The Neighborhood

One of the things that we love about the Hawksbill Cabin’s neighborhood is the quality of the homes. They were built in a couple of generations, we guess starting in the 1920’s. The story goes that an old farm was broken up for summer homes, with standardized lots of about ½ acre for sale.


There were a couple of families who bought in and started up the neighborhood, and some of them still own the old family retreats they built. After the first wave, there was another wave that started in the 1940’s, our house was one of them; then a few more have been added since – as recently as 2007-but the homes aren’t being built in the same style anymore.

Over time the way the homes are used is changing as well. Where the concept was to build weekend homes here, there is now a mix of weekenders and full-timers. For the most part this seems to work, although it can have its challenges.

The photos above are a couple of examples of the little houses that have been built here-these two are contemporaries of the Hawksbill Cabin. The links below will take you to two posts about other houses that have been for sale in the neighborhood over the last few years. One, which the auction post talks about, was built in the 1940’s and was remodeled to incorporate a lot of outdoor living space; the second, built in 2007 in a “rustic cabin” style…its style is incongruous to the other stone houses, and coming on the market at the time it did has made it a difficult sale.

http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2010/08/at-auction-in-hawksbill-pines.html

http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2008/03/also-for-sale-in-hawksbill-pines.html

Before you get the impression that this is a gratuitous real estate post, there is one final item I wanted to note, which goes back to the outdoor living character of many of these homes. Visible through the hollow, one of the homes has this extended catwalk out to a covered and screened veranda. An older couple owned this house, and as one of the spouses grew less mobile, they built this as a way to still be able to get out and enjoy the environment. It’s a charming story actually, and one I can’t help but admire whenever it catches my eye.

Page County Heritage Festival, 2010 - Part 2

A quick post to highlight the tractor and steam engine portion of the Heritage Festival that was held last weekend.  Everytime we've been to the fest, there are upwards of a hundred, or more, vintage tractors of all types assembled into a display right at the fairgrounds entrance.  I've shown more photos in previous years - this time, only one focused shot on the group of Ford tractors I found.

Of course, there were John Deeres and Allis-Chalmers (there is quite a following of these distinctive orange machines in Page County!), and quite a few others besides.  Although it happened after we left the fairgrounds, there was a tractor parade scheduled - I'm pretty sure that the Oliver shown here was going to participate.

There are usually several steam machines on display too.  I particularly like to stop and watch the portable sawmills that are powered by these vehicles.  We watched a couple of quarter-sawn planks get turned out (on our way to the Methodist Men's pulled pork sandwich booth).

Last one, this little tractor train that pulls the kids around the grounds.  I hadn't noticed before but it is led by a New Holland from Louderback in Stanley.  This thing is always a hit! 

Page County Heritage Festival, 2010 - Part 1

It’s one of the annual events we look forward to in Page County – the Heritage Festival. It’s a two-day event held on Columbus Day weekend, featuring craft demonstrations and an antique tractor show, meant to connect us with the past, showing how farm work was done in the County’s “early days.” There is also a wide range of musical entertainment – including clogging, and of course, there’s a lot of food to sample.


Mary and I missed it last year, but we made a point of visiting this year, even getting there early on the first day. We ran into our neighbor Bobby in the parking lot, who started out the conversation with the remark, “Yep, I’ve got to get me a candy apple and an elephant ear,” before moving into some other hot topics about the community and our neighborhood.

I have a few photographs to share about the tractor and steam engine portion of the show in a separate post, but today I wanted to pass along some photos of basket weaver Clyde Jenkins and his Stanley-based team doing demonstrations of white oak basket weaving. This was the first time we’d wandered around to where this group was working. Mr. Jenkins’ card advertises these as an “heirloom of quality hand crafted in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia,” while noting that his group is a basket supplier for Colonial Williamsburg.

I have heard, but didn’t verify, while we were at the basket weaving display, that Mr. Jenkins is an expert on heritage apple varieties. There were more than 20 local types on display in the same area where they were making baskets. It’s on my to do list to talk with him about our tree – both to find out what kind of apples we have and for tips on pruning it to save it.

In any case, it is easy to find out more about Mr. Jenkins and his basket weaving with a Google search – I’ve included a link to a Washington Post article below, as a matter of fact.

Other crafts on display at the festival included quilt making, wood working, wool spinning, soap making, apple butter making, and metal working – including black smithing. There’s plenty to learn here about how things were done, and the groups that work to keep the heritage alive.

The official web site for the festival can be found at http://luraypage.com/heritage . Tomorrow I’ll post some photos of the tractors and steam engines.

The Post article about Charles Jenkins is here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/19/AR2007071900639.html

At Auction in Hawksbill Pines

One of the little houses in our Stanley neighborhood is up for auction.  This house was for sale a couple of years ago, but they took it off the market.

It is a nice little bungalow style 2 bedroom with 1.5 baths, built in the '40's of what appears to be nice local bluestone.  I took a walk up there when I first noticed the auction sign and took the photos that are here.

You have the front and rear, a side view, and a view of the barbeque pit that was built out back in 1947.  I have Googled the name Charles Chance before and didn't find anything, but I bet, just as with our house, if you could break through the veil, there would be some wonderful cabin lore to enjoy about past getaways to this place. 


Here is a link to the auctioneer's site.  This auction is scheduled for late August.

http://www.mikesauctioneering.com/index.html

The most recent owners did quite a bit of work on this place, including adding the front porch and side deck.  I was able to check out the screened back porch and it is a huge outdoor space where you could entertain very nicely.

Not to mention that nearly the entire first floor is a living/family room - except for the remodeled kitchen (which has a small apartment-style range) and the half bath.  Although I have never been inside, I assume the 2 bedrooms and the full bath are upstairs. 

There is only one issue I have with the house.  Since it was designed as a weekend getaway, the sewer system not up to date...the name for what's there is slipping my mind at the moment.  But this problem can be quickly and inexpensively remedied with the addition of a septic system.

In addition to that, there is one inaccuracy in the auction listing, which suggests that the house could be converted to a weekend rental.  That is not allowed by the covenants of the neighborhood, dating to the 1930's.
Back to the positives, the barbeque pit is surrounded by a large paved area with a picnic table.  The property line there borders a 10-acre pasture that is owned by one of the neighbor and is not currently used.  So there is plenty of privacy and the opportunity for watching wildlife.

It's my bet you could get this for a very reasonable price.  And you'd have great neighbors!

Had a great 4th

We celebrated the Fourth of July at Hawksbill Cabin this year.  For a small community, Page County offers a wealth of opportunities to celebrate, including the Town of Stanley "Homecoming" - which features a parade, carnival, and fireworks, the Coors-Miller company picnic at the Hawksbill Pool (a private event, but the fireworks are open to the public and walking distance from the house), and the Town of Luray's event along the Hawksbill Greenway.

Since we were having our neighbors over on the 3rd for a dinner, we missed the Town of Stanley event and went into Luray on the 4th.  We'd heard some friends were gathering at the Victorian Inn (link below), where you can watch the fireworks from the front porch - the photo highlights the view.

There is new management at the "Vic" as it's now being called.  Dave and Val and their family are running the show here and doing a great job.  We've been for dinner a couple of times - on some nights there is full-fare menu service, but so far on the nights we've been there it was buffet style.

On the Fourth, the buffet included BBQ ribs and chicken, cole slaw, potato salad, and corn on the cob.  Mary had the strawberry shortcake for desert (we took a walk down to the town festivities, where my desert was a small cone of butter pecan) - the shortcake was homemade by Val.  Dinner was awesome, as it was the previous time, and it's a great value too.

The big surprise at the Vic was all the friends and neighbors we ended up seeing there - of course there were Micky and Candy, who had told about seeing the fireworks from here, but also the Appalachian Outdoors Adventure gang was there, and Jay and Ryanne from the F-watt group.  We had a nice time visiting, and then when the fireworks began, everybody went out onto the porch and lawn to watch. 

Perfect weather and a wonderful time.  Hope yours was great too!

ADDED November 2010.  The Victorian, under Dave and Val's management, has a new website:  http://www.victorianinnluray.com/

A Denounment of Sorts...and Some Clarifying Comments

A couple of weeks ago, one of the resources I used to keep track of the goings on in Page County closed down - the Page County Watch blog. I truly found the dialog there and the additional insight that Alice, the "watch blogger," offered to be part of a great overall experience being involved with the County. It's my opinion that by raising tough questions for community dialog, she built a mini-community of people who made well intentioned contributions with the desire to make things better.

Since that blog ended, Alice has kindly left a link to Hawksbill Cabin on the old blog page, and we have been receiving a number of visitors from there. If you are a reader who's been referred from Page County Watch - welcome! I definitely appreciate having the chance to get to know more of my neighbors!

As weekenders, it can be challenging for Mary and me to get the full story on a lot of the current issues in Page County. It's just a fact that during the course a week or month, many news cycles come and go between our visits. With a weekly newspaper as one of few news outlets, we may or may not get follow-up information to the information I pass on through the blog.

As a result of the referrals from Alice's blog, I did receive additional information about the Stanley Volunteer Fire Department as a follow-up to two posts I made back in April 2008, just after a wild land fire had taken place near Stanley. Chief Terry Pettit of the Department saw my posts and offered some clarifying comments, so I went back and revised the earlier posts to include the additional information.

The text of Chief Pettit's comments is below, and the two original post links follow:

"Jim, I was looking at your website and noticed a correction that needs to be made reference to the brush fire in 2008 outside Stanley. The Stanley Volunteer Fire Department is an all volunteer department and receives no payments from any call we respond too. Donations are accepted. The Virginia Forestry Department by law has the right and will charge you for the cost of bringing a wild land fire under control and extinguishing it. The money goes to the State of Virginia. During the 30 hours the Stanley fire department was on the scene of the Lucas Hollow fire the 25 members that responded all as always donated their time and the cost of fuel and supplies came out of our budget. The department’s budget is $125,000.00 per year and the county of page supplies $45,000.00 of that total, we have to raise the rest through donations, meals, events, etc. I hope that the people that read your blog understand that we did not receive any money and get the wrong idea that we do on calls. Terry A. Pettit Stanley Fire Chief"

Original posts:
http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2008/04/stanley-fire-update.html and
http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2008/04/moving-on-wildfire-in-stanley.html

Busy Weekend

With my sister and the kids out last weekend, it turns out we were able to string together a wide range of activities. Now that I have it captured, I think it rivals a visit to DC:

• arrrival at the ranch
• lunch (pizza) at Anthony's 12
• Heritage Festival
• regroup at the cabin
• Luray Haunted House



• overnights at the cabin and the ranch
• checking out the near full moon through our new telescope
• breakfast trail ride
• bird feeder run and Newport Rapids
• Uncle Jim's wood splitting demo, walk in the woods, and pool skimming exhibition
• Stoneyman hike
• lunch at Brookside
• visit to Valley Star Farm (corn maze a big hit, and the goats continue to amuse)

I am exhausted just making the list!

Here are some highlight photos of everyone engaged in many of these activities.

Down on the Ranch

We’ve had the county fair already, but it seems like the Page County Heritage Festival is when the leaves change and the Fall colors start showing up. This year, looks like we’ll have an extra good time as my sister Nancy and her kids will be joining us out here in the country.

They’ve booked a room in Stanley at the River's Bend Ranch near the river, so we’ll get a chance to check that out. On Sunday they have a horseback ride scheduled and Mary will join them, while my oldest nephew and I will find something else to do – maybe a walk along the river there or a short drive over to Newport to check out the boat landing and rapids.

I’m writing from the brick terrace on Saturday morning, waiting for them to get into town. Looks like they’ve gotten lucky with the weather, we’re going to have a beautiful day out here.

Shortly after I wrote this post, we got the word that everybody was settling in at the River’s Bend Ranch, which is just along US 340 outside of Stanley. The photos here are of the property. One of them, showing the 3-story building off across a field, is “The Bunkhouse” where Nancy and my niece stayed.

Limberlost, continued

If you check Wikipedia, the entry that comes up on Limberlost reveals information about a swamp in the Midwest. The story goes, that this area was named after a book about a forest by the wife of the developer responsible for the Skyland resort area in the Park. She purchased the evergreens that grew here in North Carolina and had them transplanted to this spot, finding inspiration in a book named Limberlost from the mid-1800’s.




The evergreens she planted are all dead now and many are down, but some are still standing, as shown in these pictures. Whenever I come here it reminds me of how the forest recovers – something will grow in to fill the vacant place. We see that in the yard at the cabin – it was a corn field, then a pine forest, and slowly, oaks are growing in after.








We also found this interesting rock formation on the trail, at the crossroads of Limberlost and White Oak Canyon trail. It reminds me of some of the formations in Joshua Tree, although the stone is different...the erosion is the same.

Mary and I finished the Limberlost trail and headed south on Skyline Drive to the Crescent Rock pull-off. We walked out to the namesake rock and took a look down into the Valley. Just to the left there you can see Nakedtop and Hawksbill Mountain, and to the right, the little hamlet of Ida, and Luray beyond. The mountains block Stanley from view, and our cabin is also hidden from this vantage point.

To complete our plan, we walked back to the parking lot and then to the Betty’s Rock trailhead. Although the trail follows Skyline Drive too closely for my taste, the forest it goes through is very scenic.

As we turned a bend in the trail…

Remember in yesterday’s post, I mentioned the kids we ran into on the Limberlost Trail? The kids asking about the bear?

Up ahead, about 15 yards from us, a momma bear turned to look back at us while her two cubs scampered away. It took an astonished second or two to be sure of what we were looking at – three bears, just about face to face. I said to Mary, “Let’s just turn around and go back, we can come back another day for the view.”

About 10 feet into the walk back, I thought about going back for a photo. That would have tested an old saying I’ve become fond of, from The Big Lebowski: “Sometimes you eat the b’ar, and sometimes he eats you.” But then I thought better of it. I just didn't know what day it was.

Lots of bear sightings this year, so I am sure I will have a safer look somewhere down the line. And when I do get a phone cam shot, I’ll be sure to post it.

Spring Flowers - 2008 Final

Here are my last two photos of spring flowers from around the Alexandria and Stanley homes. Since the day lillies and crepe myrtles - flowers I associate with summer - are already in bloom, it's time to move on.

Here is a peonie from the cabin, one of three varieties we discovered out there. There are also pale pink, almost white, plants, and a deeper red one.

Here is what is locally known as candy corn. I'd never seen these before, but they were all over the valley a few weeks ago. I noted one additional variation, in an all-white coloration.

Stanley Fire Update

Blogger’s Comment (added November 2009): In November, the Hawksbill Cabin blog site was visited by Terry Pettit. He read some back posts and came across these two posts on the 2008 brush fire near Stanley. Chief Pettit was concerned that my posts may not have clearly emphasized the volunteer nature of the Stanley Volunteer Fire Department, the value of its contributions, and how it is organized to respond to these events. He offered some additional insight on the process and organization – clarifications I am glad to receive. I have included Chief Pettit’s comments in full at the end of the original posts – and I invite readers to be sure and read them as well. JT

Over the weekend, as we made our stops around town and picked up the local paper, we learned that the fire last week actually involved 1,100 acres. We were surprised that you could see the burned forest land from the Food Lion (or as I like to call it, the Food Line)...here is a typcially blurry phone cam shot.

A couple of things we learned - one, the fire took 30 hours to fight and get under control. Although it rained this week out there, there was a period of low humidity that was said to have helped the fire spread. Secondly, the paper corrected the story and estimated that the fire fighting fee would be around $10K as opposed to that higher figure.

I guess one reason for the fines is that the town's fire fighter force is all volunteers, and this is a kind of assessment to run the department (Blogger's note - be sure to read the comment from Chief Pettit below about the Stanley Volunteer Fire Department).

Chief Pettit's Comments: Jim, I was looking at your website and noticed a correction that needs to be made reference to the brush fire in 2008 outside Stanley. The Stanley Volunteer Fire Department is an all volunteer department and receives no payments from any call we respond too. Donations are accepted. The Virginia Forestry Department by law has the right and will charge you for the cost of bringing a wild land fire under control and extinguishing it. The money goes to the State of Virginia. During the 30 hours the Stanley fire department was on the scene of the Lucas Hollow fire the 25 members that responded all as always donated their time and the cost of fuel and supplies came out of our budget. The department’s budget is $125,000.00 per year and the county of page supplies $45,000.00 of that total, we have to raise the rest through donations, meals, events, etc. I hope that the people that read your blog understand that we did not receive any money and get the wrong idea that we do on calls. Terry A. Pettit, Stanley Fire Chief

Moving on - a wildfire in Stanley

Blogger’s Comment (added November 2009): In November, the Hawksbill Cabin blog site was visited by Terry Pettit. He read some back posts and came across these two posts on the 2008 brush fire near Stanley. Chief Pettit was concerned that my posts may not have clearly emphasized the volunteer nature of the Stanley Volunteer Fire Department, the value of its contributions, and how it is organized to respond to these events. He offered some additional insight on the process and organization – clarifications I am glad to receive. I have included Chief Pettit’s comments in full at the end of the original posts – and I invite readers to be sure and read them as well. JT


Last Friday morning, while I was planning my drive out to Stanley, I learned that there had been a fire nearby. At the time I read the article on the Harrisonburg TV station, the fire had burned about 10 acres. Tonight I learned that firefighters in Page County were working Saturday to put out the last remnants of the fire, which ended up burning 770 acres.

At first, the news said that the source could not be reported pending an investigation...we'd heard that there are stills around the area and were thinking that something saucy was going on. Turns out, due to low humidity this time of year, this was a litter fire that got out of control.



They say that if a fire like this gets out of control. the landowner has to pay the fees related to fighting the fire in Page County. They estimated these fees would run about $40K for this one. The Google Earth image points to the location of the fire, a few miles southwest of us.

Clarifying information from Chief Pettit (added November 2009): Jim, I was looking at your website and noticed a correction that needs to be made reference to the brush fire in 2008 outside Stanley. The Stanley Volunteer Fire Department is an all volunteer department and receives no payments from any call we respond too. Donations are accepted. The Virginia Forestry Department by law has the right and will charge you for the cost of bringing a wild land fire under control and extinguishing it. The money goes to the State of Virginia. During the 30 hours the Stanley fire department was on the scene of the Lucas Hollow fire the 25 members that responded all as always donated their time and the cost of fuel and supplies came out of our budget. The department’s budget is $125,000.00 per year and the county of page supplies $45,000.00 of that total, we have to raise the rest through donations, meals, events, etc. I hope that the people that read your blog understand that we did not receive any money and get the wrong idea that we do on calls. Terry A. Pettit, Stanley Fire Chief

Also for Sale in Hawksbill Pines

Two more properties in our subdivision have recently come up for sale. The first is a new cabin, completed in 2008. Unfortunately, it is built in a contemporary style that doesn't match any of the other homes in the neighborhood.



The listing price is $218,900 and it is on a .44 acre lot. MLS number 63232, it is a 3 bed/2bath property.

A second new listing is a .4 acre lot that adjoins the new cabin property, MLS 63233. This lot is between ours and the new cabin - our house is visible in the photo, as is Hawksbill Peak - and the lot has been improved with a septic system.

We are keeping an eye on these. We welcome the chance to have some new neighbors! Regarding the land for sale, most of the lots in this neighborhood are in the .25 acre range, and while unimproved, have been assessed at values more like $5-$6k for property tax purposes.



Adding on March 24, here is a photo from our driveway looking across the empty lot and up the hill to the new cabin:

Catching Up

After the long Thanksgiving weekend there will be plenty to post, I am behind a bit and will catch up over the next few days.


On Saturday, Mary and I took a drive up to Skyline Drive, likely for the last time this season. Most of the facilities are now closed for the winter in SNP, although the drive is still accesible and most of the hiking trails will remain open. Our Saturday destination was Big Meadows - a wayside up there which is a very interesting geological feature - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Meadows (note the article does not include anything about the geology of the meadow!).


They have an excellent old lodge there in the tradition of famous national park lodges - not as glamorous as some of the big western parks maybe but still nice digs. Also, cabins, campgrounds, a visitor center, and a little restaraunt. It is near some favorite hikes including the Hawksbill summit and Dark Hollow Falls.



We can see the facilities as we drive up to the cabin, so I have often wanted to take a look back down into the valley and see what I could make out. Here is my lame motocam shot from the balcony of the lodge (it was closed, so we were walking around the outside checking it out).


Two other items of note - the temperature up on the mountain was 26 degrees - it was nearly 50 in the valley; and we passed two deer on the way to the lodge, one a six pointer.


A second image for this post - a Google Earth map showing the relationship of the two lodges, Skyland and Big Meadows, to Hawksbill Cabin. Since these peaks of the Blue Ridge are all over 3,000, they loom over the valley, especially where we are, tucked up close to the Park (the cabin is about 1.5 miles from the Park border). From this image, the orientation of my photo is viewing towards the Northeast; looking through a ravine in the mountainside towards the farms between Stanley and Luray. The cabin is obscured by the mountainside in the foreground.

New Cabin

We've just bought a cabin in Page County, Virginia - near Shenandoah National Park, just outside of Stanley, VA, and south of Luray. This blog will tell the story of our adventure with this unique property.