Sunday, October 16, 2011

Shenandoah National Park

Chris and I ventured south this past weekend for a quick roadtrip through Shenandoah National Park. We traveled south down I-95 on Friday afternoon to Waynesboro, VA. On our way into town, we took a side-trip through the country roads to Veritas Winery for a wine tasting. It was a beautiful family-owned vineyard located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountain. We were impressed with most of the wines we tasted and left with a rose, chardonnay, and red table blend.


On our way to the winery, we past a brewery so we stopped in on the way from the winery to the hotel for a beer sampling and appetizer.


We woke up {somewhat bright and early} on Saturday and, after breakfast and Starbucks, entered the Shenandoah National Park through the southern entrance. Skyline Drive is the scenic road that runs 105 miles through the park, with several outlooks, campgrounds and lodges, and hiking trails along the route. We stopped several times throughout the drive {listening to the A&M/Baylor game inbetween} - for a 3 mile hike to two waterfalls, for a break at the central lodge, for a few photo opts at overlook points and again for a 2 mile hike to a summit.




We continued about three-quarters up Skyland Drive before exiting outside of Sperryville. Outside of the park, we came across an apple stand, so naturally stopped to fill up a bag consisting of a variety of apples. In Sperryville, which was the kind of town that if you blinked you would miss it, we stopped at the Copper Fox Distillery for a tour of the distillery. From the outside, it was had the appearance of a rundown warehouse; yet it was actually a very impressive mom-and-pop operation. From there we headed back home with one final stop for the evening - Pei Wei.