Here are the top ten Virginia Living articles readers loved this year: from mascots to mushrooms and everything in between.
(The Artist Sketching at Mount Desert, Maine, 1864-1865 by Sanford Robinson Gifford)
As always, we have had great fun serving our readers and seeing where their tastes lie. One of the more surprising facts about this Top Ten list is that most of the articles on it are from the last few 2021 issues. One would think that the earlier articles (since they’ve been on the website longer) would have had more time to accumulate views. The internet works in mysterious ways! So thank you for supporting Virginia Living
By Kinsey Gidick (October 2021) (Photo by Jen Fariello) Kim Kirschnick never aspired to mascot fame. Becoming the Mounted Cavalier, the University of Virginia’s gallant rider, who kicks off every football game racing into Scott Stadium atop his trusty steed, Sabre, wasn’t exactly a lifelong calling. But when the University needed a good horseman to take on the role of what’s affectionately dubbed the “Cavman,” the veteran polo player obliged. Twenty years on, it’s been a wild ride. As he celebrates two decades in the saddle, Kirschnick says, “it’s fun, but there’s no relaxing. I don’t want to disappoint 60,000 people.” www.virginialiving.com/the-daily-post/mounted-mascot/ by Renee Sklarew (April 2021) (Photo by Ryan Donnell) George Washington left his mark throughout the Commonwealth, from his childhood in the Tidewater, to governing in Williamsburg, until his final days at Mount Vernon. It is perhaps less well known that from 1748 to 1758, the future president spent the majority of his time in Winchester, a frontier town in Frederick County. www.virginialiving.com/travel/a-city-after-washingtons-heart/ by Peggy Sijswerda (August 2021) (Photo by Jen Fariello) When you sleep in a tipi (or teepee), you wake up with the sun. Bright. And. Early. Not that I minded. With a mug of hot coffee in hand, I stepped outside to take in a nearby field of young grapevines, which glowed in the morning sun. Birds chirped in the trees across the meadow. A great sense of peace came over me. It was just what I needed. www.virginialiving.com/travel/farmville-find-your-happy-here/ by Constance Costas (October 2021) Enter the tasting room at Merrie Mill in Keswick and you’ll meet Chantal, a 150-year-old taxidermy sea lion, swaddled in pink and floating near the bar from circus balloons. She’s just one hint that the wine-tasting experience at Merrie Mill is like no other. “The sea lion was her idea,” says proprietor Guy Pelly, of his wife, Elizabeth, pointing upward with a sense of pride. “But, the pink fabric and the balloons were mine.” www.virginialiving.com/drink/smitten-with-keswick/ by Mindy Kinsey (August 2021) (Illustration by Victoria Borges) Rye whiskey is one of the original local spirits. It’s been distilled here in Virginia since the 1700s; in fact, George Washington started one of the first successful commercial rye distilleries in the country in 1797, says Dale William Neal of VirginiaRye.com. And, like whiskies distilled from corn or wheat, it can be made entirely from locally sourced ingredients. Neal says rye was popular here until Prohibition, then largely disappeared until craft distilleries were reintroduced in 2006. Now, Neal’s Virginia Rye Whiskey Trail is 18 makers strong. www.virginialiving.com/drink/rye-oh-my/ by Markus Schmidt (August 2021) Author and filmmaker Adriana Trigiani has written an impressive 20 books of fiction and nonfiction, published in 38 languages and selling 20 million copies worldwide, including the popular Valentine trilogy. And despite making a home in New York City, the Virginia native has never forgotten her roots in the Appalachian Mountains. Trigiani’s bestselling 2000 novel Big Stone Gap, set in her hometown in the 1970s, was made into a romantic comedy-drama film in 2014, starring Ashley Judd, Patrick Wilson, and Whoopi Goldberg; the film was produced and directed by Trigiani herself. In December, The House of Love, the first picture book by the New York Times bestselling author, with illustrations by Amy June Bates, will be published by Penguin Young Readers. www.virginialiving.com/culture/a-love-for-love/ by Peggy Sijswerda (June 2021) (Ryan Staab, photo by Fred + Elliott) Like many people, I ate canned mushrooms as I grew up, most often in spaghetti sauce or as a pizza topping. I thought they were spongy and tasteless. Fast forward a decade. While I was visiting my friend Emily in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, we took a stroll through the woods and came upon a fluffy, pillowy, creamy growth of oyster mushrooms emanating from a log. Emily knew for certain what they were, so we took them back to her kitchen, fried them with garlic and butter, and ate them for dinner. The earthy mushroom flavors and chewy, meaty texture were revelatory. Plus, I sensed there was something life-giving about these foraged fungi. It’s hard to explain, but if you talk to mushroom aficionados, most agree that eating fresh mushrooms makes you feel healthy somehow. www.virginialiving.com/food/mushroom-mania/ by Stephanie Ganz (April 2021) (Photo by Fred + Elliott) Valerie Lowry tends a six-foot pan of hot maple sugar water with a watchful eye. The open boiling pan emits a sweet-scented vapor, and tree sand creates swirling patterns on the surface of the simmering water, lit by the heavenly sunlight beaming through a skylight in the rafters. All is quiet except for the sounds of burbling water and the occasional rustling of Fred, the barn owl, who nests nearby. Just when the sugar water is making its final conversion to maple syrup, Valerie scrapes something sticky from the sides of the pan. It’s a soft mass of semi-solid maple sugar, as sweet and fleeting as the air above a plate of pancakes. This is what she calls the skimmings, the reward to the syrup makers that only materializes in the precious seconds before the syrup is ready. “That’s when the skimmings are delicious,” Valerie smiles. www.virginialiving.com/feature/maple-leaves/ by Don Harrison (August 2021) If you want to see how the times are a-changin’, wander into the sleepy town of Elkton, population 2,900, in Rockingham County. Here, 17 miles east of Harrisonburg, you’ll find a small downtown dotted with thrift stores and antique shops, a post office, bustling basketball courts, a locally owned hamburger restaurant (existing peaceably next to a McDonald’s), and a soon-to-be full-service marijuana dealership. www.virginialiving.com/feature/a-budding-industry/ by Konstantin Rega (Online Exclusive) If you’re struggling with design inspiration and direction, all you have to do “is look in the mirror.” Southern designer Janie Molster’s new book House Dressing: Interiors for Colorful Living (Monacelli Press) gives an in-depth look at her design style and the houses she’s worked on—many situated right here in Virginia. At a recent event hosted by The Woman’s Club of Virginia, Molster discussed her methods and her own inspirations (mainly found in 70s fashion) in her unique and chic style. Not only is she a sought-after voice in the media, but she is a mother of five and is mindful in her designs of this fact. She notes that you should “keep rooms accessible and welcoming to every generation, equally child-friendly and parent-approved.” This is just the tip of the paintbrush when it comes to good design advice.
Mounted Mascot
A City After Washington’s Heart
Farmville: Find Your Happy Here
Smitten with Keswick
Rye Oh My
A Love for Love
Mushroom Mania
Maple Leaves
A Budding Industry
Colorful Living
