RH Recap: Our Middleburg Experience
This past week, we gathered our friends and family together in the beautiful and historic town of Middleburg, Virginia, to celebrate our newest venture, Recreational Habits. We created Recreational Habits to celebrate the American spirit through an inclusive lens and what better way to launch our newest venture than with the inspiring and wonderful women who are the many muses behind the brand. With COVID testing complete and all testing negative, we came together at the Salamander Resort & Spa to make a toast.
The days were spent exploring the equestrian lifestyle and all of the wonderful elements that encompass our passion for horses. We took riding lessons, went on trail rides, and also engaged with the local community and its many splendors.
We kicked off our launch with an intimate cocktail hour and dinner complete with an array of local wines from Bluemont Vineyard and our signature rosemary honey cocktail. Our guests mingled and reconnected and we sat down for a four-course meal which highlighted local produce and in season flavors such as butternut squash bisque, grilled local apple salad, pan seared Chilean sea bass, farm to table filet mignon, and a brulee’d mascarpone cheesecake! A nightcap in the library followed and then we were off to bed to get some rest as we would be taking horseback lessons in the morning.
With an early wakeup and lots of coffee we went off to Red Gate Farm for a fabulous lesson in horseback riding. The ladies were broken into two groups to cater to their horseback riding experience. We were so proud of our friends as some women conquered their lifelong fear of being on a horse which was a huge accomplishment, others were cantering around the ring and over jumps. The indoor arena was filled with smiles as we all encouraged each other and bonded with our assigned horses.
After we worked up an appetite riding, we ventured over to Bluemont Vineyard for a wine tasting and tapas. We sipped, we ate, we laughed, and as Bluemont is perfectly placed atop a hill, we oversaw the beautiful countryside and the mountains. Following our outing we returned to Salamander Resort & Spa for some rest and relaxation while some ladies wandered the beautiful Main Street of Middleburg, VA, and Jess even found a fabulous coat in a local vintage store!
We capped the day off with a cozy dinner at the historic Red Fox Inn & Tavern, complete with the fire roaring in the fireplace, cheese plates, in season fruits, sea scallops, steak, and hands down the most divine caramelized banana bread pudding. Dinner followed with a s’mores party in the Library back at the Salamander Hotel. We sipped on hot toddies and snuggled with our RH blankets, and the next morning we closed out our fabulous trip with our wonderful friends with trail rides and a farewell breakfast.
As they say, all good things must come to an end, but we cannot wait to gather again hopefully not in the too near future. We thank Salamander Resort and Spa for their incredible hospitality, Red Gate Farm for a very educational lesson in equestrianism, Bluemont Winery for their delectable local wine, Red Fox Inn & Tavern for truly one of the most delicious dinners, and the wonderful brands that donated their marvelous products to our goodie bags such as Black Dahlia CBD for their superior chocolate bonbons, Chic Tweak NY for providing your chic black silk face masks, Just Glow NY for the melon scented hand sanitizers, and Fuji Film for the polaroid cameras. Last but certainly not least, a massive thank you to our fantastic photographer, Ashley Soong, for capturing the first of many Recreational Habits retreats.
