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Home » Fitness » Hiking

February 15, 2016 (Updated April 6, 2023)

Valentine’s Weekend Adventures

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

13 comments
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Hey friends! I hope your weekends were great, whether you are back at work today or enjoying the federal holiday!

A couple weeks ago, Matt and I were booking a trip for later this spring and randomly decided while we were at it to book ourselves a little Valentine’s Weekend getaway in our favorite spot, the Shenandoahs. Because – why not? 🙂 We’ve both been super busy lately with work and social stuff, so we were looking forward to a little quality time together.

winter hiking in shenandoah national park

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As you guys know, Matt and I have stayed at a ton of bed and breakfasts in the area around Shenandoah National Park. It’s kind of “our place” – we started hiking there back in 2005 when we were first dating and have gone at least once every year since. We even got engaged on the top of a mountain in the Shenandoahs back in 2011. 🙂

For this trip, we booked 2 nights at a well reviewed b&b called “Once Upon a Mountain” near Luray, VA, an easy drive to Shenandoah National Park.

once upon a mountain bed and breakfast review

We arrived late on Friday and woke up on Saturday to find coffee (for him) and tea (for me) waiting on the ledge outside our room. After breakfast with the others staying at the inn (there are only 3 rooms, so it’s a small group and we enjoyed chatting with the other two couples there), we got some recommendations from the owner and headed out for an adventure! It was REALLY cold this weekend but we decided that wouldn’t stop us from getting in at least a short hike. Once we entered Shenandoah National Park the roads were actually still a bit snowy – we were glad we bought a car with 4 wheel drive last year. 🙂

shenandoah national park winter

Check out those icicles on the tunnel – yikes!

winter shenandoah national park

When we left the b&b, our car said the temperature was about 22 – by the time we drove up into the mountains and parked for our hike, it said 7. Ahhh!

IMG_0474

The sun was shining and we were bundled up so we decided to carry on with our plans. 🙂 We decided to hike a new to us trail called Stony Man Mountain; it’s a short 1.6 mile round trip hike so we figured that would be about all we wanted to do in the cold!

stony man hike shenandoah

I was surprised that the trail was so snowy! It looked beautiful with the blue sky and sunshine, and I was glad I wore my waterproof hiking boots.

stony man winter hike

Despite how cold it was it felt great to get some fresh air! There were a couple other small groups out there but otherwise it was nice and quiet. We weren’t cold at all except for our faces – we could have used something to cover our noses in particular!

IMG_0478

The summit was gorgeous – check out these views!

stony man hike summit

It was also SUPER windy up there though – our faces were so cold! We took a couple pictures, enjoyed the views briefly and then hightailed it out of there! Brrrr!!!

IMG_0498

After our hike, we headed in to downtown Luray for lunch at a café our b&b host had recommended – Gathering Grounds. It was a cute spot with good food! I had some green tea and tomato soup to warm up, plus a big salad. The buttery toast that came with the soup was so good dipped in. 🙂

gathering grounds luray va lunch

Our post-lunch adventure was something warm: we decided to take a tour of nearby Luray Caverns (which are always about 55 degrees)! These famous underground caverns were first discovered in 1878 and feature beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. I wish we could have just toured the caverns on our own, but it seemed the only way to do it was with a big tour group – meh. Not my fave way to see things, but the caverns were still really beautiful.

luray caverns tour

Our tour guide could have been a lot better – we were pretty unimpressed as the tour didn’t include basically anything at all about how the caves formed or the science behind the cool formations we were seeing. The tour basically consisted of “coming up next you’ll see a formation we call “the towel” because it looks just like a towel!” Um, great, thanks. So – if you tour the caverns, be prepared to not really learn anything (or read up on them on your own first). 🙂

My favorite was this beautiful underground lake – it was so reflective it looked like there wasn’t any water at all!

luray caverns underground lake

Post-caverns, we decided some wine was in order. Wine tasting? Don’t mind if we do! We headed to a cute spot near-ish to our b&b called Wisteria Farm & Vineyard.

wisteria vineyard

wisteria farm

The tasting room was small but cozy and the others there were regulars that were really friendly. We enjoyed the tasting and bought a bottle to enjoy another glass there before they closed at 5.

Dinner Saturday was at the beautiful Mimslyn Inn – we ate at their “speakeasy” which was nothing to write home about, so I wouldn’t really recommend it – but the hotel itself was gorgeous.

As for Sunday, we had breakfast with the group again and then decided to hit up the hot tub! This was the #1 selling point for us about the b&b – the hot tub was right outside our room and the views were insane. We went in on Saturday night after dinner and the stars were amazing. Sunday morning, we had these beautiful mountains to look at! Nothing better than a hot tub on a really cold day.

once upon a mountain review

We tried to do another short hike in Shenandoah National Park before heading home, but sadly it was closed on Sunday due to snowy conditions. Boooo! So instead, we headed home and got in an afternoon run. We knew it was supposed to snow today and figured it might be our last chance for a run for awhile! It was cold but sunny – pretty good running weather!

w&od trail arlington running

We did a 3 mile loop and stopped roughly halfway for some pushups, situps, and dips on a bench. 🙂 Short and sweet!

running boot camp

As for dinner last night for Valentine’s Day, we decided to stay in and have a feast! We hit up Mom’s Organic Market after our run (they just opened one up in Arlington and it’s amazing) for supplies, then got cooking! Matt made us grilled steaks (hence the ski hat – he had to pop outside a few times to the grill) and asparagus plus roasted sweet potatoes and sautéed mushrooms and spinach. We also drank the rest of our Wisteria Farm & Vineyard wine from Saturday!

valentine's dinner at home

Dinner is served! It was delicious – my compliments to the chef. 😉

healthy steak dinner at home

What a fun weekend! I hope you all had great weekends, too, whether you celebrated Valentine’s Day, Gal-entine’s day, or none of the above!

Matt and I are snowed in today and both working from home. We’re planning to do one of the Winter Shape Up workouts in the basement over our lunch break! 🙂

Tell me about your weekend – what’s the best workout or adventure you got in? The best meal?

- anne
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Anniversary Trip to Fort Lewis Lodge

Shenandoah Weekend Recap Part 2

Hiking Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland

Hooray for Hollywoooooood

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13 comments
  • [email protected]
    February 15, 2016 · 2:00PM:
    What a fun weekend! Last year Brandon and I went away near Shenandoah--we stayed at a resort called Lydia Mountain and never left the cabin, except to sit in the hot tub. We celebrated Valentine's Day with pizza, red velvet cream cheese brownies and champagne :)
    Reply
    • Anne
      February 15, 2016 · 2:05PM:
      Sounds fabulous :) We'll have to look into that resort for next time!
      Reply
  • Jess February 15, 2016 · 2:06PM:
    Brrrr! What a fun trip! I live in Waynesboro, VA and am 10 minutes from the Rockfish Gap entrance to SNP. I considered hiking on Saturday but the cold temps in the valley scared me away from the even colder temps in the mountains! My husband and I did some geocaching instead and that was enough of the cold for me. Sorry your tour at Luray Caverns was meh. We are planning to go to Grand Caverns in Grottoes next weekend. I've heard the tours are good at that one.
    Reply
    • Anne
      February 15, 2016 · 2:33PM:
      Nice! Jealous you live so close to SNP!
      Reply
  • Kelli @ Hungry Hobby
    February 15, 2016 · 3:12PM:
    Looks like you had an amazing time! Glad I follow you or I would have no idea what snow looks like ... it's 76 out right now in AZ. Crazy to think how different the weather is from one place ot the next!
    Reply
    • Anne
      February 15, 2016 · 3:54PM:
      Wow, that is crazy! 76 would be so awesome right now... enjoy it!
      Reply
  • Erin M. February 15, 2016 · 7:20PM:
    So pretty! I love hiking and wine tastings! My weekend consisted of alot of Netflix and a yoga class....it was -11 here this weekend!
    Reply
  • Emily
    February 15, 2016 · 9:13PM:
    WOW, that's beautiful!!! :) I love how you and Matt do workouts together.
    Reply
  • Roadrunner February 16, 2016 · 7:18AM:
    What a fun weekend! Very nice way to spend Valentine's Day!
    Reply
  • Dade Dyana
    February 17, 2016 · 1:45AM:
    Hi Anne - Looks like an amazing weekend. Not too familiar with that area myself, but it looks beautiful. Do you wear the waterproof hiking boots all the time or do you have another pair? I only have a non-water proof pair and I'm curious if I need to invest.
    Reply
    • Anne
      February 17, 2016 · 10:18AM:
      In summer/fall/spring usually wear my lightweight Brooks hiking/running trail shoes. (The PureGrit.) I really like them because they are super lightweight and have nice grip, but if it's wet or snowy out they aren't the best choice and I go for my more sturdy waterproof boots (that I linked to in this post) instead.
      Reply
  • Shannon S. February 18, 2016 · 8:37PM:
    Looks so fun, but cold! I'd love to visit this National Park this spring. Just curious, in looking it up it looks like the mountains are The Blue Ridge Mountains on the Skyline Drive...is there another range I'm missing called The Shenandoahs where you all go?
    Reply
    • Anne
      February 19, 2016 · 9:51AM:
      Skyline drive is in Shenandoah National Park! :) The Blue Ridge Mountains are a part of the park. But either way, Skyline Drive is what you want!
      Reply
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anne mauney fannetastic food
Hi, I’m Anne! I'm a Washington D.C. based Registered Dietitian, mother, runner, and lover of travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. I've been blogging since 2009, sharing a mix of lifestyle content, recipes, and fitness tips. Come for the recipes – stay for the fun!
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I’m Anne, a Registered Dietitian and mother. I've been blogging since 2009 and love showing others that eating nutritious foods and staying active can actually be fun rather than overwhelming!

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