Warrenton and Peace By Roger Piantadosi Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, April 12, 2000

The Washington Post

Also never mind that most who nowadays pass through Warrenton on their way west to the Blue Ridge or south to Charlottesville do so via a bypass -- for westbounders, one with all the familiar clutter, brake jockeys and steroid-enhanced signage of modern suburbia. Here U.S. 29 meets U.S. 211 meets U.S. 17 meets one McDonald's, two marts (one Wal-, one K), one Sheetz and a couple of Exxons. At the ever-friendly, always-open Frost Diner, at least you can hide briefly from the fray behind a cup of coffee and a big plate of traditional Virginia carbohydrates. This might also be a good time to consult a map.

See? This stretch of Broadview Avenue turns out to be west of the real Warrenton -- Old Town Warrenton, that is. It is also way north of the slow Southern charms and fast-charging horses I now, after some more well-informed visits, happily associate with Warrenton.

Fine. House-hunt here if you must. But, my first advice: Bypass the bypasses. Park amid the solid, low-rise, primarily brick Victorian, Federal, Classical Revival and art deco storefronts that bracket the streets here -- many of which are still named for the places they originally led to: Winchester Street, Culpeper Street, Alexandria Pike. Start across Main Street and something amazing happens (and happens repeatedly): Drivers stop and wave you across. Don't try this at home.

You may stand for a while and admire the stuccoed, porticoed Fauquier Courthouse, or the Old Jail next door, now a museum; major parts of both are some two centuries old, dating to the time when most of the roads that crossed here were used primarily by farmers rolling hogsheads of tobacco to market.

There's a monument here to Col. John Mosby, the Confederate "Gray Ghost" whose mounted Rangers raided and attacked and generally infuriated the Federals -- and who lived well into the 20th century, for many years in a house farther down Main Street that's being transformed into a museum. From the monument -- and from many spots in Old Town Warrenton -- there's a lovely view west of some familiarly blueish ridges.

Having heard that Mosby is buried at Warrenton Cemetery, a few blocks down Lee Street, you head down and find that, other than the worn headstones and departed souls, you have these lovely rolling seven acres pretty much to yourself. There's a memorial to the many other Rebel soldiers buried here, including some who remain unknown because Union troops -- who occupied this crossroads town for much of the latter part of the war -- took their grave markers for firewood.

Farther west on Lee you discover the Drum and Strum, a music store with a big side room for its popular coffeehouse-concert series, and next door the Renaissance Music Emporium, wherein you easily justify a Celtic music CD and not quite a handmade zither. Three blocks farther west, the Depot -- once a depot, now a pretty good restaurant -- sits at the head of a little-known but locally beloved rail trail. Just on the other side of Lee, on warm-weather Wednesdays and Saturdays, is Warrenton's Farmers Market.

There are gift and antiques shops everywhere, and the '30s deco Rhodes Drug Store building, which still functions not only as a pharmacy but also a fly shop, is also home of the Old Town Cafe, which everyone seems to wish was open for dinner more than Thursday through Saturday only.

The hardware stores and, most recently, the New Leaf Bookstore are gone from Old Town -- the bypass effect, alas. Some downtown merchants worry there's not enough convenient parking, but I was so distracted by drivers stopping to let me cross and passersby who said "Good morning" that I didn't notice a problem.

Eventually, you may find yourself back where you started, across Main from the courthouse, at the Stable Door, a typically Warrentonian place: family-run, part tack shop and saddlery, part gift shop, part dress shop and part family room in the back where regulars bring their lunch and sit, either with store owners Tim and Pat Nevill or store pooches Sonia and Emily. (Depends on how busy it is and whether the visitor brings cookies.)

It is here you may also find brochures and advice about Warrenton's and Fauquier's 250-year-old fox-hunting tradition -- including where you can get to a race the following weekend just 10 minutes north of here, at Great Meadow or at nearby Airlie. And look, here's the perfect English picnic hamper in which to pack provisions . . . .

And then -- under a crisp, clear, early spring sky in a nearby meadow the following Saturday -- you may very well find yourself into goose bumps, if not caviar, as a field of eight large and impossibly elegant animals and their brave, gaily attired riders thunders past.

GETTING THERE: Warrenton is about an hour and 15 minutes from the Beltway via I-66 west to U.S. 29 south.

BEING THERE: Historic district walking-tour details, Revolutionary era, Civil War and Col. Mosby exhibits, Native American artifacts and more can be found at the 1808 Old Jail Museum, next to the courthouse downtown (540-347-5525, closed Mondays). For self-guided driving-walking tours of Fauquier's dozen Civil War sites, check with the visitors center (below). If you'd like to see Warrenton when it's truly abloom (with both blossoms and people), time your visit for the city's annual Spring Festival/Craft Show May 20. Saturday nights June through August, the Bluemont Concerts, on the lawn of the old Warren Green Hotel, are a real small-town treasure.

HORSE EVENTS: Upcoming weekend point-to-point races nearby are in Middleburg and Leesburg; the famous Virginia Gold Cup at Great Meadows (540- 347-2612) is May 6. For a full schedule of spring and fall point-to-point races, contact the Virginia Steeplechase Association (703-777-2575, www.morvenpark.org/ceo). For details on horse shows (including the steadfastly old-timey Warrenton Horse Show in late August), call the visitors center (below). For a closer peek into Virginia's equestrian universe, sign up for the 46th annual Hunt Country Stable Tour (540-592-3711) or just pick up your tailgate picnic at Jimmie's Market (540-347-1942) most any Friday afternoon June through September and head up to Great Meadow for the weekly Twilight Polo matches.

WHERE TO EAT: The best meals I've had in Warrenton have been at Fantastico (540-349-2575), the Italian restaurant (and inn) that's a local fave and offers live music most Thursday-Saturday nights. Also try: the Depot, Old Town Cafe or Napoleon's for creative cuisine, Jimmie's for lunch and gourmet takeout, Second Street Cafe and Legends for neighborly American fare, Natural Market Place for vegetarian and healthful lunches and Main Street's Earthly Paradise coffee shop for espresso-based refreshment, Victorian-based decor, classically-based music and the feel of a real oasis and unofficial community center.

DETAILS: The Warrenton-Fauquier County Visitors Center (540-347-4414, www.fauquierchamber.org). The Partnership for Warrenton Foundation (540-349-8606) publishes a lovely -- and useful -- calendar ($4) with watercolors by Maria P. Nicklin and downtown-centric info.

The results of "Escapes Trivia" Contest #6:

A multiple-foghorn salute to Linda Lee of South Riding, Va., for knowing that the Sandy Hook Light in Fort Hancock, N.J., has been operating since 1764, helping many a sailor find his way into New York Harbor. (Lee gets a copy of The Post's "Escape Plans" guide, which has been helping many a city folk find a way outside the Beltway since 1998.) The building of Sandy Hook Light was the brainchild of a group of New York City merchants who'd lost a bundle in shipwrecks, and who sold lottery tickets to finance the venture. Now part of the Gateway National Recreation Area (732-872-5970), the Sandy Hook Light recently was restored and should be open for tours on weekends this May through July.

Runners-up among not-quite-correct entries: Portland Head Light (nope, 1791); Ocracoke (sorry, 1823; oldest in North Carolina, at least); and Concord Point (1827).

Full steam ahead, then, to Trivia Contest #7:

What county within five hours of D.C. has the greatest concentration of covered bridges? And what's the nickname for such bridges?

Deadline for Contest #7 entries is Monday, April 17, at 10 a.m. Send entries by email (escapist@washpost.com; put the word "Escapes Trivia" in the subject field), fax (202-334-1069) or U.S. mail (Escapes Trivia, Washington Post Travel section, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071). Winners, chosen at random from among correct entries, receive a copy of The Post's "Escape Plans" getaway guide, or other prizes to be announced. One entry per person per contest. Employees of The Washington Post are ineligible to win prizes. Entries become the property of The Post, which reserves the right to edit, distribute or republish them, including electronically.