Hello

I plan to visit the Luray and Stanley area in October with my daughter. The area is the ancestral home for my grandfather, Jacob T. Hilliard, Company D, 7th Virginia Cavalry. There are a number of areas that I would like to visit in the area: cemetaries, Steam Hollow, etc., and would appreciate any other ideas from your readers.

I should add that one of the stories my mother told me about my grandfather, was that he went home when his father was sick and was there when he died. This was in April or May of 1864. She said that on his way back to his unit he was involved in some sort of fight and saw a field of shoes. I had always attributed this to some family lore or exaggeration like the story she told of General Robert E. Lee fighting off some Yankees that were stealing my great grandmother's baby's quilts. In researching for our trip, I discovered that the New Market Battlefield is less than 30 miles away from our destination (I thought it was further south in the valley). Is the battlefield's field of shoes marked and can you walk around on the battlefield?

Any suggestions or recommendations for the trip would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Will Miller