Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015 - 48

Immediate right: Watch
movies with the fam at the
nostalgic Family Drive-In
Theatre on U.S. Route 11 in
Stephens City.
Far right: Pig out on some
of the valley's tastiest
barbecue at the Bonnie
Blue Southern Market
and Bakery in Winchester.

Visit

If You Go....
Winchester-Frederick County Convention and Visitors
Bureau
540-542-1326; visitwinchesterva.com
Eat
Bonnie Blue Southern Market and Bakery
334 West Boscawen Street, Winchester
540-686-7490; bonnieblue.us
Village Market & Bistro
2 South Loudoun Street, Winchester
540-313-4680
Stay
The Inn at Vaucluse Spring
231 Vaucluse Spring Lane, Stephens City
540-869-0200; vauclusespring.com
Stay and Play
Lost River State Park
321 Park Dr. , Mathias, West Virginia
304-897-5372; lostriversp.com
Note: There are no restaurants in or near the park,
so take picnic and grilling supplies.
Lost River Artisans Cooperative
7151 WV-259, Lost City, West Virginia
304-897-7242; lostrivercrafts.com

48 BlueRidgeCountry.com

easy to imagine this stretch of road
50 or 60 years ago. I pass old yet stilloperating budget motor inns, roadside fruit stands and finally, a
still-running drive-in movie theater,
one of four still such operational
theaters along Route 11.
The Family Drive-In Theatre in
Stephens City has been open continuously since 1956, and owner
Jim Kopp still has the original projection room and screen intact,
though he recently went digital
with his movies. Though he spent
a career working for the Library of
Congress, drive-in movie theaters
are his first love.
"I grew up in Pittsburgh, and
we used to have 35 drive-in theaters there," he says. "We went to
the drive-in ever y weekend. I
always thought it would be fun to
own one."
Don't be thinking drive-in movies are some outdated piece of nostalgia. Kopp keeps his theater full.
It holds 434 automobiles, and

sometimes patrons have to walk-in
when there is no parking left.
Taking a quick jaunt off Route 11,
I make my way to Richard's Fruit
Market on Middle Road, where proprietor Eddie Richard and his family
raise 15 varieties of apples as well as
peaches, pumpkins, and tomatoes.
The farm has been in the family since
Eddie's great-grandparents bought
the place in 1878. Eddie is the fourth
generation to run it and says he has
the sixth generation living on the
same home place where he grew up.
Eddie has raised all kinds of things,
but notes, "After 28 years of sticking
my fingers into more things than I
could be successful at, I'm coming
back to the basics of growing food."
And that includes not just produce but turkeys. "Turkeys are a
little demanding and always hungry. It's like I'm married to them,"
he quips. "I feed them tomatoes, so
if you buy a turkey from us, you're
essentially buying a turkey marinated in tomatoes."

http://www.visitwinchesterva.com http://www.bonnieblue.us http://www.vauclusespring.com http://www.lostriversp.com http://www.lostrivercrafts.com http://www.BlueRidgeCountry.com

Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2015

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