Doug and I have been to Front Royal many times since we've been here, mostly to hit the Skyline Drive entrance or exit. It's a decent town, has some run-downness to it, but also some real beauty. And the views over to the Shenandoah mountains are sublime.
We left the house at 10, our initial plan was "early" but 10 is early when there are dogs to take care of, dishwasher to load, laundry to put in the dryer. I was pleased with getting out of bed at 8:30 and being ass in seat in the car by 10. We are pretty good at this, as long as there is teamwork in getting things done.
It's about 75 miles, can be an hour and a half, two hours, depending on the traffic. Once you get past Manasass it is smooth sailing. Rte 66 is direct and fast right over there.
We were not planning on visiting Skyline Drive, but just driving around. After a toodle aboot town there, we headed down Rte 340 a ways toward Luray, but didn't make it all the way down there. Another time. It's farther than you think. Lots of Shenandoah River access, lots of outfitters, lots of canoes and kayaks. Really neat area.
We kept seeing signs for Browntown, and we both said "Browntown" funny in like a deep radio voice. There was a sign for the Browntown Redbud Fair, and we were intrigued. So we turned off 340 and headed that way, long and twisting road through the woods, stuck behind a tractor with two giant bales of hay, we enjoyed the semi-pavedness of Bentoville road.
The Redbud fair wasn't that interesting, so we headed back north to hit 340 again.
The next part of the plan was to visit Strasburg. A town neither of us had been to. It's super cute, a little nicer than Front Royal. It's where 66 and 81 meet, so if someone is headed down from New England they'd head over to 81 by Scranton and just go south, ride along the mountains, pretty open stretches of highway.
We were hungry at this point so of course, Doug pre-selected a brewery in town. There were lots of cute little restaurants and diners and things, but the Box Office Brewery was pretty much the best looking thing in town anyway. And right on brand for us. As the name suggests it used to be a movie theater, but has been converted to a large, open floored eatery with a stage for performances, and a large balcony area to boot. It still has its lobby, which has big comfy chairs and more tables to sit at, and a coffee shop off to the side.
We each had two beers and ordered a buffalo chicken pizza. I didn't enjoy the pizza - the crust was super crispy, almost like crackers, and impossible to fold. The toppings were tasty but sparse. And I could have done without the celery pieces on top. Still. Hungry so I ate two pieces.
We decided to take a walk in town, slow stroll, window shopping. Everyone was super friendly. We were in front of the Dollar General and I mentioned my friend C to Doug, and how she had sold the house in Naples and was moving elsewhere. There was a gentleman putting some things into his pickup truck, and he turned around quickly and said "Naples? You have a friend who lives in Naples?"
Well. not any more, sir. Sold the house. And then he said "Italy or Florida," which I thought was hilarious. "Florida," I said.
He then went on to explain ohhhhhhh, Naples perked up his ears because his dad served in the Army in WWII and was in Naples, so he always liked to hear stories about Naples. Then, he told us all about his dad (I paused my fitbit walk/exercise counter because I knew we'd be a while). He mentioned D Day and I pointed to Doug and mentioned his pappy was at D Day.
He had all kinds of stories about his dad, coming home to North Carolina and then the family moving to Virginia. He recommended a few cool things to go see historically for the area and asked where we were visiting from. We told him and he had stories about time he spent in our county.
Dude liked to tell stories.
I think I thanked him three times so we could move along, and he continued to share. We waved, he waved, we got away.
Back in the car, we drove around some more up the hills and through the woods. We hit Rte 11 and Doug wanted to take a ride down to Woodstock, VA to see what the vibe was there. It was a decent sized town, with a military academy, and easy access to 81. We ended up back in Front Royal again because we were hungry and there was an historic bar there that Doug wanted to visit. It was kind of beat, and people were smoking right next to the windows so it stank. We had one beer each and talked to the owner who confessed he'd rather be home mowing the lawn than working. Okay. We won't keep you then.
As mentioned, we were hungry. Especially me because the 2 pieces of pizza from earlier were just not giving me the energy one needs. We stepped into a sports bar/restaurant and the TVs all had basketball and tennis on them. I asked the hostess if they could put on hockey and she basically said, "It's basketball or tennis," so we left. Not even a "let me check on that for ya."
Also Doug thought the place smelled gross, so. We bounced.
We walked around the corner and went to Vibrissa Brewing. It used to be Front Royal Brewing Company (the first two times we went there), but they either rebranded or were sold, not sure. But we knew the food was good.
They put hockey on for us.
The bartender was delightful.
The food was delicious.
We each had one beer (if we hadn't had the one at the other place, we would have had two here), and it was time to mosey home.
On the way out of the building there was a bakery in the front of the building that you had to walk past, so, we went in. The owner of Down Home Comfort Bakery was holding court with some people asking him questions about the history of the town, like "How did Front Royal get its name?" Of course, he was full of knowledge. They paid for their stuff and he turned to us to point at pictures on the wall of the town through the years. He and Doug talked about posters for shows that happened in the theater across the street like Patsy Cline, the local girl from Winchester, right up the highway.
We bought a bourbon pecan pie, and it waits for us in the kitchen today. Didn't want to dive into it last night, but saving it for hockey tonight.
Another cool thing about this location is Basecamp, which is a service the businesses in the building provide to folks hiking the Appalachian Trail. You have to get a code to get into the secure area, to do laundry, clean up, stock up, and go. Online there are good reviews but also complaints (nowhere to sleep so what's the point) but knowing some folks who have done the trail, and have passed through Front Royal, I would bet this would be a good thing. And you can get baked goods, beer, good food, and go stay at one of the super cheap motels in town (my friend Kim said she spent 3 days there a few years back because Front Royal was so welcoming and kind).
We hit the road, got home at a decent hour. I realized we didn't walk nearly as much as I thought we were going to. It was freezing cold here, and incredibly windy, so taking a dog for a stroll wasn't on my wish list (it was on hers). I jumped in the car and ran up to the gym. I only needed about 2k steps to hit 10k for the day, so I did that and then some.
All told it was a great day. I've taken my picture in front of this sticker wall at Vibrissa a few times.
