I’ve lived in Northern Virginia for 15 years and have seen this area transform from a congested suburban area to an even more congested suburban area. Anyone who knows me has heard me complain, sometimes loudly, about the traffic that is a daily part of life around here or even about the fact that dinner out on a Friday or Saturday (or almost any) night without reservations usually means at least a 45 minute wait. That’s the price you pay for living in one of the hottest markets in the country, I supppose. One of the great things about living here, though, is that you can drive no more than an hour south or west and end up in an entirely different world. That’s what we ended up doing yesterday.
We started out making our way out west to a winery that my wife and I had heard many good things about in our travels around the state this spring. We ended up at Linden Vinyards in Linden, Virginia. The drive out was peaceful and the weather, even for mid-July on the East Coast, was actually pleasant. The winery itself was picturesque, placed amid the rolling hills of Warren County, Virginia and we ended up taking a tour of the vineyards and wine cellar, which is something we had yet to do at any of the winery’s we’ve visited. The wines themselves ? Okay, I guess, which was somewhat disappointing given the glowing recommendations we’d received from others. Unlike a few other Virginia wineries we’ve been to though, I’m willing to give Linden a second look in the future.
After Linden, we got in the car and started driving toward the Sunnyside Farms Rest Stop in Sperryville, Virginia. This is an organic roadside restaurant and market loacted just outside one of the entrances to the Shenandoah National Park. Kellie and I had stopped there during our first visit to the Shehandoah/Rappahannock County area in April did not partake of their apparently-famous cuisine.
After lunch consisting of organic burgers — which were actually very good — we made our way back towards “civilization.” The end of the day found us driving through the streets of Washington, D.C., past the National Mall, the White House, and the Capitol Building and into Adams Morgan and Chinatown before heading home to wine and cheese on the deck.
A round trip of 230 miles that took us from the DC suburbs to rural Virginia and back in to DC. Like I said, I love the contrasts that come with living in here.
What’s up for today ? A trip to Old Town Alexandria and Arlington National Cemetary.
