DATE: Sunday, August 17, 1997               TAG: 9708150109

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEPHEN HARRIMAN, TRAVEL EDITOR 

DATELINE: HARRISONBURG, VA.                 LENGTH:  318 lines

A PEAK AT THE VALLEY 10 FAVORITE THINGS TO DO IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY

MY ROOTS extend deep, five or six generations deep, beneath this undulating green farmland in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, deep into its blue and gray limestone bedrock.

Some say you cannot go home again. Things are forever changing; nothing is ever quite the same. I think that is wrong. I can and I do so frequently - several times a year - for at least weekend getaways. I go ``home'' to Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. I love this place, sitting placidly between the Blue Ridge to the east and the rumpled Alleghenies to the west.

You just might, too. Let me tell you about 10 of my favorite things, in no particular order.

1. My earliest memory of the place is standing on the back porch of my grandparents' house, looking eastward in the silvery light of a full moon at the distinct profile of Massanutten Mountain.

This was more than a half-century ago, and I was trying to see, as I recall, a German POW camp over near Elkton. I looked beyond my pasture playground with its two bank barns (now the ``new'' lakefront campus of James Madison University), beyond the rolling hills where the dashing Gen. Turner Ashby was killed (now bisected by Interstate 81, the newest Great Valley Road). But I could not see the German POWs. Of course not.

But I could see the Peak. Then as now.

Massanutten Peak. The Peaked Mountain (pronounced locally as two syllables: PEAK-id). Or simply the Peak. This southwestern end of the Massanutten Range that extends for nearly 50 miles is the enduring symbol of this part of the valley. You can see it from every part of Rockingham County, I believe, and from its top, on a clear day, you can see all of this beautiful region.

Some say that viewed from the east it looks like the Rock of Gibraltar. Most of those folks probably haven't seen the Rock of Gibraltar. It doesn't.

I flew over it for the first time not long ago on the way back from Hawaii and I was astonished by how much it resembles Diamondhead, which forms the striking backdrop to Honolulu's Waikiki Beach. What it most resembles, in my imagination, is the prow of a mighty ship sailing serenely through the valley.

Since I was a child I had wanted to climb the peak - right up its sheer and rocky face. I tried once as a young man and quickly realized the folly.

Then the Massanutten Resort was built in the ``kettle,'' a natural depression behind the Peak, and access to the top became much easier. Now, twice a week, you can take ski lifts almost to the summit - more than 1,000 feet above the valley floor. The resort is a great place for both hiking and mountain biking.

(The Massanutten Resort lifts operate from 10-2 Mondays and Wednesdays only, except during October fall foliage season when they operate Wednesdays and Sundays. Tickets are $4 for adults, $2 for children. Info: (800) 207-6277.)

The lifts weren't operating the day I decided to finally conquer the Peak, so I hiked. The view from the top was worth the climb.

Gray clouds, nudged by a gentle wind, yielded to bright sun and hazy blue sky. The jagged, gray-white limestone outcrop at my feet that was once a seabed is flaky and covered with lime green lichen and fuzzy, deep green moss, spongy as wet velvet. Below the valley is a patchwork quilt of grass green, plowed-earth tan and scattered trees of a rusty, olive brown.

Birds chirp. Flies buzz. The warm sun bakes aromas out of the damp forest floor, a mix of pine needles and thin black soil from a thousands years of decay and rot. A dead chestnut reaches long, gnarled fingers to the sky, a ghostly victim of a blight years ago.

Above the ridge trail a raven soars, calling attention to himself with a cry that sounds like a crow only deeper, throatier. I don't think I am imagining this. He seems to slow to a hover as a harrier jet might do to make sure I am watching, then flaps off to catch a draft on the other side of the ridge. The flap of his wings sounds like the snapping of a small dishcloth.

Jed Hotchkiss must have stood about here in 1862. He was Stonewall Jackson's mapmaker, his scout. From here he looked west toward Harrisonburg, watching Fremont advancing on Ewell at Cross Keys; from here he looked east toward the Luray Valley, watching Shields advancing on Jackson at Port Republic.

From here he watched as the final two acts of Jackson's Valley Campaign began.

2. That Valley Campaign makes this place one that true Civil War buffs - for that matter any military historian - can embrace. It was, quite simply, one of the most brilliant in warfare's annals. It is still studied on the sand tables at West Point.

What Jackson and his ``foot cavalry'' did was create a diversion in the Shenandoah Valley, tying up more than 60,000 Union troops (which McClellan wanted for his drive up the Peninsula toward Richmond) and drive Washington frantic with fear of invasion.

Between March 23 and June 9 of 1862, with 4,200 infantry at first and never more than 17,000, Jackson marched 676 miles, skirmished almost daily, fought five pitched battles (winning four and completely routing two armies) and perplexed men from four Union commands who were trying to catch him.

The Battles of Cross Keys (June 8) and Port Republic (June 9) ended the campaign. Neither is particularly easy to follow because there are virtually no roadside markers to provide adequate information.

There are several brochures on the battles available at the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Convention & Visitors Bureau in downtown Harrisonburg. It would help to do a bit of reading before you go.

The old Cross Keys Tavern, from which the first battle took its name, still stands in a very dilapidated condition (and still inhabited) along Virginia Route 276. Apparently no one has ever mustered the interest or the funds to restore it.

In the village of Port Republic, which looks today much as it must have looked 135 years ago, there is the Frank Kemper House, also known as the Turner Ashby House because this is where the Confederate cavalry leader's body was taken after he was killed just outside Harrisonburg June 6 in a rear-guard action. It is open Sunday afternoons and by appointment; info: (540) 249-4435 or 249-5689.

The place of Ashby's death is marked by a monument off the Port Republic Road (Virginia Route 659), a mile east of I-81 exit 245.

3. The best way to grasp Jackson's Valley Campaign is to view the famous ceiling-high electronic map and a 20-minute taped narration at the Shenandoah Valley Folk Art and Heritage Center in Dayton. Aside from being slightly over-dramatized and having a few names mispronounced, it's pretty educational.

The museum's other exhibits focus on the folk art and cultures of the region and include examples of textiles, ceramics, painted surfaces, wood and metals. There's also a genealogy research library.

The museum is open Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 10-4, and Sunday 1-5. Admission is $4. Info: (540) 879-2681.

4. If you like the picturesque, the pastoral farming landscape, you'll love the central Shenandoah Valley. During the Civil War this was the breadbasket of the Confederacy, or was until 1864 when Gen. Phil Sheridan laid it waste with the torch. Today, its best-known farm product is the turkey. Chances are your Thanksgiving turkey will be a proud Rockingham bird. Only one county in America produces more.

This land was settled - which is to say wrested away from the indigenous American Indian nomads - in the early 18th century by an influx of people of middle and northern European stock, who carved out farmsteads in the fertile valley plain.

Some came over the Blue Ridge Mountains from the Piedmont and Tidewater; most came up the valley (the rivers flow north, so ``up'' in these parts is up-river, from north to south) from Pennsylvania, bringing their German and Scotch-Irish surnames that still dominate the local phone directories.

Among the first were the Mennonites. They remain here in large numbers, particularly in the western half of the county. Most remain engaged in farming, at which they excel. Those of the Old Order sect are easily recognizable.

Much like the Old Order Amish of southeastern Pennsylvania, with whom they have a common ``Anabaptist'' antecedent and for whom they are often mistaken, they are ``plain'' folk with a strong cultural cohesion. The men wear broad-brimmed black hats, beards with no moustache and homemade plain clothes, often fastened with hooks instead of buttons. The women wear bonnets, long full dresses and no jewelry or makeup.

The Old Order Mennonites shun electricity and telephones and drive horses and buggies. For years the public parking lot in downtown Harrisonburg had a row of hitching posts for the buggy horses. Now it is a double-deck parking garage and I saw no places for buggies.

They're still on the roads, though, particularly around Dayton. Their only concession to the ``modern'' world is a blaze orange safety triangle on the rear of the severe black buggies.

5. Women, at least the quilters among them, will love the Virginia Quilt Museum on South Main Street in downtown Harrisonburg. Quilting was recycling before it became PC - politically correct. It started as a PN - personal necessity - because blankets were expensive and scraps of material were always available.

The museum, once a residence and later a lot of other things including a temporary courthouse while the regular one was being renovated, has a large number of old and beautiful quilts. I like the one made from small Bull Durham tobacco pouches by Mary Aycock Jones of Johnston County, N.C. There's also an African-American quilt work in progress. It was begun in the 1920s, and the granddaughter of the woman who began it is currently adding to it.

The current feature exhibit, running through Sept. 8, is Memories by the Sackful, featuring vintage and contemporary feedsack quilts, textile bags and flour mill artifacts. Some of you ladies may remember wearing dresses made of delightfully patterned feed and flour sacks . . . whether you'll admit it today or not.

The museum/house even has a one-room lockup, left over from when it was the courthouse. You'll see it if you use the restroom. They use it occasionally to secure important stuff.

Open Monday and Thursday through Saturday 10-4 and Sunday 1-4. Admission $4 adults, $3 seniors and students, $2 ages 6-12. Info: (540) 433-3818.

6. Spelunkers will love this region. I suspect there might be a cavern of some sort beneath every hill in the valley. Two of Virginia's best commercial caverns are in Rockingham County: Grand Caverns and Endless Caverns.

Grand Caverns, near Grottoes in southeastern Rockingham at the border with Augusta County, is the oldest commercial cave in the United States. Bernard Weyer stumbled upon it in 1804 while searching for a raccoon trap. It was opened for tourism in 1806.

Endless Caverns in northeastern Rockingham beneath the Massanutten Range was discovered in much the same way in 1879: two young boys and their dog out hunting rabbits. No one has ever found the end of this cave yet, hence the name.

There are two other caves in the same large hill that contains Grand Caverns. Neither is open to the public. Fountain Cavern may be explored by expert geologists. Madison Cavern is just plain closed, but once celebrities toured it. Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and James Madison all are said to have carved their names in its walls.

There used to be two other caverns in Rockingham, Massanutten and Melrose. Well, the caverns are still there, but neither is open for business any more. The area is just over-caverned.

I went to Grand Caverns for the first time not long ago. It has more than 200 formations called ``shields'' (because that is sort of what they look like) that are a mystery to geologists. Cathedral Hall is 280 feet long and more than 70 feet high. There were dances held here as early as 1839 in the 5,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom, and a lot more after electric lights were installed in 1889.

Some of Jackson's troops are supposed to have camped in the cavern after the battle of Port Republic.

The caverns are great places to visit in the heat of summer or in the dead of winter because the temperature remains about 54 to 56 degrees year round. Both have regular guided tours.

Grand Caverns is open 9-5 daily April through October, weekends in March. Endless Caverns is open 9-5 daily except until 4 p.m. November to mid-March and until 7 p.m. mid-June to Labor Day. Admission to both Grand and Endless is $10 for adults, slightly less for children. Info: Grand (540) 350-2510; Endless (540) 896-2283.

7. hoppers[sic] will love the Dayton Farmers Market and the Shenandoah Heritage Farmers Market. Both are sort of like old-fashioned malls except that the shops you see are unlike those you see in every other modern mall.

The Dayton Farmers Market, on Virginia Route 42 three miles south of Harrisonburg, is only open Thursdays 9-6, Fridays 9-8 and Saturdays 9-5. There are about 20 shops, mostly gifts and collectibles and antiques, plus several places to get some really good food - both on a plate and in bulk. Info: (540) 879-9885.

The Shenandoah Heritage Farmers Market on U.S. 11 just south of the Harrisonburg city limits near the fairgrounds offers pretty much the same thing, except it is open every day except Sunday. There's also an eclectic mix of exhibits including old tractors, covered wagons and motorcycles, a Civil War shop and ``The Country Canner'' where they have a lot of canned goods ``put up'' right there on the premises in glass Mason jars. Info: (540) 433-3929.

8. Speaking of the fairgrounds, fun lovers and farmers alike should take in the annual Rockingham County Fair at least once. You have to wait until next year, though. It ended yesterday. Sorry about that. Think of this as a year's advance warning.

The Los Angeles Times once listed it among the top 10 county fairs in the America. I'm not sure how the L.A. Times came to be the adjudicator of county fairs - LA-LA Land seemed so removed from that sort of thing - but no one around here doubts it for a minute.

Mark your calendar if you're interested - it's always in early to mid-August. Info: (540) 434-0005.

9. Anglers will love this area for the fishing opportunities, particularly fly fishing for trout. Some of Virginia's top trout streams are not exactly right here in Rockingham County, but you can easily get there from here. To Mossy Creek, for instance, which is mostly in Augusta County to the south.

There's enough angling activity to support at least three area outfitters that I know of: Blue Ridge Angler Fly Shop in Harrisonburg, Runion's Hunting and Fishing at the Shenandoah Heritage Farmers Market between Harrisonburg and Mt. Crawford and the Mossy Creek Fly Shop, an Orvis outlet, in Bridgewater.

I used to fish occasionally, for whatever was biting, in the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and its tributaries. I don't remember catching anything, but I do remember it as being a great way to laze away a day.

10. Bibliophiles will love the Green Valley Book Fair. Six times a year, in a couple of barnlike warehouse buildings at an old farmstead a couple of miles east of Mt. Crawford about 500,000 new books go on sale at 60 to 90 percent off retail prices. A bargain in anyone's book.

This operation started in 1970-71 when Kathryn and Leighton Evans began selling old and used books and collectibles in an old barn on the family farm. Today they have stock from McMillan, Simon & Schuster, Random House, Houghton-Mifflin and other major publishers - in more than 20,000 square feet of showroom space.

Today, Michael and Michele, a son and daughter, run the book sales, while two other sons, Jeff and Greg, run Green Valley Auction, handling estate and antique sales.

There are two more fairs this year: Oct. 11-19 and Nov. 28-Dec. 7. They're open Monday-Friday 10-6 (Nov. 28 from 9-9), Saturdays 9-9 and Sundays 10-6. Info: (800) 385-0099.

I mentioned that my roots are deep in this place. But I didn't know I had a tie to the book fair until I mentioned my visit to my mother.

Turns out, Leighton Evans is her cousin. That would make the Evans children my second cousins.

Small world. ILLUSTRATION: STEPHEN HARRIMAN COLOR PHOTOS

From the top of Massanutten Peak...

The horses and severe black buggies of Old Order Mennonites...

Photos

STEPHEN HARRIMAN

The Kemper House was Stonewall Jackson's headquarters at the 1862

battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic.

Another world: A farmhouse road sign in rural Rockingham County.

STEPHEN HARRIMAN PHOTOS

The Kemper House was Stonewall Jackson's headquarters at the 1862

battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic.

Map

VP

Graphic

TRAVELER'S ADVISORY

Getting there: From South Hampton Roads, take I-64 west to

Staunton, then I-81 north. The drive takes about 3:45. Alternate

route: From I-64 exit 136 (Zion Crossroad) take U.S. 15 north to

Gordonsville, then U.S. 33 west. This is a slightly more scenic

route, but takes slightly longer.

Staying there: There are a large number of motels, particularly

in the Harrisonburg area, and a nice selection of B&Bs throughout

Rockingham County. I stayed at the Joshua Wilton House, an elegantly

restored Victorian mansion (about 1888) in downtown Harrisonburg,

one of the state's premier B&Bs. The brick inn, with turret, porch,

gingerbread trim, heavy oak doors, parquet floors, leaded glass and

tall bay windows, has five superbly decorated bedrooms furnished

with beautiful antiques. Owners Roberta and Craig Moore operate an

upscale gourmet restaurant as well as a more casual, less expensive

cafe at the inn (both are open from 5 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday). The

walls of the inn's interior are covered with local artwork, all for

sale. Info: (540) 434-4464.

Eating there: In addition to the widely commended Joshua Wilton

House, I strongly recommend the Blue Stone Inn at Lacey Spring,

north of Harrisonburg on U.S. 11, and Evers Family Restaurant, south

of Harrisonburg near Mt. Crawford on U.S. 11.

Getting info: The admirably active Harrisonburg-Rockingham

Convention & Visitors Bureau is on North Main Street at the corner

of Gay Street. It has volumes of material on regional sights and

activities, accommodations and dining. Phone (540) 434-2319.

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