In honor of our wedding anniversary, our children had gifted us with a two-night stay at The Martha Washington Inn and Spa on Main Street in downtown Abingdon. What an absolutely wonderful experience! If you can fit even one night there into your budget, it is well worth the price. The entire Inn has been lovingly restored and is gorgeous. Even if you do not wish to sleep here, go in and tour the several public rooms. It’s like visiting a museum.

As you enter through the double doors at the front, the Entrance Hall is a very large room, with a huge circular table in the center, usually topped with a massive vase of flowers on the highly polished surface. A beautifully carved wooden staircase goes up three floors, and there is an outdoor balcony on the second floor where you can view almost all of Abingdon. The former formal drawing room to the right of the entrance Hall is now the Lobby and lounge. Pass through there and enter what was the private library of General Robert Preston, the original owner of the house. Here, there is a fireplace big enough to stand in, flanked by floor to ceiling windows, many comfortable chairs and sofas, game tables, and walls lined with books, some of them quite old. Back across the Lobby and Entrance Hall is the Family Drawing Room, now used for events such as wedding receptions, reunions, and other gatherings of large numbers of people. These rooms were all used in much the same way when The Martha was an exclusive finishing school for privileged young ladies.

Also available to the public is a lovely Gift Shop, the Spa, an indoor swimming pool, a miniature golf course, and a Five Star restaurant in what was the dining hall for the girl’s school. You may also walk around the grounds and enjoy the beautiful gardens, many of which are originals from the Preston Family era.

Because The Martha is directly across Main Street from the Barter Theater, it served as the dormitory for the actors when they were first trying to get the theater going. It was in the middle of The Great Depression at the time, and although The Martha had been a hotel for several years, no one could afford to travel, so it sat empty. Robert Porterfield went to the owners and traded tickets to his shows for dorm rooms for his actors. Some future stars of Hollywood lived in a room at The Martha for several years.