Round and about...

  Lexington, Virginia, United States
Monday, June 15, 2009

Although Doug & Trish have headed home to NH and we are back at our Lexington campsite, as we said, we are staying in the area a while as there is lots to see and do. Also we have slowed down a bit from our frantic travel pace of the first leg :) So this entry is going to cover several of the visits we have made in and around Lexington even though they might only be ‘popping in’ somewhere I have included them as I think they give a feel for this area and we can’t let you miss out on what we have been up to.
We are very close to the Virginia Horse Centre which is a superb facility hosting shows and events for 50 weeks a year. Although they have no stock of their own, the some 6 huge stable blocks are usually home to many of the visiting event horses. Now ever since Gettysburg Malc has had this belief (misguided I think) that we should/could have a horse farm. He has an affinity with the animals and I think sees past the hours and hours of grooming and care that they need, to a picture of himself ’riding the range’. As many of you know I have long supported him in whatever he wants to do, but I have to say I have drawn a line here. I love them too, but have no desire to own one, let alone several.

Beautiful - couldn't tear Malc away

  So we visited the centre to look and in Malc’s case probably to dream, we chose to go when the Shenandoah Arabian Classic Championships was on. The place is huge 600 acres in all, with several arenas and show rings, plus 3 campsites for competitors to use. We were a bit surprised to find that during the judging there was hardly anyone in the audience – maybe mid week made a difference, maybe it wasn’t a large show. Anyway we enjoyed watching, but we weren’t much good at picking the winners I’m afraid – perhaps that’s a lesson to heed! http://www.horsecenter.org/view.asp?id=home
 
We also took a look at a couple of antique malls that line the 11 down into Lexington. Now in our experience over here so far ‘antique’ can mean anything old – so it could be just an old kitchen chair or some ordinary enamel kitchen ware (like our mums used to have) or even the fridges that they leave on the front lawn when they’re no longer any use;  therefore we didn’t have high expectations. Well, in this case we were pleasantly surprised, though I have to say it’s a bit like wandering through a gallery or museum in that after a while you reach overload!  
Some of the items were things I have thrown away at home (isn’t that always the case you throw something that becomes collectable and hang onto other stuff that you hope will be in the future – but it never does!) others were things that I don’t think you would see on display in the UK. Malc particularly liked the tools – he has often remarked that some of the tools he has seen – old and new – he hasn’t seen since he was an apprentice at Rolls Royce! But many are in regular use here.

Don't think you'd find items like these...

 
 
As you know we have from time to time included things that make us smile – well I’ll leave you to make up your own mind about this one …(Foamhenge)

Looked better from a distance

  http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/9209
As you also know we have from time to time encountered the odd snake; well not to disappoint we saw this chap on a walk beside the Maury river that runs through Lexington. After a good deal of research we decided that he is a Northern racer, but he may well have been a King snake. Whatever he is, it was enough to stop me in my tracks as he was on the footpath right in front of me!

Couldn't go out without seeing one of these

 
 
The other large academic institution in Lexington is the VMI – the Virginia Military Institute. This too has a long and interesting history, with many notable former students, as well as a strong tradition through families. The building itself is quite striking and its roof tops dominate the town as you drive in. At the moment there are only a few students here for summer schools so town is fairly quiet. Unfortunately we missed the last parade as we didn’t know about it until too late. I’m sure it would have been quite a spectacle. Cadets from here have been part of every presidential inauguration, including Obama’s earlier this year. The campus, like W&L is open to the public, in fact they welcome visitors. VMI has its own museum which though small, proved to be very interesting. About 46% of the students join the military (most of these I would think have been on military scholarships) but all are subject to the same strict regime…

Typical room...

I gather that it has its own barber and students are expected to have weekly trims!! Another anecdote; one student not wishing to fold and precisely place his clothes on the shelf each day got his mum to prepare a full set which he unpacked and left in place for the whole semester – lazy or clever? The palaver that one has to go through to get a permit for say an evening out or a week end pass or even permission for a vehicle seems long and laborious, but very necessary I’m sure – it’s all about training and I apologise unreservedly  if I seem flippant in any way. Perhaps this is the place to comment again on how very proud the Americans are of their military and how they are not afraid to show it. An example that some minorities at home would do well to emulate.
 http://www.vmi.edu/
About 6 miles from Lexington is the small town of Buena Vista (pronounced Boona Vista) at first glance it appears to be like so many we have seen all over the States, sad and tired, a relic of its former glory. Behind the main street we found some lovely houses that were a sign of days gone by.

Beautiful houses

Well, having chatted to a local councillor (more about that in a minute) we discovered that it was once an important manufacturing town. In the days when iron ore was mined in the hills behind it, there were many small factories along the river, the Maury that flows from Lexington. There was a large hotel, which is now South Virginia University and the town flourished until the river flooded in 1969(just over 5’ in the downtown area, a flood related to hurricane Camille) Most of the factories were destroyed and the town began a downward spiral. Despite the building of a levee in the 80’s it has never regained its place. Today the community is trying its best to do what it can; on the Friday night that we were there the main street was closed for a music evening for the youngsters and to keep all happy there was also a car event, which was what we had gone for…

1968 - a good year

The corvette that drew our attention, a 1968 model, is owned by the councillor I mentioned earlier.
Maury Park at the edge of town offers camping, golf and swimming. It is a lovely setting and one that we will return to in another entry – all to do with fiddling – just to make you curious…
 http://www.bvcity.org/history.htm
Whilst writing one of the blogs I was searching for a suitable link to add (I wonder if any of you ever click on them and look?) any way, I digress – did I ever mention that is Malc’s usual trick?
Tangent should have been his middle name :)
Anyway I brought up the tourist information site and happen to notice that there was a concert that evening in a small park in Lexington – not any old concert but one that seemed intriguing enough to go to. It proved to be very moving; it was given by the 8th Regiment…
These are a group of fine musicians who also happen to be history buffs too; they describe themselves as a living museum. They try to keep the history of the civil war era alive through the music of the time, many of their instruments are original and much of the music they play is either the actual scores of the time or adaptations thereof. Formed in 1986 there are three of the original players still there, John Carruth their conductor is also the narrator. Looking every inch the part he eloquently sets the scene before each piece, eager to correct any misconceptions or even “correct” the history books along the way. His passion is infectious and although a small audience, we were treated to a unique evening.

Authentic instruments...

They have played in Lexington before, at Lee Chapel but an unfortunate administrative mix up meant they didn’t have that as a venue this time. It seems right and fitting that they will return there next time – they had just come from Gettysburg – another great venue for them. They take up whichever uniform, blue or grey that is befitting the occasion, travel on their own time and are funded by donation and CD sales, they have even appeared in films. We drove back up Lee Highway with brass band music pouring from our windows, buying a CD seemed the least we could do! – Malc gets his wallet out again – I will check for that bump…
http://www.eighthregimentband.com/2aboutus.htm - click on the music section and you can listen to them - a bit better than our movie :)