Rediscovering America_ Exploring the Small Towns of Virginia & Maryland - Bill Burnham [26]
In so many ways, the Homestead experience is beyond words, and only through first-hand experience can one fully appreciate the richness. The Great Hall, with vaulted ceilings and balconies at either end, recalls grand hotels in Europe. Tea is served every afternoon in the small alcoves that line the spacious corridor, which are in fact anterooms for more private spaces, set off the hall and furnished with couches, ornate tables and tall mirrors. A warren of hallways leads past reading libraries and gift shops to an indoor pool warmed by the natural springs. The recently refurbished spa area offers guests (and for a surcharge, visitors) mineral baths, Swedish massages, herbal wraps or salt scrubs. There’s a fitness center, a salon, and a full-sized bowling alley.
Families are catered to in every way. KidsClub provides programs for ages three-12. There’s a movie theater, four tennis courts, horseback riding and evening hayrides to a bonfire to cook s’mores. There are nine downhill ski runs, day and night skiing, a ski school, and an Olympic-size skating rink.
If your idea of a vacation involves more rest and relaxation than a buzz of activity, sit back and soak in the mountain scenery. Take a leisurely carriage ride or soak in the pool. My favorite spot at the Homestead is the sun-filled elevated walkway that leads from the hotel to the spa and pool building. The window seat along the full length has tempting pink and white striped cushions and cheery floral pillows. I could spend an entire afternoon there, staring at Sunset Hill and imagining that time when children ran up the steep incline, hoping to outpace their chaperones and steal a quiet moment watching the sun slip behind Virginia’s seemingly endless Allegheny range.
TRIVIA: Bath County doesn’t have a single traffic light.
Attractions
Besides spa offerings at the resort, The Homestead owns and operates Jefferson Pools in Warm Springs. A one-hour soak in these historic baths costs $12, while a gift shop on-site sells spa products made from the pool’s waters. Open mid-March through October, 10 am-7 pm, November and December, weather permitting. (tel. 800-838-1766, www.thehomestead.com)
Garth Newel isn’t a person (as we mistakenly thought). Rather, it’s a Welsh term for “new home.” Garth Newel Music Center is a 114-acre estate in Warm Springs where Saturday concerts are followed by four-course gourmet dinners, and accommodations in the Manor House are available on special Music Holiday Weekends. The concerts are performed in a converted horse show ring, which has great acoustics. (tel. 877-558-1689, www.garthnewel.org)
Recreation
Even as age-old traditions like formal dining and dancing are maintained, the Homestead courts a new breed of traveler who may not want to wear a coat and tie to dinner, or even play golf. The resort-owned Allegheny Outfitters offers fly-fishing instruction and guides (April through mid-August), as well as daily guided hikes on Homestead-owned trails, mountain bike tours, caving excursions, and canoe and kayak trips on the Jackson River or Lake Moomaw. (tel. 540-839-7760, www.thehomestead.com)
Of the 100 miles of trails on Homestead property, the Cascades Trail is our favorite. It follows alongside Cascades Creek for 1.5 miles, a stretch that includes 13 waterfalls, several with bridges spanning them for a bird’s-eye view. Access to the trail is by a Homestead guide only, and a fee is charged. It’s highly recommended, in part for the local guides, who unload a wealth of information about the flora and fauna along the trail, from beaver activity, to why the hemlock trees are dying, to what plants are edible (the wild watercress is delicious, and the Homestead uses it abundantly in its menus). Spring brings a profusion of wildflowers – trout lily, trillium, jack-in-the-pulpit, and pink and yellow Lady’s Slippers. There are also three self-guided, well-groomed trails, ranging in difficulty from moderate to strenuous.
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