Back to Washington, VA, also known as Little Washington. Send a gift certificate my way if you want my take on this place. It's easy to find, what with the town that's approximately 100 square feet and OH! The uniformed doorman guys. Most of the time they must be bored out of their minds.
No rush to make the big bucks, it turns out it's possible to enjoy a weekend of hiking and enjoying the country in "our" Shenandoah National Park without starving AND without going broke. I strongly recommend a weekend at our own nearby park as advanced staycationism. It's not far, and while there we were completely unplugged (phone, internet, television), and the whole world seemed quieter, calmer, and more beautiful. And that was on a cloudy, drizzly weekend.
At Griffin Tavern on our first night in the country, J and I shared the special appetizer of the day--chips and a dip made out of blended veggies, including turnips! It tasted sort of like lighter mashed potatoes, and J was pleasantly surprised to enjoy it. My blackened tilapia salad was filling and light, and J enjoyed fish and chips the way they SHOULD be--crispy but not greasy. We got dessert to go, a slice of this and a slice of that (I think cheesecake and pie?). All good. It poured while we were sitting outside, but as long as we were shielded by the umbrella, we found this quite hilarious and fun. Hahaha it's raining while we're on an outdoor adventure vacation, this is so wonderful! Alternate universe out there, I swear.
Thornton River Grille is the next big stop after the Inn, it seems. It definitely gave us happy flashbacks to another River Grill. Our B&B hostess was very concerned that we hadn't made our reservation in advance, but wethinks the holiday weekend kept the loco-tourists in the city and away from TRG. Jeff enjoyed beef tenderloin with roasted fingerling potatoes, and even shared a little bit--thanks! I had the burger, and it was OK. I just wasn't feeling their other options--I wanted fish, but not tuna, and not shellfish. But the burger did have a challah roll, which was surprising and delightful. I'm not sure how many people are making challah in Rappahannock County these days.
Stonewall Abbey coffeehouse: At this stop in downtown Sperryville (a hopping place, for sure) we relaxed with tea, coffee, and a tasty apple tart. You could also have lunch at this converted church, which has quite the setup for live music toward the back. However, it's not open so late at night--we stopped by a different night thinking we could find some dessert, and it was closed. Who knows, maybe Sp'ville isn't as hoppin' as we thought.Bed and Breakfast - We enjoyed our stay at the Heritage House in Washington, where we ate not once, but twice (the redundancy was by choice, we could have had omelets) a fabulous Eggs Florentine dish that was decadently creamy and completely satisfying on the cool, dreary mornings of July 4th weekend.
Other things to do:
Weather permitting, go to the park.
AND, whether it's for a tasting, buying a few bottles, or setting up on a pretty porch for a glass of wine and block of cheese, you can't really go wrong in Virginia wine country :)
Gray Ghost Vineyards
Sharp Rock Vineyards
Gadino Cellars
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