Abingdon is easy to access just off Interstate 81. This little town has many charms-from its 20-block historic district to the 34-mile Virginia Creeper Trail. Add to that a thriving creative community, exceptional dining at The Tavern (the state's oldest bar), and homey accommodations, and you have a pretty darn close to perfect Blue Ridge Mountain getaway destination.
In 1840, when Francis Preston Blair and his daughter came across a "mica-flecked" spring near present-day Georgia Avenue, he fell in love with the land and built a summer home there-calling it "Silver Spring" after the minerals he spied in the water. The area boomed as a major retail center after World War II, suffered through a period of decline in the '80s when prominent businesses including Hecht's department store relocated, and enjoyed a rebirth in the aughts after construction of a downtown mall, now called Ellsworth Place.
Welcome back to Atlantic Trivia! Are you hungry for more? I hope that while I've been away, you have been enjoying plenty of food for thought-literally. Research shows that berries help improve memory and that a walnut-heavy diet is associated with higher cognitive performance. Fatty fish and leafy greens are linked to slower cognitive decline. Caffeine is a brain boost too.
Running between New York City and Pittsburgh, Amtrak's Pennsylvanian route shows travelers a side of Pennsylvania most who fly or drive miss. Passengers aboard the train weave past rivers, tree-lined hills, Amish Country, and historic rail towns that rarely get the spotlight. It's less about getting somewhere fast and more about watching the landscape change mile by mile, from urban neighborhoods to the rolling Allegheny Mountains, without ever leaving the seat.