Nelson Scenic Loop

Don Faulkner’s Wintergreen history

Peter — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:34:26 +0000

There is so much more unwritten than written history of that (wonderful) County of Nelson in Virginia and of the particularly rare and beautiful country of WINTERGREEN which is the keystone of the Rockfish Valley and its surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains (in the extreme northeastern portion of the country). This relatively brief history will be added to in the years ahead from the gleaning of people particularly interested in the area with their primary sources being county records and the memories of its people who have always lived there. The history of WINTERGREEN country and of Nelson County as it relates to WINTERGREEN is particularly relevant as it has shaped the character of the country and of the people in that region which character remains as real, beautiful, and true as it was 175 years ago which will have such a valuable bearing on many people's enjoyment of WINTERGREEN for many years to come.

Read the rest as a PDF

Three Ridges Flora and Fauna

Peter — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:21:50 +0000

Vascular Flora of Three Ridges Mountain

Abstract

Three Ridges Mountain is located in the southwest portion of Nelson County, Virginia, on the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The mountain as a natural unit encompasses approximately twenty square miles of land ranging from 850 to 3970 feet in elevation. Collecting trips were made at approximately weekly intervals from March through mid October 1976. Less extensive collecting was done in late October 1976 and the early spring of 1977. A total of 571 species representing 342 genera of 97 families of vascular plants were collected, dried, and identified. Two hundred seventy three species constitute new county records, and one species has not been previously record as occurring in the state of Virginia. A complete set of voucher specimens has been deposited in the Herbarium of the College of William and Mary.

Background information is provided on the area's location, geology, climate, soils, and vegetation. A brief quantitative survey (using the Bitterlich Method) was made in seven stand representing seven different community types present (northern red oak, white oak, northern hardwoods, chestnut oak, moist cove, dry cove, and successional forests). Brief qualitative descriptions are included for more restricted and/or unusual habitats.

Read entire report as a PDF

The Fountain Room

Jesús — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:58:59 +0000

Gourmet cuisine and menus are prepared daily by The Mark Addy's Innkeeper, Rafael, and provide a fresh and varied selection... always eclectic, always intriguing, and always elegant.

The dining room is open for breakfast and dinner for our inn guests. Reservations are recommended. We are pleased to host your wedding, special event, business meeting, family reunion, or any other event.

The Fountain Room has a variety of wines that will go great with any of our entrees, including several from our Nelson County wineries. We have a selection of wines from Veritas Winery, Wintergreen Winery, Delfosse Winery, Cardinal Point Winery, and Lovingston Winery. We also have as selection of Linden Wines, located in Virginia and a selection of French Imported Wines. Therefore, you can sit back and enjoy a bottle or even just a glass of wine while you take in the elegant atmosphere and succulent dining.

56 Rodes Farm Drive
Nellysford, Virginia 22958
(434) 361-1101
Email: info@mark-addy.com
Homepage: www.mark-addy.com/dining.html

The Mark Addy B&B

Jesús — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:27:17 +0000

The Mark Addy, the historic home of Dr. John C. Everett, Upland Manor, sets atop a verdant knoll surrounded by the magnificence of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the scenic Rockfish Valley.

Charming rooms and luxurious suites offer elegant comfort, romantic privacy, and incredible views of the natural beauty of Nelson County. Our guests may enjoy the serenity and inspiring surroundings from any of our five porches, the hammock, or the many peaceful spots on our thirteen acres.

The Mark Addy is the perfect place to stay for a variety of vacation interests and activities, as well as a restful country escape for those seeking a romantic getaway or quiet contemplation.

56 Rodes Farm Drive
Nellysford, Virginia 22958
(434) 361-1101
Email: info@mark-addy.com
Homepage: www.mark-addy.com
Innkeepers: Leslie and Rafael Tal

View from Skylark

Jesús — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 02:44:29 +0000

Here is a painting done by Gray Dodson on site during the Skylark event. Gray is a Nelson artist. This June 13 Skylark Farm hosted the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Gray S. Dodson, a Norfolk, Virginia native, spent the majority of her life in Virginia Beach before moving to Nelson County in 1995. She toyed with pursuing art as a major while at Mary Washington in the class of 1960. Instead she chose English and shortly after, left the academic world for a serious major as wife and mother. Her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree was awarded years later in 1981 from Old Dominion University, followed by post graduate work at ODU and the Vermont Studio Center. Dodson's career as a painter has been enriched through fellowships granted by The Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Vermont Studio School, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Traveling and painting experiences in France, Italy, Mexico, Canada and the United States have extended her vision beyond a regional perspective with her work included in numerous exhibitions and placed in private and corporate collections throughout the U. S. and abroad. She is an associate member of the McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, a member of the Mid Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association, and the Art League at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia. Galleries representing her are the Nichols Gallery Annex, Barboursville, Virginia, Spruce Creek Gallery, Nellysford, Virginia, and GlaveKocen Gallery in Richmond, Virginia.

Love Mountain Festival

Peter — Tue, 18 May 2010 22:11:02 +0000

LOVE MOUNTAIN FESTIVAL

AT ROYAL OAKS, June 12 &13, 12:00-08:00 PM

-FREE !! BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL AT LOVE GAP – 500' west of BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY (Milepost 16) on LOVE ROAD (814)

-SIX MOUNTIAN BANDS - BLUE GRASS, OLD TIME STRINGS, GOSPEL GRASS, & GOSPEL

- EDUCATION PROGRAMS ON “LIFE ON THE BLUE RIDGE”

TOPICS INCLUDE: WILDLIFE BY VIRGINIA WILDLIFE CENTER,

HISTORY AND CULTURE BY LYNN COFFEY,

MOUNTIAN MUSIC BY CUTCH TUTTLE

Grand Discovery Day Program Listing

Peter — Tue, 18 May 2010 22:08:39 +0000

GRAND DISCOVERY DAY

JUNE 12TH UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

June 11, LOOP Square Dance to benefit Nelson County Community Fund

Dodd Cabin music festival

Love Music Festival June 12 and 13

Model A Club and Piedmont Antique Auto Club Ralleys

Spruce Creek Gallery + Pat Saunders print unveiling and sales + artists & writers; kick off and antique car rally. Hodge Family Jugglers

Pharsalia Event and Elk Hill Event

Mac’s Country Store and other picnics and food

Nellysford Restaurants - Picnics

Wild Virginia and TATC hikes

Lescene Forest event with DOF program

80th Anniversary Montebello Fish Hatchery event with DGIF program

Nellysford Farmers Market 8 AM until NOON

Tuckahoe Community Center fundraiser – antiques and stuff 8 am to 3pm

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY 75th event at Skylark on June 13th

CHECK OUT WEBSITE www.nelsonscenicloop.com FOR UPDATES and ADDITIONAL EVENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE GRAND DISCOVERY DAYS.

Tel 434 226 0446 www.nelsonscenicloop.com

Elk Hill Event June 12, 2010

Peter — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:51:10 +0000

From 11am until 1 pm, the residence and outbuildings at ELK HILL and the adjoining Rockfish Valley Farm will be open for visits. See the tobacco prizery and learn how tobacco was processed. Listen Flick Flickinger, local artisan, describe his creation of the Persophene sculpture from recycled materials including farm implements; visit the Rockfish Valley Farm with Gail Hobbs and her goats, the Gentrys and their sheep, the farm mascot LILLY and her buddies Seymour, Juliet, Blackie and Billie Goat. Tour the residence. Early visitors will review the antique automobiles passing from Spruce Creek Park to Pharsalia.

Backroads, Plain Folk & Simple Livin by Lynn Coffey

Peter — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:46:50 +0000

For 25 years, from 1981 through 2006, years Lynn Coffey published the monthly newspaper of the same title from her home at Love Gap, Virginia on the Blue Ridge Parkway. During this time she personally interviewed each of the people featured in the stories. When she retired, these same people kept asking if she would write something more permanent to preserve all the articles since they contained a rich history of their culture, a history and a tradition that was slipping away. Reminiscent of the Foxfire series, Backroads, Plain Folk & Simple Livin' is a compilation of these stories, with personal interviews, activities, and crafts of the Appalachian culture. (The second book in a series is due out this November.)

Bestselling author Brad Herzog writes, “Backroads is a treasure trove of mountain lore, mountain humor, mountain history, mountain interests, and mountain concerns. But mostly, it is a loving account of mountain people.”

Appalachian Trail Conservancy Magazine Article

Peter — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:45:38 +0000

Club Hopping
In the Loop
The Nelson Scenic Loop comprised of four scenic byways is a 50-mile auto and bike tour that features Nelson County, Virginia’s bounty of natural, cultural, and historic attractions. Encompassing the Blue Ridge Parkway, Patrick Henry Highway, Beech Grove Road and Crabtree Falls Highway, the Nelson Scenic Loop traverses both the verdant foothills of the Piedmont as well as the summits of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. It extends along the steep, narrow valleys and wider floodplains carved by the Tye and Rockfish rivers. Connected to the “Loop” as it is also referred to are beautiful sections of the Appalachian Trail. One of those sections is cared for by the Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club (TATC).

“Our section of the A.T. Three Ridges Wilderness from Reeds Gap to the Tye River Bridge, is within the ‘Loop.’ So, I guess you could say that TATC has been involved with a tremendous amount of Trail work specific to [this area of] the Loop,” says TATC president Phyllis Neumann. Numerous trails can be accessed from the loop. For a list of “best trails accessed from the Loop and maintained by TATC,” Neumann recommends: Meadow Mountain (on the A.T.); “Start at Reeds Gap and hike south…excellent views. You can continue south to Hanging Rock or on to the summit of Three Ridges for more views.” The Tye River Bridge; “A beautiful swinging bridge built by TATC, Konnarock Trail crew, and the U.S. Forest Service. Accessed from Rt. 56…you can hike north on the A.T. from here to Three Ridges.” Mau-Har Trail; “A blue-blazed loop trail off TATC’s section of the A.T. …with spectacular waterfalls.” White Rock Falls Trail; “An easy walking trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway, accessed from the Slacks Overlook at mile marker 20…with a beautiful waterfall.” St. Marys Wilderness; “Numerous trails located off the Blue Ridge Parkway near mile marker 23….with waterfalls and old mine sites.”

In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, as well as the Nelson Scenic Loop, a Grand Discovery Day will be held on June 12 to include a 50-mile auto tour along the Loop with dozens of events, points of interest, hikes, programs, and festivals. And on June 13, the celebration will continue at historic Skylark Farm in Nelson County, where guests can picnic on Round Top Mountain with 360 degree views at 3,300-foot elevation or by the lake of the 365-acre farm, which fronts on the parkway and the Nelson Scenic Loop. Compelling stories will be told by representatives of the National Park Service, Friends of Blue Ridge Parkway, and Washington and Lee University, along with remarks from the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, Oakland Museum and the Rockfish Valley Foundation. Guests can tour the buildings, listen to local musicians and their mountain music, view historical exhibits, and meet local authors and leaders of Parkway support organizations. “The June [celebration] program is really interesting for Trail club members in that it connects them to Nelson County, gives them an opportunity to visit Skylark and at the same time to participate in a guided hike along one of the pieces of the A.T.,” says Peter Agelasto, executive director of the Rockfish Valley Foundation in Nelson County. The celebration, will also take place in many other areas just off the Loop with picnics, croquet, horseshoes, and music workshops.

TATC, as well as other Trail Clubs in the area, will participate in the celebration. “So far we have committed to participate in the ‘Love Mountain Festival’ to be held at the Royal Oaks Cabins in Love, Virginia, June 12-13,” says Phyllis Neumann. “The owners of Royal Oaks are sponsoring a two-day event involving food, music, local culture and representatives of nearby trail maintaining clubs. We'll have info available about TATC, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Trail maintenance, hiking, backpacking, Leave No Trace, gear, and back country cooking.” TATC will also lead some hikes on their section of the Trail.
Today, apple orchards, wineries, and breweries along the Loop perpetuate Nelson’s agrarian heritage. A recommended starting point for the Loop is located at the Spruce Creek Park Visitor Center on Route 151 in Wintergreen, Virginia. The visitor center showcases the Loop and its associated points of interest. While there, visitors can stroll the adjacent Rockfish Valley Foundation trails. By virtue of its geographical location, the Loop serves to support local commerce along the way, including potters, painters, and burl wood artists in their studios, as well as local food and wine sold in nearby restaurants and markets.

For more information visit: www.tidewateratc.com
www.nelsonscenicloop.com and www.rockfishvalley.org.