Travel Log: Virginia, June/July 2026

 

 

Destination: Virginia

Date: June 28 to July 2, 2026

Party: 1

Itinerary:

Day 1 - Drive to hotel in Winchester VA after Asher sleepaway camp drop-off

Day 2 - Golf at Blue Ridge Shadows, drive through Shenandoah National Park for pics/hiking, detour to Luray Caverns and Dukes of Hazzard Museum, spend night at Lewis Mountain Cabins

Day 3 - Drive through Shenandoah National Park for pics/hiking, drive to Charlottesville, visit Cater Mountain Orchards + Monticello + Highland, check into hotel in Charlottesville

Day 4 - Visit Brooks Family Y, golf at Meadowcreek, visit Kluge-Ruge Aboriginal Art Collection + IX Art Park + McGuffey Art Center + Downtown Mall + UVA 

Day 5 - Visit Brooks Family Y, visit Market at Grelen + Montpelier + Main Street Orange, visit friend in Fairfax, drive home

Spending:

Transportation $472

Accommodations $417

Food $61

Entertainment $266

Total $1,216

 

A few additional notes beyond the facts above, to provide some flavor to my trip.

* Virginia's natural beauty showed out, whether I was driving through Shenandoah National Park or playing golf or eating my way through a family farm.

* I stayed in a cabin halfway through my drive through Shenandoah, which there were plenty of others roughing it harder than me (some who were walking the whole thing and/or pitching a tent), but for this city slicker it was an adjustment to not have wifi and to worry about food storage to avoid bear attacks.

* It was interesting to visit the homes of three founding fathers (Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe), who were 3 of the 1st 5 US presidents, right around America's 250th birthday, and with our nation still grappling with the confounding paradox of our earliest leaders expounding on the primacy of freedom while enslaving other humans.

 * Temps exceeded 100 for the last 2+ days of my trip, necessitating a state of constant vigilance around shade and hydration.