Lexington VA

September 2024

I stopped by Lexington on the way back from a Renaissance Faire. It was late afternoon on a beautiful late summer day and I definitely had enough time to spend an hour or two exploring a new place.

Lexington is a small town in western Virginia (not West Virginia), home of the Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University, as well as the several connections to the American Civil War.

I didn’t explore any of that on my quick swing through town, instead just ambling down a few of its charming streets lined with brick buildings and lots of cute shops. Not surprisingly but gratifyingly for a college town, in a 2-block radius I found two book stores, a tabletop gaming store, and a small video game arcade parlor.

It was a Saturday afternoon, a band was playing, and a lot of the town’s young adults were out. It was a very preppy, upper-middle class white crowd, students at Washington and Lee I presume. According to the 2000 census, half of households are non-families and the median age is 23, so this is very much a college town, plus the tourism for the Civil War sites.

That said, I wandered over to a restaurant that looked inviting: Pure Eats, which specializes in burgers and donuts. I ordered at the counter from the friendly gal there, then ate a practically perfect burger with tater tots at a picnic table outside. A fabulous experience in a lovely town.

Now I want to return and visit the actual Civil War sites and other attractions. And try more of the menu at Pure Eats.