Charlottesville, Virginia is a beautiful town in a lovely part of the country. They’ve gotten some bad press lately due to divisive protests initiated by outside forces.  I hope the coverage doesn’t keep visitors away from this generally genteel community with its gently rolling hills and scattered horse farms. The area also has both feet firmly planted in the history of this country.

The Boar’s Head Inn is an interesting historic hotel, with a history dating back to the 1700s.  The exact location first served as a welcoming spot for travelers in 1759, as an inn named Terrell’s Ordinary. In the early 1800s, Thomas Jefferson convinced a friend to move to the area and purchase the land.  Through the 1900s the estate was known as “Birdwood” and was owned by Henry Fonda at one point in its storied past.  Today, the remaining 573 acres and facilities are owned by the University of Virginia Foundation.

Of Note: There is no connection with Boar’s Head Provision Company (famous for the meats and cheeses so many of us enjoy). The logo for the resort used to display a boar with a left tusk and the Provision Company a boar with a right tusk. I’ve seen references the Florida-based Provision Company objected to the Inn’s use of the boar artwork, but maybe UVA simply didn’t want to extend the meat supplier’s brand . . . . in any case, the Inn no longer uses an image of a boar as part of its logo.  But you can still see this handsome fellow just inside the front door of the Inn.