The Inn at the Olde Silk Mill (1707 Princess Anne Street, 540-371-5666) was an 80-year-old, long, two-story, wooden building that didn’t really stand out at first glance. The interior, though, was resplendent. The rooms were lovingly renovated to provide guests with subdued luxury and a sense of stepping back in time. Although the Inn sat slightly outside of Old Town Fredericksburg, it possessed the same character as the Old Town area. As with Old Town streets, rooms at the Inn at the Olde Silk Mill also bore the names of British royalty, though for different reasons. The Queen Elizabeth Room was named for the owner’s sister and the King Edward Room for his father.

The Inn’s décor was antique-chic with heavily carved Queen Anne furniture throughout. King and queen suites had four-poster beds that stood waist-high and were topped with pillow-top mattresses and adorned with red-and-gold brocade shams and comforters. Cream-and-red toile silk curtains hung in every room as an homage to the building out back, where a silk mill once operated.

After getting settled, Dawn and I traveled a few blocks north to what we thought would be a kitschy dive, but the 2400 Diner (2400 Princess Anne Street, 540-373-9049) was anything but. When we saw the large neon sign proclaiming “Let’s Eat” and the flashing arrow pointing to the front door, we expected the fare to be typical greasy spoon. But what we discovered was delightful surprise.

The interior harked back to the ’50s: checkerboard floors and a row of post-mounted stools along a long, gleaming counter. As expected, the menu contained plenty of inexpensive American cuisine, but the house specialties were a variety of delicious Greek dishes. The waitress informed us that the owners were Greek and cooked all the specialties themselves. Dawn ordered one of her favorite Greek standards, gyros, and I experimented with a dish I’d never had before: dolmadakia (ground beef and rice wrapped in grape leaves and coated with a lemon sauce). I must have moaned in delight when I took my first bite because Dawn started laughing at my reaction. What can I say? It was delicious and I was enjoying it too much to care what I looked (or sounded) like.

The next morning, we skirted the Rappahannock River and walked through the Historic Mill District. At one time, the river provided power to a host of mills that lined its shore, and a means of transportation for their wares as well. Now the buildings stand defunct, worn at the edges by time and covered with climbing vines. Markers on Sophia Street explain what businesses occupied the various dilapidated buildings and what impact they had on the local community.

Later in the day, we picked up a map for a self-guided tour of Old Town Fredericksburg, and our “Continental” experience went from Greek to Irish. We stopped in to eat at a lovely little restaurant called The Blarney Stone and reveled in the Celtic music coming over the speakers and the Irish specialties on the menu. We each ordered the shepherd's pie, and I added on the soup of the day (potato leek), which was delicious. Even so, when the pies came, I was regretting that choice. They were HUGE. Champ that I am, I finished mine off, but Dawn, wimp that she is, had to get a doggie bag for hers.

Wandering brick sidewalks along the streets of Old Town, we passed scores of antique shops and one-of-a-kind, owner-operated boutiques. We gazed in windows, ooh-ing and ah-ing, then continued our loop past some of the historic sites. We walked in the back gate at the James Monroe Museum to check out their garden but got sidetracked. There was a bust of Monroe on a pedestal, and I stopped to take a picture.

“He needs glasses,” Dawn said. Then she placed her glasses on the bust and held them on while hiding behind the pedestal. “Take a picture,” she said, laughing. I did. Then she snapped one of me in an imaginary heated discussion with the President. That was about the time when we discovered we were being watched through a window by the museum curator. Dawn hid her face in embarrassment and we both had a good laugh.

We continued our circuit through Old Town, and after a while we heard a strange keening in the distance—a caterwauling that can be confused with no other. We heard bagpipes. And they were coming closer. We hurried the block-and-a-half that separated us from the music and saw a procession heading into a building. When we got there, we found it was, of course, a pub. This one was called the Otter House, and there were two men in kilts playing “Scotland the Brave” outside the front door on the sidewalk. The tiny parade was organized to celebrate the arrival of the pub’s mascot, a stuffed otter. Because, you know, nothing says Scotland like a stuffed otter.

We listened to the bagpipers while they played several tunes, then went upstairs where the crowd was celebrating. Dawn followed the two bagpipers up the stairs and snuck over to me by the bar. "I always wondered about the rumor that Scotsmen didn't wear anything under their kilts,” she said. “So I bent down to take a peek."

I burst out in laughter. "Well?"

"The rumor's true."

We hung around the Old Town area until it got dark and the wreath-adorned lamps lit up with Christmas lights and bright stars dangled from branches jutting out over the streets. Gazing down the street, it seemed like we had stepped out of real life and into a scene from It’s a Wonderful Life. Brightly colored buildings, shoppers with metallic gift bags, music flowing from shops, leaves whirling on the breeze and everyone bundled up. It made us sorry we had to leave.

But there is more of Virginia to explore, more adventures to embark upon, and, I hope, more surprises to encounter. And if they are only half as lovely as those we discovered in Fredericksburg, the trip will be well worth it.

NOTE: Those interested in taking walking tours of Fredericksburg should go to the Fredericksburg Visitor Center (706 Caroline Street, 1-800-678-4748). The Visitor Center provides maps for the self-guided tours, but you can also choose to take a one-hour guided tour that winds through town and finishes at the Fredericksburg Area Museum, whose admission is included with the tour fare. Another option is a 75-minute trolley tour of the historic district. Call 540-898-0737 for more information.

1/5/10 4:08 PM