Wine and planes in North Virginia

Cloudy, cool morning when we departed Charlottesville on Monday morning. Last day in Virginia! The sun came out when we arrived to Stone Tower Winery in Leesburg, Loudoun County, after a two-hour drive on scenic roads. The location of this winery and vineyards alone is absolutely spectacular, on Hogback Mountain with views towards the Blue Ridge. In a total of three tastefully and uniquely decorated and furnished buildings the winery caters to all kinds of clients and events.

We met our tourguide Joe in the Harvest Barn (right) and while visiting one of the largest of Loudoun's 40 wineries, we enjoyed their fantastic wines. Especially liked their red blends! All equipment and interior design is top-of-the notch, highest standards, latest technologies! The owners, the Huber Family started out with a furniture store, which grew to a leading chain of stores and are now dedicated to high wine quality and a blend of new and old world styles, many of them Bordeaux-varieties.

After Leesburg we headed on into Fairfax County, in North Virginia, just across the Potomac River from DC. First stop: The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, a branch of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum on the Washington Mall closeby the Dulles International Airport. Boy,  two huge hangars were packed with airplanes - both, commercial and military - and space artifacts! Absolutely worth a visit! 

In Reston Town Center - 15 min. away - we had dinner and a tour at Open Road Distilling (right pic), actually, not one restaurant, but a sportsbar, a family restaurant, a fine dining place, a gathering point and a bar. The destillery produces gin, whiskey and wodka. We had a great meal there - shrimp salad on the photo below - before we still explored downtown and called it a long day afterwards. Had to get ready for tomorrow's departure to Chicago, too.