Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 2, 1993 TAG: 9311020182
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CAROLYN R. WILSON (BRISTOL) HERALD-COURIER
DATELINE: ABINGDON LENGTH: Medium
For the past year or so, Coletti has gathered information about the region for the Washington County Historical Society and the Washington County Preservation Foundation. After reading dozens of history books, scouting back roads and interviewing natives, Coletti, formerly of Kansas, is more acquainted with Washington County than are many of its lifelong residents.
Because she's anxious to share her affection for Southwest Virginia, Coletti and her husband, Benny, have developed Countryside Tours, which includes four excursions for anyone who is hungry for a dose of the outdoors and a heap of history to go with it.
Coletti believes her previous experience as a tour guide in Charleston, S.C., and at a living-history museum, Old World Wisconsin, qualifies her to unveil some of this region's splendor to tourists and residents. Talking about history and architecture comes naturally for the historian. She studied art at Washburn University and preservation and curatorial studies at the University of Wisconsin. Years ago, she was an interior designer in Chicago.
She is offering her tours to help people entertain out-of-town guests, but she believes that a lot of locals are interested in learning more about their homes.
Coletti recently conducted a countryside tour for Washington County history and social studies teachers.
"I've received so much pleasure from this area," she said. "The privilege of living in such a beautiful place is great. And there is no better way to see the charm and beauty of old Washington County and neighboring counties than on a personally conducted tour."
"Southwest Virginia has its own unique regional differences, totally unlike Williamsburg, New England, Charleston and the deep South, the North, the West and the Midwest," said Coletti, a naturalist and environmentalist. "Our scenery is diverse with valley conditions centered along the main corridor north and south, the rising mountain peaks of Jefferson National Forest on the left and right. The Ice Age left us with timeless views. Old homes, mills and cemeteries still stand as statements to the past."
All tours cover 70 to 100 miles in and around Washington County and last about two hours. The fee for one to three people is $50, and most participants are met by the Colettis at locations between Abingdon and Marion. The year-round tours are conducted from the comfort of the Colettis' family car. "My husband does the driving, and I do the talking," she said.
Tours are tailored to individual interests and vary according to requests. Tour I is a scenic tour, Tour II covers the Virginia Creeper Trail, Tour III features historical points of interest and Tour IV focuses on preservation.
The scenic tour may include visits to waterfalls in Damascus, Konnarock and along Toole Creek Road, north of Abingdon. Her tourists travel close to the Appalachian Trail, visit the site where Daniel Boone camped at Cripple Creek and view seasonal nature while meandering country roads alongside tumbling rivers. The tour includes a trip to Whitetop Mountain, Virginia's second-highest elevation.
The second tour allows participants to get better acquainted with the Virginia Creeper Trail, a well-maintained nature trail that begins in Abingdon and extends to the North Carolina state line.
The third tour focuses on the historic points of the county, such as old homes, mills, churches, sites of battlefields, early forts, archaeological digs in Saltville and Daniel Boone country. The Colettis may choose to drive tourists past historical homes, such as Brook Hall in Glade Spring, the Meadows in Abingdon and the Edmondson, McNew and Ryburn homesteads in the county. "There's an amazing amount of 18th-century homesteads still standing in fields."
Another historical focus of the tour is battlefields in the region, such as the Battle of Kennedy Mill at the South Fork of Holston River. Coletti can indicate where original forts were located in the county.
The fourth tour, the preservation tour, is special because the Colettis open the doors of their own vintage home in Washington County for a firsthand lesson in restoration.
by CNB