Virginia Nesties
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Newly wed, new 2 Culpeper, new to the nest
Hi everyone,
We have lived in Culpeper for about 6 months now and still don't know very many people. We just had our wedding at the end of September and now that we do not have a wedding to plan, we want to get out and explore Culeper and the surrounding area. Any suggestions of fun things to do out here?
Hope to meet some good people and make so great friends.
~Brooke
Re: Newly wed, new 2 Culpeper, new to the nest
Thank you for the well wishes! The one thing we have done is Skyline Drive and camping in the park... we love camping so any chance we get, there we are. I have been to Fredericksburg a couple times but only to go to Costco have not been exploring yet. Ha, I didn't even know there was a university there.
My husband moved to VA at age 10, grew up in Stafford but coming from a family where both parents worked and really didn't do much except church on the weekends, he might as well be new to VA. I on the other hand was born and raised in Southern California. Pasadena area to be exact, so I am used to the city and having lots to do. Taking 30 minutes to get to the next town is such a strange concept to me but I love VA. My husband was in the Navy and stationed in San Diego, that is how we met. We were planning on staying in CA after he was out but financially it was not smart idea so we moved to VA and have been here since Feb of 2009.... and it seriously feels like we have not done a darn thing here. I figure now that we don't have the wedding planning and being on such a tight budget to afford it, we can begin to take advantage of what VA has to offer. Just need a little guidance on what that is.
I have never heard of Chesterfield, where is that in relation to Culpeper?... I know Manassas, Stafford, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg and DC. O and I know where Richmond is but have never been there.
Well I for sure want to go see Richmond and visit the base at Norfolk and I have always wanted to go to Williamsburg. We are up for anything really. New experiences, wine tasting, hiking, museums, camping.
How do you like Chesterfield? Is that where you are from?
Williamsburg is awesome. Wine tasting is something I actually know a little bit about -- my mom and I just went on a day trip to do some tasting last weekend. There are some great wineries in the Shenandoah Valley. Shenandoah Vineyards and North Mountain Vineyards are two of my favorites. There's great hiking/camping out in those parts, too. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond just went through a big expansion; I haven't been yet, but I've heard it's great.
I like Chesterfield. I'm actually from Gloucester, Va., which isn't that far from Yorktown. DH and I settled in Chesterfield because my parents are here and it's got a really good public school system (OK, so we don't have kids yet, but we're planning ahead ;-) ). Are you guys liking Culpeper so far?
Which wineries do you recommend? We took our moms to Gray Ghost for Mother's Day this year. It was wonderful.
I would love to check out the VA Museum of Fine Arts. We are trying to get down to Richmond before the snow.
Haha, don't feel weird about planning ahead. My husband and I are planning ahead too. You have to when it comes to children.
We do like Culpeper so far. We are thinking to buying a home here in the next couple years. I like that it is close to everything but not super close, if you know what I mean. I'm from Los Angeles where everything is pretty crammed together, I miss California but I am loving being out in the "country".
I'd definitely recommend Shenandoah Vineyards, in Edinburg, Va., and North Mountain Vineyards, in Toms Brook, Va. They're probably about 25-30 minutes apart, and they both have a great assortment of dry and sweet wines. We went to Chester Gap Cellars the weekend before last and I wasn't that impressed. The wines were OK, but VERY dry, even for me (I usually like dry wines.). Also, there's no tasting fee at Shenandoah Vineyards.
I thought Culpeper was very pretty when I visited, but my DH really didn't want to stay there. That being said, there's a lot more there now than there was when he grew up; I think he wanted to leave because a lot of his friends are actually in the Richmond area and he wanted some distance from his parents, who still live in Culpeper.
Hi there-
Don't know if you've had more of a chance to explore the area since your first post...I hope so. I grew up in Warrenton (1/2 hr. from C.) and now live in Spotsylvania (20 min down Rt.3 from C.), and I still have issues finding interesting things to do. If you want to stay close to Culpeper, you'll find churches are where people connect around here...I agree with the previous comments about coming toward Fredericksburg...I love it. Central Park has tons of great shopping, and if you're interested in a real local experience--take a few hours exploring Historic Downtown Fredericksburg...very quaint shops, old buildings, and it's beautiful right now with the fall colors. If you check the F'burg paper, or Craigs, etc...there are usually events on the weekends.
In addition to Skyline Drive, we have Shenandoah National Park close by, which in addition to being a beautiful area of nature, houses Luray Caverns. If you're not super into science, (like me)...the Caverns are still really beautiful and definitely an experience everyone should try to check off their to see list. Last, if you're up for a bit of a drive, D.C. ALWAYS has something to do...plus a lot of the museums have free admittance. Whew! Hope this helps...hang in there. Culpeper is really a cozy community...the type of place where many people who live there have never lived anywhere else...but once you find a niche or a "go-to" spot your golden. If you have a minute, let me know how you're doing.
Best,
Amy