We woke up Saturday morning and all he knew was that we were dropping Lucy off at Affectionate Pet Care for the weekend and heading somewhere in the car. He had no idea where we were going or what we were doing the entire weekend and my plan to was to unveil things as the days went on. Clever, huh? :)
We hit the road at 9 am and after some tears seeing Lucy off (I'm an emotional Mommy!), we grabbed some breakfast on the go and were on our way. Our first destination was about an hour and a half Southwest on Routes 66 and 340. I used to do this drive to get to JMU and I forgot how beautiful it was. The scenery is 100% amazing filled with mountain peaks, farms in the valley, train tresses and much more. GORGEOUS!
The address of our first destination was 101 Cave Hill Road, Luray and since he saw me type it into the GPS, I knew the jig was up - it was time to give him his first present/clue.
In addition to his new Mason hoodie, there was also a pamphlet for Luray Caverns. He has been wanting to go there for a while and since I've never been, I thought it would be a great way to kick off the weekend. We pulled in around 11:30 am and booked it to the ticket booth to get our passes.
After a 15 minute wait it was our turn to head into the caverns and all I can say is WOW. I don't know that the photos will do it justice because it was absolutely beautiful! Words really can't describe...so really what you need to do is get in your car and go. Just go because you HAVE to see it for yourself!! Here is a glimpse to peak you interest ~ see all the photos here:
We were put in a group of about 30 people consisting of 5 or 6 other couples and what seemed like 100,000 little kids ~ in actuality, there were probably 10. Our tour guide Matt was a little rusty, but he managed to get the facts out. The Caverns were discovered in 1878 by a local tinsman named Andrew J. Campbell. Essentially he and some buddies felt a whole lot of air coming out of a sinkhole they had found. So they decided to dig and what they found were Luray Caverns. There is a lot more to it than that and you can read about it here.
Some interesting sites inside the caverns include Pluto's Chasm, Saracen's Tent, the Stalacpipe Organ (actually plays music - check out our video here) and the Wishing Well.
The tour was about an hour long and it was worth every single penny we paid for it. After we came to the surface, we decided to check out the rest of the Luray Caverns grounds which included not only the caverns, but the Stalactite Cafe, the Car and Carriage Caravan Museum, and the Garden Maze (which of course was SO MUCH FUN!!).
Check us out trying to navigate the maze before the big rain storm set in:
Okay...now onto surprise number 2. After a quick lunch in the very small town of Luray, VA at Uncle Buck's (so small there is no website!), we headed to our home away from the home for the weekend. Ed kept going on and on about checking into the hotel and which hotel and where is the hotel. Little did he know that we were not staying at a hotel. Instead, we headed up the mountain to a very remote, very adorable, very secluded LOG CABIN!!! Andrea and Rich tipped me off about this amazing place (named Fern Bank Cabin) and WOW did it deliver!
If you saw the road that led up to this adorable little house, you would truly understand the remote-ness. I'm not even sure they qualify as roads...but instead really, really long gravel driveways. Ed kept asking me if I was bringing him to his death...ha ha. :) Nope...just a really awesome cabin on the top of a mountain with some really awesome views.
As if the day was not exciting enough, there was 1 more surprise in store. DINNER! It is tradition that we go to an exceptional steakhouse to celebrate Ed's birthday. In New York, we would go to Jimmy Hayes. Last year, we went to Sam and Harry's in DC. So the pressure was on for me to find a great steakhouse in the Shenandoah Valley. Enter the Local Chop & Grill House in Harrisonburg, VA.
We had to go on Saturday night instead of birthday night because the place is closed on Sunday (that's small town America for ya!), but it was well worth it. Great ambiance, great food, great service and great location. It is in downtown Harrisonburg, home of my alma mater JMU, and the best part is that it is located in the city's old Produce Exchange building.
After a delicious steak dinner and some birthday ice cream, it was time to drive home to the cabin in the woods. I think it may have been the scariest time I've spent in my car in a while...but we made it safe and sound and rested up for the excitement of Day 2. See you tomorrow!
