We’ve gone to the North Georgia mountains for the last two years to celebrate my birthday, and we’ve always had a great time. Just the two of us, along with the pups, we enjoy hiking, visiting wineries, cooking and reading. It’s always a relaxing and lovely weekend.

This year for my 30th birthday, I still wanted to go to the mountains. However, my dad bought a small bungalow in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, so we decided to go there instead. I was curious to check out the new place and to explore a new area. 

It’s more of a drive – 5.5 hours instead of 1.5-2 hours, but we made the most of it by stopping in Asheville for lunch at Wicked Weed. Can’t go wrong! 🙂 There were still lots of colorful leaves on the trees, too.

My dad’s place is very nice! Perfect for a vacation home/weekend getaway, it has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, nice-sized kitchen, eating area, living room, decks and porches, and a large addition with a wood-burning stove. We felt at home right away!

My dad had been at the house a few weeks before us and knew we were coming for my birthday so he left a gift for me! I found the birthday card, along with cookies and several bottles of wine when I arrived. So nice. 

We stayed in and had a low-key but very yummy dinner. I opened two bottles of the same wine, but a year apart for a mini “taste test.” It was fun. We also had a gourmet cheese tray with Manchego, blue, triple cream brie, aged cheddar, goat cheese, pickled okra, salami, proscuitto, quince paste, apricot preserves and French baguette. I was in heaven.

We watched a movie and snuggled with this adorable fluffy for the rest of the night. Relaxation at its finest.

We packed up lavlox bagels and headed out for a hike in the morning. We stopped first at the local outfitters store to ask them for a trail they recommended and to get a map. They also recommended we wear something bright orange since it was hunting season. Good call!

After our hike, we made our way to Abingdon Winery, where we had a wine tasting…

…made silly faces for selfies….

…and enjoyed the picturesque setting.

And then we managed to get a nice, regular photo. 😉

The Damascus brewery is about a mile or less from the house, so we had to check it out. We had a tasting of everything they had. Sean talked with the brewer, got a mini-tour of the small, new operation, and traded a couple of Orpheus Atalanta’s for some swag. Pretty successful visit.

We cooked dinner that night, and as has become tradition, we had steak with a nice bottle of wine. Since it was my birthday, we had  a lovely Bordeaux – one of my favorite styles – and it was so good.

More movies and snuggles with the dogs ensued after dinner, a nice end to a very fun day. Oh – and no cell service at the house meant we were unplugged. It was great!

We headed home on Sunday, but not before I managed to seriously hurt my back getting out of the shower, one day after turning 30. Sheesh. (I’m ok now, but it was a pinched nerve and was excruciating)

We stopped for a view, and again for lunch in Asheville but added the Funkatorium from Wicked Weed this time. All sour beers? Count me in!