It depends on what floats your boat... and other caveats

Actually, Historic Appomattox is in APPOMATTOX COUNTY. The above-described ';Wynhurst'; is a bit of a joke. Businesses there are not making it (for the most part), the houses are all CRAMMED together on tiny lots. The construction is shoddy (the company who built it has a reputation for structures that look pretty decent when new but do not hold up in the long run), and the homeowner%26#39;s association is not the easiest to deal with (forget about much originality in landscaping/exteriors).

The place kind of reminds me of the old Zork video games...surreal, fake, creepy, and way overpriced compared to what you get.

You might want to consider Amherst county, just over the river from L%26#39;burg and taxes that are HALF that of the latter.

Central Virginia is an ok place to live. There is not much to do in the way of culture/arts. There exists a HUGE redneck-type population. If you are an intellectural sort of person you will not be thrilled with this area, unless you somehow attach yourself to one of the colleges here. However, another important caveat: this burg gets called ';Jerryland'; due to the overbearing presence of Jerry Falwell and his Liberty University.

As to the restaurants, *please*, *please*, ***PLEASE**, don%26#39;t lie about it, ok?

The town is overflowing with tacky, nasty chain restaurants...very much a cookie-cutter sort of dining and shopping here, its really quite sad for those of us who have enjoyed great independent restaurants around the globe. Yes, people eat out a lot, but it%26#39;s because there is fricking nothing else to do, and the choices suck horribly. If you can think of a chain restaurant (except not any neat ones like Cheesecake Factory), L%26#39;burg probably has it, more%26#39;s the pity. but for ambience, and a true dining experience, there is NOTHING here, except possibly the Indian restaurant -- but my British friends say it is not terribly authentic, even though we go there a lot, since it beats the heck out of Applebees, TGIF, Olive Garden and other barfbag chains.

Ok, now if you won%26#39;t miss cultural perks that you undoubtedly have in Pittsburgh, and just want to live like a hermit, yes, you can find a place to do it here. I can%26#39;t think of anything else to redeem this place.

You%26#39;d be better off in Southern Maryland (country, but near DC), or the Shenandoah Valley (Roanoke, not too far from DC either), or Charlottesville (Nelson and Amherst are still affordable and a fairly short drive to C%26#39;ville, which has much more cultural offerings and an educated populace).

If you cannot abide rednecks and bible thumpers, PLEASE save yourself and do not move here.

It depends on what floats your boat... and other caveats

Okay, well obviously you have never lived in Lynchburg. I%26#39;m sorry if you are some stuck up snob that was expecting designer shops, but thats not Lynchburg. That%26#39;s not what I grew up loving. This city has some great, classy, elegant restaurants. Did you try Isabellas, or Mary Weathers, or Boonsboro Country Club, or Oakwood Country Club, or any of the fine dining yet delicious restauraunts??? Obviously not. You saw Mcdonalds and Hardees and completely shut out any chance of actually enjoying yourself. If you have read this and been turned off by this review, I%26#39;m completely sorry. Lynchburg is amazing, and you should give it a chance. The majority of the population are NOT rednecks, so I do not know what she is talking about. There are many things to do if you are trying to have a good time. There are cute shops, a pretty good mall, many great things for kids like Amazement Square, putt putt, Tiny Town, Fun quest, and soo many others. Don%26#39;t be turned off by the review above this one. Obviously this person did not know what she/he was talking about.

It depends on what floats your boat... and other caveats

So, Strikazlinka, it%26#39;s almost a year later. Have you tried the new Shoemakers restaurant? What did you think? I%26#39;ll be visiting L-burg again soon. Is it worth a try?

Wow, read this because it was bumped up. Is the poster for REAL? Sheesh? Who peed in her cereal? If you don%26#39;t like living somewhere, well, last I checked, you are allowed to MOVE! (And your neighbors will probably cheer.)

Yea, I would say if there is one reason to NOT visit the area - it is because this person LIVES there, not because of anything they wrote.

Yes, this person began posting one day with a post on Lynchuburg and one in response to another Lynchburg forum post. He/she followed the latter for about a month and that was that. Some people will just steer clear of the trolls and some will believe them. But I think after several of S%26#39;s vehement posts one can tell what%26#39;s going on.

Lynchburg is actually a small city, very unusual in that is has some very tall buildings, city amentiies, busy weekday traffic downtown, an airport, etc. and yet somehow has a great small town feel to people from the mega cities...where we were from at one point. Lynchburg is a regional magnet...great hospital services, lots of art galleries, good restaurants (nearly every usual chain but also the privately owned ones) and nearly every chain hotel (and yet some beautiful b%26amp;bs as well). Many colleges as well.

During the 1800s - mid I think - Lynchburg was the second wealthiest city in the country (after New Bedford, Mass.) and countless grand mansions were built, streets paved in brick. Many of those mansions remain as do the brick streets. Many of the brick streets paved over with modern asphalt, people thinking that was the right thing to do, are now uncovered or are being uncovered to atest to the city%26#39;s appreciation of the historic. Lynchburg has ... six...I think it is...historic districts and even now we can%26#39;t believe the thousands of square feet in those mansions:)

People visiting Lynchburg are surprised to find so much to do and so much history there since Lynchburg%26#39;s first priority in marketing is not tourism, although they seem to appreciate it. They seem to have a lot of wealth otherwise. Lynchburg has so much business, many high tech companies, lots of engineers who have moved - and companies which have moved - from the north.

There are still the lovely old fashioned ice cream socials and garden clubs and supper clubs; still the southern 4-5 day wedding celebrations; the family oil painting above the fireplace, children sitting for the family artist who has painted a few generations and whom they fly into town to paint the newest one. Lynchburg is definitely family oriented.

There is the street on one side of town which people call ';restaurant row'; where many of the big box chains have been built around shopping plazas and the shopping mall.

And Lynchburg is surrounded by countryside, cattle farms, dairy farms, fields and mountains.

Here%26#39;s that other thread S began to give you an example of the posts...and people%26#39;s responses about Lynchburg. And to give you a better impresssion of that city.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g57919-i1983-k1080…

Strong opinions don%26#39;t bother me, although I, too, am sad for a city dweller stuck in the country or vice versa. Really, I was just asking if anyone had tried Shoemakers, the new restaurant in the Craddock Terry Hotel, in preparation for upcoming travel.

We haven%26#39;t tried Showmaker%26#39;s ourselves but good friends have and they all enjoyed the food and service. It seems they have gotten over their starting out hump and have it together and do a great job. Some say their prices are higher but it turns out they%26#39;re no higher than any other area excellent restaurant.

They also did a beautiful restoration job.

Thanks, Explorer 3. You%26#39;re always a great resource for the area.

I give a very high recommendation to the Millstone Tea Room out in the country just west of Lynchburg. One of the finest small restaurants in Virginia and very comparable to the best in other major cites. I will be trying Shoemakers on my next rip in a few weeeks. I also have heard the new place next to Randolph College is excellent. It moved from the site of the new Wal-Mart on Forest.

Thanks, Badger. I appreciate the recommendations for my next trip.

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