A Last-Minute Weekend Getaway

The start of a new school year always gets me excited.  It's a fresh start.  It's a chance to hit the "reset" button.  This year for us, was a biggie.  Kindergarten.  My oldest was heading to her first real classroom (even though she's been in a daycare setting since she was 9 months old) this was real school.  With a real teacher, and real classmates.  Exciting! However I wasn't feeling it this year, and quite frankly, I was a little depressed.
Normally, the end of summer can't come fast enough.  The kids are bored.  My husband is at his limits and everyone is ready to get back to a routine.  We've been on vacation, we got our fair share of sunburns, we've done the pool thing, now we're all bored.  Let's get back to school.  Back to a regular schedule, with early wake-up times and early bedtimes.  Family sit-down dinners with bath time and lights out at 7:30.  But this time, when the beginning of school came around, I was not ready for any of it, and I turned to my husband on our last weekend before school and I said, "Let's get out of town." His response? "Cool.  Where to?" 
Cool! Road trip!! One last hoorah before we officially say goodbye to summer.  The dilemma?  Where should we go?  We're really fortunate.  We live in a great area of Virginia.  Roanoke is nestled in the mountains and we're close to a lot of cool places.  We could head to D.C or down south to Charlotte, or Greensboro. We could head into West Virginia or head down the road for one more weekend at the Smith Mountain Lake.  We instead decided to head up the mountain to Wintergreen Resort.  My husband had never been, and since it's a short drive,  it was a perfect place to go when you're trying to get away from it all.
We called up, and because we were last minute, we decided to stay at their condos. (had I had more time, I would have researched some of the cool cabins they have up there - amazing.  You can check them out here )
But for a last-minute getaway the condo was a great option.  They have really nice 2 to 3 bedroom condos right there at the resort.  It was the perfect accommodations because it was neat and clean, and it was complete with a living room, dining table, full kitchen, and 2 full bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. A small deck area with table and chairs was a nice option as well. 

 

This was a great option too for saving a bit of money.  The resort can get pricey, so it's a good thing to pack some meals since you have the full kitchen.  We packed sandwich stuff and granola bars, cereal and milk, juice and other snack items and that did us just fine until dinner. 
For dinner, we had to eat out.  We decided on The Edge restaurant.  This was the perfect place for our family meal out.  First of all, it has great food.  Plus, it has the ambiance you want when you're staying at a mountain resort.  You can sit in the back of the restaurant and peek out the window for an amazing view.  (that's really the reason I eat out sometimes, just for the view - and of course, no work on my end.) It was also reasonably priced, and not so fancy that I couldn't bring the kids.  There was a huge bar, booth tables and other tabletops for seating, and a stage for when they have live music.  But it was a casual atmosphere.  You could get dressed up, or stroll in with your hiking boots and gear and feel right at home.  I highly recommend you check it out if you're staying at the resort.

Me and my daughter in front of the restaurant.  Notice the sweaters! Yes,  we were chilly up there at the end of summer!

The view from our table. 

For fun, we headed out for several hikes.  I was really worried about how my girls would do out on a hike, but they did great.  We headed out to the Nature Center.  I highly recommend you stop there and talk to the people inside about which hikes will be the best for you and your family.  The gentleman who we spoke to was very knowledgeable about the area, the hiking levels and whether they would be good for our 3 and 5 year old girls.  He suggested The Plunge.  Don't let the name scare you.  It's one of the most popular hikes at Wintergreen.  And when you go, you'll see why.  It's the shortest trail on the mountain, but don't let that keep you from going if you're looking for an adventurous hike.  It has some pretty challenging rock formations you need to navigate, but again, remember - my 3 and 5 year old girls did it - with little assistance. There were points where we had to lift the girls to the next rock formation, but that was few and far between.  And at the end of this hike - the most amazing views.  Take a look at our photo - we packed a lunch and had an amazing time.  

Then on Sunday, before we headed home, we tackled another hike.  This one was part of the Old Appalachian Trail, and was quite beautiful. There were parts that we had to navigate by holding onto mom's hand, but as you can see in the photos below, we did just fine.   This hike had some falls at the end of it, and we -- once again - took a light lunch and ate near the falls for another great experience. 

I'll tell you what, this turned out to be a great little vacation - and who knew that such a last-minute getaway, could turn into a lifetime of memories.  We definitely need to do this last-minute stuff more often.  And you should too.  Remember, it was great for checking out - no cell service up there. My phone was with me just to take these photos!!