Home base: Be a tourist in your own hometown

Posted in New Dominion Tourist Magazine | 1 comment

You might think, Hey, I live here, I’m not a tourist. I’m a tourist when I go to the beach. Here, I’m just a resident.

Well, guess what? If you live in Staunton and go to the American Shakespeare Center, yep, you’re a tourist. And you’re also an important focal point for local tourism efforts.

“Most any tourism program has two facets – market ‘to the world’ and market to residents,” said Judith Cariker, the interim director of the Shenandoah Valley Travel Association, which covers an area stretching from Harpers Ferry, W.Va., to the Roanoke Valley.

Founded in 1924, the Association got its kickstart just as the automobile was becoming more widespread, and locals realized that there might be an interest for people from big cities nearby and into the Northeast to use their newfound freedom of the road to spend some time in the fresh air of the mountains of the Virginias.

The Valley continues to be a popular tourist destination for people living in Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. But the same amenities that draw people in for a weekend or a week from the cities are a draw to those of us who live here year-round.

“Higher fuel prices actually tends to push tourism in our area,” said Sheryl Wagner, the president of the SVTA and the director of tourism in Staunton, pointing to the same motivating factor for the founding of the Association more than 80 years ago.

Gas prices in the $3.50-a-gallon range are bad enough, but the impact is being felt even more so in the airline industry, which is passing the buck to consumers and leaving frequent fliers with a choice.

“It makes people more cautious of traveling,” said Katie McElroy, the director of tourism in Waynesboro, who like others in the Valley tourism industry is trying to cater to the local and regional tourist sector with packages and itineraries for locals aimed at promoting local tourism.

“You can make a week’s vacation out of just what you can do within a 20-mile radius and appeal to so many different interests,” McElroy said. “Our location is amazing to do all those things. People come here to visit. We live here, so we should enjoy all of those things.”

The effort to reach out to local tourists can pay another important dividend to those in the tourism business, of course.

“A lot of people in the area have friends in Northern Virginia and other locations who come here to visit, and when they’re here, they lean on their family for things to do,” said Zenaida Hall in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham tourism office.

Which means, in the end, that, indeed, you’re not a tourist when you take in local sights and attractions. You’re also a sales and marketing rep.

(If only you could write that off on your taxes, right?)
 

What the pros say

We asked our tourism professionals for their short list of places to send people visiting the Valley.

“Your first stop is the Hardesty-Higgins House Visitors Center,” said Zenaida Hall, whose partiality may come in part from the fact that Hardesty-Higgins is the home base for the Harrisonburg-Rockingham tourism office.

Hardesty-Higgins is also home to the Valley Turnpike Museum and the Harrisonburg Rockingham Civil War Orientation Center, which showcases a 10-minute film on the Civil War in the Valley that can serve as a guide for local Civil War buffs.

Hall also points to the Smith House, which is home to the Darrin-McHone Arts Gallery, which is open weekdays and offers free admission. The Gallery features the works of artists from across Virginia.

The Explore More Discovery Museum is a kid-friendly option. The Edith J. Carrier Arboretum and Botanical Park on the campus of James Madison University is among the highlights for those seeking something fun to do in the city outdoors, along with Rocktown Trails, a series of moderate to intermediate mountain-biking trails in and around Harrisonburg.

“Number one: Downtown Staunton. The shops, the restaurants, the music scene,” said Sheryl Wagner in Staunton.

A new Staunton tradition – marking its 10th year at its home downtown – is the American Shakespeare Center. “You have to go see a show there. If you haven’t, you’re missing out,” Wagner said.

A stroll around the Frontier Culture Museum is also a must-do kind of thing – to see the farms on exhibit or to be on the grounds for a signature event like Mayday or Octoberfest.

“The P. Buckley Moss Museum, for me, is huge, the first thing that comes to mind,” said Katie McElroy in Waynesboro, noting that the museum of the famed Waynesboro-based artist draws more than 40,000 visitors a year, just an extraordinary number.

Stone Soup Books and Cafe “has a lot to offer,” said McElroy. “It’s got books, it’s groups, it’s got the foods, it’s got the local flavor.

McElroy also recommends a tour of Fishburne Military School. “I took my first tour recently, and I was amazed at the sights and at what they do there,” McElroy said.

“A day in Lexington offers the Stonewall Jackson House, VMI where Stonewall taught, Robert E. Lee’s burial place in Lee Chapel, along with his horse Traveler, on the grounds of Washington & Lee University, where Lee served as president, and the George C. Marshall Museum at VMI. Just park your car and a few minutes walk takes you to all these places, with quaint shops and great eating places in between,” said Judith Cariker at the Shenandoah Valley Travel Association.

Another highlight for Cariker: the fresh air.

“This time of year, who doesn’t want to bask in the beauty of the Valley from vantage points on the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway,” Cariker said. “These two All American Scenic Byways meet at Milepost 0 atop Afton Mountain at I-64 exit 99. Get your hiking boots, binoculars, pack a picnic and enjoy a day hiking on marked trails, spotting birds and wildlife and spectacular flora. But don’t feed the wildlife – they may follow you home!  The byways are a terrific for bikers, with rest stops at scenic overlooks.”