1 Year Anniversary Trip

I can hardly believe it, but it’s been almost exactly 1 year since Matt and I said “I do” on a beautiful, sunny October day in 2012.

We spent the weekend celebrating. :) Our actual anniversary is next weekend, on October 13, but schedule-wise it worked better to take a trip this past weekend. So we did!

As part of the wedding package we had at our venue, Historic Rosemont Manor out in Berryville, VA, we got a free night stay for our 1 year anniversary. It was SO fun to be back!

So many happy memories at this place. :) The beautiful big porch below was part of the seating during our outdoor ceremony, and I walked out that door to make my way down the aisle.

The fountain below was enclosed in our big tent and had candles floating in it during our dinner reception.

Besides just seeing all the locations where such special moments occurred, it was such a treat to see everyone there who we spent so much time planning with! The owner, general manager, and wedding coordinator at Rosemont are all really nice guys and it was great to see them again and catch up. I want to come back at Christmastime for an afternoon tea and see all the beautiful decorations in the house – I bet it’s gorgeous.

Matt and I spent Thursday night at Rosemont and on Friday morning we got in a workout before heading out. We actually ran the same route that I ran with my friends on the morning of our wedding! Another fun trip down memory lane. :)

After breakfast, we hit the road. We decided it would be fun for our anniversary to retrace our steps from the wedding weekend, so from Rosemont we headed to Fort Lewis Lodge, where we went right after our wedding for a little mini-honeymoon! (Here’s recap 1, recap 2, and recap 3 of our mini-moon.)

It was wonderful to be back at Fort Lewis – it’s so beautiful and peaceful, nestled in the Virginia mountains and with the sweetest owners ever. We first found out about this place last year because a friend of a friend is the owner’s son! It was quite the find.

We spent the weekend eating good food, sleeping a lot, and enjoying the fresh air. On Friday after we arrived, we went for a hike! We did this one last year, too – beautiful views.

So beautiful. That’s the lodge down there!

On Saturday after an awesome big breakfast, we enjoyed a nice bike ride on the country roads around the lodge (the roads are paved – this was just the lodge’s driveway).

About 30 minutes in, we stopped for lunch. After breakfast at the lodge you can request a lunch to take out with you during the day, hand-packed by Caryl, one of the owners of the lodge.

In each packed lunch is a sandwich, an apple, a still hot out of the oven cookie (oatmeal raisin this day, my favorite), and either water or juice (we got water). Adorable, right?!

The sandwich options were either turkey, ham, or roast beef. I had turkey with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and mustard. Yum! Eaten with a pretty view. :)

After lunch, we headed back on our way! This bike ride was no joke, guys. It was only about 19 miles, and considering Matt and I have done 40 milers around DC with no problem, we thought it’d be a breeze, but MAN was it hilly. It was literally all straight up or straight down. It was so beautiful that it was worth it, but we arrived back at the lodge exhausted! Luckily all we had to do the rest of the day was chill out and eat. :)

A hammock in the woods by a beautiful stream = my idea of heaven. I can’t even remember the last time I was so relaxed.

The other big highlight of the weekend was all the good food! Caryl makes both dinner and breakfast every day for guests and the food is SO good. Every night at 6:30, everyone congregates in “Buck’s Bar” with Caryl’s husband John while eagerly awaiting the dinner bell.

I didn’t get any photos of the food this time because I was too busy relaxing, but it was all delicious. Caryl really knows how to cook and I had fun chatting with her about her inspirations for the recipes (and how she determines how much to make – lots of trial and error)!

Matt and I were so sad to leave Fort Lewis yesterday. We can’t wait to go back!

Until next time, Fort Lewis – we’ll be thinking of you!

And now, it’s back to work! I have a bunch of AnneTheRD clients today, some freelance work to do, and a mountain of emails to climb out from under. Better get after it!