Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 41

the steady growth of the University of
Virginia's College at Wise.
standard." -Joe Tennis
Owned by the Wise County Industrial
Development Authority, the inn offers
49 rooms. About half of of the lodge is
newly built. The rest of the rooms are
restored - and refreshed - from what
used to be.
"In all honesty, we wanted to reinvent
the Inn at Wise," says Green. "We didn't
want to take away from everybody's
great memories, but we wanted to give
them new memories and set a new
Inn at WIse, 110 e. MaIn st., WIse, Va.
276-321-7600. InnatWIse.coM.

24 South Market Street, Staunton, VA
540-885-4848; stonewalljacksonhotel.com

Friday: Wytheville's Bolling
Wilson

Wytheville lies a two-and-a-halfhour dash down I-81. Should you
prefer to travel more in cadence
with the hotels' 1920s theme, take
meandering U.S. 11 through
Lexington and Natural Bridge, making small detours to the Cyrus
McCormick farm museum, Natural
Bridge park attractions, and the
Pink Cadillac eatery. Rt. 11 merges
with I-81 at Exit 175, so join the
21st century for 77 miles to Exit 98
at Dublin, heading north on Rt. 100
over Cloyd's Mountain, site of a
fierce Civil War battle.
Turn left onto Rt. 42 at Poplar
Hill, winding along Walker Creek.
The Nature Way Amish store near
White Gate offers an ice cream
break, and you can burn those calories by hiking the Appalachian Trail
to Dismal Falls (5 mi. round trip).
The trail access at Kimberling Creek
is on the right.
After Bland, veer south on Rt. 52.
This scenic road passes Big Walker
Lookout, a panoramic overlook at
3,405 feet. For $5, climb another
100 feet up the observation tower,

If you like history, walk two blocks
to Thomas J. Boyd Museum
and Haller-Gibboney Rock House.
where the wind
blows ceaselessly. If
y o u p r ef er te r r a
firma, hike the
short trail to
Monster Rock
Overlook. The
Lookout General
Store sells foodstuffs and crafts
from 30 local artisans as well as
"tower high" ice
cream cones daily
year-round. As you
descend into
Wytheville, look
for the Great Lakes
to Florida Highway
Museum beside the
visitor center. The
old service station
offers a glimpse of
the days when uniformed attendants
serviced your car at
gravity-flow gas
pumps.
You'll have no
trouble spotting Edith Bolling Wilson t-shirts refer to the period when she took over
four-story Bolling much responsibility from President Woodrow Wilson after his stroke.
Wilson Hotel on
Main Street. Inside, its lobby glitters with pimento cheese. The exterior
with chandeliers, floral art, and is equally old Southern, with a wide
orchids - Edith Bolling Wilson's porch and pillowed wicker chairs
favorite flower. There's also a cage of that invite guests to sit a spell.
A peek into the 30 guest rooms
parakeets, a tribute to the former
first lady's childhood role as care- reveals the accommodations modtaker of 26 parakeets. The hotel's ern travelers expect: high-definition
first floor features a gift shop, meet- television, Keurig coffee makers,
ing rooms, and a restaurant (Graze jeweled shower tiling, and contion Main) serving Virginia micro- nental breakfasts delivered in basbrews and Southern-inspired dishes kets with the morning newspaper.
such as bacon-wrapped meatloaf T h e r o o f t o p p a t i o p r o v i d e s
and fried green tomatoes topped 360-degree views of the surroundJuly/August 2015 41

http://www.InnatWIse.coM http://stonewalljacksonhotel.com http://stonewalljacksonhotel.com

Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015

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