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A Tale of Two BurgsBy Karen LeedsAbout 25 miles west of Washington, DC is Loudoun County, Virginia, one of the fastest growing counties in the U.S. primarily because of its nearness to Washington. While suburban sprawl has taken over most of the eastern part, the western portion retains its rural, horse-country charm with many small towns, farms, stables and a number of vineyards. You can either drive out from Washington in less than an hour to visit, or fly into Dulles International Airport which is located in eastern Loudoun County, stay in that area. While there, visit the new Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, just down the road from the airport. Leesburg
Among the restaurants are the Eiffel Tower Cafe with a Parisian-style menu, the GG Cafe offering hearty and casual Italian fare, the Green Tree specializing in colonial American dishes, and the Lighthouse Café with California style American cuisine in the former People’s National Bank. How’s that for an eclectic dining mix? For the wine lover as well as the beer lover, this burg’s for you since there are both wineries nearby, as well as the opportunity to have a beer in a “bank,” do a beer tasting in a former flour mill or enjoy a microbrewery’s offerings in a horse-inspired setting. The Lightfoot Café which is across the street from the courthouse is in the former People’s National Bank building and has many of the original architectural features of the old bank. There is an original, working fireplace as well as several vaults, one of which you can peer into while sitting at the bar enjoying a good choice of imported, as well as local, draft beers and ales. In Market Station, you will find The Tuscarora Mill (Tuskies to locals) which offers some excellent dishes from its kitchen, and this can be enhanced by a flight of five beers from a long list of offerings for a comparison of body, taste and smoothness. You can also do a flight of wines. Nearby, Thoroughbred’s Microbrewery and Grill also offers flights of its own beers.
Near Leesburg are several historic attractions, including Morven Park which was the home of Viriginia Governor Davis from 1918 to 1922; and the Oatlands, built in 1804 by George Carter. Both offer house tours. Nearby are several wineries, including Tarara Winery www.tarara.com which offers a concert series Saturday evenings July through September. Each May, Loudoun County’s farms and wineries are open to visitors to greet baby animals, tour wineries, and learn how food gets from farm to the table. There is also a Loudoun County Farm Color Tour, held in October. www.loudounfarms.org. Middleburg
The Red Fox Inn & Tavern has an illustrious and long history as an inn and good restaurant. It served as a meeting spot for Civil War Colonel John Mosby and his Rangers. It is billed as “oldest original inn in America.” The Upper Crust Bakery was the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ favorite place in town to buy chocolate chip cookies, and it still bakes them the same way. She was a frequent visitor during the years when she participated in fox hunting weekends. Owners of some of the country’s premier Thoroughbred breeding farms open their gates and invite visitors to view their estate grounds, stables and training facilities annually in late May www.middleburgonline.com/stabletour. The Salamander Market has only outside tables, but features excellent take-out food overseen by Todd Gray, the executive chef of Washington’s Equinox restaurant. Near Middleburg are several wineries that offer wine tasting and tours, including Swedenburg and Chrysalis vineyards. Go to www.Virginiawines.org and select “wineries and vineyards.” You may want to plan a visit to Loudoun County, Virginia in the near future, before the horse farms and rolling countryside give way to housing developments and shopping centers. Photos by Karen Leeds For More Information: |
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This Burg’s for you if you like small towns that have a
rather eclectic, or even eccentric, mix of shopping and eating experiences.
Leesburg, Virginia is the county seat for Loudoun County. Leesburg has a
wonderful, old courthouse where cases are still tried, and lots of attorney and
real estate offices are nearby in former homes dating back to the late
eighteenth century. Each August, during the August Court Days festival, the
streets are turned into a Colonial-era street fair. More than 200 re-enactors
mingle with the crowd, conduct mock trials in the in the courthouse, demonstrate
militia and frontier life and weapons, and hawk their hand-made goods and foods.
See
The two main commercial streets of Market and King are now
populated by numerous antique stores, a variety of restaurants and one
self-proclaimed “New Age Superstore” that will meet one’s “metaphysical needs.”
There are a number of gift shops, including “All the King’s Horses” with equine
themed gifts and accessories; while “Crème de la Crème” features the products of
Provence and Tuscany. “Serendipity” offers wines, food and home gifts, with
complimentary wine tastings every Saturday and Sunday.
There is also a biker bar, several art galleries, a tea
room with home-made scones, a haunted local crafts shop, and an old-fashioned,
two-screen movie theater called the Tally-Ho. The haunted crafts shop is
actually the gift shop for the Loudoun Museum and is housed in a circa 1760 log
cabin.
Across the street from Market Station is the Mighty Midget
Kitchen which offers a number of Carolina-style pork barbecue items. You walk-up
to the window of a metal structure about the size of a porta-potty which has two
guys inside. I tried the pulled pork sandwich which is piled high with lean,
fresh pork with your choice of mild or hot sauce. It was terrific! There are a
number of tables with umbrellas from which you can watch the two guys dart out
the back door of the “kitchen” to tend to the barbecue smoker (the real
thing!).
Mom’s Apple Pie Bakery at 220 Loudoun Street is in a very
small building wedged on a corner where two streets meet, but there is ample
parking. Fresh fruit pies are their star attraction. Depending on what is in
season, you can buy fruit pies either made with sugar or with Splenda for $12.99
each. These are pies of your childhood fantasies, piled high with fruit.
Near Leesburg and also in Loudoun county, Middleburg is the
heart of Virginia’s horse country with many antique shops and specialty shops,
many catering to horse owners or horse lovers. On any weekend, the sidewalks are
crowded with tourists. But during the week it is very quiet, unless there is a
steeplechase or fox hunting event scheduled. Middleburg has earned a reputation
as the “nation’s horse and hunt capital.”