Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 23

Anew at Arrington, Va.
After sailing around the world, Kathy
and Shannon Tillman wanted to put
down some roots – literally. So the couple, both 42, settled on a 250-acre farm
in Nelson County, Va., about 45 minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Then, they planted 10 acres of lavender
on a wavering field.
They now watch the color purple
bloom at mid-summer. “And people are
very romantic about lavender,” Kathy
Tillman says. “They come here already
very happy and excited and just full of
all these notions.”
Many – with group tours or garden
clubs – have wanted to see the lavender
farms of France but can’t get there yet,
so the Inglewood Lavender Farm of
Arrington becomes a first stop, Kathy
Tillman says. “And I’m trying to make

this like a little piece of Europe, like a
piece of France or England.”
Stone walls outline the farm, open
since 2012 and budding with 6,500 lavender plants.
The couple makes bath products,
like lavender essential oil, “to help you
sleep better at night,” Kathy says. “It
relieves aches. It can help heal cuts. It
helps with skin problems ... There’s a
list that’s hugely long about all the
things that it can do.”
— Joe Tennis
Want to VIsIt?

Inglewood Lavender
4638 Variety Mills Rd., Arrington, Va.
434-263-4558
inglewoodlavender.com

Hawksnest Zips into a New Future
Cottom. “It then became a ski area in 1964.” A golf
course followed around 1969.
About six years ago, the golf course was closed and
Hawksnest shifted from skiing to snow tubing only.
A couple of years later, Cottom decided to add
ziplining, taking advantage of the large areas over
the former golf course and the incredible views.
They began with 10 lines and now offer 20, on two
different courses including four “mega lines,” which
are extra long runs.

BRC

Click for video.

Writer Marla Milling zips her way along at
Hawksnest in Seven Devils, N.C.

Learning To go wiTh The fLow is often challenging for many business owners as they work to
adapt to changes in the marketplace. Hawksnest,
located in Seven Devils about half way between
Boone and Blowing Rock, N.C. has gone through
several periods of re-invention over the years – a
flexibility that has kept visitors returning.
“This area started out as a campground in the late
‘50s and early ‘60s,” says Hawksnest owner Lenny

The strategy has paid off. Cottom says they are zipping year-round now, which is a great way to keep
his staff on for longer than just the tubing season.
“It’s really surprised me,” he says. ‘I didn’t know if
ziplining was just a fad, but we have had repeat
customers every year.”
The change has led to two big distinctions for
Hawksnest; it currently ranks as the largest snow
tubing park on the East Coast and it has the longest
zip line tour on the East Coast.
— Marla hardee Milling
For more InFormatIon

For more information Visit hawksnesttubing.com
and hawknestzipline.com.
September/October 2013 | 23

http://www.newrivergorgecvb.com http://www.inglewoodlavender.com http://www.visitculpeperva.com http://www.visitculpeperva.com http://hawksnesttubing.com http://www.hawksnestzipline.com

Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013

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