|
In
1969, the Virginia State Travel Service introduced “Virginia is for
Lovers” as the state’s tourism slogan. A 1992 survey revealed that
three out of four Americans could still correctly identify the slogan.
Since almost everyone knows that Virginia is for lovers, it’s only
fitting that there is now a guidebook to help Virginians and visitors
to the state find all the romantic things to do there.
The
well-known and off-the-beaten-path attractions in Romantic Virginia
offer escapes and activities for every age, budget, and season of the
year. The chapters describe the most romantic places to stay and eat;
historic homes and gardens; outdoor activities from hang gliding to
ice skating; historic sites and museums; musical and theatrical
productions; art museums and galleries; wineries; sporting events; and
festivals and fairs. Sidebars throughout the book offer dozens of
suggestions for romantic getaways in 14 Virginia cities and regions.
But
this is not just your usual travel guide. In the chapter describing
romantic places to stay, there’s a sidebar that lists
bed-and-breakfasts, inns, and historic homes and gardens that host
weddings and receptions. In the same chapter, you can find rustic
mountain lodges, old Southern plantations, colonial-era townhouses,
pastel-painted Victorian mansions, and fancy city hotels. The
restaurant section not only includes special places where couples can
celebrate a birthday, an anniversary, or simply the fun of enjoying
great food together, but also lists several old-fashioned drive-ins
and soda fountains.
Here
are just a few of the hundreds of activities suggested in Romantic
Virginia:
♥Take
a tall-ship cruise on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk.
♥Taste
Italian-style Virginia wines in a Tuscan-style farmhouse on the Blue
Ridge Parkway.
♥Watch
the wild-pony roundup in Chincoteague.
♥Take
a ride in a biplane after watching stunt fliers at the Flying Circus
Airshow in Bealeton.
♥Listen
to opera outdoors at the Ashlawn Summer Music Festival.
♥Picnic
beside one of the state’s five covered bridges.
♥Go
whitewater rafting (or take a more sedate paddle-wheel boat ride) in
downtown Richmond
.
about
the author
Andrea Sutcliffe is the author of Touring
the Shenandoah Valley Backroads and the editor of Mighty
Rough Times, I Tell You: Personal Accounts of Slavery in Tennessee.
She also planned the content and led the team that wrote The New
York Public Library Writer’s Guide to Style and Usage. She lives
in Basye, Virginia.
Other titles in the Romantic South™ Series include Romantic
Tennessee, Romantic
Kentucky and Romantic Georgia.
|
