It's Officially Spring, Right? - Part 4

Need to catch up?  Here's Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

When last I blogged, Toni and I embarked for our trip around cider country, tasting all sorts of delightful things!

Sunday, March 12th

Sunday morning dawned cold - while it wasn't actively snowing, the cute little pond in front of the Airwell had frozen over, and we were quite pleased to be warm and toasty inside the Ashby Suite.  Just before 9am, our gracious hosts delivered us a basket full of delicious breakfast - all sorts of things, including stuffed french toast (complete with blueberry compote and maple syrup), sausage loaf, pineapple parfaits, and freshly squeezed OJ.

Yum!

We cleaned our plates, leisurely watching the cold weather outside, and eventually decided to get moving along.  After packing up the dishes (back in the basket), we changed into warmer clothes and headed out.  When I'd been researching this area for the trip, I found out that the Appalachian Trail (the AT!) had a trailhead near the Airwell, and we thought it would be a great idea to do a short hike, both to get ourselves moving and just to be able to say that we've been on the AT at least once in our lives.

All bundled up!

We parked at the trailhead that links Section 2 of the AT to Section 3 and started hiking up the nearby switchbacks.  I have to admit to being somewhat disappointed that there wasn't a sign anywhere saying "welcome to the AT!" or something of that nature; instead, I grabbed some shots of the hike and the white markers you follow to let you know you're on the right track:

Follow these, I think.

We ended up hiking for around 30 minutes, covering probably somewhere close to .75-1 mile total, round-trip.  We met up with a few other hikers (including another excessively friendly Bernese Mountain Dog and his person), but for the most part, we just wandered along enjoying the scenery and each other's company.

After we made it back to the trailhead, it was back in the car to the Airwell to get cleaned up and packed up, and then it was back on the road for another round of cider tasting.  I've learned over the years from various and sundry tasting weekend trips (everything from beer to wine to mead to spirits) that however many places you hit on the first day, you should at least halve that number on Day 2.  On Day 2, you're generally tired from drinking all day the previous day (even in little sips and bits) and sleeping in an unfamiliar place, and you're often heading on a decent drive homeward, so you don't want to delay that any longer than necessary.

With this in mind, we headed to our first of two cider stops on Sunday, the Mt. Defiance Cidery in nearby Middleburg.  Downtown Middleburg is super cute, and the cidery was no exception.  They had a steampunk theme going on here, and it was fun to taste while we peered around at all the cool decorations in the room.  

Salut!

Flavored mixers

A belt driven fan system - 

we certainly didn't need it today.

Mt. Defiance also had a line of spirits, so I tried their dark rum and was impressed by it.  While I didn't take a bottle home (thinking of lack of space in the suitcase plus weight concerns), Toni bought a bottle for Robert.

Arrr...rrrrrum!

Once we finished up at Mt. Defiance, it was time for lunch.  Middleburg had a great set of options, so we kept the car parked and wandered down the street to Common Grounds, a coffee shop that also made fresh sandwiches.  Our meals were fantastic, and we grabbed some sweet treats to go for later as well.

It was time to hop back in the car and continue our journey to our final cider destination, Cobbler Mountain Cellars, about 30 minutes from Middleburg.  As its name implies, Cobbler Mountain was up on a nearby rise, so after turning off the main road, we headed up into the clouds, passing this sign on the way:

Indeed.

As we headed into the tasting room, I found another cidery/winery dog to love on, but eventually, Toni convinced me to pursue why we were actually here, and we headed to the cider counter.

The tasting list at Cobbler Mountain

Cobbler Mountain had a wide range of options - probably the largest variety of any cidery we visited on this trip - and they seemed to specialize in a more Americanized version of cider.  Given this, things were a little sweet for my taste, but they really had an interesting set of selections.  Another nice thing about Cobbler Mountain was their set of offerings in standard 12 oz bottles, which you could mix and match as you pleased.  Although neither of us found anything we loved enough to take home, they had a lovely setup.

Finishing up our tasting at Cobbler Mountain

Points also go to Cobbler Mountain for their understanding that kids might be bored while adults are tasting, and the distractions and fun items they provided to help with this:

You can't tell very well in this shot,

but the table and chairs and teeny weeny.

Look here:

See how wee?

After Cobbler Mountain, it was time to head back home, and our drive of an hour wasn't bad at all.  When we arrived, we hung out with Robert and Juliet, watching tv and eating a great dinner made by Toni.  Robert happened to mention that with a decent sized storm approaching, word on the street was that flights from the area would be cancelled, which worried me, and I resolved to look into it further the next morning (insert ominous foreshadowing sound here).  After the kiddo headed to bed, the adults chilled on the couch a bit more, hanging out with Snuggles the hamster, the newest addition to the Holmes family:

In the next blog, I attempt to get home and embark on a travel odyssey worthy of Steve Martin and John Candy...

Later!

Amy