A Weekend in Virginia

We spent Columbus Day weekend in Virginia. I was a little bit skeptical of how it would turn out but it was spectacular. The breadth of activities that Virginia offered was really surprising. 

We visited three vineyards; Early Mountain, Fox Meadow and Desert Rose. Each was unique in its own way but my clear favorite was Early Mountain. The food was divine, the tasting room was gorgeous and the service was warm and friendly. I'm still dreaming about the small plate of  fresh mozarella, Surryano ham and Merlot poached pears we had!

We also squeezed in a bit of history with a visit to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. As a history buff, I found it to be a great experience.

We also managed to squeeze in a shopping and dining excursion to downtown Charlotesville where we feasted on Wagyu beef burgers and truffle fries (because no vacation of mine is complete without food.)

From all the luxury of the first two days we headed to my favorite part of the trip; leaf peeping and hiking in Shenandoah National Park. The weather turned miserable on us but it just added to the beauty of the place with fog-covered magical winding drives, s'mores over campfires in the freezing outdoors and a stunning 7.00 am hike to the highest summit in the Shenandoah Valley. Our companions on the hike? Several deer, squirrels and bunnys. 

The trip was supposed to end with a ginormous breakfast at Skyland Resorts scenic dining room. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way. We were shown to our seats but after that subjected to a horrific racist/discriminatory experience by one of the servers that left me shaken and very upset. 

No point in dwelling on negatives though, so I'm going to remember all the amazing people and experiences that Virginia brought us.