October 13, 2013. Oh, Glen Ora, Where Are Thou?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 13, 2013. Oh, Glen Ora, Where Art Thou?  We are spending our second night at the KOA Campground in Front Royal, VA.  It is a small commercial campground a half-mile off the highway.  To get to the campground, campers must drive through open pasture.   I am not kidding.  Guests drive across a cattle guard, through open pasture, across another cattle guard and enter the campground.  I've included pictures of some of the pedestrians we encountered on the way out today. 

 

Where did you go, you query. We went in search of Glen Ora, the 400-acre horse farm rented by the Kennedys in the early 1960s. On our way, we went by the entrance gate to Shenandoah National Park, just to see if the Park was truly closed.  The sign and locked gate tell it all.  Tomorrow, we will drive 100 miles south and enter the Parkway at Waynesboro, VA. 

 

Many of us are unhappy with politicians.  This government shutdown is interfering with my plans.  I waited forty years to drive the entire Blue Ridge Parkway, not just most of it.  I may not last another forty years. 

 

But, I digress.  We continued the 30-mile drive to Middleburg, in the heart of Virginia horse country.  Middleburg is home to fox hunters and Hunter Jumpers of the best quality.  Jacqueline Kennedy was at home here with the upper crust of equestrians.  The Kennedys built a home in this area which they named Wexford.  They spent two short weekends at Wexford before November 22, 1963.  Wexford was the only home designed by the Kennedys. 

 

So, where is Glen Ora and Wexford?  We still don't know.  The information Annie gleaned from the Internet suggested it was near Middleburg.  If it is, we didn't find it.  We did find The Red Fox Inn, where Mrs. Kennedy often stayed in her later years. Middleburg is a wealthy community frequently visited by Elizabeth Taylor while she was married to Senator John Warner. 

 

We had a low-talking server at dinner late this afternoon.  He tried to tell us how to by-pass the entrance gate to the Park so we could drive Skyline Drive, notwithstanding the fact the Park is closed.  At least we think that is what he was talking about. Neither of us could hear him.

 

But, Annie and I talked about it.  We wondered what would happen if you got on the Parkway but couldn't get off.  Annie is such a rule follower, she would have no part in being someplace we weren't supposed to be.  She is usually right about these things, so I guess I will follow her lead.  It would be fun, though, wouldn't it, to be the only vehicle on the Blue Ridge Parkway for 100 miles?  Maybe I should think about this some more.