What a fun-filled weekend it has been and such a wonderful weekend to be up in the mountains! This year, we came at a perfect time to see the fall colors! I remembered this time last year, I was pregnant with little Miss L and the fall colors were in full swing, but we had missed most of the colors on top of the mountains. This year, we came at a perfect time!
We headed out to the Homestead Resort. A mini fall vacay to get away from it all! And really, it was away from it all; and cell phone reception was hard to come by! It was beautiful up in this part of the Virginia mountains. The fall colors were def. in full swing!
We arrived Friday afternoon at the resort. The ride, somewhat long and of course, I got alittle car sick. The girls were great in the car. We checked into our room and then toured the resort. Tea time was happening around the lobby for everyone to enjoy, so here we are enjoying tea time! Feeling very English!
We then decided to go on a haunted hay ride. It was so much fun! L slept through it, thankfully! The tractor took us on a scenic ride followed by s’mores with a beautiful view of the Homestead and then a haunted hay ride. It was pretty exciting and the cold weather was just right for the ride! Thankfully, the lull of the tractor had put L to sleep!
Here we are at the beginning of the hayride!
The next day, after a much needed rest in our hotel, we had a wonderful breakfast at the Great Hall, yummy and such a beautiful dinning hall with great service! We then set out to the Thomas Jefferson Pool, a natural mineral springs that is 98 degrees year round! It didn’t look much from the outside; the springs are set in an octagonal wooden building that still looks very much like it did back then (at least that is what the brochure stated). Owned by the Homestead, this building is considered the oldest spa structure in America and Thomas Jefferson himself soaked here to treat his “rheumatism”! It was a very cool experience for us as a family and so very warm and relaxing! Even L enjoyed splashing in the water!
After returning to the hotel for a bit and resting some, we headed out to find some trails. The waterfall we were looking for ended up being a landmark right by the road, so there were no trails to follow. We drove the “skyline” for the Homestead and enjoyed the view of the Warm Springs Valley and the cool fresh mountain air. We then headed back to the Homestead and took a walk among the hotel grounds and town. It was a very lovely small, quaint, and old fashioned town with its own charms.
The next day after breakfast, we hiked around the Homestead property. They had three hiking trails we could do and we chose a 3.2 mile trail around the area. It was long, but fun and the scenery beautiful! Although we didn’t get to hike to a waterfall like we did the year before at the Shenandoah mountain, we did get to see some of the beautiful surroundings of the property. So proud of Miss A for being such a trooper the entire time, even though she kept asking “are we there yet?” LOL. L was strapped onto Mr. M the entire time; silly baby fell asleep halfway through the hike. She seemed to have enjoyed it as well b/c we didn’t hear a fuss from her the entire time while she was awake!
The beginning of our hike. L asleep, lol! Taking a much needed break!
After our hike, it was time for us to pack up and leave the resort and head home! We didn’t want to go home! It was such a fun little trip for all of us and a much needed family fall vacation! We enjoy going to the mountains every year in the fall; hopefully next year we’ll have some new fall adventures to share! On our way home, we decided to stop by a pumpkin patch, but that’s on another blog post… so read on for the next adventure!
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
