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| A photo op I couldn't resist. |
As I said at the end of my last post, we are back at home in Virginia. Hubby and I were both pretty tired on Monday. Yesterday was better. So much better, in fact, that I decided to take ScooterBob along on my nightly walk with the girls.
Just so we're clear, "the girls" are my two dogs, not two other things some women refer to with the same name. I was slightly embarrassed once when I asked a new male co-worker if he'd like to see some pictures of my girls. LOL.
Bob seemed to enjoy the pictures I often shared of my town. And hinted often that he'd love to come for a visit.
Warrenton is a smallish town -- about 9,900 people -- in Fauquier County, situated in the northern piedmont region of Virginia. It's west and slightly south of Washington, DC, about halfway between DC and the Shenandoah Mountains.
Hubby and I moved here in October 2011 from Central Maryland. The town sits right between crazy-busy and overpopulated Northern Virginia (DC suburbs) on the east and rural Virginia (including the Shenandoah Valley) to the west. We both think it's the perfect location for us right now, as lots of fabulous motorcycle roads are mere minutes from the downtown area in which we live. Downtown Warrenton is a historic district known locally as Old Town Warrenton (aka OTW).
It's a great place to stroll in the evenings, too, which my girls LOVE.
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| The Old Courthouse |
That's an old picture of mine. There's currently a banner across the front of the Old Courthouse advertising some local event. It's one of my favorite spots here in town. According to the Fauquier Historical Society...
The Old Courthouse was built in 1890 after fires destroyed earlier earlier courthouses in 1790, 1819 and 1854. The site was chosen in 1790 by Richard Henry Lee because it was the highest point in town. The current courthouse is a replica of the 1854 building which was styled after the Parthenon in Athens.
There's quite a bit of history here. I'll include a few links in case you are interested.
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| Looking west toward The Old Courthouse. |
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John Marshall (Fourth Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court)
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John Marshall is one of Fauquier County's famous native sons.
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| There's some history in that stone for sure. |
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| John S. Mosby Monument |
During the Civil War, Warrenton was near the scene of battles and skirmishes during which the churches and schools were used as hospitals, frequently occupied by Federal troops, Warrenton was the object of raids by Colonel John S. Mosby, known as the "Gray Ghost," who later made his home there and practiced law in the California Building across Court Street. That monument to Mosby stands beside the Old Courthouse. He is buried in the Warrenton cemetery.
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| More on The Gray Ghost |
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| ScooterBob in Warrenton |
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| The Old Jail Museum |
The Old Jail Museum is located in what used to be, you guessed it,
the old jail.
Another of my favorite buildings in town is the Warren Green Hotel, which is now county offices. It's on Hotel Street behind the Old Courthouse and Old Jail Museum.
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| ScooterBob in front of the Warren Green Hotel. |
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| ScooterBob on the east wall of the Warren Green Hotel. |
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| The Warren Green's east lawn. |
The Fauquier Historical Society describes the Warren Green Hotel as follows:
...originally built on the site of the Norris Tavern in 1819, [it] was rebuilt following fire in 1876. Gen. Lafayette was given a banquet in 1825 with 6,000 of Fauquier's population cheering him. President James Monroe and a large company of distinguished men, were served an "elegant repast" here; Andrew Jackson stayed here; Henry Clay declared for the Presidency here; Gen. George McClellan said farewell to his troops in 1862, after being relieved of his command by President Lincoln; Theodore Roosevelt dined here; Wallis Warfield, the future Duchess of Windsor, spent a year here in 1927 waiting for her first divorce.
There are a bunch of daffodils on the east lawn of The Warren Green, but they're already finished blooming for the year.
From there, we strolled down to the
Warrenton Branch Greenway, an old railroad bed turned a paved bicycle/walking path. It's only a couple of blocks from my house, and is currently about a mile and a half long. It'll be extended one day.
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| The caboose could use a paint job. |
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| A bit of railroad history. |
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| ScooterBob on the Warrenton Branch Greenway bridge. |
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| L-R, Belle, ScooterBob, and K. |
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| Looking northwest across Main Street |
And that concludes the photos from our stroll.
If you'd like to see more pics I have captured and collected in and around downtown, you can
visit my Old Town Warrenton album on Flickr.
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So true.
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I'm glad I finally got to show Bob around my town. It may have only been ScooterBob with me physically, but I'm pretty sure Bob was along for and enjoyed the entire trek.
