What's New

Here's a recap of developments in Virginia since we prepared the previous edition in 2005. You can also check for more recent developments at my personal website, www.billgoodwin.com.

Northern Virginia

WTOP Radio, which gives traffic reports every 10 minutes, has switched frequencies from 1500 AM to 103.5 FM. It's the most popular station in traffic-plagued northern Virginia.

In Alexandria, Atlantic Kayak has closed its Old Town store and now operates exclusively in Maryland.

The ideally situated Holiday Inn Select on King Street is being turned into the more luxurious Hotel Monaco by Kimpton Hotels (www.monaco-alexandria.com). The massive renovations were completed in early 2008, and the Monaco is now open. Meanwhile, the Radisson Old Town Alexandria has already morphed into the Crowne Plaza Old Town Alexandria (tel. 800/972-3159 or 703/683-6000).

Arlington National Cemetery has a new neighbor: The United States Air Force Memorial, on Air Force Memorial Drive at Columbia Pike (Va. 244) (tel. 703/247-5859; www.airforcememorial.org). Its stainless-steel spires, which soar out of the ground like a "bomb burst" precision flight maneuver, can be seen for miles around.

Mount Vernon now sports a state-of-the-art orientation center and an educational museum at its entry, and employees are once again making whiskey at George Washington's Distillery.

Out in the Hunt Country, Leesburg's Dodona Manor, Home of George C. Marshall, 212 E. Market St. (tel. 703/777-1880; www.georgecmarshall.org), has reopened after being restored to its appearance when the great World War II army chief of staff and postwar Nobel Peace Prize winner lived here in the 1940s and 1950s. You'll see his leather easy chair and early black-and-white television.

The Smithsonian Institution no longer provides a shuttle between the National Air and Space Museum on the D.C. Mall and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport.

Fredericksburg & The Northern Neck

You can explore Fredericksburg's historic architecture with Hallowed Ground Tours (tel. 540/809-3918; www.hallowedgroundtours.com) on Thursdays and Fridays during summer, and commune with local spirits with Ghosts of Fredericksburg Tours (tel. 540/654-5414; www.ghostsoffredericksburg.com).

On I-95 about halfway between Alexandria and Fredericksburg stands the modernistic National Museum of the Marine Corps, 18900 Jefferson Davis Hwy. (U.S. 1) in Triangle (tel. 877/635-1775 or 703/784-6115; www.usmcmuseum.org), whose exhibits impressively chronicle the Leathernecks' exploits from 1775 to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's a treasure-trove of high-tech exhibits.

Among Fredericksburg's restaurants, Austine's, The Smythe's Cottage and Tavern, and Feast-O-Rama are history in this historic town. In their absence, you can get a refined Southern-style meal at Bistro Bethem, 309 William St. (tel. 540/371-9999), and a fine light lunch at Caroline Street Cafe & Catering, 1002 Caroline St. (tel. 540/373-1645).

Kilmarnock on the Northern Neck is now blessed with Swank's on Main, 36 Main St. (tel. 804/435-1010), a sophisticated bistro that would make any large city proud.

Charlottesville

The Hardware Store and Northern Exposure restaurants have closed. Taking their places are Himalayan Fusion, 520 E. Main St. (tel. 434/293-3120), offering Nepalese and Tibetan twists to Indian fare, and Mono Loco, 200 W. Water St. (tel. 434/979-0688), where south-of-the-border food is a mere pretext for the chef's creativity.

Tickets to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello now have specific mansion tour times printed on them, which has greatly reduced the long lines in summer and on spring and fall weekends. And you can buy them in advance at www.monticello.org.

James Madison's Montpelier has a new welcome center housing a "Treasurers of Montpelier" exhibit of the Madisons' furnishings and personal belongings, including a lock of the fourth president's hair.

The Shenandoah Valley

The Shenandoah National Park has added air conditioners and televisions to some units at Big Meadows Lodge and Skyland Lodge, the park's only hotels.

Front Royal now sports the lively Soul Mountain Café, 300 E. Main St. (tel. 540/636-0070), where the fare ranges from Southern-style catfish to Jamaican jerk chicken.

The fabulous Inn at Little Washington has added two cottages and a Victorian home to its inventory of awesome accommodations, but has done away with its Presidential Retreat.

Near Luray, the Jordan Hollow Farm Inn has changed its name to Jordan Hollow Inn to reflect its many recent improvements, including six new deluxe cabins sitting atop a hill with great views of the Blue Ridge. In Luray itself, the Mimslyn Inn is closed while being transformed into a modern hotel.

Built in 1924 but used for other purposes since the 1960s, Staunton's Stonewall Jackson Hotel & Conference Center, 24 S. Market St. (tel. 866/880-0024 or 540/885-4848; www.stonewalljacksonhotel.com), has reopened after a $21-million restoration.

Staunton also has two new restaurants offering excellent fare: Staunton Grocery (tel. 540/886-6880) and Zynodoa Restaurant (tel. 540/885-7775), both bistro-style establishments on Beverley Street in the heart of downtown. The former is more formal and creative, while the latter is more relaxed and affordable. Both are very good.

Out in the countryside between Staunton and Lexington, the lodgelike Fox Hill Bed & Breakfast, 4383 Borden Grant Trail, Fairfield, VA 24435 (tel. 800/869-8005 or 540/377-9922; www.foxhillbb.com), is a perfect place to stay over and relax while touring the scenic area around Raphine. It has a fine view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

In Warm Springs, I no longer recommend the inexpensive Roseloe Motel, which serves weeknights as lodging for workers at a huge real estate project.

In Lexington, James River Basin Canoe Livery is now Twin River Outfitters, 917 Rockbridge Rd. (P.O. Box 99), Glasgow, VA 24455 (tel. 540/258-1999; www.canoevirginia.com).

Downtown Lexington has seen a change in the restaurant guard. Gone are the excellent Willson-Walker House Restaurant and the vegetarian Blue Heron Cafe. The reserves have been sent in, however, with the eclectic Bistro on Main, 8 N. Main St. (tel. 540/464-4888 admirably filling the gap.

Roanoke & The Southwest Highlands

The Art Museum of Western Virginia is building itself a new modern home on Salem Avenue at Williamson Road. It will not open until the fall of 2008, but you already will see its dramatic steel-and-zinc roof mimicking Roanoke's Blue Ridge Mountain backdrop.

Ruby, the Siberian tiger who starred at Roanoke's Mill Mountain Zoo, has gone to big-cat heaven.

The Wyndham Roanoke Hotel was in need of renovation during my recent visit and reportedly was about to go under the knife and reappear as a Sheraton hotel. Until that happens, I would stay elsewhere.

In Abingdon, The Martha Washington Inn now has a full-service spa and indoor pool. The Starving Artist Cafe has closed after many years catering to the town's artistes. Occupying a Victorian house is the new Zazzy'z Coffee House, 380 E Main St. (tel. 276/698-3333), where you can get a caffeine fix, buy a book, check your e-mail, and have a deli-style lunch.

Richmond

Carytown's excellent Acacia restaurant is moving to an undisclosed location. In its absence, you can wander over to the lively Can Can Brasserie, 3120 W. Cary St. (tel. 804/358-7274), for French fare. The Jefferson Hotel's Lemaire dining room was in the process of switching from French. In the meantime, you can sample very good American comfort food at Comfort, 200 W. Broad St. (tel. 804/780-0004).

Next door to the Richmond National Battlefield visitor center at Tredegar Irons Works, The American Civil War Center Museum, 500 Tredegar St. (tel. 804/780-1865; www.tredegar.org), does an excellent job of explaining the war's causes from three perspectives: North, South, and African-American.

The Virginia State Capitol has reopened after a massive, multiyear restoration. The new underground welcome center is at 1000 Bank St., at 10th Street, on the capitol's south side. Guided tours depart on the hour daily until 4pm.

The Federal Reserve Bank's Money Museum is closed until 2009 during renovations.

Richmond Raft Company no longer has white-water rafting in Richmond.

Williamsburg, Jamestown & Yorktown

The Boomerang bus between Williamsburg and Virginia Beach is no more.

A substantial renovation has added the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum to the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum. They share underground quarters behind the Public Hospital and are collectively known as The Colonial Williamsburg Museums.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg is now known as Busch Gardens Europe, which accurately reflects the character of its European villages.

The Williamsburg Lodge has returned to its 1930s appearance after a massive renovation. The Fife & Drum Inn now has a Colonial-style cottage around the corner, so guests don't necessarily have to climb the 17 steps up to the main inn.

Artifacts uncovered by extensive digs at Historic Jamestowne, site of the original Jamestown colony in 1607, are now displayed in the Archaearium, a first-rate archaeological museum.

The Mariners' Museum in Newport News has opened the marvelous USS Monitor Center, where you can see the remains of the famous Union ironclad, recovered from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras, where it had rested since sinking during the Civil War.

Norfolk

Hampton Roads officially became a cruise-ship port with the opening of Norfolk's new Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center, downtown next door to NAUTICUS, The National Maritime Center.

Admission to the Moses Myers House and the adjacent Norfolk History Museum is now free, with donations recommended. NAUTICUS and the Victory Rover are selling tickets combining NAUTICUS admission and a cruise. The Tugboat Museum has sailed away to Florida.

On the Granby Street restaurant scene, Voodoo Rouge, Jack Quinn's Irish Pub, and The Blue Hippo have all closed, as has Cora in Ghent. On the other hand, the pace has never been faster on Colley Avenue between Maury and Spotswood avenues in the heart of Ghent, where the legions have been joined by The Green Onion, 1603 Colley Ave. (tel. 757/963-6100).

Virginia Beach

Originally designed by Pete Dye and Curtis Strange for the Professional Golfers Association, the Tournament Players Club of Virginia Beach is now the Virginia Beach National Golf Club. It has the same phone numbers but its website is now www.vbnational.com.

Spiffed-up and renamed Ocean Cove Motel/Angie's Guest Cottage no longer is a bed-and-breakfast, but it still is one of Virginia's few official international youth hostels.

Dining choices now include the spectacular Catch 31, in the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront (tel. 757/213-3472), where you can consume fresh seafood while taking in the summertime entertainment in Neptune Park next door. My favorite breakfast joint is now Doc Taylor's, 207 23rd St. (tel. 757/425-1960), the daytime version of the adjacent Tautog's Restaurant. Right by the beach, Waterman's Surfside Grille, 415 Atlantic Ave. (tel. 757/428-3644), has been totally renovated but still serves my favorite crab cakes.

Chincoteague & Assateague Islands

The Driftwood Inn has reemerged from extensive renovations as the Best Western Chincoteague Island (www.bestwestern.com/chincoteagueisland).

New to Chincoteague is the inexpensive Mr. Baldy's Family Restaurant, in middle of the island at 3447 Ridge Rd. (tel. 757/336-1198), where the quite bald Robert Zoller serves a variety of traditional fare, all of it very good value.