Weekend in Winchester

I know I promised to not rub any vacations in anyone's face, but this was really just a weekend thing. No Aruba, Europe, or Arctic excursion. Just a simple trip to Winchester, VA. I missed going to the Virginia Farm Market this year so my husband suggested we take a trip and off we went (ok, it wasn't that simple, but it worked out :). I never knew that Winchester had so much to do! We always just drove through on our way to another destination. But I'm glad we stayed this time. Winchester is full of surprises.

Our first stop was the Virginia Farm Market. They have the best apples and their apple cider is like sweet nectar. It has always been my favorite. They also have a corn maze, a wooden train, and a tractor and old firetruck for the kids to play on. They sell Virginia hams, homemade muffins and ice cream, and too many other things to list here.



Our next outing was to the Historic Downtown District. This was a Civil War museum right in the middle of the Historic area. They also have outdoor cafes, a couple of wine stores, a soon to be opening Patsy Cline museum, a few craft stores and the Shenandoah Discovery Museum. We took the kids to the Discovery Museum which was packed full of interesting interactive displays and activities. Fun while learning is always a good thing!

As much as I wanted to get more food pictures from our trip into this post, this is as close as I got. These turtles live at Wilson's zoo, an surprisingly little zoo located on several acres of land. They had minature horses, bears, goats, exotic birds, deer, monkeys and more. We had the place to ourselves and just took our time strolling through and talking to the animals.

Poor Mr. Hogg here has a face only his momma could love, so we spent extra time talking to him and showing him some attention :)

On our last night in Winchester, the hotel was practically empty (as opposed to the noisy crowd that was there the night before), so we got the pool to ourselves. What a treat! We swam and played for almost two hours and it got to the point that even my kids had to admit it was time to go back to our room to get ready for bed.

We also visited the Apple Blossom Mall which was a nice surprise. Just enough stores but not too big. And we all agreed that they had the best Chinese food we've ever tasted in the food court. Yum!

All in all, Winchester is perfect for a long weekend getaway. Just a quiet little town with interesting sights and plenty of great places to enjoy and lots of fun. Go if you get the chance! (I sound like a tourist brochure, don't I?!)

“The alternative to a vacation is to stay home and tip every third person you see."

-unknown

“Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer."
-unknown