Frontier Culture Museum
The Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton is one of the most unusual and genuinely engaging outdoor history museums in the United States — and it’s only about 55 minutes from the farm. The museum is a working open-air site featuring authentic historic farms and structures transported piece-by-piece from West Africa, Germany, Northern Ireland, England, and early Virginia, reconstructed in the Shenandoah Valley to tell the story of the people who shaped American frontier culture. Costumed interpreters work at each farm, demonstrating 18th and 19th-century skills — blacksmithing, cooking, animal husbandry, and more. Children are often invited to participate. […]
Natural Bridge State Park
Once owned by Thomas Jefferson — who bought it from King George III for 20 shillings in 1774 and called it “the most sublime of Nature’s works” — Natural Bridge is a 215-foot natural limestone arch carved over millions of years by Cedar Creek. It became a Virginia State Park in 2016, and is now a National Historic Landmark. The main Cedar Creek Trail takes you right under the bridge and on to Lace Falls, a 30-foot cascade, and Salt Peter Cave. The park also has a wonderful Children’s Discovery Area — an outdoor nature classroom where kids […]
Grand Caverns — America’s Oldest Show Cave
Grand Caverns in Grottoes, Virginia, holds a distinction that few places in America can claim: it is the oldest continuously operating show cave in the United States, having been open for public tours since 1806. Over 200 years of visitors, including Civil War soldiers who left their signatures on the cave walls during the 1860s, have passed through its remarkable chambers. The cave earned its “Grand” name honestly — the formations are spectacular, with an unusual abundance of shield formations (rare disc-like structures that form against gravity) that have made it a National Natural Landmark. 70-minute guided walking […]