Meadowlark and Vienna

 

After a morning visit to Meadowlark Gardens for a walk and to see how the cherry blossom was progressing, we headed into the small town of Vienna for lunch and a look around.

 

As it was very warm - 23C - we were able to have lunch sitting outside at a Japanese restaurant.  Very pleasant but rather surreal to have such a warm and even muggy, cloudy, day when there are still heaps of ploughed snow in shaded areas where paths and roads have been cleared!

 

After lunch we walked along Church Street which has quite a few historic buildings, the old railway station on the Washington and Old Dominion line (now a trail and cycle path) and, of course, a church.  

 

We last visited Vienna and walked around in the first few weeks that I was in the US but on that occasion the historic Freeman Store (dating back to 1859) was not open.  

 

It is now a museum, historic country store and visitor centre restored and run by Historic Vienna Inc. and we were able to look around at some of the exhibits showing the history of Vienna (originally named Ayr Hill by the first, Scottish settlers there) and of the railway and its impact on the town.

 

Upstairs two rooms are set out as for a late nineteenth century parlour and dining room for a middle class or merchant family.

 

We also visited the original Vienna Library building with its mini-me tiny library in front..

 

 

The 'real' Vienna Library is up the road, larger, built in red brick and considerably less photogenic than the original but small 1897 one.