June 4-5, New Market, Virginia

We arrived in New Market, VA, yesterday around 2:30 pm EST just ahead of a storm. The clouds followed us from the west. We were worried that we would be setting up the trailer in the rain, but we were finished and inside relaxing when the down pour began. It stopped raining after about an hour, so we did our laundry and asked the KOA manager to recommend a place to eat. She sent us to the Southern Kitchen which serves home style southern foods. The meal was delicious. However, while we were enjoying our dinner the down pour began again and we were glad we had parked just outside the door to the restaurant. I grabbed a free local news paper for protection, since I has left the umbrellas in the van, but the rain stopped by the time we went out side. There was quite a lightning show in the sky that evening. While reading the paper Dan found an ad for a walking tour of the historic town. Since we had done one of these in Ventura we knew it would be a great way to see and learn about the town.

We meet the colonial lady, Betty Karol Wilson, who will be our hostess and walking tour guide. She owns the Apple Blossom Inn, a Bead and Breakfast on the main street, Congress Street, of New Market, VA. This town was the location of one of the important battles of the Civil War. There were supporters of North and the South living here. This is the area Lincoln was raised, but there were more supporters of the Confederate side here and they did not want to see Lincoln become President. Our hostess/guide is an historian who, along with others her in town, has put in a good deal of research gathering information about the area and it's Colonial residents. She is from Texas and came here a little over three years ago to care for her ailing grandfather who died shortly after she arrived. She purchased the house and converted it the the B&B. In her research of the town history she found relatives that gave her a tie to the place.

Here is the Apple Blossom Inn owned by our hostess, walking tour guide and historian.

It is amazing how many houses and building have been preserved, maintained and in constant use since they were built in the late 1700's & early 1800's. The chinking in the split log buildings, such as this one, has all been recently replaced with modern, sturdy materials such as concrete.

This was the house of one of the doctors in town. It was built in the early 1800's.

This small building is to the side of the house above and was built as a medical office. While other business men had an office parlor in their homes, the doctor did not for he would not want ill patients entering his home for treatment.

Our hostess informed us that a building of two stories with five window on the top story and a door centered on the bottom story was as tavern. Since New Market was an industrious town there were several taverns along this main street. This one is built with limestone and it is not known exactly when it was built. Today it houses a bank.

The apothecary at the back of the brick court yard behind the house which belonged to a doctor. Only those who were well to do had personal wells in their yard. Most of the people of the town got water from the public wells. The bricks were made in New Market, these are the original bricks.

Historic buildings on the main street of New Market.

After the walking tour we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I was concerned before we went in about how authentic the food would be. This far nort of the Mexican border the restaurants are often owned by people who are not Mexican and don't know how to prepare the food. To our pleasant surprize the place is owed by Mexican people and the food was fabulous. We have had some very good meals at restaurants on this trip.

This is why Dan selected New Market as a two night stop. This area is dotted with caverns because of the large deposits of limestone and the abundance of water.

This one is called "Santa's Sleigh".

This portion of the cavern has blue limestone which is quite a contrast to the red hue from the iron content of the formations.

We are at a fuel station filling the tank for the trip tomorrow. These clouds have been gathering this afternoon. The weather report is for possible t-storms. Hopefully that won't be the case.

After getting back to the camp ground we see a couple who are traveling by motorcycle and a tent camper trailer in a space near ours. We stop to visit with them and learn that they are from upstate New York and are on their way to New Mexico. They are the Gores and when we tell them we are the Cowells, he says he knows a Bill Cowell in New York. What a coincidence!

The t-storms never materialized, in fact the skies cleared up.

Tomorrow we head for Maryland to stay a few days while we visit D.C.