crazy fun and crazy sunburn

Our full day in Staunton was mainly focused on a Lunatic Tour we had scheduled as a surprise birthday present for the beau at Polyface Farm just outside of town.  Up bright and early, a quick breakfast at Coffee on the Corner, and then on to Polyface Farm.

Joel Salatin led our hayride tour (along with some of the Polyface workers and interns) and we squished on the wagons with 100 of our closest friends for the sold-out tour.  If you are a Virginia farm-to-table fan, you've likely heard of Joel Salatin and his crazy ways.  Love him or hate him, he's a big personality and we had a great time hearing about the farm and its philosophy straight from the horse's mouth.  And we saw a lot in our two hours - egg-laying chickens, meat chickens, turkeys, pigs, and rabbits.  Sadly no cows on our tour, but maybe next time.  There were tons of children on our tour, as well as farmers (or wanna-be farmers) from all over the country.  And the beau had a Polyface hot dog at the very end.  Crazy fun.  And we got crazy sunburned.

After the tour we made our way back to Staunton for a delicious lunch at Cranberry's Grocery (always love places where I can get a tofu sandwich!) and then a walk around town.  There was a vintage car show going on down by the train station and the beau took so many pictures of the various cars and hood ornaments (if you follow him on Instagram you got a taste).

We had a little rest back at the hotel and then made our way to Zynodoa for a leisurely birthday dinner full of locally-sourced and in-season ingredients.  Mojitos for cocktails, then bibb salads for our starters.  The beau had duck confit ravioli in beet sauce.  When I made reservations ahead of time I indicated that I was a vegetarian/vegan and the chef had responded to my (and fellow veg diners that night) request and there was a special roasted beet entree with huge beets in a leek sauce with carrot puree.  Absolutely delicious.  Being in Virginia, we took advantage of the local wines and took the recommendation of our server for glasses of Ox-Eye Reisling from Swoope, Virginia (not too far down the road) - not too sweet like so many reislings can be.  And for dessert we shared the maple cheesecake (beau's pick, being the birthday boy and all).  After all that food we needed to walk and made our way around town in the dark and quiet.

All in all, a wonderful relaxing weekend away.  Although we know we can't do that every weekend, we do know that Staunton will be a favorite spot to revisit in the future.