ABOUT

Hallowed Ground Tours is a small, family business operating in an exciting and historic small Virginia city.  We’re including some informational items about the Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Stafford region to help you enjoy our hometown.  These are just personal thoughts about places and services in our area and are made without expecting or receiving and personal benefit of any kind.  If there’s a web site involved, you can click on the item for a link to that site.  In other cases, we’ve provided names, addresses, and phone numbers.




BATTLEFIELD AREA INTELLIGENCE

Before a battle or a tour, you need information about the area you’re moving into!

If you haven’t already, make sure you check out the Fredericksburg Area Tourism Office which is located at the Visitor Center at 706 Caroline Street in downtown Fredericksburg,  The phone number there is (540) 373-1776 or, toll free, (800) 654-4118.  While it is located in the City, please understand that it serves the entire Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania-Stafford area.

Front Porch is a local, downtown publication that gives lots of information about places and events in our region.  The paper is free and available on racks at the Visitor Center and throughout downtown.




BATTLEFIELD BIVOUACS

Battles and tours leave us tired!  Or, we just have to rest up to carry on tomorrow.  The area has tons of hotel and motel rooms.  So, there are lots of places you may be staying.  If you want to stay downtown in the Historic District, we do have a couple of recommendations.

The Kenmore Inn: (1200 Princess Anne Street; (540) 371-7622) is a wonderful, full service B&B in the Historic District near some of the City’s historic site attractions. Amber and the staff there will take excellent care of you.

Richard Johnston Inn:  Located in the middle of our downtown historic district at 711 Caroline Street (540-899-7606) and offers great accommodations, possibly the best in downtown Fredericksburg..

The Schooler House B & B:  This smaller B & B has a large heart and a great owner / innkeeper.  It’s ideal location at 1303 Caroline Street (540-374-5258) puts it right in the middle of things.




BATTLEFIELD PROVISIONS

Before, during, or after a battle or a tour, you will need to eat.  After all, an army – and visitors –travel on its and their stomach!

And, you have come to a great place to get a meal.  We’ll have to admit that we live in the City near the downtown area.  As you can note on this website, we’re right in the middle of everything but, in the evenings after work and touring, we’re more likely to go downtown . . .  nothing against the wonderful establishments in Spotsylvania or Stafford, we’re just closer downtown and there are any number of wonderful places to snack, eat, or – after a particularly long, hard difficult maneuver – drink (!).

These are listed in alphabetical order so as not to show any favoritism and with our comments.

Bistro Bethem is located at 309 William Street in the downtown area.  Their phone number is (540) 371-9999.  A great place for lunch or dinner and they have a good wine list.  If the Garlic and Stilton appetizer is available, don’t miss it!

Near the Stone Wall / Marye’s Heights section of the Fredericksburg Battlefield, there is a relatively new and good place named the Sunken Well Tavern.  It’s located at the corner of Hanover and Littlepage Streets.  You pass it if you are following the attack routes of Union troops as they attacked the Stone Wall during the battle.  Phone them at:  (540) 370-0911

Poppy Hill Tuscan Kitchen, located at the corner of William and Charles Street (1000 Charles Street) in the downtown historic district, is a fabulous new addition to our local restaurant scene.  You can do your meals outside on the sidewalk in a sun-sheltered area.  If you’re not from this part of Virginia, that outside experience is probably best in the Spring and Fall !  Poppy Hill’s phone number is (540) 373-2035.

Hyperion Espresso is the Tourmaster’s favorite coffee shop and snack stop, plus, it’s in the middle of the downtown area.  (Mrs. Tourmaster accuses the Tourmaster of using the Hyperion as his extended office, but that’s another story!)  Hyperion is located at  301 William Street and you can phone them at 373-4882.  By the way, it’s a cash business, no credit cards accepted.

Kenmore Inn is not only a place to rest but wonderful place to eat.  They have special dinners and tastings to watch for and a nice pub downstairs.   This great restaurant is located at the corner of Lewis and Princess Anne Streets (1200 Princess Anne Street) and the phone is (540) 371-7622.

J. Brian’s is located at  200 Hanover Street (phone: 540-373-0738) and has both a taproom area and a restaurant.  If the weather is mild, you can eat outside.  The tap room has an extensive list of brews on tap and we enjoy the Seafood Bisque, in particular.  The bar area is too smoke-filled for us (and we’ve told Brian about this!) but we just usually hang out in the restaurant or on the porch.

Ristorante Renato, 422William Street (540-371-8228) is last on the list but, quite frankly, first in Mr. & Mrs. Tourmaster’s hearts!  This is where we go both for a special evening out but also for a quick, informal meal, as well.  Renato’s has also been around for years and the current owners have a connection with the original owner, keeping and improving many of the house specials.  Mrs. Tourmaster loves the veal; we all love the Fettuccine Alfredo.  Unbelievably to many of our friends, we also insist on going here for what we consider the best steak in town, bar none: a filet mignon seared in olive oil and garlic before being broiled.  End your evening with Café Diablo which is not only a taste treat but a pure production number created table side!




BATTLEFIELD SCOUTING EXPEDITIONS

If you yourself have the time and resources to check these top-spots out, you may find a goldmine of information!  Send out the scouts immediately–but you’d better leave the Confederate paper money at home.

Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center:  Housed in the old Town Hall just off Market Square at 907 Princess Anne Street, this is a great place to start and learn about the area.  In conjunction with the museum, Hallowed Ground Tours offers an Architectural Walking Tour of the Historic District.  Tickets for that tour, which include museum admission, are sold at the downtown Visitor Center, 706 Caroline Street.  You can call the Museum at (540) 371-3037.  For more info about the architectural tour, check our tour list.

Kenmore Plantation Fredericksburg had one of the largest plantations around! Home of local Colonial leader, Fielding Lewis and his wife, Betty Washington Lewis (yes!  That Washington !), this elegant brick mansion is just being completely refurbished.  See it at 1201 Washington Avenue or call them at (540) 373-3381.

James Monroe Museum This site houses items belonging to Elizabeth and James Monroe, who practiced law following the Revolutionary War in a building on this site.  There are hundreds of fascinating artifacts and documents handed down through the Monroe family and available for display and study.  This is located at 908 Charles Street and can be reached by phone at (540) 654-1043.

The White Oak Museum (540.371-4234) is located at 985 White Oak Road (Route 218 East) in Stafford County, beyond Chatham Manor and is across the road from the White Oak Primitive Baptist Church, site of a period Civil War Photograph. The owner has spent the past 40 years visiting plowed fields and home excavation sites and collecting relics tossed aside by the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac which used the area as a campground for over a year during the war. This wonderful museum is unique to our area with a collection of bullets that is unbelievable!

Ferry Farm:  (George Washington’s Boyhood Home) is just across the river from the Fredericksburg City Docks (the “Middle Pontoon Crossing” during the Civil War) and is just emerging – though fabulous archeology – as a ‘must see’ site.  The “Farm” is located East of the City on VA Route 3 and can be reached by phone at (540) 370-0732.

Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop:  Also an APVA (Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities), the Apothecary Shop can show you the old way to cure what ails you.  Then, there are the larger than life leeches.  That’s the way it was at 1020 Caroline Street, downtown.

Mary Washington House:    Yes, in her later life, George’s Mom moved into town.  The furnished home and garden are a great stop during your visit.  One of four properties in Fredericksburg managed by the APVA (Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities), you can stop by 1200 Charles Street.

Rising Sun Tavern:  Don’t show up at this APVA (Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) property expecting to get something to eat or drink.  They .lost their license over a 100 years ago !  A great place to visit and learn about old motels.  The tavern wenches that take you around know a thing or two at 1304 Caroline Street.

We like to say that using Hallowed Ground Tours as your guide service allows you to get “beyond the streets and Stone Wall” to see the entire local area:  Spotsylvania and Stafford Counties, as well as other parts of the City of Fredericksburg.  Other local, downtown tour options are available, as well.

The Trolley Tours:  For a  wonderful, informative overview tour of downtown Fredericksburg, we recommend the Trolley Tours, leaving a scheduled intervals from the downtown Visitor Center where tickets can be purchased at the counter.  The trolley driver is also your tour guide.

Old Towne Carriage Tours:  This regularly scheduled tour of the downtown area leaves from the Visitor Center and rolls through the streets via horse and buggy allowing you a leisurely look at the Historic District.  Your driver gives excellent narratives along the way.




BATTLEFIELD BOTTLES

From all of the stories (real or imagined) of the Civil War era, Generals seemed to have an affinity for bottled liquids!

Near the site of an 1863 cavalry engagement at Hartwood Presbyterian Church is the excellent Hartwood Winery, located on Hartwood Road off of Warrenton Road (U.S. 17) northwest of Fredericksburg.  Every army needs bottled supplies and Hartwood Winery’s are excellent and local.  (Don’t listen to the owner’s stories about the Tourmaster’s past life, though.)

In Stafford County, Potomac Point Vineyards has created a great wine experience.  Best reached by getting off of Interstate 95 at Exit 148 and following the signs to the site.  The Tourmaster has rarely had a more extensive tasting (13 different wines) and the kitchen has nice soups, salads, and sandwiches, as well.  (There is an extensive menu beyond those items.)  If your were phoning them, try (540) 446-2266.  Their GPS address is:  275 Decatur Road, Stafford, VA  22554.