Angelina M. Lopez
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Contemporary Romance Author, Hyperromantic
A Fall Walk at Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve
The spooky origin story of Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve, the blazing fall colors and the fact that there’s a warming tavern meal and a cold beer just around the corner in Leesburg convinced me that there is no better place to take a walk during the stretch between Halloween and Thanksgiving.
In the early past of the 19th century, a farmer was traveling home on a dark and blustery night after a nip at a Leesburg tavern when he heard the wind shrieking over the hills of his property. His animals became as unsettled as their owner. When he got home, the Irishman claimed there was a “banshee on the reeks,” a wild witchy spirit screaming across his Virginia hills and dales.
His frantic report established the name for what would later become the Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve, 725 acres of public grasslands, forest, creeks and ponds in Loudoun County south of Leesburg. The spooky story, the blazing fall colors and the fact that there’s a warming tavern meal and a cold beer just around the corner in Leesburg convinced me that there is no better place to take a walk during the stretch between Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Banshee Reeks has over 20 miles of trails. Our two hours of exploring took us over easy trails that ran across meadows erupting with cotton-topped stalks, through shadowy forests, in between breaks in overgrown blackberry bushes and alongside ponds with small memorial benches for relaxing. We didn’t see much wildlife at the nature preserve – an occasional caterpillar or symbiotic bug on the cotton plants – but we didn’t see any people either. That was the best; having these wide vista views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and all that fiery leaf color and the quiet pathways all to ourselves.
Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve
21085 The Woods Road Leesburg, VA 20175; Open Saturdays and Sundays, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
In-Between Tip: After your exhilarating fall walk, head to historic Downtown Leesburg for a great meal in the same area where the Preserve's original owner would have enjoyed one. We've had amazing meals and unique experiences at The Wine Kitchen, Tuscarora Mill Restaurant and Windy City Red Hots with their authentic Chicago-style hot dogs. For dessert, go to the West Loudoun Street Cafe for ice cream and milkshakes or pick up an incredible pie at Mom's Apple Pie.
Last minute addition: I just discovered this great video about the Preserve created as a community service project by the DC Area Drone User Group. How cool is that?
Tysons Fall Harvest
Today I'm introducing a new category to my blog: "I Will If I Can," a Thursday post about a fun event or activity I hope to get to on the weekend if my busy life allows it. Maybe you'll have better luck than me!!
Today I'm introducing a new category to my blog: "I Will If I Can," a Thursday post about a fun event or activity I hope to get to on the weekend if my busy life allows it. Maybe you'll have better luck than me!!
This Saturday and Sunday, in a continued effort to make the Tysons Corner area livable as well as workable, the Tysons Fall Harvest Festival will offer kid-fun activities like a hay maze, a petting zoo and pumpkin carving, and an adult-fun wine and beer garden offering 75 beers and wines. Horton Vineyards, Arterra Wines and Willowcroft Farm Vineyards will be there, as well as Mad Fox Brewing and Woodchuck Hard Cider.
If you haven't tried out the Silver Line yet, this will be the perfect opportunity to do so. The Tysons Corner stop lets out right at the event space between the Tysons Corner Mall and the Galleria.
Image from Tysons Fall Harvest website
Heading to any fun events this weekend in the D.C.-metro area? Any events you'd like to promote or support? I'd love to hear about them on my Facebook page. Let's create a list of fun weekend "to-dos" for folks!
Off Season Tubing in Harpers Ferry
As summer draws to a close, it would seem wise to put aside such warm-weather activities. But what I learned from that gorgeous Monday white water tubing with the help of the Harpers Ferry Adventure Center is that there is no better time to go than when no one else is going.
Floating down the Potomac River with my butt in a tube and the 85-degree day warming my arms and legs, I had one thing to yell at my husband, who was bumping easily on some light rapids a few yards away with a peaceful smile on his face: "How do you like this for a Monday?"
He'd taken a long weekend to celebrate his birthday, and on this particular beautiful Monday just before Labor Day, my family of four had the whole stretch of the Potomac River near Harpers Ferry, WV to ourselves. For the entire 6-mile, 3-hourish white water tubing ride, the only people we saw were the ones waving at us from atop the pedestrian bridge that crossed the river.
They looked like ants. Little envious ants.
As summer draws to a close, it would seem wise to put aside such warm-weather activities. But what I learned from that gorgeous Monday white water tubing with the help of the Harpers Ferry Adventure Center is that there is no better time to go than when no one else is going.
"Our motto is, 'If you can think of it, we can make it happen,'" said Chase Gregson, an employee at Harpers Ferry Adventure Center, in reference to the many out-of-the-box adventures they put together for customers. "We've had people go white water rafting or tubing when there was snow on the ground."
Now, for me, that would be pushing it. But Gregson says temperatures at their location -- just west of Loudon County in northeast West Virginia, about an hour drive from the Beltway -- can stay warm until mid-October. Can you imagine bumping along in a tube, the wide expanse of the river all around you, and gazing at all the trees brilliant with oranges and reds and yellows? That's a way to see the fall leaves without the traffic!
White water tubing is a way to add a little spark to a tube ride. The tube acts like a bumper to the rock-causing rapids in the Potomac and you generally bounce off the rocks and spin away. The Adventure Center promises Category I-III rapids; on the day we went, we enjoyed bumps and some shoots, but nothing that felt dangerous. The Adventure Center appropriately requires everyone to be 12 and over; between the rapids and still water that requires paddling with your hands, it's easy for large expanses of water to separate various members of your group.
Chase with the Adventure Center offered these additional tips to guarantee a fun, off-season tube ride:
- Bring a wetsuit or rent one from the Adventure Center if you are concerned about the temperature of the water. They also rent splash tops, which are windbreakers that resist water and are not as constrictive as wetsuits.
- Wear close-toed shoes. This area of the Potomac River is actively fished and you wouldn't want your tubing day ruined by a cut foot.
- Call before you come if you're wondering about the conditions. The Adventure Center will not let you out on the river if there is ice flowing or lightening and thunder in the area. If you're already on the water when a storm hits, employees trained in swift water rescue will raft to you and get you out of the water.
- Come on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and early Friday if you're looking for a less-crowded experience. The Harpers Ferry Adventure Center is closed on Tuesday.
- The Adventure Center offers many deals after Labor Day. Check online before you go.
Yay to off-season tubing!!
Harpers Ferry Adventure Center
37410 Adventure Center Lane Purcellville, VA 20132
In-Between Tip: Harpers Ferry Adventure Center offers tubing, white water rafting, kayaking, zip lining, horseback riding, Segway tours, hiking expeditions and, come three scary nights in October, a Haunted Hayride and Zipline Tour. What better way to wig you and yours out than by zipping through a West Virginia forest in the dark?
Angelina M. Lopez,
contemporary romance Author
Writing ferocious love stories
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