7.19.2013

Big Meadows

Hey chickies!

Happy Friday!

Today I'm going to share another of our weekend getaways this summer.

At the end of June we visited Big Meadows.  Big Meadows is a campground in the Shenandoah National Park.  They have camping areas, rooms to stay in, cabins, and a main lodge with a common area, tap room, and restaurant.  Each year, one of Bryce's dad's business colleagues hosts his dad and step-mom for the weekend and this was our second year being invited along as well.

When we first arrived, D&A, the hosting couple, had a beautiful spread waiting for us!

We sipped on cocktails and snacked the first few hours of our visit.


These gorgeous views were right outside our room!

After lots of grazing, we made our way to the main lodge for dinner.

I couldn't resist snapping a picture with this bear after dinner!
(last year, we saw actual bears on our hike!)

The next day we fueled up with a great breakfast in the lodge, before heading out on a hike.

The pancakes were de-lic-ious!

We stopped by the Big Meadows visitor's center to help decide which hiking trail to take.

The visitors center was full of cool history--for example, we learned that good fly fishing is what convinced President Hoover to make Virginia the location for the East Coast's first national park.

I loved this tunnel filled with woods scenes and quotes about the wilderness.  My favorite quote was:  "The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond our reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth." -Edward Abbey

While at the visitor's center we picked our hike:  A trail that would take us to Rapidan Camp, the location of President Hoover's summer home!

B's dad, leading the way!

I loved this tree!

:)

Bryce's stepmom secretly snapped this picture and I love it...I believe I was showing Bryce a crawfish I had found!



Once we made it to Camp Rapidan we found a place to rest and eat a picnic lunch before exploring!


This quote, by Hoover's wife, reminded Bryce of us, so I decided to snap a picture of it.  We definitely are two people with our own independent spirits, haha!

Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed inside Hoover's personal cabin, so I wasn't able to take any photos of it.  The cabin was really cool though and had the HUGEST fireplaces!


When we got back from our hike that afternoon, I took a much needed nap before heading to the lodge for our last night's dinner.

The lodge was filled with seating and games.

I also loved the ceilings!


My favorite thing on the menu were these sweet potato fries served with lemon aioli!

AND my other favorite part of the  menu was THIS mudslide dessert.  It was a brownie topped with ice cream, Kahlua, Baileys, hot fudge, and whipped cream!  Heaven in your mouth!

After dinner we were all thoroughly exhausted and hit the sack early.  Bryce and I had decided to go see the sunrise, just the two of us the next morning, so we especially had to get to sleep early.

 The next morning, our alarms were set for 5:00 am and we made our way to the Big Meadow!
Sleepy Eyes!

The sunset was spectacular and such a special time for just the two of us!



A little after six, we made our way back to the cabin for a little snooze until breakfast!

For our last breakfast before saying farewell, D&A had planned a delicious blueberry pancake breakfast.  We headed to the campsite to use their grills!

This took "tailgating" to a new level!

We even had coffee from Cafe du Monde in New Orleans!

Bryce and his dad were in charge of the meat!

Buckwheat Pancakes with fresh blueberries from D's garden!

YUM!

With full bellies we said goodbye to D&A and are already looking forward to next year's Big Meadows trip!

Do you enjoy the mountains?

Have you had any fun weekend getaways this summer?

Have a great weekend and if you haven't already, click here to enter my giveaway!