And then I’m ready to begin the homeward journey. As I steer the car along a slow, meandering, mostly northeasterly route, I begin to sense that without Bob’s clothes in the back, something has shifted to make room for something else. Some ten hours later, as I cross the Mason-Dixon Line, I recall a fragment from a Mary Oliver poem—something to the effect that if the heart’s doors shut down, you might as well be dead. As tightly as I had been clinging to Bob’s clothing, pressing my nose into his shirts for any remaining scent of the man I adored, so grief had laid claim to my heart. It had put up a “No Trespassing” sign and bolted the door with three locks. Now one of those locks has been loosened and released. A window has been opened, and I, grief’s prisoner, venture to peek at the light.
Where It’s Happening In Appalachia
Staying There
Smithfield Farm (568 Smithfield Lane, Berryville, VA; 877-955-4389; from $145, including full breakfast), an elegant, 19th-century brick manor house set on 350 verdant acres, has been in the same family for nearly 200 years. Ask the proprietors to direct you on scenic and historic tours, or simply explore the property and the lovely country roads. For a warm welcome and a comfortable bed, pull into Stoneridge Bed & Breakfast (Stoneridge Lane, Lexington, VA; 800-491-2930; from $115, including full breakfast), an 1829 plantation house about five miles from historic downtown Lexington. Breakfast here is a family affair: Evelyn Stallard bakes the breadthat accompanies her son John’s fluffy omelets.
Appaloosa horse breeder Suzanne Pabst has done up Old Spring Farm (7629 Charity Highway, Woolwine, VA; 276-930-3404; from $100, including full breakfast) in show ribbons, plaques, and horse photos. (The Calamity Jane room comes complete with fringed red leather jacket and cowboy boots.) Breakfast at the rustic 1883 house means eggs from Pabst’s chickens, vegetables from her garden, jams from her fruit trees, and spicy chutney, or “mountain jam,” from the nearby Mountain Rose Inn. Located on 2,500 acres in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, Blackberry Farm (1471 West Millers Cove Road, Walland, TN; 800-273-6004; blackberryfarm.com; from $495, including all meals) may well be one of the nicest hotels in North America. The guest cottages are intensely romantic, the morning coffee is deep and rich, and the biscuits and sorghum butter will have you in a swoon until lunchtime. After spending the afternoon hiking, fly-fishing, horseback riding, or being pampered in the Aveda spa, sit down to a five-course dinner paired with wines from the vast cellar.
Eating There
The Pink Cadillac Diner (4347 South Lee Highway, Natural Bridge, VA; 540-291-2378) serves up chili and meatloaf in a room filled with 1950s movie posters.
Stop by the Blue Ridge Restaurant (113 East Main Street, Floyd, VA; 540-745-2147) for a buttery grilled cheese sandwich and lots of local gossip.
Being There
McLeod’s organic butter, bread, and cheese, made at Oak Grove Meadows, in Middleburg, Virginia, is available in Washington, D.C., at Dean & DeLuca and the farmers market just off Dupont Circle.
You can order the brandy-laced fruitcakes made by the monks of Holy Cross Abbey by fax (540-955-4006) or via the Web site (monasteryfruitcake.org).
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