Rediscovering America_ Exploring the Small Towns of Virginia & Maryland - Bill Burnham [38]
There are two B&Bs in Troutdale, about 15 miles south of Marion on Route 16. Tranquility Lodge (1324 Ripshin Road, tel. 276-677-3638, $) is a Christmas tree farm with its own hiking trails. The Fox Hill Inn (8568 Troutdale Highway, tel. 800-874-3313, www.bbonline.com/va/foxhill, $$) is a secluded chalet-style inn surrounded by flower gardens and great views.
There’s plenty of camping around Marion, at Hungry Mother State Park (tel. 276-781-7400 or 800-933-7275); the privately owned Hungry Mother Campground (tel. 276-783-2046); at Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area (tel. 276-783-5196); Interstate Campground (tel. 276-646-8384), Houndshell Campground (tel. 276-655-4639) in Troutdale; and Tumbling Creek in the Clinch Mountain Wildlife Area (tel. 276-944-4366 or 276-944-3434).
Information
Smyth County Chamber of Commerce, 124 W. Main Street, tel. 276-783-3161, www.Smythchamber.org.
TRIVIA: Marion is named for General Francis Marion, the “swamp fox” of the American Revolution, who was also the character Mel Gibson portrayed in the film The Patriot.
TRIVIA: The soft drink Mountain Dew® was formulated in Marion in the early 1950s by Bill Jones, president of Tip Corporation.
Trip Journal: Saltville
Salt does not enjoy the critical significance it once did. When you can buy a 26-ounce canister for less than a dollar and it lasts a few months, it is hard to appreciate what salt meant for people before refrigeration. In fact, in the 1800s, an army’s success depended on salting meat to preserve it. And so it was that Union forces tried twice to capture the salt-mining operation in the town nicknamed “Salt Capital of the Confederacy.”
Salt, deposited by an ancient inland sea, also preserves of the town’s ancient history. Remains of Ice Age mammals like wooly mammoths, mastodons and ground sloths, are uncovered during archeological digs, along with evidence of Native American habitation going back 11,000 years.
Much of this fascinating tale is told through exhibits at the Museum of the Middle Appalachians (tel. 276-496-3633, www.museum-mid-app.org, open Monday-Saturday 10 am-4 pm, and Sunday 1-4 pm; $3 adults, $2 children ages six-12 and seniors). The week before Labor Day, there’s a festival where the practice of salt-gathering is demonstrated, and a War Between the States battle re-enactment takes place.
While in Saltville, eat at the Salt Box Café (tel. 276-496-5999) on Main Street for hearty servings of hamburgers and fries, hickory-smoked barbecue and cornbread.
READING LIST: For a realistic story of growing up in Saltville, check out Salt Mountain Girl by Brenda Totten Blakey, who grew up in nearby Buckeye Hollow.
Abingdon
Around Town
After a week hiking in Virginia’s Jefferson National Forest, we were overdue for showers, a good meal, a nice bottle of wine and a little culture. In such condition, Abingdon on a busy Saturday afternoon seemed to us like the mountain equivalent of Paris. Indeed, this small city of around 8,000 people reigns as the arts and cultural center of Southwest Virginia. A 20-block historic area of Victorian and Federal homes has dozens of antique and specialty shops, galleries, inns and restaurants. Add to this the Barter Theatre (Virginia’s official state theater), the exclusive and expensive Camberley’s Martha Washington Inn, a regional arts center, and the two-week Virginia Highlands Festival, and Abingdon stands out as a little nugget of sophistication in the middle of coal-mining country.
Chartered in 1778, Abingdon is the oldest town west of the Blue Ridge and the seat of Washington County. While the county was named for our first president, Abingdon was named in deference to his wife. Martha Washington’s father was from Abingdon Parrish in England.
During the Great Depression, actor Robert Porterfield thought his hometown near the Tennessee border a good place to start a theater. He succeeded by offering employment for his out-of-work