The Blue Ridge Mountains' 'Secret Foodie Destination' Is The Best Place To Celebrate Thanksgiving

There's no one way to celebrate Thanksgiving, whether you take the whole crew on a family-friendly Thanksgiving vacation or have a peaceful day at home with friends watching football. Those who are not as culinarily inclined may choose to leave the cooking to the professionals and take this long weekend as a chance to get away. And what better place to celebrate the most food-centric of American holidays than in a picturesque small mountain town with award-winning cuisine?

Less than two hours outside of Washington, DC, Sperryville, Virginia, has been dubbed by Country Living magazine as a "secret foodie destination" and has long been appreciated as a charming gateway to Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive, Virginia's best fall drive with Appalachian mountain views. With its accessibility to the city and mountains, Sperryville is an artsy haven for beer lovers, foodies, and explorers, making it an ideal, stress-free holiday escape. Flying into Washington Dulles International Airport will give you more options, but you should also consider flying into the smaller regional airport in Charlottesville, Virginia, less than an hour south.

For more than four decades, the country's most powerful political figures and celebrities have traveled to Sperryville to dine at The Inn at Little Washington. The Inn has been awarded Michelin's highest rating of three stars, and is one of only 16 restaurants in the United States to receive this honor. Chef Patrick O'Connell takes farm-to-table dining to the next level with two farmers and five gardeners on the property full-time, plus a beekeeper to watch over the restaurant's honey production. Reservations are essential for their annual Thanksgiving feast that features reinvented holiday classics like their "Spruced Up Turkey" and all the trimmings. Round out your luxurious Inn experience with an overnight stay in one of their 24 guest rooms and suites, or rent one of four historic cottages on the property for the entire group.

If you're looking for an equally delicious, less traditional experience, Sumac is an open-air eatery in Sperryville that was named one of America's top 50 restaurants by the New York Times, serving what food writer Melissa Clark calls "One of the best, most elegant bites I've eaten all year."  Sumac turns the traditional restaurant model on its head, cooking out of a trailer over an open fire at a brewery, with most major ingredients grown within a 150-mile radius. Reserve your spot early in the week for the five-course prix fixe menu served Friday through Sunday, inspired by the experimental kitchen's Blue Ridge Mountain setting.

Movement is in order after all of that food. Sperryville backs up to the Blue Ridge Mountains, and specifically Shenandoah National Park, one of the most accessible national parks in the US, where you can talk turkey while working up a sweat on more than 500 miles of trails. Stony Man, an iconic hiking trail with breathtaking mountain views, is a popular 1.5-mile loop that takes about an hour to complete, and is easy to find, right off of Skyline Drive. Entrance passes to Shenandoah National Park start at $15 per person.

Back in town, the Sperryville Nature Trail offers a convenient way to walk off those mashed potatoes while exploring the area. The 1.5-mile trail follows the Thornton River and connects most of the village, including Main Street, where you can peruse art studios, local shops, and breweries. Also on Main Street, a stay at Hopkins Ordinary is anything but ordinary. Marketing itself as a "B & B... and B," the bed and breakfast plus brewery serves up a rotation of small batch beers in the house's original cellar, built in the 1820s.