Saturday, March 5, 2011

Quaint little towns are cute

So today Superking and I went on a little adventure to a tiny little historic town nearby where we live called Clifton, VA.  This post will not really be about food but I thought it was interesting enough to share anyway. We knew there were some cute little shops there and some history so we thought it would make for a nice drive on a free Saturday afternoon. And wow, teeny tiny it was! And just about every house on Main Street had a historical information sign out front, all built around the late 1800's and early 1900's. 
cute historic houses
railroad tracks through town

First we went to a small group of buildings that had a couple shops and a small post office.  We went into one shop that sold jewelery, mostly costume, but they also had a section of Vera Bradley bags and another section of Brighton stuff (Ruby Woo would love this!).  My beloved husband decided he would let me buy something so I picked out this adorable daisy bracelet. Daisies are my favorite flower!
daisy bracelet

Then we walked up and down the Main Street looking at all the old buildings, some of which are houses that people actually still live in, and we read all the historic signs where we learned some interesting things.  There was a General Store/Cafe there that had indoor and outdoor seating.  We, unfortunately, were still full from breakfast so we didn't eat anything there but the menu looked pretty tasty yet simple. 
general store/cafe


pretty path leading to the ice cream parlour

old one room church


nice sermon title

another old church

There was a "high end" (according to the sign) consigment shop and a couple one room churches.  An ice cream parlor which, sad to say, was not open and a wine tasting room where you could sample local Clifton wines. One adorable little yellow house, we found out was actually a bed & breakfast called the Canary Cottage! I would love to take a long weekend there!
Canary Cottage



One thing I really loved was the train tracks that ran right through the middle of town across Main Street.  I grew up with train tracks literally across the street from my house so when I see these old trains it reminds me fondly of my childhood.  An Amtrak train actually went by at one point while we were driving through the town. And right next to the train tracks was an old caboose for display.
the train! almost missed it!


Superking

me


Upon our travels and reading about the town we discovered something a little disturbing though and just had to check it out. Apparently an old scary legend about a bridge called Bunnyman Bridge.  Bunnyman...sounds cute, right? WRONG!!
creepy!


There's a part of the railroad here just outside of Clifton that goes over a bridge which covers a one lane road through the woods.  I won't repeat the legend here as it is too scary for a simple little food blog but if you dare to find out more about it go here.  But I gotta warn you, its pretty graphic and scary! And there are bunnies involved but there is nothing cute about it in any way!



Scary story aside, the town of Clifton itself is a nice quiet little town that really is worth a visit if you're looking for a few cute little shops and a hometown restaurant with local flavor mixed with a little history.

4 comments:

  1. Wow! My great aunt lives in Clifton -- no idea what part, (I think Pope's Head, if that is a place?) I actually have only seen her like twice in my life, but for some reason I know she lives there!

    And I hope the bridge didn't bring back memories of poor Mr. Sparkles (may he rest in peace).

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  2. Popes Head is a road leading to Clifton (i think).

    as for Mr. Sparkle, he woulda gone sickhouse on the Bunnyman and taken brutal revenge for his fallen brethern. seriously, he was crazy like that.

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  3. That sound so fun! I love random adventures! I once did that with Jaclyn--I picked her up and we drove randomly to Occaquan (?)!)?!sp?) and ate pie. The other day, I drove to Winchester for a shoot, and I took 15 S, and went through Middleburg and I'm pretty obsessed with all those little towns. I used to think I was such a city girl, but I think I might be a small town girl instead.

    Also, funny story about Clifton/Bunnyman bridge. When I was in college, there was this guy I knew who was making a horror movie about Bunnyman Bridge. He wanted me to play one of the main characters (a mean sorority girl) who gets stalked by the Bunnyman. So silly.

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  4. That is the best part of going to new places. BTW that daisy bracelet is so cute. Bunny and scary, I would love to see that. I always thought those fluffy bunnies are the cutest. Beautiful picture and thanks for taking us on a road trip without leaving the comfort of our house Donna. Hope you are feeling better.

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