This weekend the husband and I went on a last minute getaway with some friends to the countryside of Virginia. Along the way, we stopped at the manor that our friends got married at last October, Berry Hill Plantation.

The wedding last year was gorgeous, and it was wonderful to come back and reminiscence with the newlywed couple. We went on a quick tour of the house and ate lunch at the onsite tavern.

Here’s a picture of the main house at Berry Hill- the couple got married on the steps in front of the columns.

Here’s the back of the columned building- you would never guess it was the same house!

This is where our friends had their reception- they had a few tables outside here, but most of them were inside since it was chilly.

They were actually setting up for an afternoon wedding, but the house was still open for us to explore.

I’m not one that’s much for museums and things of that nature, but it was fun seeing the old house with such cool architecture and decorations.

I would love to have a bookcase like this- and books to fill that many shelves!

And I loved all the old pictures- especially the wall full of silhouettes!

Look what we found in one of the rooms upstairs:

It’s David & Ashley- the friends we were with!! How cool is that? I felt like we were with celebrities.;)

The bride was getting ready in the room next door- she let us take a quick peek at her dress—it was beautiful! I wish we could have seen the wedding!

Her flowers were stunning too. 🙂 It’s been too long since I’ve been to a wedding!! (I went to 11 last year!)

We finally decided it was time to get out of the way of the upcoming wedding, and went to Darby’s Tavern to grab lunch.

We had lunch here in the fall before Ashley & David’s wedding- I knew exactly what I wanted when we got there: plantation chips- aka  the best ever waffle cut sweet potato fries.

They’re dipped in some kind of batter that makes them nice and crispy, and served with malt vinegar sour cream (which I never even opened!).

Although I easily could have filled up on fries, I figured I should add a nutrient or two to lunch, so I also had a spinach salad: spinach, avocado, pear, goat cheese, candied walnuts, and raspberry vinaigrette.

And some coffee. I don’t normally drink coffee with my meals (or besides breakfast time!) but it smelled so good when I walked in that couldn’t pass it up.

After a long leisurely meal, we finally headed to our friend Ted’s house. Along the way we saw a small white dog on the side of the road, completely soaking wet. (It had been raining all morning.)

As we slowed down to see if the dog was ok, we saw it didn’t have a collar, was covered in dirt and fleas, and was awfully skinny looking. After debated what to do for a few minutes, we put the dog in the back of the truck and took it home with us. We couldn’t just leave it there freezing cold and wet.

We rinsed & dried her off as soon as we got to the house, and she already looked much more comfortable and relaxed. Ted called some neighbors, but nobody recognized her. The shelter wasn’t open, so she was our guest for the night!

She didn’t seem to mind. 🙂

More country-weekend adventures coming later!!