The town of Front Royal takes its name, perhaps apocryphally, from a Revolutionary War drill sergeant who, since his troops were unable to tell their left from their right, was forced to shout out “Front Royal Oak” to get them to face the same way. Front Royal (pop. 13,589) sits just south of I-66 at the entrance to Shenandoah National Park. Because of its key location, Front Royal has grown unwieldy in past decades but retains some semblance of its 19th-century self along Chester Street, a well-maintained historic district at the center of town, a block east of US-340. You can also rent a boat and float along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, thanks to the friendly folks at the Front Royal Canoe Company (540/635-5440).
You’ll find walking-tour maps and other information at the visitors center (540/635-5788 or 800/338-2576) at 414 E. Main Street, which is housed in an old train depot. The usual battery of fast-food franchises line US-340 from the freeway south through town, as does Sandy’s Diner (540/635-2911), 1718 Shenandoah Avenue just south of the Shenandoah River bridge; and motels like the Twi-Lite (540/635-4148) at 53 W. 14th Street or the Twin Rivers (540/635-4101), 1801 Shenandoah Avenue, a mile south of I-66/Hwy-7.
At the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, 26 miles southeast of Front Royal via US-522, pristine, colonial Washington (pop. 200) was surveyed by the future father of the United States, George Washington, who named many of the streets after friends and family. The main attraction here is the Inn at Little Washington at Main and Middle Streets (540/675-3800), one of the few Mobil five-star resort hotels in the country, though with room rates starting at over $350 a night and dinners averaging $100 a head (plus wine and tip), it’s definitely a special-occasion place to stay or eat. It’s worth it though: A critic for The New York Times said his dinner there was “the most fantastic meal of my life.”
