A Week in Staunton, VA

What a pleasant surprise this small town was. Staunton (pronounced Stan-ten) has been acclaimed as one of the “Best Small Towns in America” and had everything from breathtaking scenery to cultural museums, art galleries, wonderful restaurants and one of the best local farmers market I’ve ever been to.

We arrived on Sunday and immediately knew a few fun facts…like another hurricane was chasing us. Since I had permanently taken that weather word out of my Florida state of mind, I paid attention a little. Knowing that Wednesday would be bringing flooding rains and wind, we crammed in a hike on the blue ridge parkway, got groceries and necessities, checked out the cutest little downtown area and ate a few local places.

Kimberly taught me the game of “Racko” and we queued up some movies and documentaries and made popcorn. And starting Tuesday afternoon and ending late Wednesday, it rained and rained and rained. We were able to get Mollie out for a few walks, but even that was a muddy mess.

The best part was that Kimberly was suppose to be traveling for work that week and due to the storm, her work was postponed a week. So it wasn’t just Mollie and I weathering the storm, it was the whole family in our 31’ Yolo. Thank goodness we had popcorn and we love each other. We weathered the storm just fine and continued our exploring when it passed.

Somethings we learned in the historical town:

Staunton is located in the Shenandoah Valley in between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains of the Appalachian Mountains. Staunton, Va. and was settled in 1732. 
The Virginia General Assembly established Staunton as a town in 1761 and the town was formally incorporated in 1801. Staunton is the birthplace of 28th president Woodrow Wilson and now has a population of more than 24,000.

We were so surprised at the difference in driving and the difference in the views. The change from the NC mountains we had left and the Shenandoah Valley just 5-6 hours away was huge. In NC the driving was tough. Tall steep inclines and very steep declines with some scary weaves and turns. In the Shenandoah Valley, once we wound down in the valley, we were surrounded by gorgeous mountains and the drive wasn’t as roller coaster like. The beauty was breathtaking and I was surprised at the differences in the two drives.

I was also pleasantly surprised at the variety of culturally specific restaurants in the town of Staunton. We had excellent Thai food and Mediterranean food with owners/chefs from those regions living and operating restaurants in this little Virginia town. The downtown area was full of architectural wonder from the 1800’s that had general stores and craft stores and breweries and wineries scattered within a few blocks of awesomness.

Staunton was full of surprises and we loved it. Walnut Hills Campground was awesome as well. We had the place to ourselves until Friday (who knew it was a holiday weekend), when we gradually saw the entire campground fill up. How lucky were we to have that gem to ourselves for most of our visit. We even went to the game room and shot some pool and played some air hockey. And, so far, Walnut Hills has the best laundry room to date. (our new lives require us to know these things). Mollie met ducks for the first time. We were pretty happy she didn’t show interest in the duck poop.

The final celebration for me was their Saturday Farmers Market. Listening to the locals bragging about their tomato varieties and watching the farmers pedal their goods. Several farmers had their butchered Lambs, Cows, Chickens, Elk for sale. It was crisp out and apples in all their varieties were in every booth. I was in heaven…Kimberly tolerated my over abundance of enthusiasm and at that moment, I knew I was my Fathers #2 daughter who loved to go to farmers markets together. Reminded me of my Pop who would have been even more enthusiastic than me.

Enjoy the pics and put the little town of Staunton on your list when passing through Virginia. And, extra credit if you can explain to me why its spelled with a U but pronounced without the U.

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