Blog for adaysouting.com

My second favorite hike with kids, second only to White Oak Canyon, is Crabtree Falls in Montebello, Virginia.  I spent a beautiful July day there with my daughter, my friend, and her two girls.  Crabtree Falls is the tallest set of falls east of the Mississippi.  It’s 4.4 miles long, but you hike up and can turn around at any point.  It’s a great hike with kids, it’s shaded, always much cooler than the valley we live in, and there is a picture perfect view every switchback.  There are 9 switchbacks, guardrails along the steeper portions, and steps along the really steep sections.  About halfway up there is also a cave the kids really enjoyed.  There are places along the way to take your shoes off and have fun splashing in the water.  The rocks, however, are covered in VERY slick algae and there are Forest Service signs warning that people have fallen and died.  Our kids read those warnings themselves and did not need any policing from us while playing in the stream.

In the photos below you can see a tradition of rock stacking our Hawaiian friends taught us.  They leave small stacks of rocks along trails and beaches they visit.

On the way to Crabtree Falls is the Montebello Fish Hatchery.  I have always wanted to stop and have never had time.  The hatchery is open to visitors and 60,000 pounds of brook, rainbow and brown trout are grown there each year.  The hatchery is the main source of trout for Virginia’s Urban Fishing Program.

June 21st is the summer solstice. It is officially the first day of summer and is the longest day of the year! It is also known as Midsummer because it is roughly the middle of the growing season.

While we are celebrating the summer solstice this weekend, solstices really occur twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is most oriented toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun to reach its northernmost and southernmost extremes.

So what are you going to do to celebrate the summer solstice?  Here are a few ideas to consider-

Summer Solstice Wine Festival at James River Cellars, Glen Allen, VA

Summer Solstice: Paddle Evening Rendezvous, Wrightsville, PA

Virginia Farmland Solstice Supper, Purcellville, VA

 Solstice 2009: Puesta Del Sol, Baltimore, MD

I loved this when I heard about it!  What a great way to spend a rainy or very hot summer day.  We normally don’t go bowling because it can be so expensive.   Children up to age 15 can bowl absolutely free all summer long (from now until August 31st) at bowling alleys across the US.  All you do is sign up and you are emailed the passes each week.  The passes are good for two games per day for each child.  The only catches are that you have to rent bowling shoes, there may be restricted hours and parents cannot bowl for free.  However, up to four adults per household can sign up top play with their kids for $23.95 for the Summer.  There is a Facebook fan page with great tips and news from across the nation.  One of the best tips I found was from a mom who bought her kids inexpensive bowling shoes from eBay.

Now I can’t wait for a rainy day!

Being a Virginia girl, I was raised to appreciate a perfect mint julep served in a chilled, silver Mint Julep cup.  When I was little, I just watched my parents and their friends enjoy this great cocktail on the first Saturday in May for the annual “Run for the Roses.”  Mint juleps were made, food was eaten and a bit of betting took place at their Kentucky Derby party.

What I love most now is that I have the same mint growing in my garden that my mom used for her mint juleps.  It’s the same mint my father’s mother had growing on her farm in Fincastle, VA and then gave to my mom to plant at her home.  So not only is the tradition of the mint julep alive and well in my family, so is the mint itself.

If you want to try a mint julep for yourself here’s my mom’s recipe:

2 cups water
2 cups sugar
24 fresh mint leaves
Kentucky Bourbon
Crushed Ice
Silver Mint Julep cups, chilled (if you have them)

Place water, sugar and mint leaves in a pot.  Gently bruise the mint leaves into the sugar water with a wooden spoon to release their flavor, without ripping the leaves.  Make a simple syrup by simmering the sugar, water and mint together for five minutes.  Cool and then strain the mint out. Place the simple syrup in a covered container in the refrigerator overnight.

Make one julep at a time by filling a Julep cup with crushed ice, adding one-tablespoon mint syrup and two ounces of Kentucky Bourbon. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

Enjoy!