We officially have a vacation home in Abingdon, VA!

And by vacation home I mean, my parents moved and they have a guest room for us. That’s a vacation home right? Just go with it.

My parents bought this 1900 Victorian with original hardwood floors, stairs, trim, windows, and doors. It is the perfect amount of charmingly old and creaky and updated. Before they moved in, it was used as an office building, which means SO MANY electrical outlets. It’s amazing.

They are one block from Main Street, so they get plenty of foot traffic for people watching on the porch, and walking to get coffee or a drink at a local coffee shop or bar, and you can see one of our favorite restaurants in town from the end of their driveway. It’s the best location.

They are still settling in and getting things freshened up, which is a lot harder when you live in a small town. Skilled laborers are in high demand everywhere and when you live in a town with like less than a dozen of them total, getting your house painted or lights installed is a whole big thing. They did put a lot of effort into getting my bedroom ready for me to come visit (ok fine, it’s just a guest room for anyone, let me dream) quickly after they moved in.

Of course I forgot to take pictures of my room, so here is a picture of Lucy having a bone on the cozy rug, and the snowy view from our window. My mommy even put a pitcher of water and glasses up there for us in case we got thirsty.

Their house is straight out of a holiday movie in the snow. I mean look at this snowy beauty. It was cool that we got to see snow while were visiting. I love visiting snow, I don’t think I’d want to live in snow, especially if I had to leave the house a lot, but visiting snow is a grand time.

As we visit more, I’ll share posts about our favorite places in town, but for now here is a sneak peak at things we love.

White Birch Food & Juice has fresh pressed juice, cocktails made with that fresh pressed juice, and delightful biscuit breakfast sandwiches. I also met the owner in passing at a coffee shop in town and he was so nice.

149 Sweets is a bakery/ice cream shop/coffee shop/gift store, but most importantly, they have a 24 hour baked goods vending machine. I repeat, a 24 hour vending machine filled with freshly baked cakes and muffins and cookies and pie.

Wolf Hills Coffee is part of a larger retail space, The Spring House, which includes Wolf Hills Coffee, Tumbling Creek Cider Company, and Appalachian Teas & Botanicals. I love the coffee and hot chocolate bombs they have at Wolf Hills and we like the Cider from Tumbling Creek too. It has a cozy atmosphere and all of the staff are incredibly friendly.

Abingdon Vineyards is beautiful. It’s on the edge of a river, so you can like boat there, the wine is delicious, and they have two vineyard dogs. A very peaceful place to grab a glass or a flight and hang out. They seem to have a lot of events, but we haven’t been able to make it to one yet.

The restaurant that we love and plan to visit every Wednesday for prime rib night until the end of time, is Rain Restaurant & Bar. These pics aren’t great, but that squash soup and prime rib are. Get yourself a slice of this heaven and a cocktail for the perfect Wednesday evening.

The Girl & The Raven is a coffee shop/cafe in an old house on Main Street. Chris and I spent an afternoon working here while we visited, and they had a fire in the fireplace and we had a room to ourselves almost the whole time we were there (we got there after the lunch food kitchen closed). They have good coffee, nice treats, including vegan and GF options, and I’ve already got a few stamps on my coffee rewards card. Huge bonus, this babe has a drive-thru, which is an all caps LUXURY for a local coffee place anywhere, but especially in a small town on Main St.

Snow’s Fine Meats & Provisions has a lot of really excellent quality product in a pretty small package. Plus because they are a legit butcher, they can order all kinds of special stuff, and they will slice and dice the meat you buy for you, which is awesome. They also cure/cook/roast some of their meats for take out sandwich specials, and have a really nice selection of high quality dried herbs and spices.

The William King Museum had a nice selection of exhibits when we visited in February, and they seem to have things rotating in and out pretty often. It was a nice size museum and I can’t wait to see what else they have on exhibit next time we visit.

And finally for this post, The Ice Cream Stop. They have a rotating selection of flavors and so far I’ve liked everything I’ve tried. This place almost always has a line, so I was excited to hear from my parents that they opened a second location. Fun fact if you aren’t from Florida, ice cream places close in the winter up north. Apparently they think there is a season for ice cream. Weirdos.

I know almost all of this list is food, but with Covid a lot of the non food things are closed. As places and festivals start to open back up, I’ll share our favorite Abingdon activities.