Daytripping in Middleburg, Virginia

I spent Sunday in Middleburg, Virginia, sightseeing and enjoying the scenery. It seemed to be a busy day in Middleburg as we weren’t able to get a reservation for lunch on our first two tries but the third try was a charm. We ate at the French Hound. The inside resembled an old French farmhouse and the food was wonderful.

The French Hound
The French Hound

We had bison burgers, salmon, arugula salad with feta cheese, escargots in garlic and butter, and washed it all down with Bloody Marys and Mimosas.  For dessert we had to try the pumpkin profiteroles. We all practiced saying profiteroles and challenged each other to say it three times fast. Profiteroles, Proterolifs, Prolifterols. It kind of deteriorated after the second Bloody Mary.

Red Fox Inn
Red Fox Inn

From there we wandered down Main Street or perhaps it was Washington Street and I took a picture of the Red Fox Inn. It is famous for being the oldest Inn in the US in continuous use. Apparently it was a Post Office for a while so it wasn’t alway an Inn. In any case it was beautiful and my friend Anne said she stayed there once so it is definitely an Inn these days. We wandered into the German tourist shop with baby lederhosen in the front hallway. My friend Daisy had flown in from Miami and she wanted to buy a candlestick holder. We all speculated whether TSA would allow it on the plane as she could easily hit somebody over the head with it but she decided to risk it.

It was a bit chilly out and very windy so we quickly grew tired of our stroll and decided to go over to the Salamander Resort and Spa and sit in their bar. However with wine starting at $18 per glass we settled for club soda in the lobby.

Our hosts were from the area and one came from a polo playing family. I am so ignorant I had no idea they played polo in Virginia. This was clearly horse country and I had been to some races years ago but Fox Hunting and Polo? I had no idea. Apparently there are several Polo clubs in the area and one can arrange for private lessons at $125 per hour (almost 7 glasses of wine). They even provide the horse.

The main drag
The main drag

I looked up Fox Hunting on the internet because I honestly thought it was against the law to Fox Hunt. I found very little information on what they actually do on these Fox Hunts. From what I could gather it is just an outing with the dogs. They all wander around chasing each other and follow certain trails and sometimes there are jumps involved. Sounds just like a nice outing. Nobody ever mentioned the fox. Although I guess they do exist. But they don’t actually hunt them.

On our way back to DC we drove along the back roads soaking up the fall leaves and beautiful farms. We sailed by Robert Duvall’s 360 acre Brindley Farm outside of The Plains. The Plains is also home to Great Meadow where the Virginia Gold Cup steeplechase horse race takes place every May.

All in all a very pleasant day.