This past weekend we visited what is known as the “little Switzerland” of Virginia. Located in the Allegheny Mountains this is an area that can claim some of the highest elevations east of the Mississippi River. We drove through a section of the George Washington National Forest up through the mountains on steep, winding roads to arrive at our first stop on the trail of the 57th annual Highland Maple Festival. We were set to arrive in the town of McDowell at 10 am to meet with our friends Shannon & Blake. We made a brief detour along the way to visit part of the earthworks that are still standing from The Battle of McDowell which is a Civil War site.
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Our stop made us realize that it was a pretty but chilly morning with a brisk breeze probably made worse by the altitude. Despite our diversion we arrived in town a little early and decided to meander while awaiting the arrival of our friends.
Stonewall Ruritan of McDowell (note the tent frame in foreground that the wind blew down)
Crafts vendors outside the Ruritan
The center of activity in McDowell was the Ruritan Center which housed a very popular “all you can eat” pancake breakfast featuring the locally produced buckwheat flour and maple syrup. There were also numerous crafts and food vendors on site.
The line for pancakes stretched through the entire building.
The artisans were extremely friendly and informative about how they created their works being especially attentive to Damian and the numerous other kids. The prices were extremely reasonable and a few jewelry items and a hand-knitted hat found their way into my shopping bag. The hero of the day, at least in my guy’s minds, was the gentleman manning the freshly made pork rinds kettle. He also obviously took a great deal of pride in his product and filled Damian with facts about porcine by-product production. Don insisted I try one from the 2 enormous bags he and Damian were drooling in and although I find the thought of them repulsive I will admit they had a light, airy texture and not unpleasant taste.
The pork rind man
Despite the early crowds we found Shannon & Blake who were staying the weekend at a friend’s nearby cabin. Roy, the cabin owner, became our de-facto tour guide. It was decided that we would beat the crowds (who were obviously still gorging on pancakes) and head out to Eagle’s Sugar Camp.
Heading out to the sugar camp.
Eagle’s has been producing maple syrup for over 200 years and combines both old school and modern methods of collection and production. Maples are usually tapped beginning at 30 to 40 years of age. Each tree can support between one and three taps, depending on its trunk diameter. The average maple tree will produce about 9 to 13 gallons of sap per season. Seasons last for four to eight weeks, depending on the weather. Some producers also tap in autumn, though this practice is less common than spring tapping. Maples can continue to be tapped for sap until they are over 100 years old. No one knows how Native Americans discovered maple syrup (the sap itself tastes kind of like water) but one legend says that they cooked something in the tree’s sap which concentrated the sugars and the rest is history.
Sap collecting in metal buckets. (old school)
A three bucket trunk!
Modern method of collection with tubing and large reservoirs.
Once the sap is collected it’s taken to the ‘sugar shack’ which is a building louvered at the top to vent the steam from the boiling sap. Eagle’s camp has both open pan wood-fired evaporators and the modern computerized oil-fired evaporators. The smell of the wood smoke & the amazing maple donuts intoxicated me (remember – I don’t drink during Lent).
Don, Blake & Damian in the wood fired room.
The Sugar Shack
Shannon & Roy in the modern processing room.
A view of Eagle’s Camp from further up the mountain.
Naturally, there is a large gift shop on site and I couldn’t resist a few more purchases.
Don’s pork rinds & my donuts, syrup, honey and adorable bunny shaped lollipops for my grandkids. (Don’t tell them!)
A death-defying drive over the mountain led us to our next stop: The Virginia Trout Company. This was definitely the highlight of the trip for Damian, my nature lover. Shannon knows how much Damian loves aquatic life (she bought him a very cute quartz-like rock with a tiny turtle on it from one of the crafts tables). Highland county is full of natural springs and this water flows through the pools of the hatchery year round. These trout are raised without the use of supplemental hormones or antibiotics. Every three months, the Company begins a new hatch of rainbow trout eggs, shepherding the fish through larger and larger tanks until they are moved outdoors. The trout are used for live-stocking and sold to restaurants. They also sell the local favorite, trout sandwich on premises. Delicate and flaky huge fillets fried golden are served on a bun with tarter sauce. Delicious.
Damian & fish friends
The trout pools
Shannon & Damian feeding the fish who are jumping out of the water for the food.
We bid our fish friends a fond farewell and jumped back in the cars to head to Monterey. North Water Street seemed to be the main drag and once again we found many local crafts vendors, a food court, several historic structures and another Virginia volcano!
Vestiges of a prehistoric volcano.
Grilled pork with a maple syrup based bbq sauce.
Local woodworker using a foot powered lathe.
The Highland Inn was known for 75 years as the landmark “Hotel Monterey” and opened in 1904. It is booked solid during the Maple Festival.
On top of the building behind me is a trout.
The historic Highland Inn
This red shack sold maple donuts. The line was the length of several blocks.
Our final destination was the Highland County Museum & Heritage Center which was hosting an encampment of Civil War reenactors. They had already pulled up stakes by the time we arrived since it was now late Sunday afternoon. Since Don was both a Union and Confederate reenactor in a past life we didn’t mind missing the encampment and instead checked out the exhibits and video on the Battle of McDowell. (Don was a Private in the 15th NJ Regiment but a Sargent in the Stonewall Brigade. Obviously the Rebs had more appreciation for his talents, which included spitting moonshine into the campfire to make a big flame and a slovenly appearance.)
The three hour journey home was looming ahead of us so we decided to call it a day. If we did not have the advantage of Roy, Shannon & Blake as our tour guides we would never have been able to cover as much ground as we did in a single day. This is definitely a weekend excursion if you want to fully appreciate all the Festival has to offer.
The scenery isn’t too shabby either.
Highland County
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