Natural Bridge, VA
Have you ever used Groupon? I do. I'm a girl of limited means. I try to use sites like Groupon, Living Social, Refer Local, and even Restaurants.com to help make the most out of my budget. When a friend mentioned wanting to get away for a few days, we hit the ground running seeking out deals and stumbled across what seemed the perfect fit for us!! We booked the Natural Bridge Hotel through Groupon and set our sights on a few days of hiking and sightseeing while staying at what would seem a beautiful majestic brick colonial hotel. A cottage room? Well, that sounds delightful! Couldn't wait!
When the day of our departure from Pennsylvania arrived I was practically giddy at the prospect of our girl-time mini vacay. The road trip itself is a breeze! Straight shot down Interstate 81 with plenty of wineries to take in along the way if that's your thing. It became "my thing" for one pit stop as I just needed a stretch! We took a detour from 81 to make our way through some beautiful Virginia countryside where we found Kindred Pointe Vineyards. This was a lovely property and classy venue where I was able to sample some of their wines and wander the trails with my chosen glass of Sangria. Sadly, I couldn't buy a bottle of that per its limited shelf life. It was delicious!
We venture on...completing the last leg of our tour down Interstate 81 arriving in Natural Bridge, VA where we happily checked in to the Natural Bridge Hotel. To my dismay, we are directed to our "cottage room" OFF PROPERTY!!
Hmmm...Okay. We followed our instructions and found ourselves atop a small hill surrounded by small brick buildings, ours seemed the least appealing. Upon entering we found what was basically a hotel room stuck in the eighties fully equipped with tube tv with snowy channels, old school rotary phone, squeaky beds adorned with floral print coverlets, and a shirtless middle aged motorcyclist neighbor. Not exactly how we pictured girls getaway and did I mention no wifi??? Wait...? What...???
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly okay with roughing it to some degree, but not when I'm expecting a nice cushy room in a big hotel. What to do...what to do.
You probably guessed it. We went in hot pursuit of a room in the main building! It looked like we would have to pay a significant amount to change rooms which was beyond frustrating until a lovely gentleman, who I can only assume was the owner or general manager, happened upon our conversation and directed the guest services agent to grant us the room change at no additional charge. He was very understanding and explained that the whole facility is about to undergo a remodel which really sounds as though it will make it perfect!
Off to a rocky start, there had been extended confusion with our room change when we were initially given a key to an occupied room (my, that could have been really embarassing), we finally made our way to our home away from home for a few days. We were ready for dinner and it seemed only logical that we would try out the restaurant right on site. It was a slow Sunday evening in a rather large colonial style dining room so we chose to sit in the bar instead. I wish I could say that the food was incredible and service fantastic, but it seemed the stars weren't lined up quite right for me. I ordered french onion soup, which was awesome, and a salad with chicken. When my salad came sans chicken, I inquired and then waited quite some time before receiving a small bowl of cold, precooked, precut chicken. Not very impressive, but I finished putting the salad together and took a taste. Wait...What...??? I frequently try to keep my thoughts from escaping my lips when I'm in a public scenario and less than enthused by the service or product. It's a salad. How can you really screw up a salad? Well, apparently you can put mushy gross chicken on it and try to pass it off as edible. At this point, I think I had reached what people call "hangry" - the emotional state of being when one is so hungry that it is affecting their mood. I didn't eat the salad. I sent it back and to the waitress' credit, she did offer to have something new made, I just couldn't even focus by then and turned it down. I should have ordered a build your own burger like my friend, who was kind enough to share. That, was well executed, so maybe my salad was just an unfortunate mishap.
The next morning upon waking, my travel companion informs me that she had just experienced a ghost in our room!! Now, I know you might think this is ridiculous, but I know this woman very well and she is not crazy or seeking attention. She was completely calm as she told me she woke to find an older man's face in front of her's, describing his white hair and beard. With just a little research, we found that this particular place we were visiting has had many ghost stories and hauntings...something we had no idea we should be prepared for! While talking with some of the hotel staff we were told that a former general manager named "Mr. Hunter" was likely the ghost she had seen, as he has made appearances from time to time.
Did you know "Virginia is for Lovers"? That's what all the signs say. I realize that the whole state is not as sparsely populated as the Natural Bridge area, but I decided that this slogan was fitting because you definitely wouldn't want to go there alone looking for a date...you certainly won't find one! It's funny, though, while in many ways there is not much to do, there are also lots of things to do if you like the outdoors. We explored the 500 million year old Natural Bridge which was once owned by Thomas Jefferson and once surveyed by George Washington! We shivered in the Natural Bridge Caverns which are said to be the deepest on the East Coast. We took a walk and found a fun full sized rendition of Stonehenge, called Foamhenge built by artist Mark Cline. We drove through an animal safari which was surprisingly, one of my favorite parts of the entire trip! You actually get to drive your car through the entire grounds while animals stand in the way, approach you for food, pose for pictures and drool on you! We definitely appreciated the laughs and ridiculously funny photo ops we found at this place!
This trip certainly proved "interesting" with its ups and downs. My friend stated several times that she may never travel with me again as it would seem I have a knack for acquiring strange events in my travels. And just when you think it's over...we wanted a hike and the hotel staff directed us to a path behind the hotel which should basically take us in a 3 mile loop. It was a lovely walk along dirt and grass paths leading us all the way back up to Foamhenge where we took a turn onto a path that would provide some shade. Much of my walk I focused my gaze downward watching for each step as it came, when suddenly I'm told, "Turn around and walk." in my friend's calm but assertive voice. I unfixed my eyes from the ground only to meet stares with a lovely youthful black bear not even a football field in distance away from us. We pivoted and began what I can only describe as a power walk with a twitchy over the shoulder glance every 3 seconds. My heart beat so hard I could swear that bear must've been able to hear it! Once we reached what seemed like a safer distance, it was ready, set, go as we raced to get out of the woods before momma bear could come looking. Maybe I've had enough nature for this week. My friend reiterated that she may never travel with me again. It was definitely time to come home.
Check out my Gallery for some fun photos from this trip! Definitely worth a visit!
Have you ever used Groupon? I do. I'm a girl of limited means. I try to use sites like Groupon, Living Social, Refer Local, and even Restaurants.com to help make the most out of my budget. When a friend mentioned wanting to get away for a few days, we hit the ground running seeking out deals and stumbled across what seemed the perfect fit for us!! We booked the Natural Bridge Hotel through Groupon and set our sights on a few days of hiking and sightseeing while staying at what would seem a beautiful majestic brick colonial hotel. A cottage room? Well, that sounds delightful! Couldn't wait!
When the day of our departure from Pennsylvania arrived I was practically giddy at the prospect of our girl-time mini vacay. The road trip itself is a breeze! Straight shot down Interstate 81 with plenty of wineries to take in along the way if that's your thing. It became "my thing" for one pit stop as I just needed a stretch! We took a detour from 81 to make our way through some beautiful Virginia countryside where we found Kindred Pointe Vineyards. This was a lovely property and classy venue where I was able to sample some of their wines and wander the trails with my chosen glass of Sangria. Sadly, I couldn't buy a bottle of that per its limited shelf life. It was delicious!
We venture on...completing the last leg of our tour down Interstate 81 arriving in Natural Bridge, VA where we happily checked in to the Natural Bridge Hotel. To my dismay, we are directed to our "cottage room" OFF PROPERTY!!
Hmmm...Okay. We followed our instructions and found ourselves atop a small hill surrounded by small brick buildings, ours seemed the least appealing. Upon entering we found what was basically a hotel room stuck in the eighties fully equipped with tube tv with snowy channels, old school rotary phone, squeaky beds adorned with floral print coverlets, and a shirtless middle aged motorcyclist neighbor. Not exactly how we pictured girls getaway and did I mention no wifi??? Wait...? What...???
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly okay with roughing it to some degree, but not when I'm expecting a nice cushy room in a big hotel. What to do...what to do.
You probably guessed it. We went in hot pursuit of a room in the main building! It looked like we would have to pay a significant amount to change rooms which was beyond frustrating until a lovely gentleman, who I can only assume was the owner or general manager, happened upon our conversation and directed the guest services agent to grant us the room change at no additional charge. He was very understanding and explained that the whole facility is about to undergo a remodel which really sounds as though it will make it perfect!
Off to a rocky start, there had been extended confusion with our room change when we were initially given a key to an occupied room (my, that could have been really embarassing), we finally made our way to our home away from home for a few days. We were ready for dinner and it seemed only logical that we would try out the restaurant right on site. It was a slow Sunday evening in a rather large colonial style dining room so we chose to sit in the bar instead. I wish I could say that the food was incredible and service fantastic, but it seemed the stars weren't lined up quite right for me. I ordered french onion soup, which was awesome, and a salad with chicken. When my salad came sans chicken, I inquired and then waited quite some time before receiving a small bowl of cold, precooked, precut chicken. Not very impressive, but I finished putting the salad together and took a taste. Wait...What...??? I frequently try to keep my thoughts from escaping my lips when I'm in a public scenario and less than enthused by the service or product. It's a salad. How can you really screw up a salad? Well, apparently you can put mushy gross chicken on it and try to pass it off as edible. At this point, I think I had reached what people call "hangry" - the emotional state of being when one is so hungry that it is affecting their mood. I didn't eat the salad. I sent it back and to the waitress' credit, she did offer to have something new made, I just couldn't even focus by then and turned it down. I should have ordered a build your own burger like my friend, who was kind enough to share. That, was well executed, so maybe my salad was just an unfortunate mishap.
The next morning upon waking, my travel companion informs me that she had just experienced a ghost in our room!! Now, I know you might think this is ridiculous, but I know this woman very well and she is not crazy or seeking attention. She was completely calm as she told me she woke to find an older man's face in front of her's, describing his white hair and beard. With just a little research, we found that this particular place we were visiting has had many ghost stories and hauntings...something we had no idea we should be prepared for! While talking with some of the hotel staff we were told that a former general manager named "Mr. Hunter" was likely the ghost she had seen, as he has made appearances from time to time.
Did you know "Virginia is for Lovers"? That's what all the signs say. I realize that the whole state is not as sparsely populated as the Natural Bridge area, but I decided that this slogan was fitting because you definitely wouldn't want to go there alone looking for a date...you certainly won't find one! It's funny, though, while in many ways there is not much to do, there are also lots of things to do if you like the outdoors. We explored the 500 million year old Natural Bridge which was once owned by Thomas Jefferson and once surveyed by George Washington! We shivered in the Natural Bridge Caverns which are said to be the deepest on the East Coast. We took a walk and found a fun full sized rendition of Stonehenge, called Foamhenge built by artist Mark Cline. We drove through an animal safari which was surprisingly, one of my favorite parts of the entire trip! You actually get to drive your car through the entire grounds while animals stand in the way, approach you for food, pose for pictures and drool on you! We definitely appreciated the laughs and ridiculously funny photo ops we found at this place!
This trip certainly proved "interesting" with its ups and downs. My friend stated several times that she may never travel with me again as it would seem I have a knack for acquiring strange events in my travels. And just when you think it's over...we wanted a hike and the hotel staff directed us to a path behind the hotel which should basically take us in a 3 mile loop. It was a lovely walk along dirt and grass paths leading us all the way back up to Foamhenge where we took a turn onto a path that would provide some shade. Much of my walk I focused my gaze downward watching for each step as it came, when suddenly I'm told, "Turn around and walk." in my friend's calm but assertive voice. I unfixed my eyes from the ground only to meet stares with a lovely youthful black bear not even a football field in distance away from us. We pivoted and began what I can only describe as a power walk with a twitchy over the shoulder glance every 3 seconds. My heart beat so hard I could swear that bear must've been able to hear it! Once we reached what seemed like a safer distance, it was ready, set, go as we raced to get out of the woods before momma bear could come looking. Maybe I've had enough nature for this week. My friend reiterated that she may never travel with me again. It was definitely time to come home.
Check out my Gallery for some fun photos from this trip! Definitely worth a visit!