Virginia is for variety and verve. Here's what's new in the state full of history.
Northern Virginia
Old Town Alexandria continues to see explosive development around its King Street Metrorail station, with new office buildings going up all the time. Among them are the Hampton Inn-King Street Metro, 1616 King St. (tel. 800/HAMPTON or 703/299-9900; www.hamptoninn.com), and the luxurious Hilton Alexandria Old Town, 1767 King St. (tel. 800/HILTONS or 703/837-0440; www.hiltonalexandria.com). New restaurants have come on line, too, including Cafe Salsa, 703 King St. (tel. 703/684-4100), offering tastes of various Latin American cuisines.
Mount Vernon, George Washington's home, has opened Washington's Gristmill, (www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/georgewa.htm) a 1933 reconstruction 3 miles south of the plantation on Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway. Nearby, archaeologists have discovered the foundation of Washington's whiskey still.
Fredericksburg & the Northern Neck
Historic artifacts including the 1668 Bible on which George Washington took his obligation are no longer on display at Masonic Lodge #4. You might be able to see them at the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center (tel. 540/ 371-3037; www.famcc.org). Rappahannock River Cruises (tel. 804/453-2628; www.tangiercruise.com) sends the stern-wheel City of Fredericksburg on cruises down the river, including a 2-hour lunch trip which stops at Ingleside Vineyards for wine tastings.
On the Northern Neck, the venerable Tides Inn (tel. 804/438-5000) in Irvington has undergone a major renovation and is now one of a handful of outstanding resorts in Virginia. Old-timers may be surprised to find a British décor instead of the Old Virginia style the inn had worn since 1947. It now has a full-service spa. Also in Irvington, The Hope and Glory Inn, (tel. 804/438-6053; www.bbonline.com/va/hopeglory) one of Virginia's most unusual country inns, has added two new townhouse-style cottages with upstairs bedrooms.
The new Feast-O-Rama, 1008 Sophia St. (tel. 540/373-9040; www.feastorama.com), between William and Amelia streets, has supplies for a gourmet picnic by the Rappahannock River. Open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 6pm.
Charlottesville
The new Courtyard by Marriott University/Medical Center, 1201 W. Main St. (tel. 800/321-2211 or 434/977-1700; www.courtyard.com) brings modern, well-equipped accommodations to the university area. The Omni Charlottesville Hotel (tel. 434/971-5500; www.omnihotels.com) has redesigned it atrium restaurant and added a sports bar. Out in the rolling countryside, The Foxfield Inn, 2280 Garth Rd. (tel. 800/369-3536 or 434/923-8892; www.foxfield-inn.com), offers 5 romantic rooms and an eight-person hot tub 7 miles northwest of Charlottesville.On the Downtown Mall, Blue Light Bar & Grill, 120 E. Main St. (tel. 434/295-1223), provides four types of oysters among Charlottesville's freshest seafood. North of Charlottesville, James Madison's Montpelier (tel. 540/672-2728) is undergoing a major four-year restoration which will reduce it from 55 rooms to the 22-room version James and wife Dolley occupied in the 1820s. The mansion remains open, with special guided tours of the construction areas.
And a perennial "Best of," The Clifton Inn, (tel. 434/971-1800 or 888/ 971-1800; www.cliftoninn.com) an 18th century inn on the National Register of Historic Faces, was seriously damaged in a fire, and is closed indefinitely.
The Shenandoah Valley
Near Front Royal, the super-luxe Inn at Little Washington (tel. 540/675-3800; www.relaischateaux.com/washington) has converted a 1790s farmhouse into its Presidential Retreat. It's 17 miles away, but the butler will bring you to the inn for dinner.
In Winchester, the new Old Court House Civil War Museum, 20 N. Loudoun St. (tel. 540/542-1145; www.civilwarmuseum.org), has a fascinating display of graffiti that prisoners of war carved into its upstairs walls. Near Middletown, Belle Grove Plantation and the Cedar Creek Battlefield Visitors Center across U.S. 11 are partners in the new Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park, P.O. Box 229, Strasburg, VA 22657 (tel. 540/868-9176; www.nps.gov/cebe). Call or check the web site for developments.
There's a new Staunton Visitors Center at 35 S. New St. in downtown Staunton (tel. 540/332-3971; www.stauntonva.org). The free Downtown Staunton Trolley (click here ) now stops there every 25 minutes during its around-town tours, Monday to Saturday from 10am to 10pm. The town's most famous attraction, Woodrow Wilson's Birthplace, has changed its name to The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library at His Birthplace (tel. 540/885-0897 or 888/496-6376; www.woodrowwilson.org).
The marvelous dining room at Staunton's Belle Grae Inn (tel. 888/541-5151 or 540/886-5151) no longer has set seating times at dinner; it's strictly a la carte. The Frederick House (tel. 800/334-5575 or 540/885-4220) had added a restaurant to its repertoire. A former Travelodge, the Regency Inn, 268 N. Central Ave. (tel. 540/886-5330), and been renovated and now offers a viable downtown budget option.
The success of Staunton's Blackfriars Playhouse (tel. 540/885-5588; www.ishakespeare.com/p-cu.htm) has spurred downtown development, including new restaurants such as the Clock Tower Tavern, 27 W. Beverly St. (tel. 540/213-2403), and The Pampered Palate Café, 26-28 E. Beverly St. (tel. 540/886-9463). L'Italia Restaurant, 23 East Beverley St (tel. 540/885-0102) has added the swank Pompeii Lounge upstairs.
In Lexington, Ghost Tour of Lexington has changed its name and phone number to Haunting Tales of Historic Lexington (tel. 540/463-5647) but still conducts 1 1/4-hour nighttime walks through the streets, alleys, and Stonewall Jackson Cemetery. The Stonewall Jackson House (tel. 540/463-2552 www.stonewalljackson.org) and Virginia Military Institute Museum (tel. 540/464-7232 ; www.ohwy.com/va/v/vamiinmu.htm) are slated for renovation in 2004 but will remain open.In downtown Lexington, A Joyful Spirit Cafe, 26 S. Main St. (tel. 540/463-4191), now provides a joyful combination of flavors at breakfast and lunch, while vegetarians will love the Blue Heron Cafe, 4 E. Washington St. (tel. 540/463-2800).
Roankoe & the Southwest Highlands
The Roanoke Convention and Visitors Bureau has moved to new quarters at 101 Shenandoah Ave. N.E., Roanoke, VA 24016 (tel. 800/635-5535 or 540/342-6025; www.visitroanokeva.com), in the recently restored Norfolk & Western train station across the tracks from trendy Market Square. The center shares the station with the new O. Winston Link Museum (tel. 540/857-4394; www.linkmuseum.org) which displays the remarkable railroad photography of the late O. Winston Link. A pathway follows the railroad to the Virginia Museum of Transportation (tel. 540/342-5670; www.vmt.org) which has opened the Claytor Pavilion covering its collection of vintage locomotives, passenger cars, and cabooses.
Market Square, Roanoke's prime dining and nightlife area, has received a dose of big-city sophistication with the opening of Metro! (tel. 540/345-6645), a restaurant-lounge offering a mix of exciting flavors and dancing after 11pm. Meanwhile, Carlos Brazilian International Cuisine has fled Market Square for the suburbs, and Buck Mountain Grille has moved from its former perch near the Blue Ridge Parkway to 3603 Franklin Rd., north of I-581/U.S. 220 (tel. 540/348-6455).
In Wytheville, The Clinic, 95 W. Main St. (tel. 276/228-9111), has opened in a storefront once used as a clinic. Adorned with crutches and big, one-blip neon electrocardiograms, it offers billiards, inexpensive meals, and medicinal whiskey.
In Abingdon, the new Café at Barter Theater Stage II, 110 Main St. (tel. 276/619-5462), serves coffee, pastries, and sandwiches in a delightful room attached to the theater's auxiliary stage. For fine dining, Caroline's has replaced the gourmet deli and bakery of The Abingdon General Store and Gallery at 301 E. Main St. (tel. 276/739-0042).
Richmond
The Jefferson Hotel (804/788-8000; www.jeffersonhotel.com) has added a greenhouse-like extension to Lemaire, one of Virginia's top restaurants. Slated for further improvement, Linden Row Inn (tel. 804/783-7000; www.lindenrowinn.com) has been designated an Historic Hotel of America. The Richmond Marriott (www.marriot.com) has undergone a renovation.
On the dining front, The Old Original Bookbinder's, 1021 E Cary St (tel. 804/643-6900) the first branch of the Philadelphia institution, is now Richmond's most popular seafood restaurant. For well-heeled beefeaters, here's a new Morton's of Chicago in Shockoe Slip at 111 Virginia St. (tel. 804/648-1662).
Richmond National Battlefield Park (tel. 804/226-1981 www.nps.gov/rich/home.htm) has added "Richmond Speaks" -- an exhibit telling the city's Civil War story with photos, artifacts, and readings from letters soldiers wrote to their families -- to Richmond Civil War Visitor Center at Tredegar Iron Works, (tel. 804/771-2145) the new name of its main visitor center. Outside the center, a touching statue of President Abraham Lincoln and son Todd depicts their visit to Richmond shortly after the city fell in 1865. Out on the battlefields, a visitor center is now open at Glendale/Malvern Hill, just off Va. 5.
At The Valentine Richmond History Center, 1015 East Clay Street (tel. 804/649-0711; www.RichmondHistoryCenter.com) visitors can look inside the Edward Valentine Sculpture Studio and see the sculptor's personal effects and plaster models of his work, including an early version of his "Lee Recumbent." The Virginia State Capitol (www.virginia.gov) now requires casual visitors to take a guided tour in order to see inside the building. The capitol complex also is scheduled for renovation between 2004 and 2006. The Virginia Holocaust Museum has moved to new quarters at 2000 E. Cary St. (tel. 804/257-5400; www.va-holocaust.com) and has added the Survivors' Room, a moving exhibit in which local survivors tell their Holocaust stories.
Williamsburg, Jamestown & Yorktown
Cash-strapped Colonial Williamsburg has raised its admission fees and closed Carter's Grove plantation and The Rockefeller Archeology Museum for the time being. Plans have been announced to combine Colonial Williamsburg's two museums -- the Abbey Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum -- into one facility occupied at present by the Wallace museum. They will maintain their separate identities but collectively will be known as The Museums at Colonial Williamsburg. A museum cafe also is on the drawing board. Other scheduled changes include the conversion of the building adjacent to the super-luxe Williamsburg Inn now housing the Craft House shop into a spa and health evaluation center.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg (www.buschgardens.com) has added a barbecue restaurant, and a 4-D movie, "R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse" is now part of its fun-filled repertoire. It also is offering a "Night Time Pass" which permits unlimited visits after 4pm in summer; it costs the same as a 1-day ticket. Sister parks Busch Gardens and Water Country USA (www.watercountryusa.com) are offering discounted "Bounce" tickets permitting unlimited admissions to both over 2- to 4-day periods.
Josiah Chowning's Tavern, Duke of Gloucester Street (tel. 757/-229-214 or 800/-TAVERNS) one of Colonial Williamsburg's restored "ordinaries," has switched from Colonial fare to timeless Virginia-style pit-cooked barbecue. Unlike the other historic taverns, where bookings are a must, it no longer accepts reservations. Shields Tavern (tel. 800-TAVERNS or 757/229-2141) has added an all-you-can-eat feast in its cellar. It's good value compared to prices at the other taverns. In Merchant's Square, The Cheese Shop (tel. 757/220-0298 or 800/468-4049) has moved its gourmet deli into quarters vacated by A Good Place to Eat, which has gone out of business.
At Jamestown, National Park Service has changed the name of its Jamestown Island site to Historic Jamestowne (tel. 757/898-3400; www.nps.gov/jame). Both it and the state-run Jamestown Settlement (tel. 757/253-4838 or 888/593-4682; www.historyisfun.org) are being expanded and upgraded in preparation for Jamestown's big 400th anniversary celebration in 2007.
At Yorktown, the National Park Service is slated to open the Poor Potter, on the site of the town's original pottery factory. While touring the historic town, you can now have breakfast or lunch at the Carrot Tree (tel. 757/246-9559), the Cole Diggs House on Main Street at Reed Street. The town itself is undertaking a $40 million renovation of its waterfront, which will add a new boardwalk, shops, and a pier. Already on the waterfront, the Watermen's Museum (tel. 757/887-2641) displays work boats, oyster harvesting tools, and other examples of how the Chesapeake's "watermen" earn their livelihoods. From the museum you can venture out on the water with Yorktown Lady Cruises (tel. 757/229-6244; yorktowncruises.com). On the James River, Sherwood Forest Plantation is no longer open to visitors.
The Hampton Visitors Center has relocated to 1919 Commerce Dr., Hampton, VA 23666 (tel. 800/800-2202 or 757/727-1102; www.hamptoncvb.com), where it shares space with the new Hampton History Museum, 120 Old Hampton Lane (tel. 800/800-2202 or 757/727-1610). In Newport News, the Mariners' Museum (tel. 757/596-2222 or 800/581-7245; www.mariner.org) now has the turret, engine, propeller and hundreds of other artifacts recovered from the Union ironclad U.S.S. Monitor, sank off Cape Hatteras in 1862.
Norfolk, Virginia Beach & the Eastern Shore
Downtown Norfolk has a new free trolley service -- Norfolk Electric Transit -- operated by city's parking department (tel. 757/441-2661; www.norfolk.gov/visitors/net.asp). It's the easiest way to get around. The area's public transportation system, Hampton Roads Transit, has resumed its popular trolley tours of Naval Station Norfolk, (tel. 757/587-8311; www.navstanorva.navy.mil) the U.S. Navy's largest base, which were suspended after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
If you're walking, volunteer Public Safety Ambassadors now patrol Norfolk's downtown streets; call 757/478-7233 if you need an escort.
Town Point Park, between The Waterside and NAUTICUS, is now home to The Homecomer, a touching statue of a returning sailor greeted by his wife and child, and the Armed Forces Memorial, where bronze replicas of letters written home by sailors litter the ground. The Virginia Zoo (www.virginiazoo) has opened its long-awaited Okavango Delta African plains exhibit, which has added zebras, lions, giraffes, and meerkats to the nearly 400 animals already there.
Downtown Norfolk now has a modern, moderately-priced hotel in the Courtyard by Marriott, 520 Plume St. (tel. 800/321-2211 or 757/963-6000; www.courtyard.com), which opened in 2002 almost across the street from the MacArthur Center. In Virginia Beach, the new Courtyard by Marriott Oceanfront North, 3737 Atlantic Ave., at 37th St. (tel. 800/321-2211 or 757/437-0098;www.courtyardoceanfrontnorth.com), boasts the oceanfront's largest swimming pool, with rocks, waterfalls, a lifeguard, and its own bar). It's the sister of the Courtyard by Marriott Oceanfront South, at Atlantic Avenue and 25th Street, a virtually identical property except for the outdoor pool.
Already loaded with amenities, the Comfort Inn-Virginia Beach, a block off the oceanfront at 2800 Pacific Ave. (tel. 800/441-0684 or 757/428-2203), has added cable-modem speed Internet access to every room. Now more B&B than hostel, Angie's Guest Cottage (www.angiescottage.com) has added two family units equipped with TVs and kitchens. It's still an official hostel, however, now affiliated with Hosteling International-USA. Barclay Cottage (tel. 757/422-1956; www.barclaycottage.com) has new owners -- Stephen and Marie-Louise LaFonde -- and is open year-round.
On the Eastern Shore, quaint and remote Tangier Island now has 15-minute island tours via enlarged golf, and 2 bed-and-breakfasts have joined Hilda Crockett's Chesapeake House: Shirley's Bay View Inn (tel. 757/891-2396; www.tangierisland.net) and Sunset Inn Bed & Breakfast (tel. 757/891-2535; www.tangierislandsunset.com). Chincoteague has a new Hampton Inn & Suites, 4179 Main St. (tel. 800/HAMPTON or 757/336-1616; www.hamptoninnsuiteschincoteague.com), on the waterfront next to the existing Comfort Suites.