Hard to believe that 2 years ago today, Matt and I were walking down the aisle. Time sure flies, huh?
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(If you’re new to the blog or just want to take a walk down memory lane, you can see all wedding-related posts on our wedding page.)
Matt and I spent the weekend in the mountains of Virginia, enjoying some quality time and fresh air to celebrate our anniversary. 🙂
Matt’s parents got us a gift card for two nights at the adorable Sugar Tree Inn for Christmas; perfect timing to cash it in. The inn is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Vesuvias, VA, to the west of the Shenandoahs.
The inn is basically in the middle of nowhere in the woods, which we loved. So nice to get some fresh air away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
I didn’t get any photos of our room or meals at the inn, but breakfast was included and we had dinner there on Saturday night, too (delicious). On Friday night, we ventured to a random nearby German restaurant called Edelweiss.
It ended up being awesome – good food and a lively accordion player, too, so a really fun atmosphere! I had the bratwurst with sauerkraut and red cabbage and some lentil soup (unpictured and really delicious). Yum! Felt like I was back in Europe!
The big highlight of our weekend was a hike on Saturday. The weather was pretty crummy all weekend (which made for cozy sleeping, at least) but we suited up in our raincoats and headed out for a hike anyway. We were glad we did – the rain held off and it ended up being a really pretty trail.
We did the Crabtree Falls Trail, which was close to the inn.
If you’re ever in the area, check out this hike! It was beautiful – loved the waterfalls.
It was also fun to see the changing leaves! Fall hasn’t really arrived in terms of foliage yet in DC, but apparently it has in the mountains!
We stopped by a little general store on the way to the trail to get sandwiches for lunch. Turkey & cheese with a view:
We ended up hiking about 6 miles and were out there for about 5 hours. Hiking with Matt is my happy place. 🙂
The only bummer was that what should have been a gorgeous view at the top, was this:
Ah, well. Something to come back for! 🙂
On Sunday, we did a short hike on the property of the inn and then hit up the nearby Wine & Garlic Festival at Rebec Winery. It was sadly pretty underwhelming – partly the weather (it was rainy/muddy), but also the vendors – overpriced fair food, lines for the wine tastings (and mostly sweet wine, meh). Oh well – worth a shot! We also stopped by an orchard, which was fun – picked up some apples so I can make more of those awesome Spiced Baked Apple Chips! 🙂
Since we were going to be driving through Charlottesville on our way back, we decided to stop in for dinner. Before heading to dinner, we strolled around the UVA campus a bit and then swung by Kath’s for a little pumpkin homebrew happy hour with her and her Matt. Fun times! UVA reminds me a lot of UNC in terms of the campus. It was nice and green!
For dinner, Matt and I hit up Zocalo on the downtown walking mall at the recommendation of Kath and Matt. I started with the beet salad (yummmm).
For my entrée, I had the scallops. So good – they were on top of plantains and in a really good vanilla carrot sauce. Delicious!
We arrived back in DC last night to a hyper Zara, who was very happy to have her buddies back. 🙂 (Don’t worry, we had a friend check in on her over the weekend while we were away.)
It was hard to get back to work today – such a fun weekend away and a nice way to celebrate our special weekend 2 years ago. In some ways, it seems like ages ago, but in others, I feel like it was yesterday. Here’s to many more. <3
