City getting a little too hot for you?
We love this article by Kristen Hartke in the latest issue of Flavor magazine, about farmstays as a vacation option.
If real life were a 1960s sitcom, you might just wake up one morning, dramatically announce your resignation to the senior partner, and head out to the old homestead to live the rest of your days off the land. However, since most of us city folks aren’t quite ready to trade in penthouses for pigsties, there is an alternative: the farm stay vacation.
Virginia’s own Brightwood Vineyard and Farm is mentioned as a farmstay option. Flavor lists more farmstay options in an online directory.
View "Farmstays in Virginia Wine Country: Breathe deep" on its own page.
A great winery travel package kicks off today at the Iris Inn, about two and a half hours southwest of Washington, in Waynesboro, Virginia.
For $150/person (plus the cost of the room), you get a room of your choice at the charming Iris Inn, dinner on Friday and Saturday, picnic lunch on Saturday, breakfast both mornings, entrance to a local wine festival or winery event, free tastings at three area wineries, AND a free download of the Virginia Wine in My Pocket app for iPhone or iPad!
Here are the weekends the package is available, and the details for each. To reserve your weekend, contact the Iris Inn at 1-888-585-9018, or reserve online.
Wine Therapy at Iris Inn – Itinerary
Friday:
Light dinner on arrival with four desserts and four wine pairing on the Inn’s sunset deck.
Saturday: Breakfast at Iris Inn, free download of the “Virginia Wine in My Pocket” iPhone app, tasting at three premier vineyards with gourmet picnic lunch from Iris Inn, entrance to wine event or festival (with meal, where applicable)
Sunday:
Breakfast at Iris Inn
Wine Therapy Weekends
May 20-21 Wine Festival at Ash Lawn Highland
Picnic lunch from Iris Inn, entrance to event (with meal), tasting at 3 wineries
May 27-28 Festival of Wines at Wintergreen
Picnic lunch from Iris Inn, entrance to event (with meal), tasting at 3 wineries
June 10-11 Veritas Vineyards “Starry Nights”
Music and dinner at event (Saturday), picnic from Iris Inn, tasting at 3 wineries
June 17-18 Frontier Culture Museum at Shenandoah Valley Wine and Jazz Festival
Picnic lunch from Iris Inn, entrance to event (with meal), tasting at 3 wineries
July 8-9 Veritas Vineyards Starry Nights
Music and dinner at event (Saturday), picnic from Iris Inn, tasting at 3 wineries
July 15-16 Andre Viette’s Daylily and Wine Festival
Picnic lunch from Iris Inn, entrance to event (with meal), tasting at 3 wineries
August 12-13 Veritas Vineyards Starry Nights
Music and dinner at event (Saturday), picnic from Iris Inn, tasting at 3 wineries
October 7-8 River City Wine Festival and Fall Foliage Art Festival
Picnic lunch from Iris Inn, entrance to event (with meal), tasting at 3 wineries
View "Wine Therapy Weekends Kick off Today" on its own page.
The Inn at the Olde Silk Mill is an interesting, and generally successful, mid-range hotel with great aspirations. It’s saddled with the visage of a motel, but dresses things up with strings of white lights and awnings. Inside, there’s a welcoming jumble of antiques in the lobby, and a parlor with coffee, tea and a tin of butter cookies.
Rooms are named for historic figures – appropriate for its location in Fredericksburg – and are attractive without being fancy. Antique beds and dressing tables, along with wood floors and lace curtains, add character. Free wireless internet, simple continental breakfast, mini-fridges, and TVs are generously included in all rooms (we had TVs and fridges in both our bedroom and our attached sitting room).
It has most of the feel of an owner-proud B & B, with a couple of small exceptions: the thermostat in our room was locked down to 60 degrees, which we were able to bypass on a cold night by inserting a key behind the plastic cover to toggle the thermostat switch, and the parlor with hot drinks and cookies was locked up when we got back from dinner. There are no telephones, so bring a cell phone in case you need to reach the after-hours number; the front desk closes at 9pm.
We stayed at the Inn using a Groupon, and the deal was fantastic. For $119 we had a choice of any available room, a three-course dinner at a fabulous downtown restaurant, Bistro Bethem, and a simple continental breakfast.
The Inn was just half a mile from the downtown area, an easy and interesting walk.
Rates: $89 for full or twin beds in a small but nicely furnished room, with antique bed and side tables, private bath, TV, mini-refrigerator, wireless internet and continent breakfast. Upgrade to $159 and you’ll get two rooms, one with a queen bed and the other with two fulls.
Closest wineries: Hartwood, Mattaponi, Potomac Point, Lake Anna
Directions:
Inn at Olde Silk Mill
1707 Princess Anne Street
Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401
Phone: (540) 371-5666
From Washington: Take I95 South. Take the Falmouth, Exit 133A. Merge onto Rt. 17. Continue straight, then at 3rd traffic light turn right onto Jefferson Davis Highway (Rt. 1 South). Cross over bridge, turn left onto Princess Anne Street. Travel 10 blocks to 1707 Princess Anne Street on left.
View "Inn at the Olde Silk Mill – Fredericksburg" on its own page.
For those of us living in the city or suburbs, winery visits are the closest we get to nature, and often we’ll find ourselves looking for an excuse to linger after the tasting is through. The deep quiet, and endless green, and vines that produce the very wine we’re drinking…it’s a Siren’s call to spontaneous irresponsibility.
When I completely throw in the towel, someday, I’m heading to Barboursville Vineyard and the 1804 Inn. I’m camping out in one of the three elegant suites in the Georgian villa – or one of the Cottage rooms, in the original 18th Century brick servant’s quarters and old schoolhouse. They all sound great to me.
I’m going to snack on the fruit, cheese and chocolate plate the Inn sends over, and choose a bottle of Barboursville’s sparkling wine as my freebie (you can also choose red or white – and you get a bottle every day if you stay in the Suite!). I’m going to wander the grounds and look at the ruins, and slip into the tasting room on a weekday to avoid the crowds. I’m going to have lunch AND dinner at Palladio, Barboursville’s dress-up restaurant. I’m going to sit by my working fireplace, sleep soundly on my high-thread-count sheets, and eat every morsel of my fruit and home-baked bread and hot entrée at breakfast.
Maybe then I’ll leave. Or maybe I’ll just lock the door and tell them to keep that wine coming.
Three cottages range from $240 to $260.
Three suites range from $325 to $475.
Read more about Barboursville Vineyards.
Closest wineries: Burnley, Horton, Keswick
Directions:
Barboursville Vineyards
Navigation Address:
17655 Winery Road
Barboursville, VA 22923
Reservations: (540) 832-5384 or 1804inn@barboursvillewine.com
From Washington DC and North: Follow I-66 West to Route 29 South, Exit on Route 15 (“Orange”). At the end of the ramp, turn left and follow Route 15 into Orange. Turn right at the traffic signal for Route 20 South, “The Constitution Highway,” and follow Route 20 directly past James Madison’s Montpelier Plantation, 8 more miles to Route 33. Turn left (east) on Route 33 for 1/4 mile, right (south) on Route 20, and you are in Barboursville. From Route 20 South, take the first left (Rt 678), follow the signs to the driveway of Barboursville Vineyards, less than 1 mile.
View "Lodging at Barboursville Vineyards – 1804 Inn" on its own page.
Rural Ridge Guest House
Just south of Charlottesville, adjacent to Albemarle CiderWorks, are a historic B&B and a separate house for a wine-weekend getaway. The location is perfect: central enough for easy exploration of more than a dozen wineries, but quiet enough to appreciate the beautiful countryside in Albemarle County.
The B&B, Inn at the Crossroads, has 5 rooms and suites, plus a separate cottage, called the Summer Kitchen. Built in 1820, the Inn has historic significance, having served as a meeting place for Thomas Jefferson and Martin Van Buren, as well as a lunch spot for President Teddy Roosevelt after a day or birding, and also the location for a 1936 speech by Franklin Delano Roosevelt immediately prior to dedicating the George Washington National Forest. The building is unique in that has been virtually unaltered since its construction, and is now listed on the National Historic Register as a Virginia Historic Landmark.
The rental house, Rural Ridge Cottage, has four bedrooms and two baths, and is fully outfitted and available for daily (2 night minimum), weekly, or monthly rental. (No WiFi.)
Rates for Inn of the Crossroads range from $140 to $170/nt (Jan – March) to $160 – $200 (April – Nov). Rates include breakfast, and there are reduced rates for 3 or more nights.
Rates for Rural Ridge Cottage range from $200 to $270/nt (Jan – March) to $300 to $350/nt (April – Nov).
Wineries within 10 miles: Sugarleaf Vineyard
Location:
Albemarle CiderWorks
2545 Rural Ridge Lane
North Garden, VA
Reservations: 434-979-6452 or 866-809-2136, or online at http://www.albemarleciderworks.com/
-
- Rural Ridge Guest House
-
- Suite at Inn at the Crossroads
-
- Summer Kitchen
-
- Room at Inn at the Crossroads
I mentioned yesterday that High Meadows Vineyard Inn in Scottsville, Virginia had a spectacular success with their Groupon offer. By just past noon, 450 people purchased their overnight stay/dinner package for the great price of $150. (I missed it by eight minutes! Need better Inbox prioritization protocol.)
I gathered some more info from inn owner Cynthia Bruce yesterday, shared below. I also found out that High Meadows did not add the “Vineyard” to their name as a bit of marketing polish, as I assumed; they actually have a small pinot noir vineyard, and the vineyard is managed by none other than Gabriele Rausse, known to many as the father of (modern) Virginia wine, and the overseer of the vineyard and wine production at Monticello. Great story!
Q: The Groupon offer sold to 450 people by just past noon. Are you surprised by that response?
Cynthia: Pleasantly surprised! We would have been thrilled with 200. Groupon set the max at 450 based on our size – but in my wildest dreams I didn’t think we could sell out! And by 1pm – it was amazing.
Q: The offer was $150 for one night and dinner for two. That’s a great offer, since your rooms alone go for $150 to $250. With just seven rooms in your B&B, you’ll be filled up for quite a while! Do you expect that many people will actually extend their visit to stay more than just the one night?
Cynthia: Many people have added a night. But we are still nowhere near full! Remember, lots of people want to stay midweek when wineries and Monticello aren’t too busy…so it’s not like 450 people all wanted weekends. That’s not the case at all!
Q: Would you recommend this to other Virginia inn owners?
Cynthia: If their demographics match up with Groupon’s, then of course! We aren’t a very traditional B&B…we are bright, trendy, and colourful. We know our market – our guests come mostly from DC, and are between the ages of 25 and 50, and are most often professionals who are very comfortable with the technology of online shopping.
Q: Anything else you’d like to mention about this marketing strategy?
Cynthia: This is – hands down – the best advertising campaign we have ever launched. Nothing has provided this kind of immediate return, and put into our view so many of the people we long to be able to reach! Couldn’t be happier – and by the way, our Groupon rep was FANTASTIC: knowledgeable, accessible, and informative.
For me, the takeaways here are 1) This was a great use of emerging online marketing tools, 2) Folks in the DC area are dying for great getaway deals, 3) Having the word “vineyard” in your name doesn’t hurt (but maybe that’s just my bias 
, and 4) get up earlier to read my darn Groupons.
Late-breaking news! Just heard from Cynthia that my whining had the intended effect, and she is extending the offer until tomorrow (Friday) at midnight! One night plus dinner for $150, and $100 for an additional night (no dinner). You can book online, or just buy a gift certificate if you don’t have any dates in mind – and make sure to note in the comments/special requests box the ‘sold out special’.
Yay! I love me a good deal!
View "Virginia Wine Country: More Groupons, please!" on its own page.
I’m staying at the Museum District B&B in Richmond for the premiere of Vintage: The Winemaker’s Year.
I immediately notice what great naps they have here.
And very nice coffee, from one of those neat little pod filter machines…
…with real cream, right from my own little fridge…
which I think I’ll enjoy on the cute front porch of my little Carriage House cottage ($100/night, including wine and cheese, and breakfast).
While I love my little cottage, my eyes nearly fell out when Anna Currence showed me around the Judge Rhea Suite, with its full living room, sunroom with lounger and daybed, separate office, and bathroom with a claw foot tub and two-person steam shower ($175 weeknights/$200 weekends). If you travel in a pack, you might want to consider the John Lane Suite, which has anywhere from one to three bedrooms, depending on the number in your entourage ($150 for 2 people, plus $25 per extra person).
I’m within 3 blocks of Byrd Theater, a state and national historic landmark, and easy walking distance of a dozen restaurants that Anne has kindly mapped out for me. Even more important: I’m only 12 miles from James River Cellars Winery (open daily), 17 miles from Woodland Vineyard (open weekends only), and 27 miles from New Kent Winery (open Tuesday- Sunday).
Directions:
Museum District B&B
2811 Grove Avenue
Richmond, VA
804-359-2332
Checking in, Franc? Unicorn Winery's proprietor, inquiring about room service options.
The Virginia Tourism Corporation has put together a terrific guide to pet-friendly lodging, and you can see it on their blog. More than 700 options are listed in their searchable database. Great job, VTC!
[This review was included in my article, Winter Travel: Romantic Inns, in Washingtonian magazine. The article profiled five D.C.-area inns with in-room fireplaces—most burning real wood. The rates have been updated.]
In cold weather, Kenmore Inn’s gardens aren’t quite as exuberant. But once you settle into your canopied bed by the fire, you’ll be happy it’s winter.
Beyond naps and books, there’s wireless Internet and a flat-screen TV to entertain. Kenmore’s pub is a cozy spot for a cocktail, with its brick walls and pressed-tin ceiling. Elegant dinners are served in the dining room, which is key if the weather’s too bad to walk to nearby restaurants. If you do venture outside, the inn’s location in historic Fredericksburg makes it easy to see the Revolutionary-era houses.
The morning-averse will be pleased that breakfast is not a communal affair; you get your own table. Favorite rooms are the Fredericksburg Grand and the Regal Kenmore for their cozy canopies.
Dinner is served from 5:30 – 9:30 Sunday to Wednesday and until 10:30 Thursday – Saturdays.
Kenmore Inn, Fredericksburg; 540-371-7622; kenmoreinn.com. Nine rooms, four with fireplaces; $130 to $175.
Closest wineries are Mattaponi, Hartwood, Lake Anna, and Potomac Point.
[This review was included in my article, Winter Travel: Romantic Inns, in Washingtonian magazine. The article profiled five D.C.-area inns with in-room fireplaces—most burning real wood. The rates have been updated.]
Watching the Mayhurst Inn emerge through columns of towering magnolia and pine is a little like spotting the Mormon Temple as you round the Beltway. Stark white but warmed by ornate cornices, arched windows, and a carved cupola, Mayhurst is an Italianate Victorian monolith in the small town of Orange, Virginia.
Built by a grandnephew of James Madison’s two years before the Civil War, the plantation home sheltered Confederate soldiers in what is now the General’s Room, just off the entry hall. General “Stonewall” Jackson was given the larger and sunnier Southern Charm bedroom one flight up.
A dozen working fireplaces still warm the parlors and guest rooms, but their shallow fireboxes are a sign of old times; the 1859 appliances were built for coal, not wood, fires. But Duraflame logs fit in nicely, and some rooms have been retrofitted with gas for those who prefer their history more modern.
The Southern Charm room is a favorite among guests—not just Stonewall Jackson—for its great light and its double whirlpool by the fire. For drama, try the Madison Room—it’s wallpapered in Dolley Madison red.
Mayhurst Inn, Orange, Va.; 540-672-5597; mayhurstinn.com. Eight rooms, all with wood, gas, or electric fireplaces; $165 to $239.
Closest wineries: Castle Gruen, Barboursville, Horton
.jpg)
.png)
Subscribe by Email