moonshine & history: sean's birthday

Sean (and my dad) celebrated his birthday last week on Friday. Last year, my surgery was ON his birthday, so this year, I wanted to be sure to make it extra special.

Living Social made that possible for me last minute when a deal popped up in my inbox for a B&B in West Virginia, the Hillbrook Inn. Aside from the lower rate, Living Social often offers promo codes, so I got another 30% off! I booked us for the night of the 4th and the wheels started turning...

The Inn. Gorgeous, right? The food was incredible, too!

I wanted to keep the trip a surprise, but Sean quickly guessed that we were going to Harper's Ferry, which was actually the next town over from where we were staying. We drive through often on the way to visit his dad, but have only actually been once. Since it was his day and he expressed he wanted to return and view the historical sites, I made that the majority of the plan (after driving past the town first to throw him off for an amazing lunch here!)

We ended up going both the 4th and the 5th! On the 4th we were treated to a performance from the USMC Drum & Bugle Corps!

Oh, the other great thing about Harper's Ferry?

The Appalachian Trail is there! Any of you who have been reading awhile know how special the trail is to us. That white blaze to the left indicates the trail. We walked on it briefly to see Jefferson Rock (first and second pics in the collage above!).

The days were both gorgeous but HOT (and also crowded due to the holiday)! We got some great views and of course, a history lesson as Harper's Ferry is the site of an event that sparked the Civil War.

Those of you who follow me on instagram were entertained by an interesting photo during the trip. It's true- we went moonshine tasting...at 11 in the morning!

When I was researching things to do in the area, I came across a distillery in town. It has been around less than two years, but was already topping Trip Advisor's list of best things to do in Charles Town! I contacted them on facebook to figure out exactly how things worked and it fit into our plans perfectly!

The Bloomery Plantation Distillery is one of many historic sites in the area, and the staff is more than happy to tell you about it and show you around, which we took full advantage of. Of course though, we came for the same reason as everyone else- free tastings!

They import the shine from Kentucky and add all sorts of fun, natural flavors. That's my favorite part- no added colors or junk! On site, they grow raspberries, ginger, and lemon, and hope to become more self-sustaining over time. Limoncello is their signature flavor, hence the sexy lemon birthday costume Sean got to wear! He was a good sport.

We packed a lot into two days, but a getaway with just the two of us was well worth it (and much needed - our last true overnight getaway with only us two was our honeymoon 3 years ago!)

PS - for more detailed reviews on the places we visited, check out my Yelp or Trip Advisor profiles!