West Virginia Airbnb: The Return
We enjoyed our first pandemic getaway to an Airbnb in West Virginia so much that we decided to return less than two months later! The place was unavailable for Labor Day weekend so we did a reverse holiday trip by driving there on Labor Day and staying until Friday.
MONDAY
As with our first trip, we brought all of our own food. COVID-19 is still a major problem in the US, and even though it’s not too bad in DC or West Virginia right now, we aren’t comfortable going out to eat yet. Our drive to the Airbnb went more smoothly this time around; I took screen shots of turn-by-turn directions from Google Maps that we used to navigate the last bit of the trip once internet service went spotty.
I went around the house disinfecting all the touch surfaces as soon as we arrived. Our thoughtful hosts left us a bottle of wine again, this time an Undaunted Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington State:
They also left us cinnamon buns from Wardensville Garden Market, a local spot that we passed on the drive in. It was super nice of our hosts to get these buns for us!
We were hungry when we arrived, so once we finished unloading the car and disinfecting, John fired up the grill. I made mashed potatoes while he grilled veggies, a Beyond Burger (for me), and a ribeye (for him). I popped a bottle of sparkling wine and we toasted the start of our vacation over dinner.
After dinner, we moved out to the front deck and watched the sunset while chatting away.
TUESDAY
The misty mornings are a sight to behold:
For breakfast, I enjoyed a very tasty and hearty cinnamon bun with coffee. What a treat!
John had to work virtually, so I had the day to myself. I spent the day playing Animal Crossing, researching website setup on Squarespace, reading news, watching Netflix, and resting. For dinner we grilled again: Beyond Burgers and veggies, with onion dip and chips. We also made frozen pina coladas with a pre-made mix by Master of Mixes that just required adding rum and ice. It was a fun vacation cocktail, but the mix was super thick and sugary and I’d rather try a different brand next time.
After dinner we went back out to the deck and watched the stunning sunset:
Like we did on Monday night, we sat around drinking wine and chatting. With the current state of affairs in our country, there’s no shortage of conversation!
WEDNESDAY
For breakfast, I made a bacon, egg, and swiss bagel sandwich. It’s one of my all time fave breakfasts (though I usually skip the bacon)! Then while John worked, I worked on some things online, and of course played Animal Crossing. I went for a midmorning walk up and down the long, steep driveway for some exercise.
I napped in the afternoon, and took a dip in the Jacuzzi out on the front deck. Not a terrible view:
John had a call late in the day so I grilled our dinner while he was otherwise occupied:
That was my first time grilling all by myself, and it went well! The day before, John showed me how to set the grill up so I could do it on my own. I grilled mushrooms, hot dogs (for John), and Beyond Bratwurst (for me).
After dinner, John got a fire going in the fire pit in the front yard so we could sit out there and watch the sun set. We opened the bottle of Cab that our host left for us, and enjoyed it while hanging out by the fire all evening:
Watching fire is so soothing…
The night was a little cloudy because rain was heading our way, but we still managed to see some stars. Not as exciting as getting to see the NEOWISE comet during our last visit, but it’s nice to have more visibility than we do in the big city!
THURSDAY
Breakfast was a bagel with cream cheese and leftover Beyond Brat. It probably sounds like a weird combo, but I liked it. I took another driveway walk; the morning was super misty, and I loved it.
After the walk I treated myself to a WEI Golden Root Purifying Mud Mask, then had pretty much a repeat of the prior two days. More computer time, Animal Crossing, a nap, plus another afternoon Jacuzzi soak.
Later that afternoon a rainstorm blew in, which paved the way for a stunning evening sunset:
For dinner we had a DiGiorno pizza with ranch (a personal fave!) and chilled indoors, playing games and watching Ferris Beuller’s Day Off on tv.
FRIDAY
We spent our final morning packing and cleaning up the house per our host’s instructions. We left around 10am and stopped at Wardensville Garden Market (of the delish cinnamon buns) on our way home.
I was nervous to go inside because I haven’t shopped in person since March (!!!). But the market has a good COVID policy: sanitize your hands before entering (they have sanitizer at the door), masks and social distancing are required inside, and they only allow 5 customers in at a time. When we arrived there were no other customers so we had the place to ourselves, and we basically did a supermarket sweep and bought a whole bunch of local goodies! Here’s some of our haul, including more cinnamon buns:
We also got frozen cream biscuits, sausage, carrots, and corn on the cob. AND PUMPKINS:
Seriously, I can’t tell you how excited I was when we pulled up and spotted pumpkins for sale. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get any for our home this year, so jumped at the opportunity!
Wardersville Garden Market’s mission is to expand opportunities for Appalachian youth, and they employ many local high schoolers. It’s a cool place that’s doing good work, and I recommend checking it out if you’re ever in the area.
Also on the way home, we stopped at a Starbucks drive thru so I could get another pumpkin cream cold brew. Which I enjoyed while wearing my pumpkin shirt from Target. PUMPKIN PUMPKIN PUMPKIN!
Thus concludes my long recap of our second pandemic getaway. We’re already planning our next visit to this Airbnb. You know a place is good when you keep wanting to return! Someday we’ll be able to get on a plane again, but for now, road trips and Airbnb are a really good alternative.I feel so fortunate that we’ve been able to do this twice recently!
