A Frugal Trip to Bedford, VA

In September 2022 Mom and I decided to take A Frugal Trip to Bedford, VA. This trip was planned before our big life changes that happened in August. I was hoping that a trip with tons of fresh air and new scenery would provide a nice breath of fresh air for my mom and I. I believe it did.

If you like to travel check out Visiting Mayberry on a Budget!

Appomattox National Park

This whole trip is about history and since we were driving right by the place where Lee surrendered to Grant we figured it would make a perfect stop on our drive. (To be clear this is about an hour from Bedford so if you swing in from a different direction it won’t be on your way at all.) I’m a big Revolutionary War/Colonial Period buff but I figured the Civil War might be interesting too.

This is Appomattox Courthouse. Where it turns out nothing important happened to help end the Civil War. They didn’t do anything in the Courthouse- they did it in a privately owned house at the other end of the village.

When you get there you watch a short video that helps walk you through what Appomattox was like before the war, during the war and after the war. Since much of this was new information for me it was nice.

We are big fans of live interactions so we were delighted the Park Ranger was doing a presentation. It was excellent. I’m not a big fan of looking at battlefields but he did a great job showing us behind him where events happened.

We walked around for a bit and looked at a few buildings but were sure to come back and listen to the reenactor that was there. Like the Park Ranger this helped to be able to picture what was happening on that important day.

This is the McLean house where Grant and Lee actually met. It was a private residence and after Lee left Confederate soldiers basically took everything out of it that could be used as memorabilia. Pretty much everything in the house is a reproduction but it’s still amazing to see how everything was set up.

I would say give yourself about two hours and you can do everything you need and more. I will be honest- it wasn’t overwhelmingly excited. But it was free and on the way so if you happen to go by be sure to check it out. Also if you happen to be a huge Civil War buff I KNOW this would be on your must do list.

Popular Forest

When Thomas Jefferson married Martha Skelton included in her dowry was a big plot of land in Bedford. In addition to the tobacco plantation there, Jefferson decided to build a small summer home/get away for when life got crazy at Monticello. During the Revolution when the British drove him from Monticello in June 1781, he escaped with his family to Poplar Forest, staying in the only dwelling on the property, the overseer’s house.

After Jefferson’s death his grandson inherited the house and land but sold it only a few years later as he had no interest in tobacco. In 1845, a fire destroyed the roof and interior, leaving only the basic shapes of the rooms, four chimneys, and the portico columns. Later families modified Jefferson’s villa retreat into a home more suitable to their needs. Finally in 1984 the Corporation for Jefferson’s Poplar Forest was formed and purchased the house and 50 acres of land. Two years later the house was opened the public.

It has many of the same architectural aspects as Monticello but it’s very different. And currently it’s kind of a construction zone. If you are into architecture right now is a fascinating time to visit. You can see inside the walls, how the plastering is done and so much more about how it’s built. I will have to go back at some point because right now it was hard to picture what life was like.

But at the price point you see below it’s well worth the visit. And those dollars will help them further develop the house and move things forward. I will try to go back in five years or so and see how it has progressed.

National D-Day Memorial

The National D-Day Memorial was actually located right down the street from our AirBNB. And while the little town of Bedford, VA might seem like a strange location it actually has a rich history with the beaches in Normandy. During the recession one of the best ways for young boys in Bedford to make money was to join the National Guard. The duty station was close, the pay decent and it gave their families a bit of breathing room. So in this tiny little town of 400 people 30 young men joined. And then were incorporated into Company A, 116th Infantry, 29th Division.

Of the 40 men from Bedford who participated in the D-Day invasion 19 of them were dead by the end of the day on June 6, 1944. It means this small town had the greatest lost per capita on D-Day from any other location in the US. According to our tour guide it meant, at the time, New York City would have had to lose 46,000 men to have the same percentage. Because of this when the memorial was being considered Bedford fought to be it’s home.

The docents there do tours throughout the day and our guide was exactly how you want a guide to me- obsessed with all things D-Day and WWII. The energy he brought was absolutely amazing. He fielded every question with ease and you could tell he really loves the memorial. While he was knowledgeable about the international aspects of the war he also was sure to tie in the local connections.

I don’t want to give too much information from the tour because I really believe if everyone has the chance they should visit. It was incredibly moving and I still think about the things I learned almost every day. If you can please try to go see it yourself.

Bedford Boys Tribute Center

The Bedford Boys Tribute Center (I realize their website isn’t fancy and updated but I promise this is worth it) has just opened in 2022. It is basically a small center built in the old drugstore that honors the lives and families of the boys who lost their lives. It goes into greater detail about the day the telegrams came in announcing the deaths as well as the challenges those who returned home faced.

This is obviously a passion project for the gentleman who led our tour. I hope that it continues to do well. This is a chance to really see how the war affected a small town.

Peaks of Otter

Mom and I have found that when we go on vacation we tend to gravitate toward the mountains. Peaks of Otter is quite near Bedford and the pictures are stunning. Peaks of Otter has a few hikes but the most popular (at least in our research) is Sharp Top Mountain. Natural Bridge is quite close as well as many other outdoor attractions for recreation.

The hike for Sharp Top Mountain is listed as “strenuous” on the internet. We have found “medium” is about as tough as we like to go. But luckily Sharp Top has a shuttle that goes to .25 miles from the top for visitors.

You walk up, take in the views and then have two options to go down. You can either hike the 1.5 miles or catch the shuttle back down.

We took the hike down and I am so glad we did. Hikers are generally friendly people and we met many along with their very friendly pups. It took us about 80 minutes to get down and it was a good workout.

Peaks of Ottery Winery

Neither of us are big drinkers but a local winery with and $8 tasting and lots of sweet wines caught our eye. The Peaks of Otter Winery is a little unassuming but I highly recommend a visit. They have beautiful orchards with over 20 types of wine to choose from. Also there is a drink called “Kiss the Devil” that apparently has a very strong effect on the drinker!

To give you an idea of the feel I asked where the restroom was. They said “building outside with the red roof. You can’t miss it.”

You can also buy fruit, YUMMY apple cider doughnuts and a variety of other items. With the location not too far from Peaks of Otter it was practically on the way home!

They have a nice mix of dry, sweet and sparkling wine. They also sponsor lots of community events and the view is killer.

Restaurants

We took our food with us (part of the reason for the AirBnb) but we did eat out twice. Both were wonderful so I want to share.

In the Air BNB they left a book with the menus for local restaurants and Liberty Station caught my eye. It was in a beautiful historic railroad station and it was the home of Harry’s Famous Cheesecakes. Looking at the menu they had quite a few vegetarian options I don’t usually see in a small town. Every single thing we had was completely delicious. Mom had the Asian Grilled Salmon Salad (she splurged) and I had the Butternut Squash Ravioli. For dessert the waitress said the cheesecake was “very good” but the peach cobbler was “amazing.” She did not mislead us.

After our hike at Sharp Top Mountain we went and head lunch at the Peaks of Otter Lodge. Both of us are vegetarians and we wanted to check out the vegetarian chili. It’s so rare to see on a menu. We also got the Peaks Cauliflower and side salads. Skip the Cauliflower- it’s not worth $9.00. But the chili and side salad were very good. After coming off the mountain we were starving!

Pricing

Overall this trip was pretty frugal for my mom and I for five days. With the exception of souvenirs I tried to break down what we spent for you. I probably missed some bottles of water or other small purchases.

I work while we are on vacation and we cook so we prefer to have a two bedroom place. We also have found that we will pay extra to have two bathrooms as we both enjoy our space. I think the final cost came to be about $160 a night. If it was a couple traveling that need a one bedroom you could go cheaper.

Gas was about $3.12 a gallon during this trip

Appomattox National Park FREE

Poplar Forest and D-Day Memorial Combined Ticket $20 each

Bedford Boys Tribute Center $5 each

Sharp Top Shuttle $12 each

Groceries were about $40 as we took meals we usually eat and raided our own pantries.

Eating Out was $120. We went to some nicer places and had excellent service so tipped well.

Peaks of Otter Winery $16

A Frugal Chick’s Opinion

I highly recommend a visit to Bedford, VA. We picked the dates for this trip because there was a show at the Academy Theater in Lynchburg, VA we wanted to see. The theater is beautiful and Lynchburg certainly has things to offer we did not check out. My mom and I both caught up on sleep and got to spend some relaxing time in nature. I think we could have done a three day trip with this itinerary but we spend that Saturday morning attending the fall festival in downtown Bedford to fill in the time.