_edited.jpg)
I planned my wedding anniversary trip for my husband and I to Lynchburg, VA solely based on how much I loved the AirBnB that we ended up staying in. The Airbnb; The Panel Loft, was located in a 1940's commercial building right in the heart of downtown near the James River and had a modern and industrial look to the loft that I knew Ash would love. If you want to see the loft yourself, click here: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/22438662?location=Lynchburg%2C%20VA%2C%20United%20States&adults=2&children=0&infants=0&guests=2&s=-WlmSDIg
Not only did the loft end up being perfect, the town of Lynchburg had so many sights to see and activities to offer that we couldn’t contain ourselves and smiled from ear to ear the entire trip. Just walking down memory lane to write this blog has me smiling all over again. After we arrived we took a short walk through the steep streets of “Hill City” to stretch our legs. We ended the day at the rooftop restaurant Skyline, located in the Virginian Hotel. The image above is a view of Lynchburg from the rooftop.
Day 2: We continued exploring the town, it was incredible to be able to walk a few blocks and see so much. Lynchburg is a photographer's dream; normally I don't carry my camera everywhere we go but on this trip it never left my side.
One of my favorite discoveries was that every Saturday in the summer the town hosts a Farmer's Market. It was filled with an amazing array of local produce, meats, and goods but my favorite vendor at the Market was “Be Sweet”, which sold Brazilian Brigadeiros. If you’re like me and don't know what that is, think of a moist truffle. I loved them so much I ordered 20 the day we left so I could share some with my family. (www.besweetdesserts.com)
Further exploration of Lynchburg led us to find numerous colorfully painted pianos throughout the city for anyone and everyone to play. Our walking tour also included an Irish coffee shop, chocolaterie, and of course (my favorite) an ice cream shop. Being an ice cream snob I was excited to “test” the soft serve ice cream to see if it compared to Stock's Ice Cream my favorite from my hometown. Maylynn's Downtown Ice cream shop offered so much more than soft serve that I got distracted from my ice cream judging duties, especially when I saw Rolled Ice Cream listed on the menu. Whatttt?? I had seen rolled ice cream before in online videos but never had the pleasure of trying it myself. It was really fun to watch it being made and tasted so much better than it looks in the image below. Don't fret though, I did go back the next day and try the soft serve which I would give 5 stars, very delicious.
Day 3: Our adventures started with a bike trail that had a mountain tunnel. I enjoyed biking through the tunnel so much we actually turned around and biked through it again! The bike trail led us through wooded areas and eventually to a waterfall. The night before there was a torrential downpour that washed a lot of sediment from the mountains into the river that made it so brown it looked like it was made of chocolate. Also due to the heavy rains the water levels were much higher than normal and made part of the trail impassible, but we found another way around. Further down the bike trail we came across some beautiful abandoned buildings and a little further after that a bridge over the James River with locks on it. There was still more trail for us to venture down but at this point we ended our expedition because I needed a nap.
Overall the entire trip was perfect (even though I was ill). I could not have asked for a better weekend for our 1 year anniversary. We both can't wait to go back and visit again.
