TravelAwaits
May.13.2021
After a long winter in lockdown, I was desperate for a getaway that would feel transporting, even though I didn’t want to drive very far. So I headed south from bustling Washington, D.C., breaking free of the traffic on the Beltway and driving past the Virginia suburbs just outside the city. Just an hour’s drive away, I found myself surrounded by bucolic bliss in Middleburg, Virginia.
Middleburg is the heart of Loudoun County, the fifth-largest wine-producing region in the country, nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Not only are there 30 wineries nearby, making Middleburg the perfect perch for wine lovers, but the town of just 539 full-time residents boasts 160 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, so it’s a draw for history buffs as well. And since it’s the horse and hunt capital of the United States, equestrians will find a lot to love here, too. (The town was a favorite of horsewoman Jackie Kennedy Onassis,