Rediscovering America_ Exploring the Small Towns of Virginia & Maryland - Bill Burnham [18]
The George Washington National Forest is also convenient to Front Royal, with trails running along the Massanutten Range (tel. 540-984-4101.) Guest Shenandoah River State Park’s (tel. 540-622-6840) is 1,600 acres along five miles of the South Fork Shenandoah River.
Two miles south of Front Royal is Skyline Caverns (tel. 800-296-4545, www.skylinecaverns.com). You’ve certainly heard of stalagtites and stalagmites (quick – which grow up and which grow down?), but anthodites? This is one of the only places in the world you can see these “orchids of the mineral kingdom.” Three underground streams flow through the caverns and Rainbow Falls plunge 37 feet. Open year-round. Open 9 am-6:30 pm in summer; closes earlier the rest of the year. Adults, $12; children seven-13, $6.
Dining
Locals remember when the Royal Oak Tavern was a Golden Corral with an all-you-can-eat buffet. Today, it’s whitewashed and clean-looking inside and out. It has an extensive surf-and-turf menu, as well as well as burgers and sandwiches for lunch or late night munching. The kitchen is open until midnight. There’s a separate smoking area and a bar. (101 West 14th Street, tel. 540-551-9953, www.jesara.com)
Jalisco Authentic Mexican Restaurant serves some of the best authentic Mexican food in Virginia (1303 N. Royal Avenue, tel. 540- 635-7348); and locals swear Melting Pot Pizza has the best thin-crust pie and homemade onion rings. It must be good – it’s been in business for 30 years (138 West 14th Street, tel. 540-636-6146).
By day the Main Street Mill serves up pasta, steak and seafood in an atmosphere with chestnut beams and hand-painted murals. By night, the “Feed Mill” is a favorite local nightspot, with bands playing on the second floor of the 19th-century mill. (500 East Main Street, tel. 540-636-3123)
Stadt Kaffee & Restaurant is a good German restaurant in the historic downtown. (304-A East Main Street, tel. 540-635-8300)
Lodging
The Chester House Bed & Breakfast is an Italian Renaissance estate on two acres in the historic district. Once inside the elaborate gardens, you’d never know Main Street was only a block away. (43 Chester Street, tel. 800-621-0441, www.chesterhouse.com, $$)
Killahevlin is an historic Edwardian Mansion built by an Irish immigrant, William Edward Carson, who came in 1885 at the age of 15. As the first chairman of the Virginia Conservation and Development Commission, Carson is credited with the creation of Skyline Drive, the development of Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown Colonial National Monument, as well as historical markers placed throughout the state. He sited his mansion on one of the highest spots in the area, and named it for Killyhevlin in Northern Ireland. It’s now a bed & breakfast with six guest rooms (four with working fireplaces) private baths, antique furnishings and mountain views. Innkeeper Susan O’Kelly has restored the mansion in keeping with Irish influences, right down to the pub, where the Irish beer on tap flows freely for guests while they’re playing a game of cribbage or backgammon. Outdoors are two gazebos, a koi fish pond, boxwood gardens, and the Tower House, a renovated water tower that once collected rainwater and now houses two guest suites. (tel. 800-847-6132, www.vairish.com, $$$)
The Lackawanna Bed & Breakfast is an 1869 house with a front porch overlooking the Shenandoah River. There’s an in-ground pool and canoeing on the river. Children ages 10 and older only. (tel. 877-222-7495, www.lackawannabb.com, $$)
Pet-friendly: The Mountainside Cottage at Skyline Drive is a knotty pine cabin turned into a comfy guest cottage by owners Diane and Cecil Keen. Two bedrooms with feather beds, down comforters and terry robes, a modern kitchen, fireplace with all the wood you need, front and back porches for mountain views.