Other Nearby Activities

While you’re in central Virginia, you may wish to spend some more time to see other nearby attractions. If you’d like to see other sights in the days before or after the wedding, here are some ideas. Johanna and Tom have been to almost all of them, so feel free to call if you’d like some advice!

Shenandoah National Park: You’ll pass through a small part of Shenandoah National Park to get to our wedding, but you may want to see other parts of the Park. The primary nearby attraction is Old Rag Mountain, about an hour from Rapidan Camp and Culpeper. It’s a somewhat-strenuous hike that is very popular in the summer. To get to the rest of Shenandoah Park, however, you’ll have to do a lot of driving (or a modest amount of hiking). It’s a 1.5 hour drive to get to the main tourist areas of the park—even though it’s just 4 miles on foot. But Shenandoah Park and Skyline Drive are gorgrous, with spectacular views of the rolling mountains and excellent trails for just about every athletic level. If you’d like to stay along Skyline Drive, the Big Meadows Lodge is a gorgeous structure built by the Civilian Conservation Core in 1939. It’s so nice we filed a formal application with the Park for our guests to stay there and come straight to the wedding, but our application was turned down. If you’re willing to drive the long way around, or make the 4-mile hike up to the lodge from Rapidan Camp, it’s a very nice—and quite affordable—place to stay.

Madison: The county seat of Madison has a population of 210 in a county of 14,000. The Chamber of Commerce website has information about local restaurants.

Luray Caverns: If you're interested in caverns, Luray Caverns is a 75-minute drive from camp and from Culpeper. Read More.

Virginia Wineries: If you’d like to explore the wine producers of Madison County, there are four within an hour’s drive of the wedding—including one with a label named after the Rapidan River. Read More.

Graves Mountain Bluegrass Festival: If you happen to be into Bluegrass Music, there is a major festival in Syria, just a few miles from Rapidan Camp, which starts Thursday before the wedding. You could go there Thursday and/or Friday, and come to the wedding on Saturday. Read more.

Monticello: Thomas Jefferson was one of those sorts of fellows who never stopped working on his house, and you can tour it, the gardens, and plantation at Monticello near Charlottesville. A fancy new visitor center opened on April 15, and reviews indicate it has a more comprehensive and less eulogistic take on Jefferson.