Thursday, August 20, 2015

A Day in Winchester, Virginia…

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Well in between re-downloading Windows 10 and cursing  yet another failed install we did take a break from it to get out and do some things while here. Just about 30 minutes north of Tom's Brook is a neat little town called Winchester, Virginia. We decided one day to take a drive over to town and check it out.

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We traveled on Interstate 81 and made quick time to Winchester. On the agenda for the day was to take a little walk around a park where we could get in a round of disc golf before checking out the downtown area. As we looked for the park with the disc golf course we stumbled upon a little park called Duncan Park. We parked in front of a walking trail that wound around a crystal clear pond and we felt we had to enjoy a short walk around the pond! We were glad we did as it was very pleasant and it had water so clear we could see some large mouth bass waiting for the next fisherman’s best effort…

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Near Duncan Park and just off of Interstate 81 we found Jim Barnett Park. This 170 acre park has a little of everything but we came here specifically to play their 18 hole disc golf course. We read it was designed to challenge all levels of play and that the course meanders through the park  with both long challenging holes and short strategic holes. The course was fun and very long with lots of hills to climb and descend. Sharon even scored her first birdie on a fairly tricky Par 4 hole!

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We were pretty tired after the play as we trekked a little over 3 miles according to Sharon's walking app on her phone.  However we still wanted to see downtown Winchester. We drove around looking for parking and then just as we found a meter open we noticed the next block over had free parking so we parked there instead.  Winchester is home to about 26,000 residents and settlement of Winchester began around 1729. I love how old things are in the northeast as compared to anywhere else in the USA.

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As we began walking around town we marveled at the preservation and craftsmanship of the old homes, many of which were built in the 1700’s. We passed by the Abram’s Delight Museum which is the oldest home in Winchester. We also checked out the Handley Library which is a Beaux-Arts style building built back in 1913. Not far from the library was the Loudoun Street Mall in Old Town Winchester.

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Loudoun Street Mall is not a typical mall but it does have lots of restaurants and charming shops.  It also has numerous historical landmarks and stunning centuries old architecture! What a fun walk we had and to top it off we stopped in at the 50/50 Taphouse for a frosty drink along with a delectable platter of hand cut fries. With 50 beers on tap we both found one we wanted (a stout and an IPA) and lucky for us the ones we picked were on their daily special list for only $3 per pint!  What a great day!

10 comments:

  1. Is that right on Rt 50? Seems I remember eating at the Red Fox Inn years ago. I love those historic towns... you sure brought it alive with your photos!

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  2. Some day we will have sit down and rate all those IPA's and such. Too many beers, so little time. Virginia may be waaaaay NE of Texas, but it, according my Virginia friends, is not in the NE. Another 100 miles or so after the Mason-Dixon line. Keep on drinkin'.

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    1. John you should know me by now, everything is relative to Texas...

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  3. Winchester looks like a lovely town.

    Boy did you two luck out with finding all those parks.

    Congrat Sharon. Good job!

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  4. It may not be in the "NE" but I agree with you about the venerable architecture of Virginia. You put together a great day in a city few visit. Very neat that you seek out disc golf courses. We were surprised to find them in many of the Ohio State Parks if you are headed further north.

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  5. Good for Sharon.
    Good luck with windows 10.

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  6. How do you manage to pick one of 50 and it's on special?

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  7. Sounds like a great day. You two seem to have a knack for finding interesting places.

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