are covered in snow.
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If you go
For additional information, visit Lexington and the Rockbridge Area Tourism Development website at www.lexingtonvirginia.com or www.rockbridgeoutdoors.com. Plan to visit the Lexington Visitor Center at 106 E. Washington Street for maps and brochures.
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