About 5 miles south of Charles Town along Kabletown Road, a trio of silos rises, marking the winding road to the Cottonwood Inn. This yellowbrick farm-house, just across a little wooden bridge, has occupied a hollow alongside Bullsk in Run Creek for more than 150 years—as its uneven pine floors and big brick dining-room hearth attest. Joe and Barbara Sobol have dotted their pastoral inn with original quilts, a love of Barbara’s. The couple produces motor-trip video guides to Europe in a downstairs studio. Guest rooms (six with queen-size and one with king-size bed) are exceptionally cozy places to rest, and Joe is glad for visitors to flip though his extensive collection of books about the Civil War or to play the grand piano. Outside, guests may stroll along Bullskin Run or peer at the stars from rocking chairs on the front porch. In 1986 the previous owners added a wing to the farmhouse with two guest rooms. These are spacious and handsomely decorated, but not as atmospheric as the rooms in the old section. The Cottonwood is close to the Blue Ridge, which beckons on the horizon. To the north lie the Charles Town Race Track and Harpers Ferry.
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