Another Memorial Day weekend for the books and the living was easy . . . It’s been awhile since I spent much time in a national park. This year for Memorial Day, my fiancée and I decided to hoof it through the Shenandoah Valley National Park from Friday through Monday. Having made reservations at the Skyland Resort, we arrived in time for a leisurely stroll Friday night prior to the Chef’s Table dinner. No kidding, you can have a fabulous wine dinner at a national park these days. We enjoyed wines from Washington state and Virginia. The food was outstanding; spring roll, endive salad, roasted spring onion and fig stuffed pork loin, Valrhona chocolate soufflé. So much for campfire dinners!
Later that night, a magnificent thunderstorm roared through. Early Saturday morning, the weather now clear and warm, we hit the stables for an hour-long trail ride. Midnight, my horse, was used to being the lead and this particular morning, relegated to third in line. Nevertheless, we saw beautiful forests as we walked along. The first hike we enjoyed was Hazel Falls and Cave. According to the reference book we were using, this trail was supposed to take 4-5 hours. We began a mild descent into a mesmerizing green carpet of soft grass under mature tall forest that took us along the path for about 5.4 miles in all. Knowing we were headed downhill most of the time, we knew it would take longer to come back – this is an in and out trail, not a loop. The last .2 miles were steep and rocky and then we were rewarded with amazing rushing falls and several caves. We stayed for a ham sandwich lunch with fruit. Heading back up, we took a gingerbread cookie break about halfway. The roundtrip ended up taking a little under 3 hours.
The second trail of the day was Stony Man – an easy loop of 1.4 miles up to 4,011 feet and gorgeous views. Tired and hungry, we had another good hearty dinner in the resort dining room. Sunday morning we went to Hawksbill, the highest peak at 4,051 for another 2.8 mile loop. In the morning paper, there was a story about Bigfoot and I told my fiancée I wanted to see Bigfoot or a black bear on today’s hikes. Be careful what you wish for – we encountered a bear about 20 yards off our right early on Lower Hawksbill Trail. We watched him, he watched us and slowly we crept by him hoping he would stay where he was – and he did. I can tell you that particular trail went by in a flash and at the summit we got more panoramic views of the valley below. The last trail of the day was Rose River and Dark Hollow Falls, another 4 mile loop. The book said the trail was moderate in difficulty and here the book was pretty far off – it was strenuous the entire way and very, very rocky. Rewarded by endless falls, we were famished after 2.5 more hours.
Sore feet were a small price to pay for such beautiful and essentially free ($30 for an annual pass) weekend entertainment. The Skyland Resort is reasonable and rustic. If we had relied on the Trip Advisor ratings for the resort, we might not have booked it. I’m not sure how people’s expectations get so far from reality but our stay was in a clean, large room with private bath and big windows.
What does any of this have to do with financial planning? The best financial planning in my mind always includes a way to put elegance into your life along with the other things you care about. So in this case, we took a risk by staying at the resort and were well rewarded with good food, good care, and good accommodations. We found elegance along each and every trail either in the forest or the people we came across. It didn’t cost a lot of money but seemed priceless on a few levels particularly in the quiet of the woods. No planes, trains, or automobiles, no radios, just occasional laughter and talking. We brought our own champagne to celebrate Sunday evening. We were able to drive there rather than fly. Do you have any jewels like a national park near you? I hope you discover a similar way to enjoy your summer that’s also easy on your wallet. Please share your Memorial Day experiences in the comments.
Bonnie Hughes, CFP®
Principal
American Capital Planning, LLC
Reston, VA / Miami, FL
