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The Hunt Country Attractions
A Grand Home for the Enola Gay
When the Smithsonian Institution's magnificent National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., ran out of space to house its many historic air- and spacecraft, it built the awesome Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center ★★★, 14390 Air and Space Museum Pkwy., in Chantilly (tel. 202/633-1000; www.nasm.si.edu/udvarhazycenter). This huge Quonset hut-like hangar is home to more than 200 planes and 135 spacecraft. Stars of the show are the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan in 1945; the space shuttle Enterprise, which NASA used for approach and landing tests in the late 1970s; an SR-71 spy plane; and one of Air France's Concorde jetliners. The model spacecraft that starred in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind is on display, too (it's over in a corner by the Enterprise). It's worth going around with a retired pilot on a docent tour (call tel. 202/633-2563 for the schedule).
The center is open daily from 10am to 5:30pm except Christmas (the observation tower closes at 4:30pm). Admission is free, but parking costs $15 per vehicle. The IMAX theater shows both aviation films and space films ($8.75 for adults, $7.75 seniors, $7.25 for kids 2 to 12). Simulator rides are $7 to $8 per person. Money-saving combination tickets are available. You'll need at least 2 hours here. There's a McDonald's.
The center is off Va. 28 between U.S. 50 and the Dulles Toll Road (Va. 267), near Sully Historic Site on the southeastern edge of Washington Dulles International Airport. Virginia Regional Transit (tel. 540/338-1610; www.vatransit.org) provides shuttle bus service from Washington Dulles International Airport.
Grist for the Aldie Mill
Most of the quaint hamlet of Aldie, 5 miles east of Middleburg on John Mosby Highway (U.S. 50), is a quintessential Hunt Country hamlet. Its centerpiece is Aldie Mill Historic Park (tel. 703/327-9777; www.aldiemill.org), built in 1807-09 and the only gristmill in Virginia powered by twin water wheels. It has been restored to grind organic grains. The mill is open for milling demonstrations Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5pm. Admission is free. Aldie's antiques stores and other shops merit browsing, and a visit during the annual Aldie Mill Arts Show and Sale on weekends in June, or the Aldie Harvest Festival on the third weekend in October, will be most rewarding.
6 Results
- Park/Garden
Ball's Bluff Regional Park
On the northeastern outskirts of town, this pristine regional park is best known for a little circle of stone markers in Ball's Bluff National Cemetery, the nation's second-smallest national cemetery. It holds the remains of 54 Union soldiers -- only one identified -- who fell in the… - Historic Site
Dodona Manor, Home of George C. Marshall
In 1941 Gen. George C. Marshall and his wife Katherine bought Dodona Manor, an early-19th-century manse, when he planned to retire from the U.S. Army. Those plans were interrupted by World War II, when Marshall, then U.S. army chief of staff, was primarily responsible for the… - Historic Site
Manassas National Battlefield Park
The first massive clash of the Civil War took place near a stream known as Bull Run on July 21, 1861. A well-equipped but poorly trained Union army of 35,000 had marched from Washington, where cheering crowds expected them to return victorious. Most of the soldiers were 90-day… - Park/Garden
Morven Park
On the northwest edge of town, this 1,200-acre estate and its mansion are don't-misses for fox hunting and horse-drawn carriage fans. The original part of Westmoreland Davis Mansion was built as a farmhouse in 1781 but was later expanded as the home of Virginia governor Westmoreland… - Historic Site
Oatlands Plantation
George Carter, a great-grandson of legendary planter Robert "King" Carter of the Northern Neck, built this mansion in the Federal style in 1804 but later converted it to the Greek Revival manse we see today. His formal terraced garden and its 1810 propagation greenhouse -- it's… - Historic Site
Sully Historic Site
Sully Plantation, a two-and-a-half-story farmhouse, was built in 1794 by Richard Bland Lee, younger brother of Revolutionary War hero Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee (and thus an uncle of Robert E. Lee), who lived here with his wife, Elizabeth Collins Lee, until 1811. The original…
The Hunt Country Shopping
Leesburg's numerous antiques shops are within a block of the Market Street-King Street intersection and easy to find. Check the website of the Leesburg Antiques & Collectibles Dealers Association (www.leesburgantiques.com) for its member shops.
I seldom come here without browsing at Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets, 241 Fort Evans Rd. (tel. 703/737-3071; www.premiumoutlets.com), 2 miles east of downtown at the intersection of the U.S. 15 bypass and Va. 7. It has more than 50 stores and a food court. Many well-known brands are present, including Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, Burberry, Bass, Gap, J. Crew, Jockey, Liz Claiborne, Nike, Off 5th-Saks Fifth Avenue, Polo Ralph Lauren, Reebok, Tommy Hilfiger, OshKosh B'Gosh, and Rockport. Leesburg Corner is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 9pm, Sunday 10am to 7pm.
