All About Trey

Wonderful West Viginia

And I swear that I don't mean that sarcastically. Seriously! Really!!!

So a couple of months ago, SuperLawyer came up with the idea of going up to the Guest House at Lost River when the leaves were changing and it sounded nice, and civilized, so I was like sure, why not. And we decided to make it a fall gay get-a-way, so we invited other folks and we actually ended up with a total of ten people making the trek to WVA!

My Friday was the typical. Plan to leave the office around 1130 and *everything* goes to hell in a handbasket, so I'm stuck. The plan had been to meet at Linden Vineyards, sample some wine, have a picnic, and just relax. But no, I'm stuck in the office. I finally bail around 2PM, and of course I-66 is already a parking lot. Once I made it through Manassahole, the traffic broke free and I was golden. And I really was. The sun was shining. It was one of those clear, beautiful fall days in DC and I had the sun roof open and was jamming to my tunes while I headed west. Of course I made it to the vineyard just as everyone was getting ready to leave, but I had time to slam a wine sample of the reisling. Good, sweet, but not syrupy sweet, with a nice hint of peach & mango. So I got a couple of bottles. But then it was time for the final push. Again the drive was great and once we left the interstate and got on some of the backroads, it was like travelling back through time. Especially when we passed not one, not two, but three houses in a row flying the confederate flag. Yep, welcome to West Virginia. We finally made it to Lost River around 6 PM-ish where we checked in and got a tour. Now I had some doubts about the GH@LR, but let me tell you, it is nice. Really nice. The main house/lodge is huge. Lots of areas to just relax, or sit and read, or play pool. Of course we discovered the great bar with the nice fire going. We saw the pool, the hot tube, the gym, the TV room, etc. I mean, we're talking sweet! After the tour, we had to have our celebratory cocktails in the bar. The sad thing I will say is that in less than an hour of being in the lodge, we were singing show tunes. Yes, we are gay. That night we had all brought apps and wine and we went to the Anniversay Gurls' suite where we proceeded to eat, drink, talk, eat, drink, talk, eat, drink, talk, and maybe drink. OMG! Such a good time. And then of course, it was time to hit the hot tube!!! We even did a little polar bear jumping into the freezing (i.e. unheated pool) and then jumping back into the hot tube. I do love that stinging/tingling feeling when you get back into the hot tube after all of that cold water! After all of the excitement (and food, and alcohol), I crashed pretty early.

Saturday AM was a GLORIOUS morning in WVA. Sunny, bright, and the view from our room was spectacular. As we were informed the previous evening, breakfast is servered from 0900-0901. So none of this gay time out here in WVA. And despite all of the food from the night before, I headed down and really enjoyed the huge full breakfast that they provided. Homemade biscuits. Mmmm!!! So good. After we polished off the breakfast, we made our plan for the day. We were going to go to the Lost River State Park and hike and then go horse back riding. So we piled into our cars and headed out. The drive was great. The leaves had just started to turn, so there was plenty of green, but still lots of yellow, gold, and reds. Truely amazing. And needless to say the park was gorgeous. We pull into the parking lot and what do we find? Apparently this really is the gay section of WVA if they have a bathhouse here. Unfortunately it was closed. So we went searching for a trail, and after a mis-start, headed down Howard's Lick Trail. I kid you not. The trail was great as it basically went along a little creek that was very pretty and the terrain wasn't that bad. I was afraid that we were going to end up on some death march, but it turned out quiet pleasant and everyone just sort of relaxed and strolled along. There was a little bit of a breeze, and at times there would a light shower of green and golden leaves that would fall like snow flakes through the trees. It really was just magical. After a short hike, we then headed to the stables to go horseback riding. We got matched with our horses (mine was Moonshine) and then got saddled up. Now it's been while since I've been on a horse, so I was trying to remember all of the little tricks. And I got a lot of practice since my horse had ADD and would just stop every once in awhile. So I would have to kick him a bit to keep him going. Nice. And what is it with horses that ride as close as they can to trees. I can't tell you how much bark I almost tasted. And Moonshine couldn't walk a straight line if his life depended upon it. No seriously, why walk in the middle of the path, why don't you walk right on the edge of the path next to the serious drop off? One of the tour guides was behind me and somewhere along the ride she's like, "Be careful at the next part, it's dangerous." Gee, thanks for telling me that. But the ride was very peaceful. And we climbed several hills and got to see a lot more of the park which was very nice. After an hour, we were back at the stables and that was just perfect. I can't imagine being on that frak'n horse for 2 hours. Thank you, but NO! We then headed back to GH@LR stopping along the way at this CO-OP what specializes in arts and crafts. They had some really great stuff and everyone bought something but me. Then after a late lunch of leftovers from the night before, I curled up for a much needed disco nap. After a short nap, it was gym time, and then time to get cleaned up and head to the bar for happy hour. And a happy hour it was. Especially because the drinks were so cheap (well, compared to DC prices!). Dinner was just fabulous. And of course we had the cutest waitor who was all of 17. But still, that's legal in WVA! And I'm so totally kidding. After dinner, we hung out and watch a DVD of my cruise, and then we hit the hot tub again. Sooo nice and relxing.

Sunday morning was another beautiful, clear, crisp fall morning. It was kind of a bummer that we were leaving, but we got to enjoy another great breakfast before we packed up and started the trek back to DC.

I'm definitely going back. It is SO nice and SO relaxing. And we just had the best group of people with us. It was just such a great get away. I just think next time that I could probably do with a little less food, and a little less alcohol. Well, maybe just a little less food!

posted by Trey @ 8:57 PM