Virginia - North Carolina: Saturday, October 8, 2022 | |
Cave Mountain Lake National Campground, our new home base, is located in the Jefferson National Forest. | |
Cave Mountain Lake is a pond resulting from a small dam on a very small stream. There is a beach, however, the reservoir is so small that the park doesn’t even allow kayaks or canoes on the lake. | |
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The Natural Bridge State Park’s brochure shows another cavern. Yesterday I had asked the girl at the ticket office about it. She said that it is run by a different entity and uses a separate parking lot, but our Virginia senior pass will cover it. So, this morning, our first stop was at the cavern. Things got a bit fuzzy here. We found a cavern just a half mile down the road. We got there at 9:45 am and waited the 15 minutes for it to open. When I showed them my senior pass, they claimed that the cavern was not part of the State Park. I didn’t think to ask if there was another state-run cavern. I just plunked down our $19 a ticket and took the 45-minute guided tour.
The affable kid that guided our little group of around 8 people had his spiel down pat. The group consisted of a half-dozen young folks in their 20s that had never been in a cave before. They were a little apprehensive and made many hilarious jokes and comments regarding their new experience. The cave itself was nice but had few formations. The real entertainment was the group. The young tour guide played the perfect “straight man” for the comedic troupe. All-in-all, it was a terrific time.
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(Above and below) The shaft and stairs at the cave entrance. | |
The formations, while impressive, were no match for the sheer beauty of the Luray Cavern. | |
Originally, my plan was to drive up to Staunton on highway 11, the so-called Wilderness Route, and then back down on the Blue Ridge Highway. The Wilderness Route follows the route that the early settlers took, including Daniel Boone, on their way West to Kentucky and Tennessee. That planned loop got interrupted in historic Lexington. Not only is tiny Lexington a genuine QT, it is the site of two world-famous universities: Washington and Lee University and the Virginia Military Institute (better known as VMI). It was also the home of the famous confederate General Stonewall Jackson. | Downtown Lexington has a well-preserved historic district with pleasant shops, cafes, and buildings. | |
Above: Thomas Jackson’s home in Lexington where Jackson, and his wife, lived while Jackson taught the mathematics and the art of artillery.
Below: As a General in the Confederate Army, Thomas Jackson got the nickname, Stonewall, in the First Battle of Bull Run (called the First Battle of Manassas by the South). At first, Union forces were successfully pushing the Confederates back when Jackson’s brigade, in the face of withering canon fire, stood their ground. Another brigade commander, General Bee, used Jackson’s stand as a rallying cry for his troops. He shouted out, “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Rally behind the Virginians.” The name stuck, and Stonewall Jackson became Lee’s most effective General until Jackson’s death during the Battle of Chancellorsville.
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Washington and Lee University is a private school made famous by General Robert E. Lee. After the Civil War, Lee was offered the job of President of the little college, then called Washington College. It was the perfect, out-of-the-limelight, low-key yet prestigious job for Lee. He accepted the offer and presided over the school until his death of a stroke in 1870. Lee, and his family, are buried in a crypt under the school’s chapel.
Another famous name associated with the school, Cyrus McCormick, was the inventor of the reaper. I should say, co-inventor because the slave, Jo Anderson, also was part of the design team. We all know who got the credit. McCormick eventually went on to start what has become known as International Harvester. Anyway, McCormick, a native of the Rockridge County where Lexington sits, was a major benefactor to the college. He must have given a lot of cash because the quiet campus and buildings are pristine and lovely. Former Virginia Governor Linwood Holton, 1970-1974, was a graduate of the University. I’m sure that there were other accomplished alumni.
|  | The quiet campus of Washington and Lee University is splendid and pristine. | |
All the campus buildings have a similar architectural design. | |
Although this church is on the fringe of the campus grounds, I am not certain if it is associated with the college. | |
When Lee was appointed the school’s president, he requested that a chapel be built. This is that chapel. It is also where Lee and his family is interred in a large crypt in the basement. | |
Lee is not lying in state here. This is just a tribute to Lee. | |
This is the crypt where Lee and his family members are interred. | |
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Above: In the chapel basement in a room next to the crypt is this recreation of Lee’s office as it appeared on the day he died of a stroke.
Below: It is spooky how revered Lee is displayed and depicted at this school. Before Lee’s death, the college was simply named Washington College. After Lee died, it was changed to Washington and Lee College. Thus Lee was elevated to an equal or higher level than George Washington. After all, except for a portrait of Washington, it is all Lee. The irony is that Washington helped found the nation that Lee tried to pull apart. The plaque below tries to gloss over that fact by contending that Lee somehow valiantly tried to re-define and re-unify the country after the Civil War. Well, I don’t know ‘bout dat.
| Portraits of Washington and Lee hanging up in the basement of the chapel. | |
Even Lee’s Civil War horse, Traveler, is buried next to the chapel. Jeez, where is Washington’s horse? | |
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VMI, located right next to Washington and Lee University, is a sprawling energetic campus. Dating back to 1839, it is the oldest public military school in America. It had an interesting beginning. Lexington had a store of armaments that were guarded by a group of bored but rowdy young men that terrorized the community. The residents complained. Someone got the bright idea to keep the young men busy by educating them. The idea took, and the school was established.
Stonewall Jackson was a professor of artillery tactics at VMI when the Civil War broke out. He was quickly recruited into the Confederate Army and commissioned as General. Later, as most people know, he became General Lee’s most important Corps Commander. He was killed by friendly fire. It was a huge blow to Lee’s army.
We toured the small VMI museum. Several Medal of Honor recipients had been VMI alumni. Interestingly, a few foreign military leaders got their initial military education at VMI, including a Thai General.
The VMI museum is next to the football field. We could hear loud cheering while we toured the museum. A game against ETSU (I guessed that to be Eastern Tennessee State University) was in the offing. There was a nice grassy knoll overlooking the field where many people camped out to watch the game thus avoiding the $27.50 ticket price. We joined in for a quarter. We left as VMI was getting swamped 17 to 7.
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Like Washington and Lee University, VMI has a distinct style of architecture. | |
Above: a large VMI meeting hall.
Below: Check out the giant mural glorifying battle hanging in the hall.
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While at the visitor’s center in Lexington, I found a brochure hyping the Chessie Nature Trail, a walking-biking trail that ran 7 miles between Lexington and Buena Vista, a small nearby town that was listed as a quaint town on a Google search. The trail parallels a canal tow-path that used to bring barges from Richmond to Lexington. In 1861, the C&O RR bought the right-of-way and laid down track. Trains ran on the line until 1969. It was converted into a trail and maintained by VMI for public use.
All that sounded good. We drove to the trailhead thinking that we’d get the bikes out and ride the trail to Buena Vista. The trailhead was very bad. The parking lot only had three spaces. The trail itself was fine for mountain bikes, but not great for our touring bikes. After only 200’ it veered off to the road. I don’t know how far it shared the road but I found that to be disappointing.
Halfway to Buena Vista, we checked out another trailhead. There was a very weird metal frame bridge that crossed a fast-running river. The trail surface leading up to the bridge was soft pea-gravel. Again, the trail would have been great for fat tire bikes, but not ideal for ours. We decided to skip the bike ride. Instead, I look forward to riding the High Bridge Bike Trail between Pamplin City (near Appomattox) and Burkeville. It follows Lee’s retreat and goes over High Bridge, where Lee’s Army was dealt a powerful blow when it didn’t destroy the bridge and Grant’s army was able to, not only cross it, but get ahead of Lee’s army. Lee would surrender soon after that. We will ride that trail when we visit Appomattox in a few days.
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Buena Vista had blocked off its downtown and set up a street market. The market was just finishing up when we pulled into town, but a trio was still playing. We stopped for a listen. They had an acoustic guitar, and electric guitar, and a lady singer. All three sang delightful three-part harmonies. They had some kind of electronic bass device that would play the bass note corresponding to whatever cord the acoustic player was strumming. It wasn’t fancy, but it worked for the simple mountain tunes they were playing. Simple, maybe, but very well done. We liked them.
The town is in a valley circled by low steep mountains. On one ridge overlooking the town, we saw a very cool looking building. In fact, the town had a couple of murals depicting the building. We figured that it must be important, so we drove up to the building. It turned out to be the administration building for SVU (Southern Virginia University).
The prevailing price for gas in the area was $3.69. to $3.89. I found a station set at $3.55 in Buena Vista. I filled up before heading back to camp.
|  |  |  |  | This trio featured some terrific three-part harmonies. | This local music store had the best signage I have ever seen for a music store. | I love photos of towns as they appeared in the “old days”. | Buena Vista as seen from the hill where SVU (Southern Virginia University) sits. | Southern Virginia University is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Mormon Church. | |
Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum. | | | | |
