Castiglias

Apr. 15th 2013

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Last Friday night, Brett and I tried a new restaurant in Historic Fredericksburg. Castiglias is a family owned Italian restaurant located on Williams Street. We had a chance to meet one of the owners who is from Naples, Italy. From the looks of the restaurant and the number of people waiting for a table, this place is very popular and very good.

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They offer indoor sitting at tables or at the pizza or bar area. They also offer outdoor cafe style sitting. Brett and I wanted to get a sense of the restaurant so we chose to wait for a table. It wasn’t a bad wait, just twenty minutes.

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They gave us these really cool buzzers too!

Once we got our table, we were quickly greeted by Myles, our waiter. Brett and I were both very impressed with Myles. His attention to detail was not that of a normal wait staff. We decided to start with an appetizer called “Bruschetta Castiglia”.

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This bruschetta is made with chopped tomato and fresh made mozzarella cheese dressed with olive oil and garlic over toasted artisan bread. The mozzarella cheese was to die for!

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As we were waiting for our salads, I noticed that Castiglias was known for their “World Famous Meatballs.” So since Brett and I love meatballs, we ordered one to share.

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This meatball is made with 100% beef and was very well seasoned. You could tell that it was made in house with loving hands! The tomato sauce was delicious and didn’t over power the meatball or cover up the meatballs seasoning. They really did go well together.

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After our salads, our main entrees arrived. Brett had decided that he wanted to give their spaghetti a try. Brett has traveled a good bit in Italy while he was in the Navy and with his current position. So he has grown to love the true Italian tomato sauce. One of the first things he noted about his dish was that they soaked the pasta in the tomato sauce before they covered it. He really likes it that way. He said that this was one of the best spaghetti dishes he has ever had.

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I decided to order one of the specials that night. A New York Strip (cooked medium) topped with Scallions and Gorgonzola Cheese with a side of Gnoochi and saute Spinach. It was so good! The Gnoochi was light and the Gorgonzola really tasted great with the New York Strip. My steak came out a little under done, but not so much that I would have said anything. But our waiter, Myles came back to check on us and saw my steak. He noted that it looked a little under done and asked me if I wanted to have it cooked a little more. I declined, but I was so impressed. I can’t say I have ever had a waiter look that close at my food!

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After we finished our meal, I told Brett that I needed just a little something sweet after such a wonderful meal. So Myles offered us a Chocolate Dipped Cannoli with a Creamy Center that just melted in your month! With the light sprinkle of powdered sugar and my taste buds were satisfied.

As we walked towards the door, the owner stopped us and asked us how our meal had been. We both told him how good it had been and how wonderful our waiter had been. He thanked us and told me to come back with a flyer for our business. He said that he would love to place it on the window by the door so everyone could see it.

So we now have a great place for Italian food for that special dinner or even just for a great night in Historic Fredericksburg while you are visiting Belle Grove Plantation!

To see more places to visit while staying at Belle Grove Plantation

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Posted by Michelle Darnell | in Food and Recipes | 16 Comments »

Mount Vernon

Sep. 3rd 2012

Stain Glass Artwork in the Orientation Center
Mount Vernon

Wow what a great couple days! After signing our contract, Saturday we headed up to Washington D.C. to see Mount Vernon. We had a couple of goals in visiting the home of George Washington. First we had heard that the gardens were grand. We hoped to gather some ideas for layouts and plants that will help us plan our gardens at Belle Grove. Second, being a Virginia Plantation home that was built in 1735, we could also get some ideas for the furniture and designs of the interior of a colonial home. We also wanted to visit so we could recommend it as a place to go while our guests are visiting our plantation.

I had been to Mount Vernon twice before, but this was Brett’s first visit. It has been years since I had gone and a few things had changed since my last visit. One thing I remembered was how tricky it can be finding it. All I can say is I don’t know what I did before GPS! Thankfully when we arrived, we were able to find a parking space pretty close to the entry.

When we walked into the Orientation Center, we were first greeted by life size statues of General Washington, Martha and their grandchildren, Eleanor Parke Custis (Nelly)at age 6 and George Washington Parke Custis (called “Wash” or “Tub”) at age 4. The first thing we did was measure Brett against General Washington’s 6’2” frame. One thing we did notice was how much shorter Martha was. She was only 5’5”.

From there we headed to the front entry gate. This has to be the best place to first view Mount Vernon. As we walked in and started around towards the Upper Garden, we found a sign that talked about the grassy area in the circle at the front of the house. This area is called the “Bowling Green”. By definition, a bowling green is a finely-laid, closely-mown and rolled stretch of lawn for playing the game of lawn bowls. Now I don’t know if they played lawn bowls, but I love the name they use for it. We have a similar area in front of Belle Grove. All this time, I have been just calling it the grassy area in the circle. Now I think we are going to follow suit and call it our bowling green. Who knows, maybe we can learn how to play lawn bowling and have some fun at the plantation!

As we rounded the circle, we came upon some very large trees. Each of these trees were marked with the time that they were planted. I couldn’t believe it! Some of these trees were planted during the same time period when Belle Grove was built! What wonderful pieces of living history to see and touch! If only these trees could talk, what story they would have!

Upper Garden
Mount Vernon

The Upper Garden was our first stop. This garden had a dual purpose. It was both beautiful and productive. It features three large planting areas with wide paths. The beds are edged with short boxwoods. Just inside this edging was a ten foot wide border of fruit trees, shrubs, roses, annual and perennial flowers. The center section was where vegetables were grown and would supplement the production of the Lower Garden. The most formal section of the Upper Garden is a set of boxwood parterres, which incorporate the French fleur-de-lis as a major design element.

Upper Garden
Mount Vernon

Upper Garden
Mount Vernon

Upper Garden
Mount Vernon

Upper Garden
Mount Vernon

Upper Garden
Mount Vernon

Upper Garden
Mount Vernon

From here we made our way across the bowling green to the right side of the house. Here we walked to the river view of the manor home. Mount Vernon sits on a high bluff that overlooks the Potomac River and across the river to Maryland. The porch extends the full length of the manor house and offers a large area to sit and enjoy the cool breezes that come up from the river.

River View
Mount Vernon

River View
Mount Vernon

River View
Mount Vernon

Weathervane
Mount Vernon

We then made our way back to the side of the house where we viewed several of the dependencies. One of the first ones Brett wanted to see was the Smokehouse. He commented that it was just a little bigger than the one at Belle Grove. We also peeked into the Wash House and Coach House. What a beautiful carriage General Washington had! The one that was shown wasn’t owned by Washington, but was an example of what he had.

Smokehouse
Mount Vernon

Wash House
Mount Vernon

From here, we started down a steep hill towards the Tomb of the Washington. Also by this point, we had started getting a little hot. The day was very hot (around upper 80s to lower 90s) and quite humid. As we walked down, I started thinking about what a walk back up this was going to be. When we arrived at the tomb, there really weren’t too many people there. It was very quiet and peaceful. The two sarcophagus were simple white marble and the lid of General Washington’s decorated with an eagle and shield. General Washington had been buried earlier in another tomb until this tomb could be built according to his will.

Tomb
Mount Vernon

Tomb
Mount Vernon

George Washington’s Tomb
Mount Vernon

Martha Washington Tomb
Mount Vernon

After the long hike back up the hill from the tomb, we headed over to the Lower Garden. The Lower Garden or Kitchen garden is where many varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs were grown. The high brick walls were used to create a warm environment that extended the planting season and would have kept the wildlife out of the garden. The garden was placed on a slope so it had to be terraced to create two flat planting areas and would have a southern exposure.

Fruit and Vegetable Garden and Nursery
Mount Vernon

Fruit and Vegetable Garden and Nursery
Mount Vernon

After walking the Lower Garden, we were pretty hot and headed back over to the start of the manor house line. We were about 30 minutes before our tour time, but were allowed to go ahead and enter the line for the manor. As we made our way up, we came upon a sign that talked about the exterior walls of Mount Vernon.

Lower Garden (Kitchen Garden)
Mount Vernon

Lower Garden (Kitchen Garden)
Mount Vernon

Lower Garden (Kitchen Garden)
Mount Vernon

Lower Garden (Kitchen Garden)
Mount Vernon

The mansion is made of wood, but was treated to look like stone. Long pine boards were grooved and beveled to create the appearance of masonry. Then the boards were varnished and painted. Before they dried a fine sand was thrown on the wet paint. This rustication technique was used on the mansion in 1757-1769, just a few years after Mount Vernon became his home.

Mansion
Mount Vernon

Mansion
Mount Vernon

As we made our way through the line, we were given a chance to see the Servant’s Hall just to the left of the mansion. From there, we walked along the covered arched walkways towards the house. It is from this walkway you can see the outside of the palladian window of the formal entertainment room.

Servant’s Hall
Mount Vernon

Covered Archway
Mount Vernon

Covered Archway
Mount Vernon

Outside view of Palladian Window
Mount Vernon

Inside Formal Dining room / Entertainment Room
Mount Vernon

When I last visited Mount Vernon, several years ago, the tour was done in groups and was only in the main level of the mansion. Today, the tour was more of the line that you walk through from the entertainment room, to the river view porch, back into the main hall where you see two bedrooms, a small parlor and dining room. Then its upstairs to three bedrooms, on with a portrait of Marquis De Lafayette. Lafayette visited Mount Vernon on his visits to America. From here, we made our way through another bedroom, which at first I thought might be the Washington’s room since it was the only bedroom that we had been allowed to enter and walk through. But just on the other side was another bedroom, which had been part of an extension General Washington had added to Mount Vernon. Then it was back downstairs and into the private study of General Washington. After about 20 minutes, the tour was over.

Lafayette

Brett and I have been to several of the Founding Father’s homes. Of the three that we have seen, Monticello, Montpelier and Mount Vernon, only Mount Vernon had left me feeling like there was so much more information and history that was not mentioned during the tour. The mansion had tour guides staged at different points along the walking tour. They all seemed to have about three or four statements that they made over and over. When I wanted to stop and ask a question, the tour guide seemed a little baffled by my question (the question was in the entertainment room and I asked if the plaster accents were colonial or were they added sometime later in the Victorian period?) I was told they were colonial and he walked away before I could really get any more questions out. Also because there was a long line of people behind me, I didn’t feel like I could stop and ask too many questions, even though I really wanted to. I did find out that the mansion is 9200 square feet. Belle Grove is just 1200 shy at 8000 square feet.

After the tour, we were hot and a bit drained, so we headed back over to the Museum and Education Center. Here we could have gotten more information I am sure than what we got inside the mansion. But at this point we were to tired to make it through. It will have to wait until another day.

“Martha Washington”
Mount Vernon
(Isn’t it cool how the sunlight looks to be shining directly on her?)

All in all it was a really good visit. The gardens gave us more ideas and we now have a name of our grassy area. When we have guest come to Belle Grove, when we recommend Mount Vernon, we will offer the following advise:

  • Plan an early and all day event. With the traffic you can run into on Highway 95, your travel time from Belle Grove to Mount Vernon could be from one to two hours depending on the traffic.
  • Plan your visit ahead of time. Know what you want to see and where you want walk.
  • Wear comfortable tennis shoe. The hills are not kind to flip flops.
  • Try to plan your trip in cool weather. The heat and humid were very hard on us and Mount Vernon doesn’t offer many places to get out of the heat.

We decided to stay the night in Fredericksburg at the Schooler House Inn. We arrived just long enough to drop our belongings off and head over to an Italian Restaurant Brett wanted to try. This restaurant called “Ristorante Renato” is located on William Street in Fredericksburg. It is a cozy semi formal restaurant in an older building. We arrived in blue jeans and the other guests were casual or blue jeans as well.The decor was just a little dated and the waitstaff were all in tux shirts and bow ties, but the food was really good.

The Schooler House Bed and Breakfast
Fredericksburg, Virginia
www.theschoolerhouse.com

Ristorante Renato

Ristorante Renato
www.rrenato.com

We started out with an Antipasti Misto for two with prosciutto, salami, mushrooms, mozzarella, olives, anchovies, shrimp, and marinated vegetables. Then we had a house salad followed by our entrees. Brett ordered his favorite Italian dish, basic spaghetti with meat balls and mushrooms added. I ordered Agnolotti (or Ravioli). The raviolis were white pillows filled with baked spinach in a cream cheese sauce. When I got my dish at first I was a little disappointed that it was only four small raviolis, but after eating them, I see why. They are so filling! And the taste was out of this world! I have never had a ravioli that simply dissolved in your mouth! I would eat that every night if you asked me! At the end of the entree we decided no dessert for us tonight. Both dishes filled us and satisfied our taste buds.

Antipasta Misto
Ristorante Renato

Spaghetti with Meatballs and Mushrooms
Ristorante Renato
(Can you tell someone loves cheese?)

Agnolotti (or Ravioli)
Ristorante Renato

Agnolotti (or Ravioli)
Spinach filling
Ristorante Renato

As we made our way back to Schooler House Bed and Breakfast, we made a quick trip to the river to see the paddle boat that is docked downtown. It is small river boat the offers a meal and trip down the Rappahannock River. We are going to have to schedule a trip on this soon! I don’t know how far down river it goes, but it would be so cool to furnish a dock for it to come to Belle Grove!

Riverboat
Fredericksburg

Riverboat
Fredericksburg

Riverboat
Fredericksburg

Rappanhannock River
down river towards Belle Grove
Fredericksburg

We headed back up Caroline Street and made one more stop for the night at the Virginia Wine Experience store. Here you can find Virginia Wines from 80 vineyards represented of the over 200 vineyards of Virginia. One of our favorites is Ingleside and I knew that they carried one of our favorite wines, “Sweet Virginia Rose”. This red is a sweeter dessert wine that is a pleasure to enjoy. With bottle in hand, we arrived at Schooler House.

The Virginia Wine Experience
Fredericksburg

We got ready for the night and settled in for a glass of our “Sweet Virginia Rose”. As Brett caught up on his college football scores, I grabbed one of the many books that Andi, the innkeeper offers guest to enjoy. I picked up a book on “Ghost of Fredericksburg and the surrounding area” . I was kind of hoping to see Belle Grove or one of the other plantation in the book. But the closest it got was a story about John Wilkes Booth. An hour or so later, Brett and I snuggled down in our warm and very comfortable bed and quickly fell asleep.

Ingleside Vineyards
Sweet Virginia Rose

To be continued…

Posted by Michelle Darnell | in Year of the Virginia Historic Homes | 73 Comments »

Surprises around every corner… part two of four parts

Aug. 1st 2012

View of the Mountain Range
Hite Family Cemetery

From the Hite Family cemetery, we headed out to find a place to stay for the night. We ended up in Winchester, Virginia. As we drove we used my cell phone to look for bed and breakfast locations. There we found three and chose to stay in the oldest place.

Nancy Shepherd Inn
Winchester, Virginia

Nancy Shepherd Inn
Winchester, Virginia

www.nancyshepherdhouse.com

This was the Nancy Shepherd Inn. The history of this inn according to the inn’s website is:

“The Nancy Shepherd House Inn was built as a dwelling in the 1700s on the south end of Winchester’s main street, lot 213 on South Loudoun Street. So far, our earliest findings of its existence are from insurance policies from 1792, but it was certainly built much earlier. In 1792 the building was listed as a one-story wooden dwelling.

Nancy Shepherd Inn
Winchester, Virginia

It is constructed of log and was originally one and a half stories high with two rooms and a large central chimney. In 1798, the house was bought by Robert Cochran who considerably enlarged and embellished it for the purpose of an ordinary or tavern. He also added the fine moldings and a grand three-story staircase.

Nancy Shepherd Inn
Winchester, Virginia

Nancy Shepherd Inn
Winchester, Virginia

Nancy Shepherd Inn
Winchester, Virginia

In 1814, the inn, now enlarged and greatly improved, was passed on by Robert Cochran to his daughter, Mary (then Mary Schenck), for $500. She, her husbands, and her children ran the inn until it was sold to O. M. Brown for $1,500 in 1840, a considerable amount of money at the time, indicating that the business was quite successful.

Front Parlor
Nancy Shepherd Inn

The property remained a thriving tavern until the war, but since Winchester repeatedly changed hands between union and confederate forces, the local economy was crushed and so was the tavern business. During the war, the building was used as a rooming house for occupying soldiers of both sides, and also as a hospital for the injured from surrounding battles. By the end of the war the property was listed in city records as a “two story wooden tenement”. After its glorious pre-war days as an inn, the building began a slow process of deterioration as it changed owners over the years. From the 1860s until we acquired it, Robert Cochran’s old tavern remained a rooming house or multi-unit apartment building. To this day, it has not been a single family dwelling since 1798!

Dining Room
Nancy Shepherd Inn

The property was bought at public auction on the Winchester courthouse steps in early 1987 by Nancy Shepherd McLaughlin who realized that most of the building’s original fabric still lay intact under aluminum siding, dropped ceilings, drywall, and plywood & carpet floors. She decided that its preservation was critical and that it was too important to allow it to continue to deteriorate. Her mission was to bring the tavern back to life as a historic B&B inn, just as it had originally been during it grandest days between 1798-1861.

Wood Floor
Nancy Shepherd Inn

Nancy Shepherd McLaughlin (1927-1996) put her son David in charge of the restoration. David has had a life-long interest in the preservation of America’s early buildings. As the steward of the Nancy Shepherd House Inn, he has worked non-stop for twenty years making the old tavern suitable for a true historic bed & breakfast inn, undoing alterations and unsympathetic modernizations. He has brought it back to its early 19th century state, preserving everything that is original from the Robert Cochran period, and has done so without removing its essence of ‘old.’”

Back Parlor
Nancy Shepherd Inn

We met David and he walked us through this wonderful old building. It is filled with antiques from David’s family. Our room, located on the second floor was very comfortable. Unlike the grand rooms we have been staying in, this room had charm and atmosphere. It wasn’t large and gave us the feeling of what it would have been like staying in a tavern inn. Our bath was just across the hall and would have been a shared bath if another guest had been staying on the same floor. But since we were the only ones on the second floor, we had it to ourselves.

Our Room
Nancy Shepherd Inn

After showing us the room, David informed us that he was on his way to a concert he was performing in with friends just a town over from Winchester. He walked me through the house and showed me the kitchen area where he invited me to take anything we needed. As we were walking through, his friends were in the front parlor room playing banjo and preparing for their night. They were playing folk music at the concert. What a treat to hear the music and to see such a wonderful place.

Front Door
Nancy Shepherd Inn

Once David left, Brett decided to take a quick nap and I headed out to an antique mall I saw as we were coming over to the Inn. Sadly, I didn’t find any tea items to add to my collection. When I arrived back to the Inn, Brett was just waking. Our bed was like a Tempurpedic, but not a name brand Tempurpedic. It was glorious! We have a Tempurpedic at home so when we travel now, I find it hard to go back to a spring bed. I end up with sore spots from the springs. I think we could have slept the whole next day because it was so comfortable. Brett and I have been talking about what mattress to purchase for the plantation and I am sure we have to have at least two Tempurpedics.

Old Towne Walking Mall
Winchester, Virginia

We headed out to find some dinner at the Winchester Pedestrian Mall. This mall is located on Loudon Street and is about three or four blocks that has been closed off and is now a nice open air mall area. We have been here before, so we had a good idea where we wanted to go. It was up to two choices, Union Jacks, which is a British Pub and Violino’s Italian Restaurant. We had eaten at Union Jacks before, but never at Violino’s so we head that direction.

Godfrey Miller House – Built in 1785
Old Towne Walking Mall
Winchester, Virginia

As you walk down the mall, you can see limestone buildings dating back to the 1700s, brick building dating to the 1800s and early 1900s. There is a courthouse which is now a Civil War Museum as well. We stopped there first to check the hours, which we found that they would be open until 9pm, just for a special night that night. So off to dinner and we would return to see the museum after.

Violino’s
Winchester, Virginia

www.violinorestaurant.com

Violino’s was quite the place. It is fine dining, but it is open for both formal, business casual and street wear. Brett and I were in blue jeans. The atmosphere is wonderful. They have both indoor and outdoor dining. The wait staff went over and above in their service. As we walked up to the door, the hostess opened it before I could and welcomed us. We had a cozy table for two and were surrounded by Italian pictures and musical instruments hanging on the wall.

After reading the menu, our waitress tempted us with delicious specials of which we tried one of the appetizers. This plate was fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with mascarpone and mozzarella cheese, a zucchini fritter, caramelized figs and fresh slices of tomatoes. As we delighted in this appetizer plate, I heard someone walk by with a strong Italian accent.

Brett and I have friends who own an Italian restaurant here in Chesapeake that are from Sicily, so we are familiar with that accent. I asked our waitress if it was one of the owners and if she was from Italy. She told us that it was an owner and she was from Italy, but wasn’t sure where. So she asked the owner, who came to our table to talk with us. Her name was Marcella and she was from Torino, Italy in the Northern Region. She told us that her husband, Franco was the chef and he was from Friuli, Italy. Brett has traveled to Italy with his job in the Navy and his current job so he and Marcella were able to talk about places in Italy that he had been and food he had eaten. We talked with her about why we were in the area and about our Belle Grove. She told us that she would love to come see us once we opened and that she and her husband would jump on the motorcycles and take a ride over soon.

Our dinner came shortly after our conversation with Marcella. Brett ordered the basic spaghetti with Bolognese sauce and I had manicotti filled with ricotta cheese and asparagus and topped with a cream sauce, fresh basil, pine nuts and red currants. What a meal! It was beyond delicious! As I sat there enjoying the meal, I was working out in my head how to make this dish into a savory breakfast dish. So I am going to make it using crepes instead of pasta and call it “Crepes Marcella”. So next week, you may see my new menu item!

We finished up and were offered desert. As wewere eating, we had seen the deserts coming by and could not say no. We decided on the Chocolate Hazelnut Torte with Raspberry and Whip Cream. It was heavenly! What made it even better was as we were eating our desert, they had a violinist come out and play. It was a great dinner!

Violino’s
Winchester, Virginia

Old Courthouse Civil War Museum
Winchester, Virginia

www.civilwarmuseum.org

After dinner, we headed over to the Courthouse Civil War Museum. The Courthouse was built in 1840 on the site of the previous 1741 Courthouse. The tour started with a small speech located in the court room of the courthouse. The room reminded me of the courtroom in the movie “The Patriot” with Mel Gibson. You could almost see him standing there expressing his views. After the speech, I was able to talk to the director and we talked about how the Civil War affected the Winchester area compared to our plantation. Afterwards we headed upstairs for a self guided tour of the artifacts and history of this area.

Old Courthouse Civil War Museum
Winchester, Virginia

Old Courthouse Civil War Museum
Winchester, Virginia

During the Civil War, Winchester, just like Belle Grove in Middletown, Virginia, exchanged hands many times. Most of the local buildings and churches in the area were destroyed by the Union army. The courthouse had been spared and had been used for a hospital and prison. When it was in the hands of the Union army, they had housed 1500 prisoners in the front yard area.

Civil War Cannon

The collection upstairs was a range of items from guns, cannons and artillery to personal items like belt buckles and buttons. One of the most interesting parts was the graffiti that the soldiers left behind. During the restoration of the courthouse, they have preserved this graffiti and have it on view to the public.

Civil War Graffiti
Old Courthouse Civil War Museum

Civil War Graffiti
Old Courthouse Civil War Museum

Civil War Graffiti – Jefferson Davis Curse
Old Courthouse Civil War Museum

One of the most interesting pieces was a curse on Jefferson Davis. It reads as follows:

“To Jeff Davis -May he be set afloat on a boat without compass or rudder then that any contents be swallowed by a shark the shark by a whale whale in the devils belly and the devil in hell the gates locked the key lost and further may he be put in the northwest corner with a south east wind blowing ashes in his eyes for all eternity.”

As we walked out, I felt sad by the loss of so many. You know Brett and I poke fun at each other because he was born in the North and I was born in the South. He likes to point out that they were the ones who won. But you know I don’t look at it that way anymore. I look at it as we all lost. So many died, so many came back without arms and legs and families were torn apart. It truly was a sad part of our history.

Confederate Memorial
Front Lawn – Old Courthouse Civil War Museum
Winchester, Virginia

We arrived back at the Inn and settled down for the night. Our room was without television so I grabbed a book and settled into bed to read for awhile. As I lay there, I realized how quiet and peaceful this place was. I tried to imagine what it would have been like with the Inn and Tavern next door to each other and how the people who came to stay felt. I thought about the solders from the Civil War that hid out in the Inn. One thing David had told us was that they had found both Union and Confederate uniforms stuffed into the walls. I thought about the fear of discovery for those men. And what the owners felt as they watched this drama unfold around them.

I finally turned the light off and drafted to sleep. This time, my mind wasn’t racing with the thoughts of what we needed to do for our Belle Grove. This time, it was quiet and peaceful.

The Story Continues Tomorrow…

Going Sky High!

Posted by Michelle Darnell | in Year of the Virginia Historic Homes | 18 Comments »