It’s such a lucky find you might not really want to tell anyone about it, this treasure trove of 18th- and 19th-century Southern culture, architecture, charm and gentility, all wrapped up in a 21st century aesthetic.

Abingdon, Va. is one of those rare places where you can surely... (take a deep breath) relax, enjoy the perfect inn, wander in the shadow of 200-year-old buildings, feel history, bask in the thrall of first-rate theater, roam acres of antique shops and specialty boutiques, find a plethora of fine restaurants, fine arts, an exceptional spa, and still have only touched the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The oldest town west of the Blue Ridge and chartered in 1778, it is a modern oasis where history is juxtaposed with the exact amenities discerning travelers crave.

My own personal history with Abingdon goes back to my grandmother, who went to finishing school here 100 years ago, and takes up again in the 1960s, when I was a child and my family stayed in Abingdon’s Virginia Landmark Martha Washington Inn. From that wonderful hostelry, we walked across the street to the Barter Theatre to see “Arsenic and Old Lace.” The play was the first of several indelible marks made on me by stage productions, all of which led me to thespian pursuits in Manhattan during my 20s.

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