Wine and Old Barns....Take 2

Today I'm posting pictures from Day #2 of our NoVA wine trip this past September.  We stayed overnight in Leesburg after touring all day Saturday.  Early Sunday we got up, had breakfast and headed back out to finish out our trip.

We started our trip at North Gate Vineyard.

 

Our second stop was at Crushed Cellars.  These people were awesome.  They told us about local parks to try and places to go hiking.  They pulled out crackers and stuffed animals for Emma and really made us feel at home.  The wine was great too.  

 

Third stop was at Sunset Hills Vineyard.  Back to the Barn theme in the area.  Beautiful place with lots of space outside to picnic or just sit on the patio and relax.  

 

 

The last stop of the day before heading home was my favorite!  The Barns at Hamilton Station.  This barn is over 100 years old.  One of the co-owners in a contractor and must have seen the potential in what was left of the barn. Very peaceful, not crowded or loud, lots of outdoor seating and a cigar out building.  The views alone were worth the trip.  They even had an outhouse....complete with spider spray.....lol.

I mean....just look at this view!!!!!

It was a whirlwind visit.  Glad I took plenty of pictures! 

Back to the grind!

After such a great Holiday and so much fun with family and friends, it is back to work time for us.  However I am happy to report that with the coming and now going of this festive season The Busy Bryants will now be back up to getting out and seeing more of Virginia (and who knows where else).  We do have a small matter of New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, my birthday, and one open house to host....before the comings and goings....get going.  Last night while formulating some ideas about what we would like to do in January I started thinking about this last year and everything that has happened and all the places we have been.  I forget just how busy we are until I think back on all that we have done.



We welcomed in the year at Smith Mountain Lake.



We travelled to Williamsburg by ferry for Father's Day



We camped at Todd Lake



We visited Virginia Beach.



Mark and I had a weekend away in Leesburg.



Visited Manassas.



Hiked the Blue Ridge Mountains.



We biked the Virginia Creeper Trail.



We did a one day marathon wine tour in the Great Neck region.



Visited friends in Harrisonburg.



Took in some culture at a plantation.



Attended a few festivals.



Did I mention we visited a few wineries?



All in all it was a great year.  We made so many great memories and the good part is I have them documented on here for us to read about whenever we want to take a stroll down memory lane :)







Hello Weekend

It's that time in the week when we start looking ahead to what our weekend holds.  I for one will be packing a bag and spending a night in Williamsburg.  The plan is for some shopping, a little down time with my girl friend and maybe a winery....or two.  How about you? 

Speaking of Williamsburg, if you are in the area you can catch a production of The Producers by The Williamsburg Players.  They will be taking the stage on the 18th and 19th at 8:00 p.m. 



By the Williamsburg Players

If you live in Southern Virginia how about a visit to Martinsville for a Big Bowl of Chili?  Proceeds benefit the United way of Henry County....so supporting a good cause with some good food :)





Chili anyone?

Those of you that live in the heart of Appelachia you can start thinking ahead to what to do with those leftovers. Wades Mill will be hosting a class on Nov. 18th at 10:00 a.m. for what to do with all that left over food.  Now that is a class I can support!

On Saturday if you live in Northern Virginia you can be part of the annual Freeze your gizzard off 5K.  The race starts at 9:00 a.m. in Ida Lee Park.  Looks like long johns will be in order!

How about some nice home cooked soup?  Old House Winery in Culpeper is celebrating the month with some home cooked fall soups. 



Soups on!

And there are still a few wine festivals in the area....Jefferson Wine Festival  is going on at Poplar Forrest on the 19th from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.



More wine please.

  
This weekend we will also be attending a local wine event at the Beacon Theater in Hopewell Virginia on Saturday and then heading to a family Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday.  The holidays are upon us folks time to eat, shop and drink too much egg nog :)

Northern Virginia

In August Mr. Busy and myself decided to talk a little weekend trip up to Northern Virginia (NOVA).  More specifically we visited Leesburg in Loudoun County.  This particular city is full of things both old and new, big and small and right next door to some of the best wineries Virginia has to offer.  Also since it's just outside Washington D.C. it has plenty of places to stay and things to do!  This particular trip was for our anniversary so it was pretty low key and not all that much planning was involved. 

We went up on Friday morning, not hitting too much traffic.  We were too early getting there to check in so we had lunch and did some shopping at the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets.  I was happy to find a Pottery Barn outlet but sadly didn't find anything to bring home.  We checked in and stayed at the Best Western Leesburg both Friday and Saturday night.  It was clean and had everything we needed but I can't say it was quiet.  We had dinner at a small spot in the historic part of Leesburg called Georgetown Cafe.  Most of the menu was sandwich type foods with a fish and chips thrown on there but we aren't picky and they served Blue Moon Beer so we were satisfied. 

Saturday morning we had an appointment for a couples massage at Hideaway Massage.  I booked this online and was afraid that something would go wrong....either they wouldn't be able to accommodate us both at the same time or that they wouldn't have saved the appointment.  But the owner called the day before to confirm and everything went very smoothly.  Her instructions on the website got us there perfectly! 

We went shopping in a few antique stores after our massages and hit a small place for lunch.  Puccio's New York Deli hit the spot.  I had the Italian sandwich while hubby had the "Deniro".  So now that we were relaxed and our stomachs full we head for the next adventure.

Fabbioli Cellars



Lost Creek Winery

There are several wineries in NOVA so many are close together and it makes visiting a few in a short period fairly easy.  We visited three wineries on Saturday afternoon.  Fabbioli Cellars, Lost Creek Winery and Hidden Brook Winery.  Each one we visited offered something unique and of course we left with at least a bottle of wine from each.  The Courney's Christmas from Lost Creek would have to be my favorite.  It's like tasting Christmas in a bottle.

After this part of our wine trip we took a break and rested back at the hotel.  And good thing we did.  Saturday evening/night was like a big party.  We headed to the last winery on our trip agenda and that was Tarara Winery. 

Tarara Winery

This place is amazing.  They have an outdoor venue that has a suspended stage that is over a large pond. 

Words don't do it justice and neither do the pictures I snapped.  You can't bring in alcohol but you can bring in chairs/umbrellas/food/blankets.  You can purchase wine there by the bottle or glass.  They also have food there for purchasing.  This particular night the band The Regan Years was playing.  So the 1980s were in full swing. And so was the crowd.   







The stage at Tarara







Mr. and Mrs. Busy

The night ended with the band playing and everyone dancing under the stars.  It was by far one of the more romantic trips we have been on.  We felt recharged and ready to head home by Sunday morning.  I'm sure though that with all the wineries we didn't hit we will be back for a visit soon.