At times I need a catalyst to get me thinking and today the Frontier Culture Museum served that purpose. It tells the story of how German, English and Scots-Irish farmers came to the Shenandoah Valley, established traditional farms, and how over the decades these traditions merged. The resulting new standard moved west across the country and became the heart of American farming.
How they showed this was cool. They purchased and relocated three farms from 1730s Europe, one from each country, and turned them into living compounds. Then they located and purchased a farm from the 1820s which showed the three farming traditions merging. Lastly, a fifth farm from the 1850s showed the final result with influences from all three traditions.
The farms were all staffed with period-farmers who answered questions and explained their lives. Their all educators and quite effective. BTW, a fourth tradition is a work-in-progress and that’s an African village of the Ebu people of Nigeria because they too had an undeniable influence on the traditions.
While still in town I went again to see if I could watch glass blowing at the Sunspot Studios. I’d been there on three previous occasions and always too late or too early or on an off day. Today? Yes! A private 45-minute session with the glass bower where he talked me through his technique as he blew a bud vase. It was fun. As I left town I drove past many sites of what is rapidly becoming a favorite destination: Staunton, VA.
So, up Highway 11 I went with my next major destination being Harrisonburg with stops at oddities along the way. The Augusta Military Academy was a boy’s school started in 1870 and graduated 7,000 students till it closed its doors in 1984. The museum was small but well done but the buildings are what really caught my eye. So military in style! Also stopped at the Pritchett Museum on the campus of Bridgewater University which features the crazy collection of a pack-rat minister. It took quite a while to find the museum in the basement of a campus building. The exceedingly bored student attendant told me they get only one to two visitors per week, if they’re lucky! Amazing.
Harrisonburg was a good visit if only to make the point that I need to get back there. I briefly visited the Valley Turnpike Museum and the Visitors Center where I learned of other places I’d like to visit: Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center, Virginia Quilt Museum, the Harrisonburg Heritage Center, their historic downtown, the campus of JMU and more.
New Market presented me with a problem: too much to do! My solution? Come back another day with Kelsey for a whirlwind adventure: start with a hike to a peak in Shenandoah, descend to visit sites in New Market, and finish the day in the depths of Shenandoah Caverns. New Market has civil war history of the Battle of New Market where VMI kids won a pivotal battle, crazy museums of parade floats and animated storefront windows, and more. I’m sure we’d return home exhausted.
My path home was through the middle third of Skyline Drive entering on Hwy 211 and exiting on Hwy 33. Of course I had to stop first in Luray where I visited the Singing Tower. The town of Luray is a great destination for all the things you can do such as visit the caverns, tour the auto museum, find your way through the garden maze, etc. Today as I passed through its historic downtown I noticed a lovely riverside park with bicycle paths.
Another trip?!
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