Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

My wife and I took the last week of my vacation and drove to Winchester for a visit - !
My reasoning is -- Its the top most city in Va and Not as Hot as the lower part [Richmond and Newport news are far too hot] Its a quaint Civil war area with friendly people . Its far enough from DC to be away from the DC attitude ... Yet there are good money jobs for the wife -shes a Chinese university prof with a Business Administration degree 4.0 GPA [yea I'm proud of her]
Looks like you can buy land reasonable priced ...
Everyone was very friendly except the guy at the gun shop who wanted no part of me after he found out I was not going to buy anything..

Have I made a good choice?? do you like the area? Can you offer any advise ?
I'm too old to pack up and move again This has to be the last move --!!!

Buy enough land to host a VGOF Shoot and Meet.

gunderwood wrote:Buy enough land to host a VGOF Shoot and Meet.

I second that!

Good luck with your home search!

When we were house hunting and driving from NY to Roanoke we'd usually stop and sleep in Winchester to let the kids rest, stretch our legs, etc, it's a nice looking place! Good luck!

I've been out there, but never really spent enough time to help you in your search. Winchester has a Gander Mountain and the Alamo Draft House! The Alamo is awesome and we have the first one outside of TX. I've been to the original in Austin and saw probably the funniest show ever there. They did a live voice over for the Turkish Wizard of Oz (the Turks made their own version). Hilarious. Highly recommend you check them out. Their house lager is very good IMHO. Hopefully one of these days I'll be able to purchase some hunting land out that way. Good luck.

Winchester is great. Real estate is cheap. Shenandoah University is a great place to work, perfect for your wife. Winchester is one of the few bigger cities that still retain a small town feel. Wait until Apple Blossom festival rolls around the first weekend in May, even the courthouse shuts down the Friday before in preparation. I used to be in real estate in a past life and my main area was Winchester and I always had a hell of a time explaining to my clients in northern virginia that they couldn't settle on their new home the Friday before apple blossom because the world did indeed stop turning for a parade. Gotta hand it to them though, they sure can keep a local tradition alive!

Another perk is you can be in Leesburg in 40 minutes, or Tysons Corner in an hour, so you have options to jump back into the rat race if you wish, so you can make good money and enjoy inexpensive real estate at the same time. Kind of a win-win, I think I'm selling myself into moving to Winchester haha.

Which gun shop snubbed you? I've had good experience with both Stonewall and Frederick. I've heard negative about both though, so I guess its really just up to whomever is working at the time.

And yes, if these aren't enough to convince you to move, the Alamo draft house will serve you wings and beer while you watch your movie of choice. That would settle it for me.

Been here close to 40 years and real estate isn't cheap...granted it's come down but not where it should be.

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I used to live a little south of there in Strasburg. I love the area and hope to retire there one day. Real estate prices in that area have really gotten reasonable.

Congrats on your find, and welcome to the valley.

I hope I can find a place to shoot and have a get together -- I also need HI -speed Internet access.. Just have to find JOBS--Ones that will pay the bills ..

The lack of fast Internet is a serious downside to living in the county.

Comcast is about the only game in town with hi-speed net. However you might luck out and be able to get Verizon. Couple places to shoot...depending upon what kind of shooting you want to do.

HK91762mm wrote:I hope I can find a place to shoot and have a get together -- I also need HI -speed Internet access.. Just have to find JOBS--Ones that will pay the bills ..

NEVER settle on an area without jobs secured!

I liked it , used to work to contract jobs over at Keene Mfg and always stayed there for a week or so each time.. Nice friendly area as I remember.You could do a lot worse;; Good luck on the job search.

My wife and I just moved here from Buffalo, NY, and Winchester is where we'll probably make our home. It seems "just right."

It's a nice area.

Plenty of things to do and see.

I moved 17 years ago from the Pittsburgh area,(yes,I'm a damn yankee),and found many neat and wonderful places closeby.
I had been visiting for 13 years prior.

It has changed over the years but,Far enough away from Metro,and has a good "smalltown Feeling".

Like Utah said,Real Estate is overpriced for the area. And we get the "freezing rain".

But no complaints.

I can give you info to join my Range should you like.

Drumstix61 wrote:It's a nice area.

Plenty of things to do and see.

I moved 17 years ago from the Pittsburgh area,(yes,I'm a damn yankee),and found many neat and wonderful places closeby.
I had been visiting for 13 years prior.

It has changed over the years but,Far enough away from Metro,and has a good "smalltown Feeling".

Like Utah said,Real Estate is overpriced for the area. And we get the "freezing rain".

But no complaints.

I can give you info to join my Range should you like.

Hey, I'm a Yankee, too! Moved here from Buffalo, but born and raised in Cleveland. I'm currently living in the Candlewood Suites in Herndon - my wife stayed behind in Buffalo to get our house sold. However, I'm moving into a furnished apartment in Winchester next Saturday.