Monday, August 26, 2019

Walton’s Mountain Museum, Earl Hamner in Schuyler Virginia

We haven’t taken a trip anywhere since moving in April from DC to Northern Virginia. So we had an overnight adventure planned to visit our family this past weekend, and along the way was a place I’ve wanted to stop in and see. And when we reached Schuyler, Virginia we headed along the back roads to Walton’s Mountain Museum. Schuyler is where Earl Hamner was born, and the series is based on his life in this little Virginia town. Walton’s Mountain was on TV after I started college, but I do remember watching it occasionally at home. It must have left some sort of impression on me - and a sweet one. Most people admit they never watched it, but they did. The museum is quaint - in an auditorium of sorts. There are rooms to visit that copy the sets from the studio in California where the show was made - John Boy’s room, the kitchen, the living room, the post office, and the pony cart. The main focus is on Earl Hamner and all of his accomplishments. A 1990’s thirty minute movie illustrates his remarkable life story and also has several of the actors sharing their memories of the show. It was quite nostalgic. I’m not sure how I would have fared growing up in a tiny town like Schuyler. My husband always says he would have gone crazy and I believe him because he changed countries without even knowing the language. I don’t have that sort of wanderlust. I have moved from northeast to the south to the Midwest and now to the eastern seaboard. But I always think I was born in the wrong century -  although if not for all the modern conveniences I don’t think I would have lived half what I am now. The visit to Walton’s Mountain was better than a lot of places we have been. There was just something charming about it. 

































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