Belle Grove Plantation, the birthplace of President James Madison, is now the home of Belle Grove Plantation Bed & Breakfast, located in King George County. Photo courtesy of BellE Grove

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Chef Alan Pyles and his wife Kate own the antique-filled Lafayette Inn in Standardsville. The three-story inn was built in 1840. Photo courtesy of Alan Pyles

L’Auberge Provencale Bed and Breakfast Inn, which dates back to 1752, offers 11 guest rooms and suites, as well as a restaurant. Photo courtesy of L’Auberge

Now is a good time to get out after being cooped up at home during a winter that blasted through the end of March.

Virginia’s upper Shenandoah Valley provides not only entry to Shenandoah National Park but also to the 105-mile-long Skyline Drive and, connecting to it further south at Waynesboro, the Blue Ridge Parkway.

By mid-to-late May in the valley, the brilliant blossoms of dogwood, redbud, rhododendron and trillium (with bluebells a bit later) rival that of autumn’s radiant foliage.

If wineries, historical attractions, and artisans’ shops are also of interest, the valley makes a great destination for those, too — as does the area around King George, near the top of Virginia’s Northern Neck, where one of the accommodations covered here is located.

Sometimes we want nothing more than a couple of days to unwind with a pleasing night at an inn or bed-and-breakfast. These three have stories that engaged our interest as well as stays that greatly pleased us.

The Lafayette Inn

Innkeepers-owners Kaye and Alan Pyles know what it’s like to be away from home: they traveled on business — more than 3,000 nights away — for 25 years before purchasing the Lafayette Inn & Restaurant in Stanardsville14 years ago.

My husband, Tom, and I had spent a long day researching a project when we checked into the three-story 1840 Lafayette Inn’s first-floor Washington Suite (handicap-friendly) late in the evening. We found a small bottle of complimentary champagne with ice and a welcome snack.

We enjoyed sipping champagne amidst the antiques collected by the Pyles before turning in — and regretting that our necessary early start would preclude the inn’s full breakfast. (I had once enjoyed a business lunch of quiche and salad at the restaurant here.)

Just 10 miles from the inn, we had passed Shenandoah National Park’s Swift Run Gap entrance. Even though this wasn’t the time to explore by bike or go tubing, we enjoyed the exhilarating mountain views and beautiful farmland.

Stanardsville, a well-kept secret situated a half-hour’s drive from Charlottesville, is a Virginia and National Historic District with most buildings having been built pre-1900.

We’ve marked our calendar for Sept. 22-23 this year, when we’ll have time to enjoy the inn’s colonnaded porch during the Virginia Clay Festival, which brings potters, sculptors and jewelers selling their all-clay works in the town.

This time we’ll arrive early enough to sample the Pyles’ Brazilian-style flatiron steak for dinner, finishing off with the bread pudding du jour.

146 East Main St., Stanardsville, VA 22973

Six suites (one handicap-accessible; all with private entrances, $149-$199)

(434) 985-6345, http://www.thelafayette.com; email:info@thelafayette.com

L’Auberge Provencale Bed and Breakfast Inn

It was dark, and we drove right past the 18th-century farmhouse on Lord Fairfax Highway in White Post. The concierge at L’Auberge Provencale turned on the lights when we called and turned around.

The inn and restaurant are normally closed on Tuesdays, but we had phoned more than a week in advance, and sales manager Christian Bentley arranged for our fireplace to be ready, as well as a fine repast ($130 for two) including a bottle of wine, soup, charcuterie, cheeses, French bread, fresh fruit, and house-made madeleines to enjoy as we recovered from the day’s drive.

We pondered the antiques in our guestroom; because of the pottery pieces there and in our bathroom, we enjoyed the coffee-table book, Pottery from the Shenandoah & Cumberland Valleys. A few rare pieces in the book were from the John Bell family, and we were left with the mystery as to whether this was the same John Bell to whom the site on which L’Auberge Provencale was built around 1752 was granted.

With a late check-out, we opted to have breakfast (included with room) delivered: a winter vegetable omelette of rosemary potato pave, sheep’s milk cheese, and salmon; and a winter-spiced waffle with cardamom butter, local hickory syrup, sautéed local apples, and applewood-smoked bacon.

The owners, Alain and Celeste Borel, feature food from about a dozen farms ranging from Clarke County and Purcellville, Va., to Boyds and Accident, Md.

Like the other two properties covered here, the inn does weddings — but only very small ones. “We specialize in elopements,” Bentley said.

The inn has seven rooms, four suites, and three rooms at Villa La Campagnette, located a five-minute drive from the inn. Rooms range from $200-$429/night. There’s a ramp into the restaurant. No rooms are handicapped-accessible, but six rooms are ground-floor ones.

13630 Lord Fairfax Highway, Boyce, VA 22620

1- 800-638-1702, http://www.laubergeprovencale.com

Belle Grove Plantation Bed and Breakfast

After we checked into the Madison room at Belle Grove Plantation in King George, Michelle Darnell — who, with her husband Brett, has managed the historical property as a B&B since 2011 — asked if we’d like the Revolutionary War patriot-mannequin removed.

We’d rather liked him stationed in our large bedroom, especially as the manor house was birthplace of the man considered father of the U. S. Constitution: James Madison, whose home, Montpelier, lies across the Rappahannock River. (A couple of osprey on the property had earlier alerted us we weren’t far from water.)

Historians think an epidemic sweeping Orange County on the other side might have led James Madison’s mother to come to her family home on this side of the river toward the end of her pregnancy.

We enjoyed a very good night’s rest, sharing our elegant suite with the lifeless historical figure. But we gather some guests didn’t care for his presence, as Michelle recently told me he’s been permanently removed.

We requested a “breakfast with a view” served on the balcony next to our Madison room on the second floor (elevator provided). It was a gloriously sunny morning topped off with our choices of chorizo and roasted-red-pepper frittata and red-white-and-blue waffles (strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream).

Michelle’s culinary skills put afternoon tea here in high demand; reservations are required ($35/person). Don’t go to the wrong Belle Grove, as the Belle Grove Plantation in Middletown (100 miles northwest of here), built by James Madison’s sister, Nelly, and her husband, Major Isaac Hite, is an engaging 1797 historical site but not a bed-and-breakfast.

Accessible ramp available for front door; two upstairs room have walk-in showers.

Depending on the day of the week and the room desired, prices range from $149 to $245.

9221 Belle Grove Drive, King George, VA 22485

(540) 621-7340; http://www.bellegroveplantation.com

email: information@bellegroveplantation.com

(Check out blog entries at Virginiaplantation.wordpress.com.)