| • | GARDEN TOUR Walk in the footsteps of the Founding Fathers as you visit places where they went about their daily lives Monticello, the grounds at the University of Virginia, Michie Tavern and Ash Lawn-Highland. All properties are on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. |
| • | Large turn-of-the-century homes line the railroad tracks in the picturesque town of Ashland. The RF&P Railroad originally developed Ashland as a summer resort. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Within view of Washington, Alexandria was a Colonial seaport and is intimately associated with the life of George Washington. It is full of historic sites, and the Old Town district includes more than 4,000 historic buildings. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR The garden at 402 Meherrin Ave., Emporia (Sara Squire Burton, owner), was created to be a shady, peaceful retreat. Behind the house are terraces of plants, statuary, sitting areas and stone work. Rocks were used for walls, defining gardens and edging beds. Plants and trees include weeping willow, white cedar, tansy, redbud, annuals, hydrangea, hosta, pachysandra, bulbs and azaleas. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR The rural countryside of Chatham seems to offer a slower pace of life. Located in the Piedmont region, Chatham's rolling farmlands stretch for miles and offer distant views of mountains to the west. Here, at the Fall Line, rivers drop sharply as they make their way east to the sea. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Visitors may wander through five acres of gardens to an arboretum and wildlife habitat at MacCallum More Museum and Gardens. Dogwood, redbud and azaleas create a beautiful mass of color. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Danville is known for its fashionable homes of Edwardian and Victorian architecture especially those found on "Millionaire's Row." It has also been called the "City of Churches." |
| • | GARDEN TOUR The Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel connects the Eastern Shore peninsula to the main part of the state. This man-made wonder stretches 17.6 miles and is the longest bridge-tunnel in the world. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Middleburg is known as the horse capital of Virginia. Steeplechase races have been run in Fauquier County since 1844. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR The Great Falls area of Virginia is tucked in an exclusive enclave 15 miles from the nation's capital. Follow the George Washington Memorial Parkway to Great Falls Park and be surrounded by 800 acres of history and nature. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR An "Escape to Historic Courtland" will take visitors to a small rural area with links to the Nottoway Indians, a grist mill, saw mill and historic activities from the 18th century forward. The town of Courtland, originally named Jerusalem, was established in 1791. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR With its location midway between Richmond and Washington, Fredericksburg grew quickly as a trading center in the early days of the colony. Four major battles of the Civil War were fought around Fredericksburg and historic sites detail the battles. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR When Hurricane Isabel visited Virginia in September 2003, she left mud and debris in her wake. Many of the waterfront properties in Gloucester and Mathews counties suffered extensive damage. Homeowners spent months rebuilding their properties and replanting their daffodils. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Harrisonburg, in the heart of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, offers vistas of rolling hills and the mountains that are home to Massanutten, one of Virginia's ski resorts. The area offers the benefits of city amenities and the serenity of the surrounding countryside. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Hampton, situated on the southeastern tip of the Virginia peninsula, is said to be the oldest continuously settled English community in the United States. As a Native American village called Kecoughtan, it had been visited by the first English colonists before they sailed up the James River to settle in Jamestown. Today, major industries are NASA and high-tech firms, seafood processing, military and tourism. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Lexington is located in the Shenandoah Valley and is home to Virginia Military Institute and Washington & Lee University. The city also is connected to Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
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| • | GARDEN TOUR Lynchburg, which sits on the James River in the eastern foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is nicknamed the "Hill City" or "City of the Seven Hills," referring to seven distinct hills and neighborhoods within the original town limits. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR The Ridgeway area south of Martinsville, most of which used to be farmland, still has a rural feel despite the new development. The homes on tour are in the Farmingdale neighborhood of this area. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR The central theme for Norfolk, founded in 1682, is water, and its miles of lake, river and bay front are a hallmark of many of the city's neighborhoods. Norfolk's logo a young mermaid can be seen in many places across the city. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR In 1669, Englishmen settled on the peninsula where the Rappahannock and Piankatank rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR The Northern Neck is the northernmost of three peninsulas on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, and has more than 6,500 acres of natural areas and 1,200 miles of shoreline. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Orange County will forever be associated with fourth U.S. President James Madison and his wife, Dolley. Madison is remembered as the Father of the Constitution. Montpelier, his country estate, is being restored to resemble the 1820 home of the Madisons. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Old Towne Petersburg grew from the ashes of a devastating fire in 1815 to become a transportation hub. Now it is a blend of restaurants, galleries, boutiques, craft shops and renovated residences. With its older structures, the tour emphasizes historic preservation of architecture. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Portsmouth, situated on the Elizabeth River and the Hampton Roads Harbor, was named after the English naval port of Portsmouth. Streets were laid out in a grid pattern, with each block or square named for noted Virginians, Englishmen or places in the United States and England. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Roanoke is known as "The Star City of the South" because of the 88-foot l man-made star atop Mill Mountain. Coincidentally, the Shenandoah Valley was named by Native Americans who called the area "Shenandoah, daughter of the stars." |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Staunton, located in the western Shenandoah Valley, was settled by German, English and Scotch-Irish immigrants who established farms in the rich soil.Today, downtown Staunton features antiques shops, craft and specialty shops in a Victorian setting. The "City of Woodland Gardens" welcomes visitors to historic sites. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR The area around Suffolk was inhabited by the Nansemond tribe of American Indians before English settlers explored it. Government consolidations in the 1970s created a city that covered 430 square miles, the largest city in land area in Virginia. Suffolk, where Planters began, remains a major peanut-processing center. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia from 1699 to 1780 and is internationally recognized for its restoration and preservation of 18th-century America. But the area also offers recreational activities, theme parks, golf, spas and numerous outlet malls. |
| • | Capt. John Smith and his band of explorers landed at Cape Henry in spring 1607 at the northern tip of what is now Virginia Beach. Its history as a resort town began in 1880 when a clubhouse was built on the beach. |
| • | GARDEN TOUR The rolling countryside near the Blue Ridge Mountains was settled after the American Revolution by prominent Tidewater families. After the Civil War, agricultural emphasis shifted from wheat to fruit to big apple orchards. |
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