Lodging: Hotels, motels and bed & breakfast locations near Shenandoah National Park are booked almost one year in advance, and they can be expensive. If you're driving from the D.C. area, look for a vacation rental that has positive reviews online, a good source is www.vrbo.com. Less than two hours after leaving Arlington, we arrived at our chalet in Bentonville, which we would never have found without a GPS system since there are no street lights and the sun sets early this time of year. Thankfully, the woman we rented the place from gave excellent directions and instructions on locating the "chalet." Our three-level home for the weekend overlooked an expansive slope of trees and grass and had a very wide covered deck on the second level from which to enjoy the view. Inside, the cozy bedrooms were clean, well lit, and the beds were made up with fresh sheets. Bath and hand towels were provided, along with hand soap, toilet paper and paper towels. The total cost for two nights was around $342. Plates, cooking utensils, and silverware were also ready and waiting for us. The best part was the picnic style dining table and wood burning fire place. With plenty of comfortable seating in the living room, we felt right at home. And we were within 15 miles of the places we planned to visit.
Food/Eating: Before we left the city, we stopped by The Italian Store in Arlington and bought individually packaged pasta dishes for around $8 a pop. I knew that by the time we reached our destination, we would be hungry and all the local stores would be closed. The Italian Store has the best baked ziti, manicotti and lasagna pre-made dinners. We also grabbed a few blondie bars, because who doesn't love those? Just south of Front Royal, we made a pit stop at 4675 John Marshall Hwy. The Apple House is a long narrow red barn with treats like apple butter doughnut, some of the best apple pie I've ever had, as well as soft serve ice cream cones for $1 and a huge bag of kettle corn for $4. Even if you don't need anything, stores like this are part of the experience, so check it out anyway and see if the smell of barbeque doesn't entice you buy some.
One the second day, we stopped at a Food Lion to pick up some steak and veggies to grill for dinner. We also bought supplies for roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. I can't remember the last time I was in a Food Lion. I certainly don't remember them being this clean, well-stocked and easy to navigate. The total came to around $90 and we had plenty of leftovers.
Wine Tastings: I was able to call the wineries the week before our visit: if you have a group larger than five, it's polite to call ahead about scheduling a tasting. Many of the wineries in Virginia are small, family owned and run operations with its own set of hours and limitations. We started out about 12 miles from the house at Glen Manor around 11:30 am, which is run by some of the nicest people in the state. Then we headed to Chateau O'Brien since I planned on us having lunch there. If you don't remember anything else this article says, remember this: Do the cellar tasting at Chateau O'Brien! This is their all-reds $10 tasting, which is worth more like $20. Their 2007 Late Harvest Tannat blew our minds. Clearly, Mr. O'Brien, who was taking us through the tasting, has worked his tail off. I'm just thankful he included some of his very limited quantities with us. I'm 99% sure this is the best 2007 red in Northern Virginia, if not the Eastern Hemisphere. For $69 a bottle, I would buy two. Next we were on to Linden, which has a beautiful glass enclosed porch overlooking the autumn colored rolling hills. The tasting here is free, which is good since none of us liked the wines we sampled. The sheet they give out with the wines had one described as being "good with leftovers." (I wish I was making that up.) Several folks were sprawled out on blankets enjoying a few of their bottles. Maybe after tasting the Tannats, the minerally whites were not a good follow-up for the palette. Our final tasting at Rappahannock Cellars was a perfect way to end a beautiful, sunny and 70 degree day. I bought one of their 2007 Chardonnays'. I don't usually drink whites, much less Chardonnay, but when they make it so buttery good, I can't resist.
Hiking: Sunday morning, we closed up the house and headed for Shenandoah National Park, which is about 12 miles from the house. As stated on their web site: "Shenandoah National Park is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia just west of Washington, D.C. and stretches 105 miles from its northern entrance at Front Royal to its southern entrance near Waynesboro." We entered at the Thornton Gap from Route 211 around 11:45 a.m. and there was no line of traffic. If you enter from the North, the traffic gets backs up for at least two miles. We were in and out before most people paid the $15 entrance fee. It was nice to experience fresh air. I had almost forgotten what it smells like.
As we headed back to the city, we saw a group of women in their 50's who looked like they were having the same get-away weekend we were enjoying. We made a pact to do the same trip again next year.
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