By Julie Reardon
I love Thanksgiving – it’s always been my favorite holiday. All the treats and good food that you get on Christmas with none of the anxiety of gift giving and worrying about failed expectations that the December holiday seems to bring. Some years I’d spend the morning hunting with friends. Most of these hunts, whether fox hunting on horseback or duck hunting with friends, were short and sweet and less about the quarry than about spending time with good friends. Often on those hunting days, I’d enjoy a Thanksgiving meal with friends who were collecting “orphans” who were not spending the day with family.
Other Thanksgivings in years past, my mother would host a family feast at her waterfront home on the Chesapeake, or I’d host it at my farm. Everyone loved coming to the farm. They were welcome to bring their dogs and we’d often shoot skeet before having a meal or the men gathering by the TV to watch football. When I was very young, sometimes an aunt or grandmother would host a grand meal complete with silver, real linens and, my favorite, the children’s table. I have very fond memories of that children’s table.
As we grew older and had families and lives of our own, occasionally some tensions would interfere with the enjoyment of my favorite holiday. Every family has one—in my case two. A younger sibling was desperate to be the center of attention and get us all to come to her house and would stage fits, even one year an operation the day before Thanksgiving, to get her way and those were invariably stiff, awkward events. An older sibling was hell bent to ruin holidays by then, she’d announce right before or en route that she hated turkey and so-and-so was boring, had a boring spouse or worse. Once there, she’d sit off by herself and glower and act supremely bored. Both, of course, usually descended into liquor-fueled rages before the meal was even finished. I’ve always been the middle of the road, the peace maker, the conflict avoider. I’m done now. Deep down, these are not mean girls. But alcoholism and dementia make people mean. I can forgive, but this behavior falls into the category of toxic. There’s no room in anyone’s life for toxic people.
It’s not winter yet, but the chilly nights and early sunsets remind us it’s just around the corner. Fortunately, even this close to winter there are plenty of mild days, fall colors and time to enjoy yourself before the rush of the holiday season and the shortest day of the year arrive next month. So, take a mini vacation day and take in any or all of these adventures.
Saddle up cowgirls and cowboys and take a scenic tour of the countryside on one of the well-trained trail horses at the Rocking S Ranch near Winchester, www.therockingsranch.com 540-678-8501. Starting at $50 an hour, you can ride on trails once used by Union and Confederate cavalry during the Civil War in the northern Shenandoah Valley. With our warm fall and lack of rain, leaf peeping has been delayed and prime color should last well into November. Marriott Ranch in Hume also offers leisurely trail rides suitable for beginners on quiet, well trained trail horses with experienced trail guides on the ranch’s 4,200 acres in the Blue Ridge starting at $55 per person for guided rides. Faster-paced rides are also available for more experienced riders. For both, advance reservations are required; check the website for details. www.marriottranch.com
Deer hunting is perhaps the single most important tool for management of Virginia’s exploding white tail deer population; and venison is the quintessential organic meat: lean and tasty. Virginia’s firearms deer season in our area is usually mid-November until early January. Locally, the Virginia Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries maintains several good wildlife management areas open to public hunting, including Merrimac Farm, 300 acres in Prince William county; C.F. Phelps, 4,540 acres on the Rappahannock in southern Fauquier County near Remington; Weston, 265 acres near Warrenton; Thompson, 3,963 hilly acres near Delaplane in northwest Fauquier County; and Rapidan, 10,327 acres in Madison County near Culpeper. You can find your game by clicking on www.HuntFishVA.com . Hunting packages are available if you don’t have time to scout an area; the Marriott Ranch in Hume offers hunters packages including tree stands in prime areas and even overnight stays in quaint hunting cabins in November and December with all the legwork done for you—visit their website http://www.marriottranch.com for details. No more than 8 hunters are allowed at a time on the 4,200 acres so book early.
Although the farmers markets in our area typically shut down in November, the Archwood Green Barns usually remains open until the Sunday before Thanksgiving. A worthy destination itself, it’s also right off I66 just 8 miles west of Haymarket so easily accessed going to or from points west. It’s also one of the few markets that is worth a visit on a rainy day since most of the vendor stalls are located inside the historic converted horse barns. More than just produce, you can find organic and wholesome home-grown local Virginia goods, from fruits, vegetables, farm fresh chicken, pork and beef, fresh bread of all types and more. You can ask all the questions you like as this is a producer’s market. The people selling the items are the ones that grew or made them, since this is a producer-only market. You’ll find fruits, vegetables, baked goods, goat cheese, meats (fresh and frozen) to make your own locavore meal. Besides the hard-to-find local items you’ve been looking for, you’ll find items you never expected, too including orchids, olive oil, coffee, gourds, quilted specialties and homemade rustic wood furniture. You can find a list of vendors and what they sell on their website www.archwoodgreenbarns.com; open Sundays in November from 10 am until 3 pm. Don’t miss out, after Thanksgiving it will not reopen until May. 4557 Old Tavern Road, The Plains (right off I66 exit 31).