We were thrilled to see Travel + Leisure’s April article about weekend getaways. The cat’s out of the bag about our alluring region:

East of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Piedmont region of Virginia still has the same rolling hills and fields that captivated Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe—only now it lures the likes of locals John Grisham and Robert Duvall. Country lanes wind through villages of trim clapboard structures and around pastures framed by white fences. Recently, progressive farms and serious wineries have blossomed, but life continues at a blissfully slow pace.

The article calls out Middleburg, Little Washington, Culpeper’s moonshine, and Madison’s quilt shop. Last but not least: Charlottesville, of course, where “a free-speech monument—a massive slate wedge with chalk for passersby to scrawl their thoughts—was just unveiled in front of City Hall. Our founding fathers would be proud.”