Lost in Loudoun - Bluemont

My dad has been pestering me for weeks now to put up the pictures I took while he and I explored the area to the west of my new hometown.  You may (or may not) recall that I mentioned in a previous post that I like to set a few destinations, in a roundabout way, and see what I find.  In late March, I did just that and took my dad (in town on a visit) along for the ride.  If you read LostGirls, you might recognize some of these photos, but this time I’ll tell you a little bit about them.  For this first post we're going to take you to the village of Bluemont, in western Loudoun County, Virginia. 

The first place I wanted to visit was the Bluemont General Store.  Bluemont sits at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Loudoun County (west of DC).  I was curious to see if their store would be at all like the fancy general store I visited in Healdsburg, CA, a few years ago.  It isn’t.  What it is, though, is a general store that’s been around since the 1840s in a lovely building on the Snickersville Turnpike (the town was originally called Snickersville).  The Bluemont General store carries local produce (from Potomac Vegetable Farms in Vienna) and locally raised, all natural Angus beef, among many other items.  Oh, and they have really good bottled rootbeer, but I’ll have to go back to find you the name of the brand we tried.  If you want to just go for a drive or maybe visit one of the local vineyards, the store is a nice place to stop.  You can sip rootbeer on their porch or take a shaded break under the 100 year old maple tree out front.

There is a big yellow house right next door to the General Store that was for sale in March (might still be), in case you’re looking.  Snickersville Turnpike wasn’t particularly crowded when we visited (weekday, mid-morning) and I don’t know about any other landmarks, but the houses, trees and flowers on that street were quite lovely.  The Nielson’s Village Center building, down the street, looked abandoned but with new signage, so I looked it up and found Friends of Bluemont, a preservation society for the village's historic buildings and landmarks.  According to their page, the Nielson’s building was originally a mill, then a dance hall and is currently being renovated as a shopping center with office space. 

If you don’t think that’s enough reason to go for a visit, check out the annual Bluemont Fair.  The fair has been held for a weekend in September for the past 35 years and the entire village serves as a fairground.  Definitely a day in the country not to be missed.  Really, any day that includes corndogs is not to be missed.