Book details 13 driving routes in Shenandoah region

View larger image Andrea Sutcliffe, author of “Touring the Shenandoah Valley Backroads,” stands by her vehicle at the covered bridge near Mt. Jackson, one of the many attractions she lists in her book. Andrew Thayer/Daily Upcoming Appearances Andrea Sutcliffe will be a guest speaker at the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival Guild luncheon on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at Johnny Appleseed Restaurant at 162 W. Old Cross Road in New Market. Reservations are required by today by calling 459-1699. A reception and book signing with Sutcliffe will be held on Nov. 6 at 4 p.m. at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church fellowship hall at 319 Orkney Grade in Basye, sponsored by the Basye-Orkney Springs Community Library. Recommend This Print This Get E-mail News Alerts Buy Photos/Page Reprints * Breaking News If local news is breaking and you know about it: * Call Us: 800-296-5137 * E-mail Us * Upload Your Photos View larger image The cover of “Touring the Shenandoah Valley Backroads” is shown. Below is a map of Tour 6 from the book. Sutcliffe recommends this tour, which goes from Woodstock to Lost City, W.Va., to Columbia Furnace, for some good dirt roads and mountain scenery. Andrew Thayer/Daily View larger image

By Jessica Wiant - jwiant@nvdaily.com

With this book in hand, there's no need for a TomTom.

It's probably no accident that the second edition of Andrea Sutcliffe's "Touring the Shenandoah Valley Backroads" was released this month, just in time for scenic fall drives.

The book was first published by John F. Blair in 1999, but Sutcliffe said in a phone interview that she approached the publisher last year about doing a revision because the book was getting dated.

Like the first edition, the second outlines 13 tours with specific driving directions. The first starts off Interstate 81's Exit 317 in Clear Brook, and each tour from there starts a little farther to the south. Tour 13 ends in Buchanan, not far from Roanoke.

The book covers the stories of places that local residents are sure to be familiar with, such as Belle Grove Plantation and downtown Winchester, but also includes lesser known tidbits about the region's history.

One example Sutcliffe pointed to is information about George Washington's ties to Winchester -- and how as a representative for Frederick County in the Virginia House of Burgesses he introduced a bill to keep hogs off the streets there.

Her approach, similar to the other books in the Backroads series by Blair, results in a quick but fairly complete history of the valley, organized along certain driving routes.

When Sutcliffe originally moved to the valley in the 1990s, she said, she knew she wanted to write a book about the area.

She'd always been enamored with the valley, calling it one of the most beautiful places in the world.

"It's as pretty as anywhere," she said.

The driving tour approach to the book was a great way to help her get to know the valley better, she explained. Meanwhile, Blair, it so happened, had been looking for someone to do a Virginia edition for its series of books, she said.

The first task in doing the book was to learn the history of the region, according to Sutcliffe, and from there, to plot out routes on an atlas.

History drives the tours, and not the other way around, she said.

"As in the other volumes in this series, the goal of this book is to bring history to life for backroads travelers by pointing out significant places and events along the way," the book's preface states.

It took about eight months for Sutcliffe to revisit all the tours and update the book for the second edition, she said. She drove each tour again, and spent a lot of time checking road names to make sure her directions were still accurate.

A lot of areas have turned from backroads scenery to housing subdivisions in the time between editions, she explained, but there have been mostly good changes -- like more restorations and museums, including the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester.

The proliferation of the Internet in the past decade also allowed her to find more history to include in the book, according to Sutcliffe.

For example, she found a house in Augusta County that served as home to artist Grandma Moses when she was a young woman.

Sutcliffe didn't rely on the Internet entirely, however. She pointed out that she still returned to the written sources, like other books and libraries, as well. In fact, the book features an extensive appendix with contact information for chambers of commerce, museums, heritage societies and more in the tour areas and a bibliography of other sources.

An index also allows for quick look-ups.

Sutcliffe recommends tours 1 (Clear Brook to Martinsburg, W.Va.) and 2 (Charles Town, W.Va., to Harpers Ferry, W.Va., to Shepherdstown, W.Va.) for pretty fall drives. For some good dirt roads and mountain scenery, she recommends Tour 6 (Woodstock to Lost City, W.Va., to Columbia Furnace) or driving along Massanutten Mountain to the Woodstock Tower, which is featured in Tour 5.

John F. Blair, the publisher of "Touring the Shenandoah Valley Backroads," is currently featuring a contest for a chance to win a copy of the second edition of the book. To enter, submit a favorite photo taken in the Shenandoah Valley by sending it to blairpublishing@yahoo.com with "Photo Contest" in the subject line. Include a sentence or two about where and when the picture was taken. A winner will be selected on Oct. 25 and posted on the publisher's blog.

For more information about the contest and the book, go online to www.blairpub.com.

Upcoming appearances
• Andrea Sutcliffe will be a guest speaker at the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival Guild luncheon on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at Johnny Appleseed Restaurant at 162 W. Old Cross Road in New Market. Reservations are required by today by calling 459-1699.

• A reception and book signing with Sutcliffe will be held on Nov. 6 at 4 p.m. at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church fellowship hall at 319 Orkney Grade in Basye, sponsored by the Basye-Orkney Springs Community Library.