August 28th, 2024, Shenandoah, Virginia.
Oh boy, do I miss this cabin getaway already? Susie and I recently went on vacation in the Shenandoah, Appalachian Mountain region. We had the last week of August off and booked the cabin. We were very excited to go since we have always wanted to stay in a cabin. Remember that this was a pretty modern cabin, so for you hardcore adventure people reading this, give us some slack! It was our first time!
Day 1
Time to get on the Road
So, as usual, the day always starts with us getting ready and packing things up. We decided to shop at Target for snacks and other last-minute items that we needed. We also went to Walmart and got some Tropical Smoothies for the road. Their Bahama Mama bowls are pretty good. I recommend them if you go there.
The highway and roads were pretty empty for the most part as we headed there. We were heading towards Madison, VA, to get to the Shenandoah area. The drive was about an hour and a half from where we live and was very enjoyable and scenic. We took many backroads when we were close, but mainly open roads. It was a jam session until we got there.
First Impressions
As we were arriving, we went through these backroads to get there. Gravel one-way roads with no way of knowing if a car is coming or not. I would not want to drive there at night but it was lovely as we pulled up to the cabin. We both were amazed and had a “Wow!” moment together. We instantly knew we would love the stay and enjoy our vacation.
Just at first glance, it was pretty huge. It was way bigger than what we had seen on the Airbnb listing. That is a good thing, of course! We checked in and started to explore the in and out of the modern cabin, and it had three floors. We were expecting only two levels, but it had space for way more people than anticipated. This was a massive home for just two people, but we would make the best of it since we had it for the rest of the week! We started to unpack and get rolling with our getaway vacation. The view from the back of the home was gorgeous, and the greenery in the area made the environment feel more vibrant and inviting.
The birds were chirping, the wind was whistling, and the bees were buzzing. It felt just like home (but better). We got settled in, admired the beauty from the back deck, and sunbathed for a few minutes before we finally went to unpack. Did I also mention that the upstairs master bedroom had a fantastic back view? Well, it did!
Pizza for Dinner
We got hungry as we finally finished unpacking and decided to make something to eat. Now, here is the part that you all will love about this trip. We cooked and grilled at home every day and got pretty creative with what we made. I think that we have been getting creative with our meals to the point where I mentioned to Susie that we should make a section just for food recipes on our blog here on SS Dates since Susie, being the real mastermind behind them, is pretty good at making those meals (except for the kabobs! That was my idea!). So, as the heading mentions, our first meal of the trip was to bake a homemade pizza.
Now you are probably wondering, Wow, all you did was pizza. It is not that impressive at all. Well, we didn’t use regular pizza dough. We actually used Naan bread and made a pizza out of that with an assortment of ingredients and goodness.
The Naan bread and the assortment of ingredients made it a healthy, crunchy meal. The pizzas are something I recommend people to try at least once. Don’t knock until you try it, am I right? We ate well and had some wine. If you are over 21, try the Stella Rosa Black wine. Susie brought it since she heard it was good and it indeed was good. It tasted more like a sweet drink than it did wine. The pizzas hit the spot, and as we were finishing the food, it was also getting dark outside.
Darkness all around us
So this is the part where we did not think about much for our cabin getaway. We thought about only the fun and pleasant day time activities, well now it was dark, pitch black, dark. The sun had set and the moon was nowhere to be found amidst the trees. We looked outside and felt a bit uneasy since we were not surrounded by much except trees, and we shut the curtains. I know you’re probably laughing at us for doing that, but it was our first time alone in the middle of the woods in a nice cabin, just us two. We ended up watching a movie in the basement, but with the house being made up of wood and completely silent, we could hear the creaks from the wood setting in, making it just a bit more eerie.
We ended the night after the movie, went to the room, and rested. I fell asleep like a rock.
Day 2
The morning sun was rising, and the birds were once again chirping. The sun peered into the room and awoken us. We got up, got ready for the day, and went down to make another excellent meal.
Burritos for breakfast
The burrito was one of Susie’s many meal ideas. It was a chorizo burrito with an assortment of ingredients. It was so good that we created a video on how to make it. Check it out, and of course, follow our TikTok page! 🙂
After the burrito and the scenic morning breakfast view, we decided to get ready for a mini adventure and explore one of the nearby caverns. We were heading south of Shenandoah to a little town called Grottoes, VA.
Grand Caverns Adventure
After eating well together, we went to the Grand Caverns. The drive to Grottoes, VA, was scenic and long, except for the descent from the Shenandoah portion. There is the road leading to Shenandoah State Park, which goes uphill and downhill on the other side. Now imagine doing that, going there and back.
Once we arrived there, we were unsure where to go because there were no clear indicators. It was a park with a ton of picnic space and many different hiking trails. I believe the land was about 100 acres, belonging to the park/caverns. We decided to go to the little store in the corner and ask where to get the tickets. They gave us the tickets and told us it was a guided tour. For about $30 and a tour guide for the caverns, that was one heck of a deal. Luray Caverns definitely has some competition!
I recommend going to the Great Caverns in Grottoes, VA. It was enjoyable. So, take the family or your partner there! I would return in the future. Also, if you are into spelunking, they have guided spelunking tours, and bring a sweater!
Carne Asada with Surprise Visitors
After the cavern tour underground, we had surprise guests coming to our Airbnb Cabin. Susie’s sister and her boyfriend were on their way to see us! We were excited because we had a large cabin and enough space to share with many more.
We asked them to bring more food because we had not planned for additional guests, so they got us hot dogs, sandwich items, snacks, and more drinks. We were ready to live it up for the rest of the night! When they arrived, we essentially had a small cookout. Carne Asada, Hot dogs, and corn were on the menu.
In case you did not know, I work a mean grill! I did not think that I would enjoy grilling this much. But, ever since our first tiny home trip by the lake, we have enjoyed everything grilled! Actually, I think I may be posting about it sometime in the future and give you guys a little review of how that went.
Time to Party!
After eating and getting full of all that great food, we decided to wrap it up for the night, especially since it was getting dark outside again. We would not want to be caught outside in the dark.
I hope you got that GIF reference. Let us know down below if you got that reference. We went down to the basement and got the party started! We played pool all night while listening to music and drinking our adult juice! It was a blast and something that will be kept in the books! Good memories. The night felt like it slipped away too quickly, but it was a great time to be there. All I remember was waking up the following day in bed and random funny videos in our phones.
Day 3
Croissant Sandwiches
By the third day, I felt as if the days were flying by. The cabin getaway we had booked was soon coming to an end. On this day, we all felt the previous night to our core. Susie and her sister began to make breakfast sandwiches later in the day. We slept a decent amount that day and hung out for a good portion of the morning.
Unfortunately, I do not have any images of the breakfast croissant sandwich but I decided to eat everything separately since I could not stomach the entire thing together. The previous night came back to haunt us. After finally sobering up and returning to our usual selves, we decided to try the hot tub. I don’t think I mentioned it, but yes, they had a hot tub!
Couple’s Soup
Yup! You heard that right—couple’s soup! We went outside to the Hot Tub early in the day while the sun was still not shining entirely. It was our first time operating and/or using a hot tub. We figured it out with the Owner’s detailed instructions, and wow, was it hot! The water in a Hot Tub is supposed to be around 100-104 degrees Fahrenheit. I could see It steaming and feel the heat radiating when hovering over it. I felt as if I were being dipped into grandma’s soup!
I did not have a picture of us in the hot tub, so enjoy this image of a nice steaming bowl of soup. Eventually, after being in the water for about a few minutes, we started to get used to it. It was not bad at all! I would love to use a Hot Tub again, but the next time would definitely be in the winter, not at the end of the summer season.
After a while, the sun began to rise. We decided to shower, rinse off, and get to grilling again!
Grilled Kabobs
Remember how I said that I work a mean grill? Well, guess what? We got to grilling again!
I genuinely have begun to enjoy grilling and helping Susie create more food dishes. It is more satisfying when you get to see your masterpiece flourish into a delicacy! Also, I just wanted to let you know that we will be adding a new section where we add dish ingredients and explain how to make it step by step! Susie already does this on our TikTok account. I will add it to a section specifically for the food that we make on our blog.
Now look at those kabobs! They look great, don’t they? They were amazing and tasted so good, especially when paired with Susie’s mother’s infamous and delicious tomatillo green salsa. They were juicy, sweet, spicy, and full of everything you need in your daily diet. Also, they make a great healthy dish and keep you full.
By the time we were finished grilling and eating, nighttime had once again come to visit us. We both gathered our stuff inside and decided to start wrapping up.
Ending the night with The Wolverine
Our third night at our cabin getaway was coming to an end, we decided to stay up once more for a bit and enjoy our time together there. We ended it with a movie. What other movie than the old Wolverine movies? We decided to watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Can you believe that Susie had never seen one? She was so against it and wanted to watch a completely different movie but I kept convincing her that it would be great! We began to watch it and eat some mangos as a snack.
Towards the end of the movie, she was clenching on to her seat when she was watching the fight between Project XI and the Wolverine & Sabertooth. I teased her about not thinking she’d like it. It was great to spend some bonding time together. After this, we finally wrapped up the night an on to our last morning at the cabin.
Day 4
Teamwork makes the dream work! (And pancakes)
This day, we concluded the cabin getaway but not the adventure! So, we were pretty much tired from the previous night. After eating good and staying up late to watch the movie, we had to hurry and pack everything up quickly. I don’t know how, but we woke up late and had to check out before 11 a.m. We decided to split our workload and began to run around and clean a bit. I took everything to the car and packed all the nonfood items while Susie stayed behind and worked up a quick breakfast dish. Imagine the pancakes that I posted for the Ocean City trip in MD. Check the post out if you have not already done so.
Goodbye, Creepy Cabin Getaway!
After being here for the past 3-4 days, I was starting to like it more every day. Despite the cabin getaway feeling like a scary movie, partially due to the dim lighting, the pleasant, peaceful environment will surely make me miss spending mornings in the nature environment with Susie like this.
We recommend it. Susie enjoyed it, and we were both happy. After packing up and locking up the Airbnb, we took off—no more cabin getaway for us. It felt as if we had just arrived and were already leaving. I guess good times go by quickly when you’re having fun.
We decided to go on one last drive to Shenandoah State Park and take some photos on the infamous Skyline Drive.
Skyline Drive
Skyline has many things to offer, and I could write a separate blog post on it. We have explored a few areas there, from the many campgrounds to the hiking trails to even mountaintop stores. It has an abundance of things to do and explore. Here are some highlights of our drive on Skyline Drive.
Skyline Drive always has things to offer: beautiful scenic routes, great hiking trails, the wilderness, a fresh breath of air, and many more. We captured the deer eating and looking for us. I thought it was a nice picture and wanted to add it here. I use a Canon EOS T6 Rebel DSLR to capture all these images. They came out looking way better than I thought they would. What do you think?
If you are close to skyline or visit Virginia, this is the place to visit. We enjoy it and maybe visit around 2-4 times a year. We always find something new. After enjoying our sandwich at a picnic area with some mangos, we decided to head back home. So off we went up and down to return to the usual roads and past the Skyline Drive.
Yoder’s Market
Driving back, we chatted and talked about our experience of being out and about everywhere. We passed the cabin we were staying at for our mini cabin getaway and had a little reminiscing chuckle. It was enjoyable, and we considered making one last stop before our trip ended. On the way to the cabin, we read (well, Susie, since I was driving) that there was a little store called Yoder’s Market. So, as we were driving back home, we were going to be on the side where it was. We decided to be on the lookout, and I had Susie also look around as well. We found the spot after a few miles of driving down the road.
This was a decently sized location. We pulled up, and it looked nice, so we decided to check the store out. They had all sorts of things, and there were a lot of locally sourced and grown items in there. I believe it was an Amish market. They also had a petting zoo, which was cool to see. We grabbed some of the smoothies on the menu since they also make food on the spot to order, and then we decided to make our way out to see some of the animals on the side of the building.
Check out some of the animals we spotted here. They had a nice variety, and we had a wonderful time. It was a great way to relax and enjoy seeing them.
After hanging out for a while and drinking our freshly made smoothies, it was finally time to leave for good and head back home. There were no more detours, and it was straight back home.
End of the Road
It felt as if the cabin trip were to go by so quickly. I still miss it to this day. It felt like just last week. We had barely arrived at our cabin getaway. It was a great time and something I would want to do again. Maybe a cabin in a different location.
This time, there were no detours; we went straight home, enjoying some music along the way. Afterward, we treated ourselves to some Peruvian chicken, which was the perfect end to the day. It was a well-deserved trip, which we will miss, and I highly recommend it to anyone considering visiting the Shenandoah area. We stayed in Madison County and had a fantastic time. Whether you’re with your partner or friends, plan to stay at least a day or two. While it gets dark and eerie at night, there’s plenty to do during the day. We did so much more than we could include here, but I’ve kept it brief to avoid making this too long! We both needed this getaway, and adjusting to our routines at home took a little effort since we were so relaxed.
Thanks for reading. If you made it to the end, you’re the best! You’re a real one! Don’t forget to leave a comment and let us know what you enjoyed the most or if we gave you good ideas!
