Sometimes at night, if my windows are open, I can hear the distant drone of Pennsylvania’s Interstate 79 as I fall asleep. It’s a familiar sound from my childhood as I can vividly remember being in my Abingdon home, hearing the same thing, only there the distant drone was Virginia’s Interstate 81.
Since I loved growing up in Abingdon, I’d always wanted to share my hometown area with my new family; our visits, however, never seemed to last long enough.
Last summer we decided to do things differently. We arranged to stay for two weeks and rent a house within walking distance of historic downtown. Finally, I would have more time to properly introduce everyone to the charms of the area.
It turns out that it is quite fun to rediscover Abingdon through the experiences of your children. We packed a lot of adventure into the first week. We enjoyed milkshakes at Ellis Soda Shoppe & Grill, former location of the pharmacy where I remember getting prescriptions filled to cure my strep throat. I drove our car, with the windows down, through the little creek on Deadmore Street more times than I can count because of the pure joy it brought my kids. We went to a couple Virginia Highlands Festival events and walked on the cobblestone sidewalks through town.
After exploring the red caboose near The Arts Depot, my kids loved climbing to the top of the nearby bridge across the railroad tracks to wait for a train to pass. Sadly, that never happened but we did get to see several trains pass from down below and this was very exciting. I told them that I’d heard Elvis had ridden a train along those same tracks back in the day.
Of course, they had no idea what I was talking about but they did enjoy the Elvis cupcake, a delicious banana cupcake with peanut butter frosting, from Babycakes Cupcakery. I enjoyed a couple of those sweet treats myself, which is why the six-mile bike ride on the Virginia Creeper Trail (34.3 miles total) while pulling the kids in a trailer behind me was an extra good idea. We took a break at the three-mile mark, where we walked across a big bridge, chased after butterflies and heard a variety of birds.
Over the weekend, my sister from North Carolina and her family visited. We checked out Kid’s Day at the Virginia Highlands Festival and it was special to see all of our kids riding ponies and playing on the inflatables, which had turned into giant Slip ‘n Slides after an afternoon rain shower.
During the second week, my husband and I made sure to take time for ourselves and each other. He likes to fly fish so one evening he enjoyed some time on the Whitetop Laurel Creek while I joined my dad and Aunt Betty for some live music. The kids enjoyed dancing with some other folks to a variety of music, including bluegrass.
Another day, while my husband took the kids for treats at the Muffin Man Bakery and fun times at the playground, I went horseback riding at Magna Vista Farm with a friend who I’ve known since the fifth grade. It was wonderful catching up with her while seeing the mountains from a vantage point high atop one of the scenic horse trails.
My husband and I also managed to work in a couple of date nights – playing tennis with some friends before drinks and dinner at Bella’s Pizza and Subs on one evening and dinner at The House on Main, live music at the Virginia Highlands Festival and drinks at The Tavern Restaurant on another evening. Ask for Melanie if you find yourself in the Tavern for drinks; she has been a bartender there for more than 10 years and she knows how to make most anything you could want.
The end of our extended visit was quickly approaching but I still had a few more things on my list to rediscover. My daughter and I attended a Barter Theatre production of “Annie” with my dad. We took a ride through town on the Festival trolley and later picnicked at Sugar Hollow Park where the kids loved playing in the creek. As I watched them splash and jump, I was reminded of the times when my mom took me and my sisters here to do the same thing.
We finally made it out to Parks Mill Barbecue where the kids were amused by the black dog that followed them around as they explored the mill and then sat quietly by our picnic table as we ate. They also enjoyed the simple fun of riding the old-school horse ride on the front porch that, to my surprise, belted out the theme song to “Bonanza.” That, alone, was worth the 50 cents.
There are still things I want to share with my family, of course, but we made a great start toward creating new memories in my old stomping grounds. We will continue exploring on our future visits even if we don’t have the luxury of a full two weeks. I realized that rediscovering the area with my husband and kids is a powerful way to connect my past before them to my future with them. As we drove back up the road to Pittsburgh, I felt that familiar contentment I feel when I fall asleep to the distant white noise of the interstate. Only this time I was comforted by the notion that I was among that world of people on the move, traveling between the childhood home that I will always cherish and the adult home that I’ve grown to love.
Contact Info
Restaurants:
Babycakes Cupcakery and Unique Eats
134 Wall Street
Abingdon, VA 24210
276-623-0018
www.babycakescupcakery.vpweb.com
Bella’s Pizza and Subs
872 East Main Street
Abingdon, VA 24210
276-628-8101
Ellis Soda Shoppe & Grill
217 West Main Street
Abingdon, VA 24210
276-623-8187
The House on Main
231 West Main Street
Abingdon, VA 24210
276-619-0039
Muffin Man Bakery
284 West Main Street
Abingdon, VA 24210
276-619-0037
Parks Mill Barbecue
21405 Parks Mill Road
Abingdon, VA 24211
276-628-9191
The Tavern Restaurant
222 East Main Street
Abingdon, VA 24210
276-628-1118
Activities:
Barter Theatre
127 West Main Street
Abingdon, VA 24212
276-628-3991
Magna Vista Farm
585 Thomas Road
Bristol, TN 37620
423-878-2831
Sugar Hollow Park
3600 Lee Highway
Bristol, VA 24202
276-645-7275
www.bristolva.org/parklist.html
Thursday Night Music Jam
Abingdon Senior Center
300 Senior Drive
Abingdon, VA 24210
276-628-5859
http://www.abgseniorcenter.com/Acoustic_Music_Jam.html
Virginia Creeper Trail Bike Shop
201 Pecan Street
Abingdon, VA 24210
276-676-2552
www.vacreepertrailbikeshop.com
Virginia Highlands Festival
Abingdon, VA
276-623-5266
