Tuesday, July 16, 2013 – Staunton, VA
Hi there everyone. This is just a quick post. Today we drove from Knoxville, TN up the Blue Ridge Mountains on I-81 and parts of Skyline Drive. We went from the Smokey Mountains into the Appalachian mountains and the Shenandoah Valley. If you are like me, a little confused about the difference between the Smoky Mountains, Appalachian mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah, then the photo included above should help straighten it out for your. In a nutshell, all of them are part of the Appalachian mountains. The Smoky Mountains are a specific off shoot that lies primarily in Tennessee, the Blue Ridge lie in Eastern TN, Virginia and North Carolina. The Shenandoah lies in the valley between. At least that is how I understand it.
We arrived in Staunton (pronounced Stan-tin and only a Yankee would pronounce it any other way) around 2:30 in the afternoon. We found our campground the Staunton/Walnut Hills KOA about 5 miles off of I-81. This is a beautiful park that is peaceful, quiet and very well appointed. We were assigned to a huge pull through spot that is big enough to hold 2 very large motorhomes. Our little rig looks like it got lost up here. Each spot has a nice patio area, with wood swing, fire pit and gas barbecue – not to mention the usual amenities of water, power, cable TV and sewer hook up. Very nice.
Our friends Jan and Tim and their 2 boys moved to Staunton in 2004 when Tim retired from the Navy. He now teaches High School seniors but looks forward to retiring in the next couple of years. They purchase 6 acres high up on a hill that affords a great view of the Appalachian mountains. They built a large beautiful home of Post and Beam construction that has a very rustic but modern feel to it. They have decorated their home in a western theme using artifacts that they have collected over the years.
Jan and Tim played tour guide for us taking us around and showing us this charming and historic town of theirs. It just so happens that George Washington spent a good bit of time in this town when he was a surveyor. Rumor has it he met this hot little number named Martha at the local tavern. He just kept coming back. Staunton also played a critical role during the Civil War as a crossroad, railway depot and staging area for the Confederate Army. General Stonewall Jackson would march his famous brigade through Staunton many times. He also recruited many soldiers from Staunton. Much of the City was destroyed during the war and has largely been rebuilt since the 1880s. Staunton is also the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson and his presidential library (pictured above) is located there.
Jan and Tim treated us to a great dinner at the Depot restaurant in the old railway wharf. The train still runs through Staunton and in fact you can still travel from Staunton to Chicago by train – It will take you about 17hours to get there and cost as much as a plane ticket, but if you must travel by train you can do it. This is a really neat part of Staunton because it looks like it could still be the 1800s – that is if they had micro-breweries back then. Dinner was excellent. Elisa had “Smothered Chicken” it was great. It was a juicy chicken breast with sautéed mushrooms, onions and finished with melted mozzarella cheese. It was accompanied by mashed potatoes and a nice dinner salad. I had the ribeye steak covered with fried fresh oysters. It was excellent. The steak was cooked medium-rare, just the way I like it. The cut was flavorful, tender and nicely marbled. My dinner came with potatoes and a salad. It was generous, but not overly. Thank you Jan and Tim.
After dinner we stopped by Kline’s Dairy Bar. It has been family owned and operated since the ‘50s and they make the ice cream fresh daily. It has a texture similar to Italian gelato. They always have chocolate and Vanilla along with 2 other daily specials. Todays special flavors were black raspberry and lemon-gingersnap. The ice cream was excellent – very creamy and a texture almost like soft-serve. Elisa had her usual vanilla and I had the black raspberry some hot-fudge. Yummy.
Tomorrow we head for the Big Apple. We will be staying at a RV Park located in Jersey City right across from Manhattan. Supposedly we will be able to take a ferry right over to the city.
More later.
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