50th Anniversary coming up

I guess Hedonism is out of the question?

Well, seriously, what time of the year exactly?

Been to Virginia a few times, but not as much as other states.

Virginia Resorts.

We looked at going to Hungry Mother State Park once and staying in a cabin. Same with Grayson Highlands State Park.

Not Virginia, but some other thoughts for a special trip...

I know you've done Europe etc., but nothing more magical and special than doing a Christmas Cruise in late November or early December. We do Viking, and are actually going on one in late November. You could splurge more with like Tauck, Emerald, Ama Waterways etc., but Viking works for us just fine.

Self direct and do a Christmas Market tour:

Videos from our favorite YouTuber Lifestyle Hal..

Top 10 Christmas Markets In Europe

Christmas Markets In France

Caribbean?

We always wanted to go to Petit St. Vincent!

Domestic?

If fairly soon, Traverse City Michigan is my favorite location in the whole country.

Never stayed personally, but have been to the Ashville area quite a bit. Check out the Grove Park Inn! Our friends that have been there loved it.

Want to really splurge? We've had friends that went to the Blackberry Farm.

Keep us posted!

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Thought about going to Virginia to catch change of seasons & new mountain scenery & parks & few historical points. Not trying to be an overly exhausting trip & making all of top things to do there. We just did Banff, Calgary, Jasper & Columbia Ice Fields mid July. Appreciate your thoughts. Been to Europe and most NP. TIA!!

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We did Calgary, Glacier, Banff & Lake Louise from July 13 to about the 20th I think. It was a great trip.

We have been to Virginia a lot either for a 3 or 4 night trip or a first stop on a longer trip to the north. There is a lot to do there if you are interested in history or the outdoors. On the west side there are a handful of towns along I-81 that are worth visiting. But there are state highways that run parallel to the interstate that are more interesting to drive on, IMO. That is in the Shenandoah Valley and to the east of that is Shenandoah National Park. It has the Skyline Drive that runs from Front Royal in the north to I-64 in the south, near Afton. The Blue Ridge Parkway picks up where Skyline Drive ends and it goes to west of Ashville, NC.

Some of the towns along I-81 are Bristol, Abingdon, Lexington, Staunton, Winchester and just over the line in WV is Harpers Ferry.
- Bristol, where country music recording began; the Birthplace of County Music Museum is there. The Blackbird Bakery is worth checking out if you go.
- Abingdon is the end of the Virginia Creeper trail. An old railroad right-of-way (the train creeped up the mountain) that is now a 33 mile, mostly downhill, bike path from Whitetop. You can do 1/2 of it by stopping in Damascus. Abingdon also has some good restaurants; Rain was one where we ate.
- Lexington, home of Washington and Lee U. and VMI. We ate at Niko's Grill and had the best hummus, pita bread and ruben sandwich. Their greek salas was average at best. Stonewall Jackson's grave is there.
- Natural Bridge is nearby. There is a state park and nice walk of about a mile.
- Staunton, the downtown here reminds me of a downtown in the 50s or 60s.
- Winchester, lot of history here. They made a pedestrian walk out of a downtown street. Lot of restaurants and the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum is here. Patsy Cline was born here and is buried nearby.
- Harpers Ferry, a must visit if you are near. Lot of history and just an interesting place.

Some other places not right on I-81.
- Luray, there are caverns here and the tour takes about an hour. They also have a toy museum (not very good) and a old car museum that is small but we both enjoyed that.
- Cross over the Skyline Drive to the east and there is the town of Sperryville and a little farther is Washington, VA (not DC). S'ville has a restaurant named Three Blacksmiths that is supposed to be very good (have not eaten there) and Washington has The Inn at Little Washington that cost $1,500 +-/night but that does include a reservation for dinner at their restaurant. That dinner cost ~$350/person; I don't know if you have to pay that if you stay the night or if it is included in the room cost. I won't be going but for a 50th Anniversary, I don't know, might be worth it.

- Farmville, VA is another interesting place if you like antique furniture. It is a little further east but not all the way to I 95.
- Charlottsville (home of UVA), Appomattox and Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello are worth a visit. They are all fairly close to each other.
- And there are many battlefields.

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The car museum at Luray Caverns.

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We have not had good luck catching the leaves at peak color in Virginia. I guess the best was when we went to Harpers Ferry (which is WV but it's close) in early November. That's Skyline Drive in the 2nd picture in early November.

Most of those towns have an old historical hotel and there are a lot of Bed and Breakfast, etc. There is a fairly new resort near Bristol called Nicewonder Farm & Vineyards but I don't know anything about it. The Omni Homestead Resort at Hot Springs, VA which is about an hour west of Lexington, VA is supposed to be nice. Have not been.

I’m missing my book “1001 places to see before you die”, but just got TD version. Those very special places you have eaten before remind me to add that to my 50th to do list. Thanks