Day Trips
Appomattox: Visit the site where General Lee surrendered to General Grant and signed the end to hostilities in 1865. There are many original historic structures, as well as reconstructed ones on the 1,700 acre park. (http://www.nps.gov/apco)
Blue Ridge Parkway: The parkway meanders 355 miles from the Skyline drive in Front Royal, VA and includes the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. (http://www.blueridgeparkway.org)
Floyd: Blue Ridge music at the Friday Nite Jamboree at the Floyd Country Store while you shop for crafts, homemade goodies and in July, the FloydFest four-day music festival off the Blue Ridge Parkway (http://www.floydvirginia.com)
Lexington: Home of the Washington and Lee University and VMI. Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson are buried in Lexington . Visit the museum, shop for antiques and enjoy the quaint shops along the brick sidewalks. (http://www.lexingtonvirginia.com)
Lynchburg: The City of Seven Hills hosts Liberty University, the week-long Batteau Festival each June, African-American poet Anne Spencer's house and gardens and the Old City Cemetery that opened in 1806 and where many casualties of the Civil War were buried. (http://www.discoverlynchburg.com)
Mabry Mill: Visit the restored water-powered gristmill said to be photographed more than any other mill in the US, located at Milepost 176.1 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Take your own photos, visit the sawmill, woodworking and blacksmith's shops and enjoy the apple butter made in the traditional ways on Sundays in October. (http://www.blueridgeresort.com)
Natural Bridge: Thomas Jefferson once owned it; George Washington carved his initials on it. One of the "seven natural wonders of the world," it is a solid rock span 215 feet tall and 90 feet wide that was carved out from the river below it. A music and light show is presented at dark and there is a native American village. Or take in the nearby Natural Bridge Caverns, Wax Museum and Toy Museum (http:www.naturalbridgeva.com)
Poplar Forest: Retreat from the 21st century by visiting Thomas Jefferson's restored equal-sided octagonal brick home and examine exhibits at the workshop, archaeology laboratory and lave quarter site. Open April through November. (http://www.poplarforest.org)
Roanoke: Visit the Taubman Museum of Art, symphony, Mill Mountain Star and Mill Mountain Zoo. (http://www.visitroanoke.com)
