While the author has lots of destinations to recommend, he is savvy
enough to tap into the serendipity of meandering Virginia's back roads.
Probably most known for his columns for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Bill Lohmann has canvassed the state to produce Backroads & Byways of Virginia: Drives, Day Trips & Weekend Excursions (The Countryman Press), an extensive guide to must-see places off the beaten path. Travelling across the state on the winding roads like US 11 and VA 204, he sets up 19 itineraries that offer both historic and contemporary sites as well as inns and restaurants where you'll want to "linger awhile."
The nineteen chapters provide everything from historic-themes-"In search of George Washington and, of course, cherry pie" and Civil War treks-to out-of-the-way paradises like Burke's Garden found in the mountains. All manner of community fetes from Suffolk's Peanut Festival to Emporia's pork extravaganza are covered.
Lohmann estimates that he drove about 6,000 miles over six months in researching the book. Interestingly, the author writes in first person, raising the guide from a mere listing of resources to a travelogue of intriguing experiences and of the residents who he meets along way of his seemingly endless vacation.
While the author has lots of destinations to recommend, he is savvy enough to tap into the serendipity of meandering Virginia's back roads. Avoiding the GPS-mentality of simply getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible, in his chapter on VA 6, Lohmann writes, "just maybe, you want to take a nice country drive, go where the road takes you, and stop when the mood strikes, VA 6 is that kind of road."
For those familiar with these local sites, you'll appreciate the additional history of which Lohmann provides in a veritable wealth of factoid highlights and travel anecdotes. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Historic Polegreen Church sculpture included as it was something that I passed daily on my commute-without knowing its origins. Thanks to Lohmann's volume, the sculpture's site along with a state full of diverse of "stay-cations" make for a fascinating read.
