Category: Virginia

Yesterday was a chilly but otherwise nice Fall Friday. I decided to drive to Panera for breakfast. I took my camera along in case I saw anything interesting along the way.

It wasn’t very long after sunrise when I left the house, so the light was quite nice. I figured it would be a good opportunity to detour down Culpeper Street to capture a few images of the houses there.

Why Culpeper Street? Because that’s where a lot of big, cool, old houses are located.

Remember, click on the image for a closer look.

One day I’ll have more time to just stroll around and get some better pictures. For now, you just have to settle for snapshots.

Neither of those houses are particularly large when compared to some of the other houses on the street. I just love seeing all the different architectural styles.

This blue house is one of my favorites. I just love blue houses for some reason.

That house is actually small compared to some of its neighbors.

You can’t see much of the house in that shot, but don’t you just love the Fall colors?

You gotta love the widow’s walk on the roof of that one.

Now this next house was nice, but it was made even more interesting by the Halloween decorations that adorned the yard.

According to the Warrenton history book I purchased recently, this is the John Quincy Marr House, one of “several notable residences of prominent Confederate soldiers” in Warrenton. It’s a brick and weatherboard-frame Federal-style house circa 1830. The book, which was published in December 2010, lists the owners as Ron and Elizabeth Scullin. The latter is/was the Chairwoman of the Warrenton Planning Commission.

I didn’t know any of that at the time. I did notice a man in the yard, so I asked if it was okay for me to take some pictures. He said yes but urged me to wait a minute or two as some of the decorations they had displayed aren’t weatherproof and had been covered with plastic bags the previous evening.

I’m glad I waited. These crows of his are really quite realistic-looking. I should have asked him if they were stuffed (as in taxidermy) or manufactured.

Even if that isn’t a Raven, one can’t help but think Edgar Allen Poe when seeing that shot.

The man, I’m assuming it was Ron, said there would be even more stuff put out on Halloween day. Like lights. And a fog machine. He said the kids love it. And that last year they had over 200 trick-or-treaters.

Those birds really do add a lot to the scene, don’t they?

All in all, I thought the display was very cool.

I didn’t have time to linger, so I headed home. But not before making one other stop.

I just love the flag on this brick building, which I now know (because I finally read the sign) to be the JD Eicher Builder office on the corner of S. 4th and Lee Streets. We walk past this one every day.

Here’s another house I like. It’s just a big, red square. But I like it. Maybe it’s the flag. It’s only two blocks from our place.

And finally… my favorite church.

This church isn’t really a church at the moment. It WAS the first St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. When that congregation moved to a bigger building in 1965, this building became the home of a community action group. Now, according to that same history book I mentioned, it’s owned by “renowned interior decorator Barry Dixon.” I’m not sure if it’s being redone to become a church, or a residence, or what. But it’s awesome. I just love the way the morning sun lights up the copper roof and downspouts. I think the color is a deep purple. Hubby says it isn’t purple at all. So we’ll call it the Purple/Gray Used-to-be-Church building.

It’s a shame all those power lines are in the way. It really is a pretty building.

And that ends your look at our town today.

Let me know when you’re ready to come for a visit!

Yesterday was a gorgeous Fall day here in Warrenton. It was quite a welcome change after all the rain.

It being Friday and all, Hubby and I decided we should go out to lunch.

Anyone want to guess the destination?

Yep, our favorite store in Warrenton. It isn’t often Hubby and I share favorite retailers. I love HomeGoods, he prefers Lowe’s. I like The White Elephant, he likes Home Depot.

Get the picture?

As I reported last week, the Great Harvest Bread Company has awesome sandwiches. This week, I opted for the chicken salad. Hubby stuck with roast beef and provolone. Both were served on their delicious grainy bread.

When you walk into the store, you’re always greeted with a very friendly hello. As you make your way into the place, an employee almost always meets you at the bread board and says, “What can I get you to sample?” It’s great. If you see something you like that isn’t available for sample, they’ll pull a fresh loaf down and cut it for you.

I had tried calling ahead, but they were either busy or the phone wasn’t working. So we just ordered when we got there then walked around Main Street for a bit while we waited.

Piccadilly Ltd is one of the many cute little gift shops on Main Street. You know I have my eye on that frog, right?

The Rhodes Drug Store building currently houses a restaurant on one side and a gift shop/card store on the other side. That store also sells fishing supplies. They had a pretty good selection of flies. You know, for fly-fishing.

After lunch, I walked over to the Visitor’s Center to purchase a copy of the book, Warrenton, Virginia: A Unique History of 200 Years. It was commissioned by the Warrenton Town Council as part of the town’s bicentennial observance. The Partnership for Warrenton Foundation took on the project, which resulted in a very well-done publication.

The Visitor’s Center is only about two blocks away. Maybe three. It’s staffed by the nicest people. Of course, we’ve encountered lots of nice people here in town.

This Italianate-style house is at the corner of Calhoun and Main. It was built in 1859 by a John R. Spilman. It was only owned for two years by Colonel John S. Mosby (from 1875 to 1877). But he’s pretty famous around here, which I guess is why the name stuck.

Across the street from that is the Pollard/Evans House, another example of Italianate-style architecture, which was built around 1870.

It’s one of my favorite houses on Main Street.

This is the Spilman-Mosby House as seen from Calhoun Street, north of Main.

It was a work day, so I didn’t have much time to linger. I did manage to capture one more nice shot of the side yard at Brentmoor.

I bought my book, which is why you now feel so informed, then went back to work. Sigh.

Working inside on days like that is difficult. It was such a pretty day.

Hopefully today’s weather will be just as lovely. For you, too.

Have a fabulous weekend!

On Thursday, it rained like crazy. All. Day. Long. Sometimes it was a gentle drizzle. Other times, a deluge. Hubby has a fig tree outside his office window. He said the raindrops pelting the leaves sounded like a long, loud, drum roll.

Yesterday started off looking pretty wet. I think it even rained a bit. But then it cleared up. So around lunchtime, I decided to take a stroll. And I thought y’all might like to join me.

We’ll go out the front door because it’s a little bit shorter.

There’s no sidewalk on our side of the street, so we need to cross. Of course, we have to pause for a second to look back at the house. (I’m not sure if I’ve shared much more than porch pictures.)

There’s just a slight incline as we walk toward Fifth Street.

But, wait. Look at all those leaves! It’s REALLY starting to look like Fall now, isn’t it? Torrential rains will do that.

On we go, hanging a right onto Fifth Street. There’s my favorite office building. It’s that white building on the right.

One of these days I’ll buy the Warrenton history book so I know what these buildings are/were.

The little parking lot on the left is where they have the Saturday Farmer’s Market.

Of course, today it’s just a parking lot. It is Friday after all.

Come on, we need to keep walking toward Main Street. That store on the left (which I failed to photograph properly) is The Red Ribbon yarn shop. Apparently it just opened at the end of August. From what little info I saw on the Internet, they’re going to have classes. I’ll have to pop in for a visit when we have more time.

You can see the Presbyterian church from Fifth and Main Streets. I’m not sure what that cool brick building is on the corner (Annelies will laugh at that, I’m sure). It may be part of the church.

Also at Fifth and Main is the bakery (the Great Harvest Bread Company), which I mentioned here previously.

Here’s an archive photo to jog your memory…

We can pop in for a quick visit, but then have to head back home.

Oh, wait. I forgot to mention the cute little quilt shop that’s also on Fifth Street. Actually, it’s right across from the yarn store and mere steps from the bakery.

Did you see that nice old house on the way over? I forgot to point it out. I’m not sure if it’s a house or maybe apartments. It could even be office space, but it looks sort of lived in.

Once we’re back at our house, I’ll reveal the real reason behind today’s stroll. Other than to show you a bit of our new town, of course.

Are you ready for this?

Yep, that’s really why we walked over to Fifth and Main.It’s why I was anxious to get back home, too.

I’d just read the other day on another Warrentonian’s blog (if that’s what you call us townsfolk) that the bakery had started selling sandwiches. Since their bread is to-die-for, I figured their sandwiches would be good.

Boy, was I ever right.

I had a California Cobb on “grainy bread.” That’s what they called it. Really. The bread was moist, dense, flavorful, and had bits of grain throughout. It was delicious.

Sandwiched between two generous slices was a pile of smoked turkey breast, avocado spread, onion, tomatoes, lettuce, and some sort of flavored mayo. I honestly can’t remember if there was cheese. I do know, however, that the sandwich was delicious.

Hubby had roast beef and provolone on the same type of bread. He enjoyed his, too.

The sandwiches are served with a pickle. I had to provide my own chips.

That’s my only complaint. If you can call that a complaint. At a price of just under $8, which was totally worth it, the sandwich should also be served with chips.

I’ll still go back.

I hope you enjoyed the virtual stroll. I’m sorry you couldn’t actually join us for lunch.