Picturesque Lexington sits west of the Natchez Trace along I-81 about 138 miles west of Richmond. A town of about 7,000 people, it grew around Washington University, founded in 1749. The visitor center provides maps of selfguided tours to Lexington’s attractions and the location where the film Sommersby was shot. Horsedrawn carriages clop downtown’s streets, which are lined with meticulously restored Federal and Victorian buildings.

Lexington’s main attractions start with the Washington and Lee University, the nation’s sixth-oldest college. When President Washington donated stock to the college, its founders bestowed his name; they added “Lee” at the end of the Civil War. Setting up home on campus, General Lee became the college’s president from 1865 until his death in 1870. Lee is buried in Lee Chapel, which now houses a museum; his horse, Traveler, is buried in the campus yard.

Nearby is the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). Stonewall Jackson taught artillery tactics and physics before he took a posting with the Confederate army in 1861. But it was the celebrated Battle of New Market in 1864 that saw 257 cadets gain glory. Using skills learned in the classroom, the cadets won the battle with only 10 deaths, including the son of Thomas Jefferson.

The VMI Museum features a host of military regalia including the coat Jackson wore when he was mortally shot at Chancellorsville.

Another graduate from VMI was the Nobel Peace Prize-winner General George Marshall, who was instrumental in designing the Marshall Plan, the post-World War II reconstruction blueprint for Europe. The George C. Marshall Museum features his life’s work.

Stonewall Jackson’s unpretentious townhouse, built in 1801, now showcases personal mementos belonging to the general. On South Main Street is the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery. Other than Lee, Jackson was the South’s most revered commander who led the Confederate army’s first victorious charge at Bull Run, in 1861. Lexington features over 35 historic B&B establishments.

An airport is at Roanoke, 50 miles south by I-81, and there is bus service to Washington, DC.