VIRGINIA BY STAGECOACH

Travel in old Virginia was many things, but it was never dull. Stagecoaches were the primary means of transport, carrying mail as well as passengers. Trips that now take hours lasted for days. Coach trips could be dangerous, and all-hands situations arose quickly. A traveler might need to apply horsemanship, carpentry, leather-mending or the sheer brawny effort of shoving the coach out of a muddy ditch. Inns across the state catered to stagecoach riders and acted as community gathering places. Some still stand, like the Rising Sun Tavern in Fredericksburg and Michie Tavern in Charlottesville. Author Virginia Johnson relates tales of those wild early days on the road.