Evening star., 1941-06-15
Mountains
And Shore
Lie Nearby
Virginia Embraces
Modern Recreation
And History

And History
Mountains and seashore and be-
tween them host of natural Won
ders and landscape dotted with
historic shrines which date to the
birth of the Nation-these provide
visitors to old Virginia with a va
riety of vacation and travel at
fractions.
Virginians believe that the $780,
000-acre Shenandoah National Park,
high in the Blue Ridge Mountains,
probably will establish an all-time
high for patronage during the pres
ent travel year.
Following in general the crest of
the Blue Ridge, Skyline Drive
runs lot miles, commanding Wis
taS of the Piedmont Plateau and
the Shenandoah Valley which re-
semble giant patchwork quilts when
viewed from the mountain tops.
The scenery is varied by wooded
mountains, vast canyons or hol-
lows and open areas of great beauty.
Cabins, lodges, restaurants and
other accommodations are estab-
lished in the park for the visitor
who plans a stay for a day or for
an entire season, and there are pic
mic areas as we'll as a mountain
top tent and trailer camping area.
SeashOre Facilities Expanded.
The Virginia seashore, with its
capital Virginia Beach. this year
has expanded its hotel and cot
tage facilities to take care of the
many hundreds of thousands of
summer visitors who will come to
frolic in its gently rolling surf, to
rest and relax on its Sun-SplaShed,
sandy shores, to dance at its IA
nous beach clubs to the music of
name" bands and to sample bit
of Old Virginia hospitality.
At Virginia Beach the sports en-
thusiast comes into his own, with
the out-of-door play season extend
ing throughout most of the year.
Golf over two of the Midsouth'S
sportiest courses, fishing of both
the salt and fresh water varieties,
riding and bicycling along the wa
ter's edge or over many miles of
pine-bordered trails, both surf and
pool swimming and other pleasures
associated with vacation time are
found IN the seashore area.
Ocean View. another Virginia re-
sort, fronts on the Chesapeake Bay
and is noted particularly as choice
fishing ground. Bathing, SWIM
ming, golf, dancing and other sports
bring thousands there annually.
Cavern Wonderlands.
The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
Is another popular travel and vaca-
tion objective of great popularity.
Here one may visit cavernS, under
ground wonderlandS, where huge
stalactites and stalagmites of gro
tesque shapes and color have been
formed through thousands of years.
These cavernS appear to be buried
cities of geologic wonders.
Nine of the largest caverns have
been developed and are now open to
the public. They are Battlefield
Crystal, on United States Highway
II, one mile north of Strasburg;
Dixie, on United States Highway IL,
"a miles west of Roanoke; Endless,
3 miles south of New Market on
United States Highway IL; Grand,
at Grottoes; Luray, just west of the
town of Luray, on United States
Highway 211; MaSsanutten, 6 miles
east of Harrisonburg, on United
States Highway 33; Melrose, miles
north of Harrisonburg, on United
States Highway IL; Shenandoah, 3
miles north of New Market, As miles
south of Winchester, on United
States Highway IL; Skyline, about
l mile south of Front Royal, on
Route II, near the northern en-
trance to the Skyline Drive.
Natural Bridge, near Lexington,
Is one of the natural wonders of the
world. This rare rock formation,
215 feet high, impressed the Indi-
ans, who reVered it. The bridge
was admired by Thomas Jefferson,
"A1O OIlSC O"IlCo IL. OoIlI1 N1d1 SI1dI1,
who called it Gods greatest mir
acle in stone; and Henry Clay,
who described it vividly, THE bridge
not made by hands, that spans a
river, carries highway and makes
two mountains one" 1t is illumi-
mated at night.
The George Washington Nation
al Forest, covering millions of acres,
provides a wide variety of recrea-
tional facilities for those who like
life in the great outdoors.
Southwest Virginia is noted for its
scenery and large, Well-kept farms.
Here one finds Natural Tunnel,
carved by small stream during
thousands of years. A train runs
through it. Hungry Mother State
Park, near Marion, and Mountain
Lake are among the popular va
cation resorts in this area, while at
Pocahontas one can have the eX-
perience of driving an automobile
through a coal mine-the only coal
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