Reunion Tours:
On Friday afternoon you will have the option of taking one of three possible tours. Each tour will be about 4 hours long, including travel time. The registration form lists the prices for each tour, including admission fees and bus travel from the reunion site.
Tour to Luray Caverns:
General admission to the attraction includes a one hour self-guided audio tour of the cave, entrance to the Car and Carriage Museum and entrance to the Luray Valley Museum and Gardens. As a group we receive a significant reduction in the admission fee. Below is a description of the Caverns.
"Since discovery in 1878 by a tinsmith and a local photographer, visitors by the millions have made Luray Caverns the most popular cave in Eastern America and an internationally acclaimed destination.
4,000,000 centuries in the making beneath Virginia’s storied Shenandoah Valley, this “must see” U.S. Natural Landmark awaits your discovery. One hour tours, from well-lighted, paved walkways lead visitors through cathedral-sized rooms with ceilings10 stories high. Enormous chambers are filled with towering columns, shimmering draperies and crystal-clear pools.
Also in this subterranean wonderland, “Hear Rocks Sing” as you experience the haunting sounds of the world’s largest musical instrument, The Great Stalacpipe Organ. Completely unique are the beautiful tones created by this one-of-a-kind instrument, which makes music of concert quality from the surrounding stalactite formations covering more than three acres.
Luray Caverns, for more than 125 years, has been renowned as one of the world’s most spectacular natural wonders. A world of magic and majesty, still as marvelously beautiful as described in the newspaper headlines over a century ago."
New Market Civil War Museum:
Over 60% of the Civil War between the north and south was fought in Virginia. The battles in the Shenandoah Valley played a critical role in determining the outcome of this war. The tour includes: admission to the Hall of Valor Museum with exhibits on the Battle of New Market and the Civil War in Virginia; the Emmy Award winning film Field of Lost Shoes, a 45 minute docudrama on the battle; The Bushong Farm with original and reconstructed buildings; the farmhouse with period-room exhibits on two floors; battlefield walking trails offering miles of self-guided tours. Below is a description from the web-site about this battle field.
Your exploration of the Civil War in Virginia begins here in the legendary Shenandoah Valley. The three-hundred acre New Market Battlefield State Historical Park, 19th century Bushong Farm and Hall of Valor Civil War Museum,, commemorate a unique moment in American history when college boys from Virginia Military Institute engaged in pitched battle and helped win a victory for the Confederate Army.
Mennonite-Brethren Heritage Center and Quilt Museum
There are two local sites that may interest some folks. Both can be done in a single afternoon.
a. The CrossRoads (Valley Brethren-Mennonite) Heritage Center features exhibits and a video on the settling of the Shenandoah Valley by the Brethren and Mennonites – in pioneer days, Civil War times, and in early 1900 school and mission work in the mountains of western Virginia.
Interpretative guides tell stories in the 1854 Burkholder-Myers House, the nearby Wash House, the Blacksmith Shop, and the 1904 Whitmer School/Cove church, both furnished with period furniture.
b. The Virginia Quilt Museum exists to celebrate and nurture Virginia's quilting heritage by collecting and preserving quilts from Virginia for the benefit of the public for educational purposes, to be accessible to them through regular exhibition and maintained for future generations. The museum focuses on the role and significance of quilts in social and cultural history and emphasizes the aesthetic value of quilting as an art form while facilitating research in the fields of history and art.
The Museum's Permanent Collection consists of over 250 quilts dating from 1806 to the present. The quilts represent the many styles found throughout quilting history: whole cloth, Baltimore Album, friendship, crazy quilts, redwork, applique, traditional pieced patterns, feedsack quilts and contemporary art quilts. Each quilt is an important part of our quilting heritage and each has its own story to tell.
Are you planning an extended stay?
Perhaps some of you will include the reunion as part of a more extensive vacation. Within a couple of hours drive from Harrisonburg are many interesting sites. If you have questions please feel free to contact me at our reunion email address.
You can learn about the many interesting sites in the Shenandoah Valley at visitshenandoah.org The following sites of interest are within a 1 hour drive from Harrisonburg: in addition to the Luray Caverns there are several other notable caverns; there is canoeing and tubing down the Shenandoah River; a $38 million all year water park; hiking and camping in Shenandoah National Park; the Frontier Culture Museum with re-creation of farms from the 18th and 19 century; the Virginia Sarfari Park with 100s of wild animals; Natural Bridge state park; and Dinosaurland.
If you travel a bit farther you can visit the homes and libraries of several presidents: George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, William Henry Harrison, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson (at Monticello). Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown are all within a few miles of each other. Many Civil War sites and museums are in the vicinity as well as Washington DC and its many museums, beaches on the Atlantic coast such as Virginia Beach, and numerous state parks and national forests for camping and hiking.
We are close to West Virginia which also has many wonderful attractions: Greenbank Radio Observatory and You can learn about the many interesting sites in the Shenandoah Valley at visitshenandoah.org. The following sites of interest are within a 1 hour drive from Harrisonburg: in addition to the Luray Caverns there are several other notable caverns; there is canoeing and tubing down the Shenandoah River; a $38 million all year water park; hiking and camping in Shenandoah National Park; the Frontier Culture Museum with re-creation of farms from the 18th and 19 century; the Virginia Sarfari Park with 100s of wild animals; Natural Bridge state park; and Dinosaurland.
If you travel a bit farther you can visit: the homes and libraries of George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson, William Henry Harrison, and James Madison to mention only a few; Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown are all within a few miles of each other; many Civil War sites and museums; Washington DC and its many museums; beaches on the Atlantic coast such, as Virginia Beach; and numerous state parks and national forests for camping and hiking.
We are close to West Virginia which also has many wonderful attractions: Greenbank Radio Observatory and Visitor Center; Cass Scenic Railroad; wonderful biking trails, and many state parks for camping and other outdoor activities.
If you have additional questions about any of these possible vacation sites please let me know.
Verne Schirch email: vrnschurch856@gmail.com Phone: 540 433-0885