1 It's Halloween every day at Professor Cline's Haunted Monster Museum and Dark Maze, where, as the story goes, the good professor's experiments on the human subconscious went awry, leaving the former Stonewall Inn at Natural Bridge possessed by our worst nightmares. Wandering up the dirt path to the dilapidated manor house, we were greeted by a dire young man dressed in black with hair sculpted into a spiked Mohawk. He ushered us into a room, said a few words of introduction, then quickly ran out the door, locking it behind him. Somewhere an organ played a dirge and the throb of a human heart pounded in our ears as we crept through a secret passage behind the movable bookcase.
Professor Cline's haunts are open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily as part of the Natural Bridge attractions. From the Beltway, take I-66 west to I-81 to the Natural Bridge exit (180-A). Follow Route 11 south about three miles. Tickets cost $5. 540-464-2253, www.naturalbridgeva.com.
2 The Flying Circus in Fauquier County is one of those spectacles that only enthusiasts could pull off week after week. Every Sunday, May through October, a group of off-the-wall pilots in biplanes perform a collection of aerial antics to re-create aviation's barnstorming days. Brightly painted Piper, Stearman and WACO aircraft take off from a grassy airfield surrounded by the summer's soybean crop while spectators seated on wooden benches and lawn chairs gaze skyward watching daring stunts like formation flying, wing walkers, sky divers and stunt flying. A campy cast on the ground -- including the Red Baron and the lovely Fifi LaBombshell -- entertain between takeoffs and landings.
Take I-95 south to Route 17. Turn right onto Route 644 near Bealeton. Admission is $10 for adults, $3 for kids age 3-12. The field opens at 11 a.m., show starts at 2:30. Check the Web site for the special events calendar and a coupon good for $2 off admission. 540-439-8661, www.flyingcircusairshow.com.
3 Yes, Virginia, there's gold in them thar Blue Ridge foothills, and modern prospectors can join the gold rush at Lake Anna State Park. In the mid-19th century, Virginia was the country's third-leading producer of the coveted ore, and the original site of one of these producers, Goodwin's Mine, lies within the grounds of the park in Spotsylvania County. On summer weekends, you can scramble around the ruins of the mine as an interpreter tells its story. Or, try your hand at panning for gold in a quiet alcove of the lake. "You can keep everything you find," our guide said, handing us a shallow plastic bowl with ridges around the rim. It's not unheard of to find the real thing, we're told, but all our swishing netted us was a handful of quartz pieces and a glitter of fool's gold.
Take I-95 south to the Woodford exit and go west on Route 606. At Snell, this merges with Route 208, which you take to Route 601. Look for the park entrance on the left. Tours offered on weekends only, Memorial Day through Labor Day. Panning for gold is at 2 p.m., mine tours are at 3. Cost is $2 per person or $6 per family for each program. 540-854-5503, www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/lakeanna.htm.
4 Urban cowboys who long to mount a spirited steed to round up those dogies may be surprised to discover the answer to their prayers right here in Virginia. Cattle Drives at Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria give tenderfoot Easterners -- even those of us who have never sat in a saddle before -- the chance to ride the range and work the herd just like Hoss and Little Joe. Along with learning to ride, groups of four or more tinhorns (age 12 and older) can work with the cowboys to pen and vet the critters.
Take I-66 west to Route 29 at Gainesville. Drive south on 29 past Culpeper, then turn right on Route 609 going west for nine miles, right on Route 231 north and then left on Route 670 for four miles. Half-day sessions are $50 per person; whole day, $90. 540-923-5071, www.gravesmountain.com.
5 Here's another prospecting adventure: searching for real buried treasure at Morefield Mine in Amelia County. It's an active recreational mineral mine hidden deep in the woods where, just for the fun of it, everyday fortune-hunters can get down and dirty -- really dirty -- sifting through rubble removed from underground veins in search of their own gems and minerals. Even my jaded teenagers had a terrific time filling up their buckets with the loot-laden dirt, sifting through it in the spring-fed sluice and coming up with amethyst, amazonite, garnet, topaz, feldspar, pyrite and quartz. More than 70 varieties of minerals -- even jewelry-quality gems -- have been unearthed at this site, including at least 29 new discoveries that have yet to be identified.
Take I-95 south to Exit 79 in Richmond, which is I-195, to the Powhite Turnpike, Route 76. Take this to Route 288 south, then to Route 360 west. Go about 18 miles and look for the brown state sign for Morefield Mine. Turn left on Route 628/Butlers Road. The mine is one mile ahead on the left. In the summer it's open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. The mine is closed Sept. 1-16. After that it's open on Saturdays. Cost is $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors. 804-561-3399.
6 If you wind your way up a particular forested hill on a country back road in Nelson County, you'll emerge at the top in the village of Schuyler. The old elementary school-turned-community center jumps out at you -- it's the only major building around -- with a sign announcing the Walton's Mountain Museum. Schuyler is the childhood home of Earl Hamner Jr., who penned the autobiographical Depression-era stories portrayed in the popular 1970s television series "The Waltons." The legacy of the squeaky-clean show lives on in this memorial, which includes replicas of some of the sets on which actors Richard Thomas, Michael Learned, Will Geer and others wove the magic of the mythical mountain. John Boy's bedroom with his writing desk next to the window, the parlor where the family sat around the Zenith Tombstone radio and Ike Godsey's General Store are all depicted in excruciating down-home fashion.
Take I-66 to Route 29 in Gainesville. Go south past Charlottesville and left on Route 6 east, then about five miles to a right on Route 800. Turn right at the top of the hill and look for the museum on the right. It's open daily 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., March through November. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for kids age 6-12. 434-831-2000. www.waltonmuseum.org.
7 At the intersection where Route 277 crosses the four-lane somewhere between Front Royal and Winchester, there's a gas station and a 1950s-style gift shop with three huge fiberglass reptiles out front to attract attention. The shop has a nice collection of leather moccasins next to the winemaking supplies and ceramic angels. And, by the way, there are dinosaurs out back. This is Dinosaur Land. Passing through the door at the back of the gift shop, we enter a tunnel. (Could we be going back in time?) The path leads through the wide-open mouth of a tree and into a parklike setting strewn with more than 40 replicas (to use the term loosely) of prehistoric animals. There's no rhyme or reason or scale to the displays of pachycephalosaurus, polacanthus and protoceratops we meet along the way, but the kids love it -- especially the king-size King Kong, hand extended for a Fay Wray photo op.
Take I-66 west to Front Royal. Go north on Route 522/340 for about seven miles and look for the dinosaurs on the left at the intersection with Route 277. Open through December, $4 for adults, $3 for kids age 2-10. 540-869-2222, www.dinosaurland.com.
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