by Virginia Haskins

The Lynchburg Sister City-Plus would like to welcome you to our wonderful city located in the heart of the State of Virginia. We are looking forward to your upcoming visit and are planning a truly American experience for you to enjoy.  Lynchburg has many interesting historical sites and is within 4 hours of Washington, D C, Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown, the first permanent settlement in this great country. We are near the Natural Bridge listed as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World where you can see George Washington’s initials carved on the walls.  Just beyond the bridge is an authentic Native American camp site.  Charlottesville, Virginia, where Thomas Jefferson lived and built the University of Virginia, is only an hour away .  His summer home, Poplar Forest, is located right here in the Lynchburg area.  Thomas Jefferson called Lynchburg the “most interesting spot in the state.”  Appomattox, Virginia is a mere 30 minutes away.  The Civil War or War Between the States ended here when General Lee signed the surrender to General Grant.  The National D-Day memorial is located in Bedford, Virginia.  It was located here because more Bedford soldiers per capita died on the beaches of Normandy during the World War II invasion of Europe than any other place in America.  This is also only 20 minutes from Lynchburg.  To the west lies the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Built in the Great Depression, this scenic drive crosses the top of the Appalachian Mountain Range and is visited by people from all over the world.  Here the mountains are called the Blue Ridge because of their beautiful shade of blue.  Northwest of Lynchburg lies the Shenandoah Valley which has a frontier museum featuring life-sized homesteads built by early American settlers including Germans, Englishmen, French and Scots.  These are only a few of the things you may experience and learn more about while you are here.  We encourage you to Google all these sites and let your chaperone know if there are things you would particularly like to see.  Please read all the material in this publication and ask questions if you are unclear on what to expect from this visit.  Keep in mind this is a group trip and decisions will be made to benefit the group.  We look forward to meeting you and showing you your Sister City of Lynchburg, Virgina, USA.

Websites:

www.lynchburgonline.com
www.washington.org/
www.williamsburg.com/
www.historyisfun.org/
www.naturalbridgeva.com/native_american_village.htm
www.monticello.org/visit/index.html
www.virginia.edu/
www.poplarforest.org/
www.nps.gov/apco/index.htm

www.dday.org/
www.blueridgeparkway.org/www.frontiermuseum.org/