I’m back for part 2 of our weekend babymoon trip. If you missed part 1, check that out first!
When I last left off, it was Saturday and Matt and I were enjoying a dip in the pool at our inn. As I shared in the last post, we were staying at a lovely place called Glen Gordon Manor; I heard their food was fabulous and that it was worth doing their fancy dinner one of the nights we were there – it was expensive but we decided to splurge! I rocked a hand-me-down Old Navy maternity dress for the occasion – in tight clothing the bump is getting quite intense!
As for the dinner, it was as fabulous as advertised! Everything was very fresh and creative and I loved that it was all really small plates so you got to taste a lot but didn’t feel stuffed afterwards. I am also happy to report hat I wasn’t having any pregnancy nausea issues this night – whew! I would have been so sad if I couldn’t enjoy such an epic feast!
First up was a cauliflower salad – it had 3 variations of cauliflower, which was fun: grilled, fried, and pureed! It was really savory and delish.
Course two was a roasted summer tomato soup with a unique fresh basil olive oil foam on top. This was really good too! The foam was so interesting.
Course three was a sous vide quail with a white truffle and porcini puree (phenomenal), a sweet corn puree, and a fried quail egg. I wanted to bathe in the truffle/porcini puree.
Course four featured prime aged strip loin, veal cheek roulade (this was so tender), spaghetti squash, and baby brussels and carrots. The only thing that would have made this yummier was if the brussels sprouts were crispy (I love crisp brussels leaves)!
For dessert, we enjoyed peach melba – vanilla bean ice cream, wild black raspberry coulis, an olive oil cake (this was really good), and chambord crème chantilly.
What a delicious night!
On Sunday morning, we slept in and then took another short stroll around the property before heading back to the dining room for breakfast. This time, our mini courses included another yummy yogurt, fruit, and granola parfait, some oatmeal bars, and a mini eggs benedict. Neither Matt nor I love hollandaise sauce so I could have done without that, but it was all still quite tasty!
We spent the next hour lounging by the pool and swimming – one last hurrah before having to check out!
I was sad to say goodbye to such a lovely place – we definitely want to come back again someday!
We planned to do another fun hike in Shenandoah National Park before heading home to DC, so we swung by Skyward Café again to get food for the trails.
For this day’s adventure, it was clear again so we wanted to do another hike with a nice overlook. We decided on Mary’s Rock, a new to us trail that started right by the middle entrance to the park. There are two different approaches – we did Mary’s Rock North, which is 3.7 miles round trip along the Appalachian Trail. It’s basically all up and all down, but we figured we could take it slow and steady for me. 🙂
Let’s do this!
There were definitely a lot of rocky parts – I took my time!
So much so that Matt had time to climb up on a rock above me and launch a sneak photo attack. 😉
The views started to get lovely as we went up and up!
I loved this curved tree arching over the trail:
Made it to the summit!!
Wow – what a view! That was certainly worth our uphill climbing efforts. So clear and panoramic views all around!
We scrambled around on the rocks for a bit and then settled in for lunch. I had another hummus and veggie sandwich, but with turkey instead of cheese this time. Yum!
Wish we were still there!
Baby mountaineer!
Coming back down was faster than going up, but I still kept it slow on pace and was careful to watch my step! Good thing, too, since we saw this guy on the way down – yikes! Hello, Mr. Snake!
My calves and hamstrings and feet were soooo tired by the time we made it back to the car. Whew! We got stuck in some traffic on the way home but made it back in time for dinner with my parents – my mom made us my Salmon with Lemon Mustard Dill Sauce along with rice and green beans. We were ravenous and it hit the spot! Thanks, mom!
What a fun treat this weekend was – our only complaint is it went by wayyyyy too quickly. 🙂
