Mountain Song

Favorite Places - Yoder's Country Market

2010-04-30T18:43:00.007-04:00

Located about 20 miles from Blue Vistas Cabin, is a wonderful Mennonite run country market - Yoder's Country Market. A great place to pick up sandwiches for a picnic lunch (just $3.99 each and made to order at the deli counter on homemade rolls), or a sweet souvenir of your weekend away. Its location in Madison, makes it a great stop to pair with a trip to Barboursville Vineyard, The Bavarian Chef, Montpelier or The Plow and Hearth Outlet Store.

Local folks flock here for the organic baking supplies and groceries. The shelves are lined with local honey, homemade jam, maple syrup, homemade cakes, pies and other baked delights. We took a break in the little sitting area, where a few tables overlook the goat pasture, to enjoy our ice cream and carrot cake cupcakes.

On our recent trip, my girls were entranced by the endless shelves of candy...gummy butterflies and candies shaped like Lego pieces caught our eye. The homemade trail mix looked like perfect hiking fuel too!

The store itself is not the only reason for a visit. The lovely grounds boast the most amazing goat feeding contraption I've ever seen. The kids just love to put a quarter in the machine and then hoist a bucket of treats up to a goat who has climbed a long way to earn his prize - check out the photo below to get a glimpse of this set up! You'll also be able to see turkeys, pheasant, chickens (we could see fresh eggs waiting to be collected) and roosters. The sound of the goat bells clanking and the roosters crowing made a symphony heard only in the country.

Things to know before you go:

Hours of Operation:Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 6pm Saturday 8:30 am - 4pm

CLOSED SUNDAY

Located 1 mile down Route 230 east off of Route 29 (directions provided at the Inn)

Store Accepts Visa, MC, Amex and Discover

Bring some quarters and feed the goats!

Sandwiches available include BBQ, Chicken Salad, Hot Chicken Breast, or Ham / Roast Beef with cheese and fixin's.

Special Event BBQ days for 2010: May 1st, June 19th, October 2nd

Our Favorite Hikes - Big Meadows

2010-04-08T14:33:00.006-04:00

Ok, so this isn't really a "hike", but it's one of our favorite places to stop when we've been exploring the North end of the Skyline Drive. Big Meadows is a super place for a picnic, a leisurely walk or a great place to recharge after a long hike. Located at Mile Marker 51, this is an easy drive from some of our favorite hikes (Bearfence, South River, Lewis Falls, Dark Hollow Falls) and features a little quick service restaurant ( Do not pass up your chance to try the Blackberry Ice Cream - DELICIOUS!!!), gas station, restrooms, gift / camping supplies shop and a really interesting visitors center next door.

We stopped by in early April, and the grass was just turning green and leaves had yet to appear on all of the trees, but it was still so relaxing and beautiful. The amenities closet at the Blue Vistas Cabin features a picnic blanket and picnic basket that could be put to good use at Big Meadows!

If you've made it to Big Meadows, be sure to stop in the Harry F. Byrd Visitor Center. This is a really interesting spot. It features a lovely viewing area, where you can sit indoors or outdoors and take in the views. There is a wonderful museum area also with fascinating facts about the creation and history of Shenandoah National Park, and a small movie theatre that rotates 3 different films about the area.

I was really intrigued by the bookstore's offerings too. Lots of neat souvenirs are available, and the book selection was very tempting. The selection ranged from kids scavenger hunt books, and board books for the littlest hikers, to fascinating histories of the National Park.

I never miss a chance to stop at Big Meadows (did I mention the Blackberry Ice Cream!) we love to hike Bearfence and then head over for a picnic. At dusk, deer crowd the meadows, and you can walk the trails and get some wonderful photos. No matter the time of day, this can be a wonderful place to stop and absorb the breathtaking beauty of Shenandoah National Park!

Things to Know Before You Go:
-Big Meadows Wayside is located at Mile Marker 51.2

-The Wayside closes at 5:30

-The Harry F. Byrd visitor center is open 7 days a week and closes at 5pm

-Both facilites will close for the winter season on November 28th, 2010

Our Favorite Restaurants - Bavarian Chef

2010-03-22T10:36:00.008-04:00

So many folks who stay with us are celebrating something special...an anniversary, birthday, promotion or time home from deployment. A special weekend deserves a special dinner...which brings me to one of our favorite local restaurants The Bavarian Chef. The Bavarian Chef is located just under 20 minutes from the Blue Vistas Cabin. The drive is a scenic delight if you take Route 230. (We provide door to door driving directions and menu's for all local restaurants and are happy to make reservations on our guests behalf.)

The Bavarian Chef has been in continuous operation by the Thalwitz family in Madison, Virginia since 1974. Their cuisine is distinctively German and features highly sought after secret family recipes! You will find plenty of options on their menu featuring veal, fish and pork, as well as featured specials not listed on the menu. One of our guests (and mine) favorite specials is the Roasted Red Pepper and Crab soup pictured above- divine!

Each meal is lovingly prepared, and the presentation is just beautiful (my plate was garnished with a fresh orchid in the photo above!) The service provided is also outstanding - all the servers we have ever had have been gracious, friendly, knowledgeable and very attentive.

Things to know before you go:

-This restaurant fills up very quickly on the weekends, advance reservations are highly recommended

-Dress is business casual, coat and tie are not required

-Seating is available on the first floor (more elegant) or the second floor (more rustic and homey)

-Entrees average $16-$22

-Portions are very large (servers are happy to box leftovers for you!)

-The Bavarian Chef is closed Monday's and Tuesday's and also December 24th and 25th.

-We are not affiliated with this restaurant, the above opinion is mine alone, your opinion or experience may vary!

Spring has come to the mountains

2010-03-18T16:04:00.003-04:00

Today has really felt like spring is here! As I write this, it is a gorgeous sunny day and 70 degrees! After a good rain last week, everything is starting to grow. Our daffodils have sprung up, the grass is turning green again, and soon the mountain will be cloaked leaves.

We've been hard at work sprucing up the properties, staining the decks, putting up the patio umbrella's and getting the gardens ready for spring plantings.

It will be a beautiful weekend to explore the area and look for more signs of Spring! Barboursville Winery will be holding a Pinot Grigio celebration on Saturday, and the Virginia Festival of the Book is happening this weekend in Charlottesville.

Blue Vistas Cabin

2010-03-11T12:58:00.007-05:00

Welcome to one of my favorite places...Blue Vistas Cabin. This is another accommodation option for folks looking for a wonderful mountain escape. The Cabin is located about half a mile from the Blue Ridge Mountain Inn. It sits high atop a hill on 14 private acres. It's very popular for honeymoon's and anniversaries. Many of our guests think of it as "their place" and come back year after year for rest, romance and relaxation.

Blue Vistas Cabin is set up like a duplex - it is one building with two separate units. The units share a parking area, and everything else is separate. We call the units East and West. All the photos in this post feature the East unit.

The private hot tubs are a popular feature at the cabin, and the starry view at night is breathtaking!

Each unit features its own kitchen, living room, screened in porch, hot tub, and loft bedroom with king size bed.

The cabin has been in our family for about 10 years. But it has been sitting high on the hill for far longer than that. In fact, during renovations, when we added water and electricity, Alan found pages torn from the 1922 Montgomery Ward catalogue stuffed inside the walls as a primitive form of insulation! This property is also home to two of the remaining 92 American Chestnut tree's left in all of Virginia. The chestnut closest to the Cabin is estimated to be over 200 years old. These trees are documented by both the Virginia department of forestry and the National Chestnut Foundation, and have been a part of their breeding program for the last 35 years. The sweeping mountain views, the sense of peace and proximity to Skyline Drive, make Blue Vistas Cabin one of my very favorite places.

Meet the family - Stephen

2010-03-07T16:48:00.003-05:00

Meet the Family - Stephen our Web Designer

Little did we know when we opened our B&B in 2004, that almost all of our reservations would come through our website. We were old school, and thought everyone would use the phone! Stephen (my husband) has designed all of the websites for our family's accommodations and pottery business. We are definitely a family of do-it-yourselfers, so when we needed a website, Stephen bought a book and taught himself web design.

Stephen has the knack, (to our little girl's delight) of finding a creature, just about anywhere he looks. I am often summoned to the door to admire his latest discovery. We both love the Shenandoah National Park, and Stephen has taken some beautiful photos on his solo hikes.

Stephen found this Red Tailed Hawk last summer, dazed and laying in the middle of the road less than a mile from the Blue Ridge Mountain Inn. He scooped him up and brought it home in the passenger seat of his truck ( yes, he is crazy). He thinks it may have been hit by a passing car. He took care of the hawk overnight and was able to release it the next day - not before snapping this cool picture.

Stephen' s hobby is collecting post marks from Military Ships and from defunct post offices in Virginia. To his great delight, some of our Military guests have surprised him by sending postcards postmarked from their bases overseas. Below is a scan of one of his newest acquisitions, a cancel from the Lydia Post Office dated 1937. The little community our Inn is located in, used to be called Lydia, Virginia (now we are just considered part of Stanardsville). Our family actually owns the original Lydia Post Office (we rent it out as The Lydia Spring House) where this post card would have been cancelled back in 1937 - Cool!

Our Favorite Hikes - Hightop Mountain

2010-03-04T14:03:00.008-05:00

So many of our guests come to experience the amazing natural beauty of Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive. From Blue Vistas Cabin, you can actually see the Skyline Drive winding along the top of the mountain vista. We are only 2 miles from the Swift Run Gap entrance to Skyline Drive. Hiking Guides for the Park can be found in each unit of Blue Vistas Cabin. As a family we have some favorite hikes and would like to share them with you in the hope it will help you plan your own adventures.

For our first Favorite Hikes post, I thought I'd start with Hightop Mountain. A favorite of mine for its shady trail, beautiful overlook and easy proximity to the Swift Run Gap entrance to Skyline Drive.

This is a fairly easy uphill hike (be sure to bring water). It was the first hike we took a then two year old Isabel on, and she quite enjoyed it.

The deer on the trails are pretty used to seeing hikers pass by, which makes for some great photo opportunities!

At the end of your hike, you'll be rewarded with a breathtaking view East. There are lots of great sun warmed rocks to sit on and rest. Some friendly fellow hikers took our victory photo for us!

Just the Facts:

Hike: Hightop Mountain

Elevation Change: 967 Feet

Mile Marker: 69.9

Length: 3.8 miles round trip

Difficulty: easy to moderate - a steady uphill climb but not too steep

What is Romance?

2010-03-03T22:08:00.006-05:00

What is romance anyway? This I know for sure, it is not reserved for February 14th alone. Over at Target, the Valentines chocolates have been sold off at a discount, and quickly replaced with Easter delights, but surely that's not it...right? I like to think Romance has a place in everyday life, if we can only remember that. It is surely a struggle, romance is easily buried under the weight of everyday life...giant laundry piles, school lunches to make, meetings to attend, carpool and ballet lessons.

I think romance means taking a moment (or a minute, or an evening or weekend!) to remember the person who captured your heart. Someone who is not perfect, but is perfect for you! Providing a serene escape for couples to reconnect is a wonderful part of what we do. In any relationship "the little things are the big things". We feel that way about our Inn too. Little details can make a big impact.

Chocolates are waiting on your pillow in a shining gold box. A steaming pot of tea invites you to enjoy a quiet moment together, and the winding trails of the Shenandoah National Park may just lead you back to one another. Here's to taking time for Romance!

Winter Clay Classes

2010-03-03T21:45:00.010-05:00

Blue Ridge Pottery has been operated by our family for the past 25 years here in Stanardsville. It is located only a quarter mile from the Blue Ridge Mountain Inn. Alan has spent the past 2 decades perfecting his craft and honing his hand mixed glazes ( top secret recipes!). Each winter for the past 4 years, he has offered the opportunity to come and spend time "playing in the clay" as he puts it. Winter Clay Weekends are one of our most popular special offerings. Folks come back year after year to expend their creative energies and fire up their imaginations.

Spend 2 delightful nights (Friday and Saturday) at the Blue Ridge Mountain Inn or Blue Vistas Cabin, and 2 wonderful days (Saturday and Sunday) exploring the Studio and finding your inner artist. Alan guides each participant thru the pottery process and tailors his instruction to the individual's current skill level. Class size is limited to 6 participants for maximum one on one time. For a small additional fee, have your creations glazed and shipped home!

Class fee: $100 per person for the 2 day class plus regular room rate at the Inn or Cabin.

Call 434-566-2555 for more information or visit http://www.blueridgemountaininn.com/