Virginia resort opens up the skies

Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, just across the North Carolina border, a resort named Primland has added one more reason to visit – not that it had any shortage of them. For years, Primland has prided itself as a premier destination for golfers and hunters, but a recently completed observatory will help guests make even better use of the incredibly dark skies than simple stargazing.

Starting in late May, Primland will begin offering a stargazing package to guests and interested local residents that will take them from the local stellar sights to deep-sky objects up to 27 million light-years away. Beginning outside with a laser pointer and the remarkably starry sky, participants will then enter the 30-foot-diameter observatory to see the sights through a Celestron CGE Pro 1400 scope. Kris Koenig and his brother, Dean, both of Starizona, helped install the equipment and will often be on hand to assist in the presentations, specially tailored to be interesting and understandable to the average person. Frequently, professional astronomers will deliver lectures as well, such as University of California, Berkeley, professor Alex Filippenko’s May 21 and 22 talks on dark energy and black holes.

The idea will be to impress visitors with the majesty and beauty inherent in the heavens — the countless twinkling objects in the night sky and the far away nebulae and galaxies, as well as our relation to them and what they mean to us. In keeping with the resort’s strict environmentalism (almost everything, even the elevators, are made with reclaimed wood) and respect for the native culture, some of the constellations’ classical Greek mythological origins will mingle with their Native American interpretations.

These packages are specially designed to appeal both to guests who’ve always wanted to become better acquainted with the sky and to guests simply intrigued by the shiny 4-story silo that houses the observatory sitting next to the luxurious Swiss chalet-style hunting lodge.

The resort — composed of the lodge, numerous cottages, and the surrounding 12,000 acres — may not be for vacationers on a budget, but its various activities and beautiful sights would satisfy just about everyone else. Hunters have a variety of fowl, game, and even clays to aim at; golfers can enjoy the award-winning links; outdoor-types have hiking and ATV trails to explore; and indoor-types have a spa and game room to relax in. And the food is all world-class cuisine, as exemplified by the main dining room restaurant Elements, which serves unforgettably delicious fare. Even simply sitting on the deck and looking out at the green, rolling mountains provides a rush.

So if you’re looking for an East Coast dark-sky spot comparable to Kitt Peak, and enjoy nature, food, and having fun, you could hardly do better than a peaceful little resort in southern Virginia called Primland.