Overview

Introduction

Thanks in large part to Daniel Boone's explorations, pioneers were able to cross the Cumberland Gap as they traveled the Wilderness Road to the West. Today, Cumberland Gap is one of the largest national historical parks in the country, with territory in Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. The headquarters is in Middlesboro, Kentucky.

The park, which is in the far southwest corner of Virginia, offers interpretive exhibits, hiking, camping, picnicking and backcountry outings (permits required). Cumberland Gap is highly recommended for its historical importance and its scenic beauty.

If you have time, hike along the Ridge Trail on Brush Mountain to the Hensley Settlement. This community of farmsteads prospered in near isolation for almost 50 years. You can also take a shuttle to Hensley Settlement, but the hike is beautiful if you're up for it.

If you're looking for a place to stop on your way to the Cumberland Gap, consider Abingdon, home of the famous Barter Theatre. It was founded during the Depression by a group of actors who staged performances in exchange for food. Such famous actors and writers as Gregory Peck, Hume Cronyn and Tennessee Williams filled their bellies courtesy of the Barter.

The Virginia Creeper Trail is a 34-mi/55-km hiking, biking and equestrian trail that follows an old railroad bed. You can take it southeast to the small village of Damascus, near the Tennessee border. The Appalachian Trail that runs from Georgia to Maine also passes through this area.

West of Abingdon on Highway 58 (the best route to Cumberland Gap from Interstate 81) is Big Stone Gap, where you can see the outdoor historical drama The Trail of the Lonesome Pine.

Overview

Introduction

History and travel often go hand in hand: Nearly every destination makes some effort to educate visitors about its past, whether by building museums or preserving historical sites and architecture. But few places—at least in the U.S.—can claim a historical legacy like that of Virginia. And few have done such a good job of preserving it for modern travelers.

Take Colonial Williamsburg, for instance: It was one of the first locations to combine historic architecture with living-history re-enactments, and it's still one of the best. Visitors there enjoy an up-close look at early colonial life—the language, the tasks, even the buttons appear authentic. Those interested in the Revolutionary War era know that Virginia was a virtual who's-who of founding fathers. Four of the first five U.S. presidents were from the state, and most of them—George Washington and Thomas Jefferson being the best known—have left behind impressive estates. And when North and South fought the epic clashes of the Civil War, the blood flowed deepest in Virginia. To walk among the battlefields of Manassas, Fredericksburg and Cold Harbor is to appreciate the valor and carnage unleashed by the deadliest war in U.S. history.

There is more to Virginia than historical sites, of course—the natural beauty of the Shenandoah region and some quality oceanfront beaches in the Tidewater area, for instance—but to go to this state without taking at least some notice of its past is almost impossible. In Virginia, you'll best create your own vacation memories by moving among the memories of what came before.

Geography

History

Virginia's history begins with the Native Americans who lived in villages along the rivers near Chesapeake Bay. They were Algonquian-speaking tribes that cultivated corn, hunted, fished and collected an abundant array of wild shellfish and plants. But the Algonquians were not on good terms with the Iroquois-speaking peoples on the North Carolina border—the two groups were often at war.

The English Roanoke colonists (who settled in what is now North Carolina) made their first contact with the Native Americans in 1584, but it wasn't until the 1600s that European influences began to affect these groups—usually adversely. Many died of European diseases, to which they had little or no resistance.

The Roanoke colony eventually vanished. In 1607, the first settlers arrived in Jamestown, establishing a permanent English foothold on the North American continent. The new settlers took to the fertile land and temperate climate of Virginia, and, with tobacco as the primary crop, the territory flourished as a colony. It produced some of this country's greatest early patriots (Washington, Jefferson, Patrick Henry) and played a major role during the Revolutionary War (Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown). Virginia became a state soon after ratification of the U.S. Constitution. In the early 1800s, Virginia began to develop some industries, and its ports grew in importance.

But much of Virginia's prosperity was built on slavery. Its dependence on the practice led it to secede from the Union, along with the other Confederate states, in 1861. The western portion of the state opposed secession and seceded from Virginia itself, becoming West Virginia. Over the next four years, Virginia became the primary battleground of the Civil War: More major conflicts were fought in Virginia than in any other state. Both the first engagement between standing armies (the First Battle of Manassas, or Bull Run) and the final surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee (at Appomattox) occurred in Virginia. The state was badly battered during the long war. By the end, its major city—Richmond—was a smoking ruin.

The postwar years saw Virginia struggle back to economic and political health. And once the state regained its momentum, it came back strong. With its proximity to Washington, D.C., it has long been home to numerous government and military facilities, and its ports have made it a center for shipping and ship building. In the 20th century, factories, high-tech plants and burgeoning service industries helped make Virginia an economic powerhouse of the South.

Snapshot

Virginia's main attractions are historical sites, Williamsburg, Richmond, Norfolk, beaches, Alexandria, amusement parks, Charlottesville, Monticello, horses, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive, Virginia Beach, hiking, sailing and fishing.

Most travelers will find something to enjoy in Virginia, especially those interested in U.S. history, mountain culture and beaches.

Potpourri

The tourism slogan "Virginia is for lovers" (introduced in 1969) was a public-relations triumph, becoming one of the most successful (and imitated) travel-promotion phrases in the U.S.

Eight American presidents were born in The Old Dominion (Virginia's nickname): George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson. Seven of them are buried there, as well: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Tyler, William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy.

In November of 1989, L. Douglas Wilder became the nation's first elected black governor. The Democrat beat white Republican Marshall Coleman by 0.5%.

Residents of Tangier Island, in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, still speak a form of Middle English first used 300 years ago by settlers of the region. Because of the island's isolation from the rest of the colonies, the language did not evolve as it did in the rest of the region.

There are more than 100 wineries producing more than a dozen different types of wine in the state of Virginia. The state has garnered national and international recognition and ranks among the top wine-producing states in the U.S. Most vineyards and wineries offer public tours and tastings.

The U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk is the largest naval installation in the world. It is also home base to the U.S. Atlantic fleet.

The Pocahontas-John Smith legend was based on events at the Jamestown colony. The facts don't quite match the Disney version, however. If Pocahontas did save John Smith's life—and there's much suspicion that Smith invented the story—she was only 12 years old at the time. Later, Pocahontas was held captive by the colonists to prevent attacks by her tribe. She eventually married an Anglo tobacco planter (not Smith), accompanied him to England and died there of tuberculosis at age 22.

The only region in the U.S. with more technology companies than northern Virginia is Silicon Valley in California.

Surely one of Virginia's proudest claims to fame is that it is home to the World's Oldest Smithfield Ham. First cured in 1902, the culinary curiosity now resides in the Isle of Wight Museum in Smithfield.

Overview

Introduction

This major East Coast resort attracts college students and other travelers with a bustling boardwalk crowded with ice-cream shops, fast-food outlets, nightclubs and places to rent watersports equipment. There are good beaches north of town and thousands of hotel and motel rooms to suit every budget.

Visit the landing site where the first Jamestown colonists touched shore (called First Landing Cross). A 300,000-gallon/1,135,560-liter shark and stingray aquarium, a nature trail and hundreds of interactive exhibits at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center let you experience various marine habitats. In winter, the museum organizes trips to see the humpback whales that congregate off the coast. Nearby, Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge and First Landing State Park are excellent places to ride bicycles, look at the migrating waterfowl and explore coastal dunes.

For something different, check out Edgar Cayce's Association of Research and Enlightenment, devoted to the promotion of spiritualism. The center offers free lectures, tours, movies and ESP training.

Virginia Beach stages seaside events year-round. One of the best known is the annual Neptune Festival with a variety of competitions and entertainment in September.

Overview

Introduction

Overview

Introduction

This Victorian mining town was once considered the richest city in the world, the result of the Comstock Lode's enormous yields of gold and silver. Among the figures who passed through during its heyday was Mark Twain, who worked as a reporter (and first used his pseudonym) at the Territorial Enterprise.

The town later received a big boost when television's Bonanza was set in the area around Virginia City. (Those parts of the series that were filmed in the region were shot near Lake Tahoe, however, some distance from the real Virginia City.) Virginia City was quick to realize what Bonanza buffs wanted, and it has worked hard to refurbish its vintage buildings and play up its frontier history.

Take time to visit the saloons along C Street (our favorite name: the Bucket of Blood). Then allot some time to the town's many museums (expect entertainment more than scholarly analysis). The Nevada Gambling Museum looks at the history of gaming in the Wild West: One exhibit examines the evolution of the slot machine. The Julia C. Bulette Red Light Museum examines a different form of expensive entertainment—prostitution. It has photographs, medical equipment and other exhibits detailing the life of Ms. Bulette and her Virginia City brothel.

Among the buildings you should see are the lovely St. Mary's in the Mountains Church, the courthouse, Piper's Opera House and two mansions—the Castle (check out the silver doorknobs) and the Mackay Mansion (http://www.mackaymansion.com). To get a better idea of the town's past, take a tour of an underground mine and, in the summer, take a ride on the Virginia-Truckee Railroad to Gold Hill.

The International Camel Races take place in Virginia City in September, drawing competitors from Australia, Africa and Saudi Arabia. In October, the World Outhouse Races take place in Virginia City. Teams construct outhouses meeting certain requirements and then race them. 320 mi/515 km northwest of Las Vegas.

Overview

Introduction

When they nicknamed West Virginia the Mountain State, they weren't kidding. Small communities there literally have been shaped by the steep terrain—squeezed so tightly between two mountainsides that there's only room for one road and a single line of houses.

Vacations in West Virginia also tend to be shaped by the mountains and valleys: Those scenic Appalachian roads provide plenty of photo opportunities; the state's plunging rivers make it one of the premier destinations for white-water rafting in the U.S.; and the mountainous parks and forests are great places for skiing, rock climbing, fishing and hiking.

There are also luxurious mineral-water spas (another product of the state's rugged geology) and historic sites that yield a better understanding of how these mountains have shaped the course of U.S. history, from westward expansion to the Civil War to the turbulent coal-mining era of the early 1900s.

Geography

As one might expect, the Mountain State is far from level, but it isn't all mountains: The Appalachians run along the eastern side of the state where there are numerous gorges, valleys and fast-running rivers. But in the north and west, where the uplands give way to the Ohio River Valley, the state is more hilly than mountainous.

The state is divided into nine travel regions: the New River Greenbrier Valley, the Potomac Highlands, the Eastern Panhandle, Mountaineer Country, the Northern Panhandle, the Mid-Ohio Valley, the Metro Valley, the Mountain Lakes and the Hatfield-McCoy Mountains.

History

The Native Americans who first came to these mountains were largely hunters and gatherers, part of the Adena culture that built temple mounds in the Ohio River Valley as early as 1000 BC. The groups that Europeans encountered some 2,500 years later were only remotely related to the earlier residents. The later groups (Shawnee, Cherokee, Delaware, Conoy and others) were primarily farmers, occupying major river valleys and forested uplands.

Europeans did not really settle in West Virginia until the 1700s. George Washington was among its early colonial visitors, and Daniel Boone later spent quite a while in the region (before heading on to less-crowded lands to the west). Eventually, settlers from the English colonies began to pour in and establish communities—but not without some resistance from the French and Native American peoples.

As its name suggests, the state was originally a part of Virginia, but at the beginning of the Civil War, the state split into two regions: The eastern portion of the state seceded from the Union, but the western portion remained a part of the U.S., taking the name Kanawha. It changed its name to West Virginia before officially becoming a state in 1863.

Although the state's economy was originally agrarian, the discovery of vast coalfields changed its economy and its way of life. It's one of the country's largest producers of coal, and its livelihood has risen and fallen with that industry's fortunes. Some of the most bitter and violent labor struggles in the U.S. transpired on the state's soil as miners attempted to unionize in the early 1900s. West Virginian Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was a leader in protesting horrendous mine conditions, and the movie Matewan, set and filmed in West Virginia, reflects the early struggles to develop a labor union.

Coal is still the state's most important industry—along with livestock, chemical manufacturing and glass production—but tourism also plays a major role the state's economy

Snapshot

West Virginia's main attractions include the mountains, rivers and forests, where white-water rafting, trout fishing, skiing, camping, hiking and hunting are predominant options for the traveler.

Travelers who love the outdoors and non-touristy areas will have a great time in West Virginia. Not all West Virginia destinations are rugged or outdoorsy, but nearly all have a relaxed and laid-back atmosphere. Distances between attractions often traverse long and winding roads, which some drivers find straining; however, motorcyclists enjoy the roads immensely.

Potpourri

Organ Cave near Ronceverte is the largest of the state's many caverns, and is the third largest in the U.S.

West Virginia has a mean altitude of 1,500 feet, giving it the highest average altitude of any state east of the Mississippi.

In 1918, inventor Thomas Edison, industrial moguls Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, and naturalist John Burroughs got together and took a trip through the Potomac Highlands, camping at what is now the historic Cheat Mountain Club.

Outdoor advertising had its origin in Wheeling around 1908 when the Block Brothers Tobacco Company painted bridges and barns with the slogan: "Treat Yourself to the Best, Chew Mail Pouch."

The birthplace and home of Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck (The Good Earth) is in Hillsboro. The house is open to visitors and filled with original furniture and memorabilia.

The International Mother's Day Shrine in downtown Grafton marks the spot where mothers were honored in 1908. This happened at the instigation of a local woman, Anna Jarvis, on the death of her mother, who had nursed Civil War wounded on both sides and worked to settle the conflict. The Anna Jarvis Birthplace Museum in the family home contains original, century-old household items, clothing and Civil War relics from the period of occupation by Union soldiers. Father's Day originated in Fairmont the same year, when grieving children chose to honor 250 local fathers who were killed nearby during the worst mine disaster in American history. Special services are still held in the Central United Methodist Church.

Because West Virginia coal burns so cleanly, it was selected to fuel ships during World War I. The lack of smoke made the boats less detectable to the enemy.

When the New River Gorge Bridge (the world's second-longest single span bridge) opened in 1977, the time to cross the gorge was reduced from 40 minutes to 1 minute. On "Bridge Day" (October 18), BASE jumpers and rappellers are allowed to jump off the 876-foot-high structure.

The Hatfields of the Hatfield-McCoy feud were from southwestern West Virginia. The McCoys lived across the river in Kentucky. There's not much remaining from the conflict, but some artifacts—and the Hatfield family cemetery—are in the community of Sarah Ann, south of Logan.

West Virginia's nationally recognized rail system includes more than 3,000 mi/4,828 km of trails that can be used by hikers, bikers and equestrians. Some are open to motorized vehicles such as trail bikes and all-terrain-vehicles.

Steamboat inventor James Rumsey has been neglected by history but not by Shepherdstown, where he successfully demonstrated a steamboat on the Potomac in 1787—two decades before Robert Fulton. In 1987, the Rumseian Society built a replica of Rumsey's boat, which is on display at the Shepherdstown Museum.

The giant dish-shaped telescopes visible from Highway 92 near Green Bank are part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (home to the world's largest radio telescope), which offers fascinating tours and programs. Your cell phone won't work within miles of the place, because it is a designated "quiet zone" for the NRAO, which "listens" to outer space.

West Virginia is also a good place for star-gazing with the naked eye. Several locations rate well on the Bortle scale (which measures the levels of light pollution), including Spruce Knob and Calhoun County Park near Grantsville. In the West Virginia hills you can often see the Milky Way with the naked eye.