Firstly, I got my wedding band in the mail!!! HOORAY! Its beautiful and French, so it will go well with my engagement ring. Plus I think the wedding will have some French-inspired touches as well, so its all going to be so perfect.
Last weekend Mother and I went back up to Middleburg, VA to visit our friend Rachel again. You'll recall we were up there for their Christmas Parade last year and we couldn't wait another year to go back. We had a BLAST, of course. We left super duper early Saturday morning and got to Richmond in time to eat breakfast at my favorite place (the smoked salmon plate is killerrrrr).
Once up in Middleburg we drove around a little to look at the spectacular farms and scenery, dropped off our bags, and then headed to downtown for a little lunch and window shopping. Nothing was really different in any of the stores but they are fun to pop into anyways. I think Middleburg is one of the few places I don't feel like shopping very much because there is so much else to do and see.
Every Memorial Day weekend, there is a Hunt Country Stable Tour which is a fundraiser for a local church, and this was its 55th year. The tour showcases some of the nicest farms in the area, and we went to see five - Wind Field, Banbury, Belle Grey, Caliburn, and Poplar Grange. They were all amazing in their own way, but were all so different.
Rachel had to work on Saturday, so Mother and I went to Wind Field and Banbury by ourselves. Wind Field was *pristine.* I've never seen a more immaculate farm in my life - and it was 450 acres to boot! Can you imagine keeping that much land perfect? Oh, and it was only an 8 stall barn! All that land for 8 horses! I liked Wind Field, but it paled in comparison to the others, if you can believe it.
 |
| Wind Field |
 |
| I know, my pants are amazing |
Banbury's farm itself was pretty average, except they have their own polo field because they train polo ponies. As part of the tour, the Banbury team played another local team out in their field. Neither of us had ever watched a polo match, so we were pretty enthralled. We only stay for 2 innings/quarters (not sure what the correct terminology is), before going to pick up snacks and meeting Rachel at her house. We had a much-needed glass of champagne on her porch before going to Twilight Polo, at the Great Meadows, which is one of their many equestrian venues up there. Rachel lives in the coolest house - it is nearly surrounded totally by cow fields, it is so old, there is even wood flooring in the bathroom, she has a wood burning stove and a great little back porch. It is basically my dream home (minus the no heat thing). Twilight Polo is the Middleburg equivalent of Beach Music nights at North Hills. Everyone sits and has a little picnic, a lot of alcohol, and its just a social event with some horses in the background. The only downside was that it was arena polo and not field polo, which is much more exciting because the ponies can run full speed in the field.
Trip to be continued....
No comments:
Post a Comment