Wasmund’s Distillery has new look, logo
By Barbara Adolfi
New, handcrafted doors welcome visitors to Wasmund’s Distillery at 9 River Lane in Sperryville.
Just like every bottle of Wasmund's Single Malt Whiskey, the doors are crafted with oak wood, apple wood and cherry wood. Although you must go to an ABC store to buy the whiskey, you can now purchase hats and shirts at the distillery with a logo that includes a still and whiskey barrel.
The increasing frequency of visitors to this hidden jewel in our county has led to the establishment of visiting hours. If you have not yet been to Wasmund’s, be sure to stop in. It makes a great outing when you have friends visiting from out of the county.
Visiting hours are: Monday through Friday at 4 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday at noon, 2 p.m., and 4 p.m., or by appointment.
Visiting artists
Kelly Passante from Great Falls, Tom Wilshere from Fairfax and Susan Vallon from Washington, D.C., are three artists who met at a class at the Corcoran Gallery of Art several years ago. The instructor, Sandy Gobar, arranged with local artist Martin Woodard, also a class member, for a painting weekend in Rappahannock County. Enchanted with the memory of that experience, Kelly, Susan and Tom returned this past weekend. All three were painting on Sunday at the historic School House in Sperryville. Tom had captured a unique view of the school house; Susan had a broad landscape that included the house on the hill with the blue tin roof and Kelly focused on Turkey Mountain. These three friends have continued to meet to paint together weekly, primarily in the D.C., metro area, but hope to return soon to Rappahannock County. Judging from the smiles we saw on their faces, we are certain they will be back.
From bay to table
The challenge of long distance grandparenting has led Ray and me to the discovery of Guemes Island, a little known, non-commercial, three mile long island in the San Juan Islands in Washington state. For the second year in a row we took our grandsons Joe, 9, and Skyler, 6, camping in a 20-foot yurt for 10 days at the Guemes Island Resort.
Besides exploring all the sea life in the tidal pools, many hours were spent fishing and walking the beach looking for agates, of which the boys found 30. Wednesday through Saturday were organized around the effort to get Dungeness crabs. By 7 a.m., we had baited the crab pots, donned life jackets and set out in the row boat to set the pots. Shortly after noon we rowed out to pull the pots and were rewarded on our first day with 10 Dungeness crabs.
Our stay at the Guemes Island Resort includes use of kayaks, row boats and all that one needs to cook those succulent crabs. By 1:30 p.m., we had cleaned, cooked the crabs in sea water and were standing at the table eating warm Dungeness for a bay to table feast.
Each year I write something after we leave the boys. It feels like my way of easing the pain of another goodbye. We have discovered the joys and the challenges of taking them for 10 days, but this island, without electronic gadgets, gives us a cherished opportunity to keep on building our bonds with these two special boys.