Northern Virginia: Wine Country…Who Knew?

After a 3 day drive following my Kansas City assignment, it was time to take a Christmas break with family. If you love to travel, as I do, being a travel sonographer is a great job, however it does cause you to be away from home for a long period of time, which can be hard. To make it easier on myself and my family, I try to optimize my time between jobs by spending it with loved ones for as long as possible, which usually equates to a maximum of 3 weeks in order to not risk losing my agency healthcare insurance and other ongoing benefits. However, since you are away for so much of the year, it is not all fun and games during that time off. For one, the time off is with “zero” income, so you better hope you banked some of your income along the way to ride you through. The other downfall is that part of those three weeks is spent playing catch up with annual doctor’s appointments, agency tests, and requirements including a drug test, sometimes vaccines, medical / vision tests and other documentation that your new facility requires. Thirdly, is finding a place to live during that next assignment, which involves a great deal of time and research before ultimately finding the right fit. This can all be very time consuming and take up an entire one to two weeks of your time at home. So if you are lucky, and you are not a procrastinator, you may end up with a free week to yourself when all is said and done, to truly reconnect with those loved ones. Going through this process every 13 weeks can be trying in the long haul, which is why it is often desirable if you are offered an extension to stay longer in one of your job locations, to take it. Less frequency in the “onboarding” criteria that way. But that comes with a trade off however, because the more places you extend, the less time you are out seeing other parts of the country, which is part of the draw of this job in the first place.

The time quickly arrived to make the drive to Virginia, which proved to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever experienced. Specifically, Leesburg (Loudoun County), Virginia. I said yes to this assignment, having no idea of the beauty, wealth, gorgeous homes, and landscape that this area had to offer. 13 weeks soon turned into 30 and I was not one bit disappointed about that! Who wouldn’t want to call a location this beautiful their home away from home, for a period of time? In addition to the stunning landscape of the rolling hills of Virginia and the amazing sunsets over the western mountains in the backdrop (including the Shenandoah … and Blue Ridge mountain range further south), not to mention the amazing hikes that you can experience in an area this stunning, I was pleasantly surprised to find when it comes to quality wine, it is one of the east coast’s best kept secrets. This location is home to nearly 50 wineries, many of which rival the quality wineries you will find in Napa, as far as I’m concerned. I love good wine and have visited Napa several years ago and feel that this wine trail in NOVA (aka Northern Virginia) offers wine of similar quality!

One particular type of wine that you will find in this area is Petit Manseng (these grapes are typically found in France, however the climate in this area is perfect for producing this grape varietal). Petit Manseng was such a pleasant surprise, unlike anything I have ever tasted – a white wine with notes of honey and pineapple and is great on its own or with spicy asian food, in particular. If you like a white wine that is neither too sweet nor too dry, this may surprise you. According to an online article I read on Wine Enthusiast, we can thank Tony Wolfe, a viticulture professor from Virginia Tech, for bringing the Petit Manseng grape to the state of Virginia in 1987. His goal was to test this grape varietal in the climate of Virginia. Because of its need for wet weather, Virginia is the perfect location for this grape to thrive, unlike the climate in Napa. I found the Petit Manseng to taste better at some wineries in NOVA then others, so if you try and are indifferent at one winery, don’t be afraid to try it at another. The winery that I felt created the most “outstanding” Petit Manseng wine, was at none other than Cana Vineyard in Middleburg (my all-time favorite Loudoun County winery for this varietal). Another wine with origins to Virginia is a grape varietal known as Norton, which was discovered by a Richmond physician known as Daniel Norton in 1817. This is a grape that produces a dry red wine with a variety of fruit notes and is considered Virginia’s native grape. Cana Vineyard also happens to offer Norton among their wine selections as well. So if you are looking to try either of these, you will find them both at this winery.

There is so much more to be said about the amazing wineries in this part of the country, but I will leave that for a future post. If beer is more your thing, Loudoun County is also home to over 30 breweries, which you can find on the LoCo Ale Trail.

This area truly does offer everything for an amazing vacation…wineries and breweries galore, many of which offer plenty of free musical entertainment, great dining options, a fun and historical downtown complete with bars, shops and restaurants on King Street in Leesburg, hiking, biking and horseback riding, just to name a few. In addition, there are several day trips that can be enjoyed from this area as well. Two of the most noteworthy are Washington, DC to the east, with all that a big city / our nation’s capitol has to offer, and Harper’s Ferry, WV to the west, which is in stark contrast to DC. Harper’s Ferry is a quaint, historical, and tiny town nestled along the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers and is a great place to spend a spring, summer, or fall afternoon. Here you can find the midpoint of the Appalachian Trail running right through Harper’s Ferry, which is also the site of the John Brown Raid, where a rebellion took place back in 1859, igniting the beginning sparks of the Civil War against slavery.

As you can see, there is so much to talk about in NOVA, that I will be focusing subsequent blog posts on digging deeper into the different aspects of recreational entertainment that can be found in this area. One thing is sure: an abundance of fun activities can be found in Loudoun County. If you are looking for an amazing long weekend getaway and are interested in the things I have listed above, consider making Leesburg, Virginia your next destination.