Virginia’s Wytheville is worth a visit

Poised near the crossroads of Interstate Highways 81 and 77, it’s a high-value road trip respite for travelers willing to explore a bit beyond the exit ramp.

Following are my top tips for making the most of your time there.

Food

From basic grub to elevated casual, foodies will find a fair number of notable noshing options. For a fairly fast light lunch, check out Skeeter’s. Serving classic hot dogs on Main Street for more than 100 years, it boasts a retro atmosphere and seriously fantastic fries. Prefer your snack stop with a view? Head to Big Walker Lookout. With a country store, shaded picnic tables, and an observation tower overlooking multiple states, it’s worth the drive. As part of The Crooked Road, Virginia’s noteworthy heritage music trail, they also offer outdoor performances featuring favored local artists.

Love to linger? Petals Wine Bar has great pours, homemade soups, and charcuterie-style plates sized to share. If coffee’s more your speed, heading to The Grind is a must. Fab java and homemade bagels will provide a worthy reason to hit pause and contemplate your next sightseeing stop.

If you’re looking for a dinner splurge, Log House 1776 Restaurant is a hands-down winner. Located in a period building dating back to the early days of the nation, it has a deep menu of stick-to-your-ribs items, and extensive building additions for extra seating and gift shop space. Their fried grits, stuffed squash, and corn fritters all have a devoted local fan base. Breakfast fans will want to make time for Grayson Restaurant on their way out of town. A classic local diner with high-value, home-style morning favorites, it will leave you tanked up for a day on the road.

Amenities

Popular with locals throughout the region is Wohlfahrt Haus Dinner Theater. Featuring live weekend theater shows that come with a multi-course meal designed to complement the performance, it’s a nice community theater experience not often found in destinations of this size. The Millwald Theater, featuring regular live musical performances, is much loved by area residents as well. Located downtown and loaded with historic ambience, it’s definitely worth experiencing if you’ll be in town for a day or two.

Wytheville also has a number of small local museums, featuring local arts and homestead exhibits, period buildings, and celebrations of notable local residents. One of the most famous of those residents was Wytheville native Edith Bolling Wilson, the second wife of President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson’s story is documented in detail at her birthplace museum, which is located downtown. Another interesting piece of area history preserved on location is the Wytheville Training School Cultural Center, which also serves as an African American heritage museum. Located in the same building, which originally served as a schoolhouse for the community, it still provides free community support services to this day. From a tourism perspective, there is a small exhibit area inside, complete with guides who are experts in the facility’s history. Complimentary movie screenings and quilt exhibits are also on the list of things you might experience, depending on when you visit. Admission is free.

For a modern take on the area’s agricultural heritage, make sure to squeeze in a visit to Beagle Ridge Herb Farm. Featuring workshop space, lavender fields, a gift shop, and a mid-sized herb garden where you can clip fresh batches of your favored seasonings for a meal, it’s a nifty spot where you can get your farm groove on between other itinerary stops.

Wytheville’s authenticity is perhaps most visually apparent in its architecture. A plethora of picturesque buildings provide quite the creative coup for urban sketchers, plein-air painters, and photographers looking to maximize their time off the highway. Complimentary guides for the town’s free walking tour are available from the local visitor center. Simply pick one up, start stepping, and document your visit using whichever artistic method you prefer.

Accommodations

For a downtown location within walking distance to a number of attractions, booking a stay at the Bolling Wilson Hotel is your best bet. Named for the former first lady herself, it offers well-appointed rooms at a midrange price, along with a lovely rooftop terrace area overlooking the town. Graze on Main, the in-house restaurant, is named in reference to the sheep she kept on the White House grounds.

Rather rest your head somewhere more remote? Check out The Inn at Foster Falls. This newly restored riverside venue offers romantic 1887 charm, just steps away from trail and water access within New River Trail State Park. Along with other period buildings on the grounds, it’s worth taking time to sit and sketch. Located just outside of Wytheville, they offer a range of room sizes, from a cozy, reasonably priced writer’s retreat to a spectacular honeymoon suite that rings in at less than I regularly pay for an airport hotel.

Bottom line? Wytheville is worth a visit. From high-value vittles and scenic overlooks to local performance venues and deep roots to our nation’s history, there’s plenty to experience here. The direct highway access to multiple cities and deep bench of photo opportunities are added bonuses as well.

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