Staunton, VA

On August 13, Buddy and I took off for Staunton, VA to celebrate our two years together. We had passed through the town twice before and we fell in love with the architectural buildings. We got a very good deal on the newly renovated Stonewall Jackson Hotel. On our way we stopped along ” the way on roads not taken” and had lunch.

We stopped at a place called Skeeter-Dog. We thought it would be really unique. It was unique alright. Everything is served on paper plates and they used plastic forks and knives. It was a little run down, however, it was full of people. The hot dog was nothing special.When we finished we sat in our car to watch what one of the servers was going to do with the paper bag of money she took from the register. She walked over to the bank across the street. It brought back memories from when I worked with my daddy and had to go to the bank for him.. He would put the money in a paper bag and I would walk down Main Street to the bank to deposit it for him. I didn’t think there was any where in the world today that you could walk down Main Street with a bag of money without getting mugged. I was wrong.

This is one of the cute buildings in Staunton.

Isn’t it cute with all the window boxes of flowers?

In Stauntan, we stayed at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel. It just had an 8 million dollar renovation.

We were thrilled to be staying in such a beautiful old landmark.

This is what greeted us in the lobby.

The lobby was big and very spacious. the couches were soooo comfortable.

Our room was very comfortable and it had two hugh windows looking out on to beautiful trees.

The renovated bathrooms were very nice with granite counter tops. A hugh walk in shower (no tub) with a seat in the shower. Great for when you have to shave your legs.

Our first night we went to our favorite restaurant, the Mill Street Grill. I had their veal piccota, and Buddy had their famous ribs.

The asparagus were so tender and sweet. They didn’t have any of the specialty butter that they are noted for. I forgot why, but Buddy was disappointed.

This is a picture of the bridge you cross to get to the Mill Street Grill. Very rustic.I think you can see the water better in this picture.

While I was getting ready the next morning, Buddy amused himself by killing zombies. After I was ready, we headed out for the long walk through town to take pictures of the beautiful architecture.

The Stonewall is right next door to the Blackfriars Playhouse. The Washington Post says, ” Shakespeare is Shamelessly entertaining at the Blackfriars Playhouse, the world’s only re-creation of Shakespeare’s indoor theater”.

Look at the detail on this building.

Beautiful!

We had lunch in the building pictured above.

Me waiting for lunch. I didn’t take a picture of lunch because it was only a hamburger.

Back to walking Main Street. The building above is a restaurant. They have beautiful stained glass windows above the doorway picturing different things in a restaurant.

Breakfast. Coffee, eggs and bacon.

Ice cream sundaes and pie.This old building on the corner really fascinated me.

Beautiful window.

That’s a very large umbrella on the outside.

I like that old building!

I have some really nice close ups of this building. It looks like it was once an old bank.

Look at that date!

Beautiful hanging baskets up and down the main street.

After dinner our second night, we stopped at a wonderful old fashion ice cream shop.

Don’t you just love the green and white checked floor? The fountain and Formica tables and chairs were very nostalgic.

The next morning we headed out to see the Thornrose Cemetery. The pictures below are individual homes we saw on our way to the cemetery.

We arrived at the Thornrose Cemetery around noon.

“This beautiful cemetery hosting the designs of TJ Collins was established in 1849. At the highest elevation of the Thornrose Cemetery is a large Confederate section that is marked by a monument of a soldier, impressive limestone retention walls and cast iron urns. Some 1,777 Confederate soldiers are buried in this section, the remains of many of them moved to this site following the war.”

Walking through the cemetery one knew it was a sacred place. It really moved me reading the inscriptions on the headstones. T his is the stature of the Confederate soldier at the top of the cemetery.

Cast iron urns.

Another picture of the urn with flowers.

Picture of the limestone retention walls.

These are headstones of infants.

On our way out of town we passed an B & B that was really unique.

At the last minute we wanted to visit Trinity Church. This is an historic church and graveyard. There are 12 Tiffany stained glass windows in the church. Unfortunately, the church was not opened. I took some pictures of the outside.