The Morgantowner: Clarke County, Virginia

"Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River" goes the song. The Blue Ridge and Shenandoah only touch the far eastern part of West Virginia. Most of the river and mountains are in what people here call "that other Virginia, " usually with a sneer. Clarke County, Virginia is on the Shenandoah River and the Blue Ridge Mountains form the eastern border of the county, just south of Charles Town, West Virginia. Winchester, a much larger place, is 10 miles west of Berryville, Clarke County's seat, along I-81. I stayed in My Usual Chain just outside Winchester, in Frederick County.

The census now considers Clarke County part of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It's more than sixty miles into Washington, but the county is along US 50, to Washington, and Virginia Route 7, to Arlington, just across the Potomac. It's possible to drive in a bit, then take Metro into town, or to one of the inner Virginia suburbs. With housing prices prohibitive to anyone on a normal government salary in Washington, it's not a surprise that people commute from so far away. Clarke County has limited development to near Berryville, the largest town, and Boyce, the other incorporated place in the county. Much of the county is still agricultural, with lots of the land protected as parks and open space. I saw newer garden apartments, townhouses, and large homes (with too many gables) near Berryville.

I left home just before nine A.M. Monday, August 13. It's 147 miles courthouse to courthouse, in my algorithm one night out. Berryville is mostly east and a bit south of Morgantown and the recommended route was to go to Cumberland, Maryland on the interstate, then take back roads through Paw Paw, West Virginia to near Winchester on US 522, then more back roads to Virginia Route 7, and Business 7 into town. I had been that way before and taken wrong turns, but this time I did it correctly and arrived at the old courthouse in Berryville just after noon.

There is a new government complex on the edge of town which includes a library. The old courthouse was built in the 1830s, then a porch and a cupola were added in the 1850s. In Virginia, it's obligatory to have a statue on the courthouse lawn honoring Confederate soldiers.

The historical society is down Main Street, and, although it was closed, like most of the town on a Monday, there was a kiosk outside with maps. The exhibit said that the county was settled first by planters who moved up the Shenandoah River, with large plantations growing food crops, the climate being too cool for cotton and tobacco. Slaves did most of the work, and the county population was nearly half African-American until early in the twentieth century. That population left for Washington and Baltimore for good jobs. I imagine they would work for the government in Washington and in factories in Baltimore.

Most of the restaurants along the three block stretch of Main St. were closed, but a little Chinese restaurant was open. I ordered the chicken and broccoli, which came with fried rice. Pork fried rice. The server seemed surprised that I wouldn't eat that, and offered me a bowl of steamed rice. Two couples came in after me and she explained to them that all the meals came with pork fried rice. They were happy with that.

I saw political signs for Barbara Comstock and Jennifer Wexton. Comstock is the Republican incumbent in a district that goes from Winchester down to the DC line, and south to Manassas. She is considered vulnerable in this predominantly wealthy suburban D.C. district. Wexton is a liberal Democrat who beat out five other candidates in her primary. I didn't keep an exact count, but I'm guessing I saw more Comstock signs than Wexton signs. Clark County is the least populous and most rural part of this district. Comstock, according to Wikipedia, is a strong supporter of the current President, anti-immigrant, anti-choice and anti-gay. Her signs made me feel unwelcome.

I was upset with myself, because although I thought I remembered everything, I forgot a jacket (forecast was for rain) and hiking shoes, as I planned to hike a piece of the Appalachian trail, which runs along the eastern edge of the county in the Blue Ridge. I drove out there, and started to hike in my trendy black Converse shoes. It was overcast, and the forecast was rain, but I thought I might beat it. I only got five minutes in when the temperature suddenly dropped, the sky got much darker and a stiff breeze came up. I thought it would be wise to leave, and it started to pour just as I got to the car.

I drove back to Winchester to check out Apple Blossom Mall, and see exactly where the motel was. There is a multi-screen cinema in the mall, and I thought that if the rain continued, I would spend the evening there. They didn't have Spike Lee's mew movie, "Black KKKlansman",which is what I most want to see, but they did have Dinesh D'Souza's fascist propaganda piece (not to put too fine a point on it). I decided not to patronize that theater. I did stop at a gelato stand in the mall, not cheap at $5.00 a small cup, but good. I got to the motel just before the check-in time of 4 P.M. and although the clerk wasn't happy that I and two other parties were there early, she checked us in. I fell asleep not long after I got to the room.

Next door to the motel is a chain buffet restaurant. I had salad, a small piece of baked fish and some fruit... and fried chicken, onion rings and four or five desserts. I felt better. Back in the room, I listed the ten southernmost places in Clarke County and drove out to look for them. I had maybe an hour and a half before dark. I found White Post, a historic district famous for a white post that supposedly led to Lord Fairfax's country home. I never saw the post, and a few other country houses near there were either behind locked gates with "No Trespassing" or impossible to find. I got back to the room just after eight, as the sun was setting.

I didn't sleep that well (too much fried chicken?) and I had thought maybe I would just go home in the morning after my motel breakfast. There had been severe flooding in southern New York state and eastern Pennsylvania, and there was a prediction of bad storms in the afternoon in Morgantown Tuesday. But in the morning, it was clear, cool and sunny out, and I thought I should try to see more, especially in historic districts in Millwood and Boyce, southwest of Berryville.

My best find was Long Branch estate, with a house dating from 1831, designed by the owner with advice from Baltimore's Benjamin Henry Latrobe. The estate is now run as a museum by a charitable trust. The house was not open when I went by, but the grounds were. The views to the Blue Ridge are breathtaking. Nearby, in Millwood, is a historic district and a mill from 1785 built by General Daniel Morgan and Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Burwell. The Burwell family owned Long Branch. I made it to Boyce, not far away, which is a more sprawling historic town along a railroad line. I went back to Berryville to find Josephine City, really just a neighborhood built by and for freed slaves after the Civil War. There are three school buildings, "separate but equal," the first built in 1882, then two more buildings, the last, a high school from 1951, now converted to apartments for seniors. The oldest houses on Josephine St. are vacant and decaying, but there are some newer, modern houses there as well.

I stopped into a dollar store in the old American Legion Hall in Berryville, mostly to use the bathroom, but I also bought a snack, and the bath soap I usually use. There is a plaque on the doors saying that Patsy Cline had performed there.

I had one more place to visit, an estate at the far northwest end of the county. I wanted to be out of Clarke County by noon, then find a branch of that big sub shop chain nearby, and be on my way home. Typically for this trip, I couldn't find the place I was looking for, but i found the restaurant on the edge of Winchester just after 12 and had lunch. I was glad I had followed my plan and was ready to go at the time I wanted to be gone. I reached for my phone to message Joe what time to expect me, only the phone was gone. I checked the car, looked at the sub shop, including in the trash. Nothing. So I retraced my steps, about twelve miles back to the dollar store, and asked the cashier if she had found a phone. She had, in the bathroom. I offered a tip, which she wouldn't take. She only said I could take the survey on my receipt and give them a good review. I did that when I got home.

I called Joe at 1:20 and told him I was on my way. Of course, I stopped at WIllie's Ice Cream Stand as I was leaving Berryville for a home made ice cream sandwich. I followed Google's directions, hampered by a disabled truck in lane near Winchester, and street work in Cumberland. I was home by 5:30.