Martinsburg to Williamsburg

(215 miles, 6 hours)
We booked into Knight’s Inn as a base for a couple of days. What a great chain! One of the cheapest and best equipped suites so far. Explored the lovely towns on the Washington Heritage Trail including Martinsburg, Shepherdstown, Harper’s Ferry and Charlestown. There were many charming towns with terraces of quaint shops with bay windows lining the high street – rather like Modbury in Devon. We drove through vineyards and farms with gentle rolling pastures. It was very peaceful and pretty as we passed large estate homes, often sporting the 5-pointed barn star. These were brought over by the German Amish farmers and pinned on the barns for prosperity and a plentiful harvest. Winchester had several large painted apples with scenes and historic characters on them which were quite special. We walked around St Stephens, which dates back to 1756 and saw the clapboard houses with ornate porches and shuttered windows. There was so much to see and do here that we did not have time for; the Shenandoah Valley National Park, Canaan Valley, the Grand Army Byway, the massive natural bridge of stone and the beautiful old towns full of antique shops. It would be worth a longer visit – next time.

Sunday started with an excellent brunch at the old Strasburg Hotel, which was full of Victorian furniture, paintings and china. Pouring over our maps in Starbucks we decided to abandon the Skyline Drive, as the trees have not changed color yet, and instead, with the assistance of a kind local, chose a route which meandered down little-known roads through almost-English countryside in 77F of sunshine. We enjoyed town names such as Culpepper, Mineral – predictably an early mining town - and the charmingly named Cuckoo.

The last stretch from Richmond to Williamsburg was along the Virginia Byway in the long shadows of the evening sunshine.