www.roanoke.com

On a recent trip to Charlottesville, I decided to visit Michie Tavern for lunch, after a more than 30-year absence. The last time I had been there was with my five children after visiting nearby Monticello. The menu, surprisingly, has not changed since the early 1970s, and its greeting, "Welcome, stranger," was identical to the one on my previous visit. After lunch, I toured the tavern's museum, clothier and general store.

A LITTLE HISTORY

Originally called Michie's Tavern, it opened in 1784 as a stop on a busy stagecoach route on Buck Mountain Road in Earlysville. Its founder and owner, William Michie (pronounced Mickey), was the son of "Scotch John" Michie, a rebel captured in the 1715 Scottish uprising against the English crown who escaped the firing squad and found himself on a ship bound for Virginia.

William Michie fought for three years in the Revolutionary War, signed the Albemarle Declaration of Independence in 1779, became town sheriff and justice of the peace in 1791, and was recognized as a model citizen in Earlysville.

In its heyday, Michie's Tavern quickly became a central gathering place where doctors and dentists treated patients and where dancing lessons, school classes, town meetings and worship services were held.

Like any tavern of the era, it was where the locals heard news from "strangers" who stopped for food and bed, and who brought information about the goings-on in Philadelphia and Washington as they continued their journey from Earlysville to Richmond.

The original tavern welcomed travelers until it closed in 1850; it was sold to the Via family in 1910. Between 1924 and 1927, Mrs. Mark Henderson purchased "Michie's Old Tavern" and moved it 17 miles by horse and wagon from Earlysville to its current location on Virginia 53, about a mile from Monticello.

It was her hope that tourists would visit the historic tavern as they made their way to Monticello and later to James Monroe's Ash Lawn-Highland. In 1980, Henderson's efforts were rewarded when Michie Tavern became listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register.

THE MENU

Serving only hearty lunch fare, the fixed price buffet ($15.95 for adults) is offered in "The Ordinary," the period name for the dining room. It's a rustic cabin setting displaying the hand-hewn logs and beamed ceilings from the original Michie's Tavern. Servers dressed in period attire make the rounds of the tables, refilling glasses and offering platters of hot foods from the buffet.

Except for the hickory-smoked pork barbecue, the same Bill of Fare, based on 18th-century recipes, has been prepared and served 363 days a year for the past 35 years.

Colonial fried chicken, black-eyed peas, stewed tomatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, hot green beans, whole baby beets, coleslaw, yeast biscuits and corn bread make up the savory offerings.

When I asked whether they served pork barbecue 200 years ago, the hostess allowed, "There were pot-roasted venison stews that looked similar to the pulled pork we serve today."

Desserts include warm seasonal fruit cobbler ($2.95).

Beverages are priced separately and include California wine ($3.95/glass, $12/bottle), beer and ale ($3.95/glass), cider ($1.95), and other nonalcoholic beverages, such as hot coffee and tea ($1.95).

WHAT I TRIED

Sitting before the roaring fire on this blustery cold day, I warmed up by fully enjoying all of the buffet items, especially the crispy, well-seasoned colonial fried chicken and hot cider. The foods went well together: The black-eyed peas and hot green beans blended with the stewed tomatoes. Mashed potatoes and gravy filled me, but I left room for the excellent barbecue stuffed into a soft bun with some coleslaw added for crunch.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Michie Tavern is a great place to visit with children. By making reservations and letting the docents know you are coming with a few youngsters in a particular age range, they will adapt interpretive programs to their level.