Danny, Amanda , Brenda and Grant Laufer in downtown Lexington, Virginia

With its beautiful scenery and historic sites, our family fell in love with Central Virginia on a recent visit. A highlight of our trip was staying at the Boars Head Inn, only a few minutes from Charlottesville but a heavenly world away from city life. Surrounded by wooded green expanses and duck graced ponds, you can understand why Presidents and the local country club set alike have chosen this area as home. A few miles from the Inn is Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s famed estate, and Ashlawn-Highland, home of President James Monroe. You can have lunch at Michie’s Tavern along the way, where they have served hungry travelers for over 200 years. In historic downtown Charlottesville, which boasts the beautiful campus of the esteemed University of Virginia, you will find a plethora of southern dining as well as an inviting outdoor mall.

The Boar's Head Inn

You can easily take a day trip to the Shenandoah Valley, where civil war buffs, like my husband, will be enamored with the sites. The quaint town of Staunton is birthplace of Woodrow Wilson and home of the Blackfriar’s Theater, an exact replica of Shakespeare’s original in London. In Lexington, we visited Lee’s Chapel (where Robert E. Lee and his beloved horse Traveller are buried), Stonewall Jackson’s home, as well as the Virginia Military Institute and Museum. We returned via the Blue Ridge Parkway, forgoing speed to meander on one of America’s most scenic drives. You must commit to this two lane endeavor like you commit to marriage. There is no exit, no u-turns, no shoulder for miles, so keep drivin’, slow down through the hairpin twists and turns and enjoy the fabulous views.

Danny in front of the Virginia Military Institute

Back on the interstate, bucolic scenes of red barns and hay bales dot the drive to C-Ville. We took one last detour to see Swannanoa Palace, an estate mimicking the Villa Medici in Rome. James Dooley spent $2,000,000 in 1912 to build it for wife Sally Mae who had a fondness for swans, thus the name.

They say Virginia is for Lovers, well on this trip our family surely became Lovers of Virginia.