A drive through Virginia

by LAUREN FULBRIGHT

If you are a Washingtonian tired of the noise and congestion of the city, finding relief can be as easy as taking a drive down an old country road.

Driving Route 15, which traces an old horse-and-buggy route from Gettysburg, Pa., to southern Virginia is part meditation, part adventure, part history lesson.

For my adventure, I decide to point the car south along the stretch of road that runs from Leesburg, Va., to Culpepper. For a traveling companion, I choose Laura, an old college roommate.

What we find is miles of open space, with plenty of room to breathe and to decompress from life in the city.

Historic Leesburg

We begin our trip down Route 15 in Leesburg’s picturesque historic district. Here, the route is called King Street, and it transitions from a winding farm road into a sloping main street, where quaint gift shops and intimate cafes are set up in antique row houses.

Our first stop is the Leesburg Restaurant, a diner-style cafe favored by the locals.

“We’ve been here since 1865,” a waitress tells me proudly, as she pours coffee for the handful of customers who lounge in booths or sit at the diner’s old-fashioned counter.

Inside, the staff members often greet favorite customers by name, and the simple fare is served home-style and quite cheap.

Two egg-and-cheese sandwiches with a side of home-fries and a cup of coffee cost less than $10. And for dessert, you can choose from a variety of pies.

We decide instead to satisfy our sweet teeth at the newly opened Mrs. Tate’s bakery, just a short walk down the street from the Leesburg Restaurant.

Inside this cozy shop are a number of delectable-looking edibles, such as lemon squares, blueberry scones and even mini Key lime pies.

Pearmund Cellars

After breakfast, we head south, passing tall, brightly painted silos and long, arched bodies of horses grazing in the fields.

Driving past antiquated farm houses and well-manicured stable yards, it feels as though we have slipped into another world.

A little past Haymarket, where the single-lane farm road joins briefly with the more-traveled Route 29, we follow signs to Pearmund Cellars, a vineyard that offers informal tours.

After following a narrow gravel road through what seems to be miles of grapevines, we come to a squat, midsize building. We step into a brightly lit tasting room, with a gift shop that sells an assortment of Virginia crafts and farm products.

Here, visitors can sample a wide variety of wines for $3. We paid $5, and they let us keep our glasses.

Local wine specialist Rick Tagg stands behind the counter. A talkative man who claims to be shy, Tagg is an expert on everything from the history of Virginia wine making to how bees survive the winter.

We learn that the vineyard, which includes 15 acres of vines and a 25-acre farm, was founded in 1982 and is one of the oldest chardonnay vineyards in Virginia. Statewide, there are 120 wineries, supplied by about 300 vineyards.

“Every day there are more and more farm wineries like this one springing up,” Tagg says. “The fastest-growing part of Virginia agriculture is growing grapes, and the fastest part of Virginia agro-tourism is farm wineries. It’s a big part of Virginia business now. Instead of growing tobacco, now they grow grapes.”

Our favorite libations are the vineyard’s crisp, green apple-flavored “Estate Chardonnay,” and the richly sweet dessert wine, Vin de Sol, a Petit Verdot.

Midway Country Store

Farther south along the route, we drive for miles through the middle of nowhere. Just when we have given up nearly all hope of ever seeing civilization again, the large red exterior of the Midway Country Store comes into view.

Surprised, we quickly pull over into the store’s gravel parking lot, where we make our way up stately wooden steps and onto a wide front porch. From here, visitors can gaze directly over the corn fields that surround the few houses, while the road stretches its long arms out along either side.

Pushing through the screen door, we find ourselves in what appears to be a small place where locals can buy basic goods. But the Midway Country Store is far more than just a local general store. It is a historical landmark.

Inside, we are greeted by Robert A. Royster, a former school principal in Washington and an expert on local history.

Royster explains that the store has had a long history. “There’s always been a store at this location in Culpepper. It was called Midway simply because it was midway between the town of Orange and Culpepper,” he says.

The store, which was built just after the Civil War, sits within a few miles of a Civil War battlefield.

Originally, the store faced a different direction, but was moved by horse and buggy after the state shifted the path of Route 15, Royster tells us.

When Royster and his wife bought the store in 1990, they planned to use it solely as an office for their janitorial service but quickly found that the locals wanted it to remain a store. The building now houses a deli and a small grocery store.

Inside, old books are piled high on shelves next to cans of Campbell’s pork and beans and containers of Morton’s salt. What appears to be a strange assortment of junk, actually turns out to be a vast collection of priceless antiques.

Feeling hungry, we decide to try the house specialty–Royster’s North Carolina barbeque. The pork dish has a vinegar base rather than a tomato base and is topped with coleslaw. This alone is well worth the trip.

If you do decide to stop by, be sure to call ahead. In keeping with true country-store tradition, Royster does not stick to set hours, and his signature barbeque is not available each day.

After a brief drive through the streets of Culpepper, we decide to turn around so that we can make our evening theater plans. With heavy hearts, we turn off Route 15 and head back to the bustle of the city.

Observer photos by Lauren Fulbright and Laura Preissman