Easter in Lynchburg

This Easter, H and I went to Lynchburg for the weekend like we did last year. We made a mini-vacation out of the trip—we visited downtown Lynchburg and hiked in the Blue Ridge Mountains on Saturday and spent Sunday with my family. Spring had started in earnest since our trip to Lynchburg in March, so everything was blooming and beautiful!

Friday: Escape from DC

H and I had a work lunch in DC on Friday that lasted until almost three, so our hopes of getting out of the city before traffic picked up were dashed. I packed in advance for the first time ever, though, and although traffic slowed us down we still made it to Bodo’s in Charlottesville before it closed for dinner.

Saturday: The Lynchburg Highlight Reel

Saturday morning, I coaxed H to the Lynchburg Farmer’s Market with promises of breakfast. We got a gorgeous bouquet of peony double tulips for my parents, and then walked across the street to the White Hart Cafe for brunch. The White Hart is Lynchburg’s hipster central, with antique wood floors, bookshelves, and beanie-wearing college students sipping lattes everywhere, and their breakfast food is amazing. For the farmer’s market and brunch, I wore a cropped sweatshirt, athletic leggings, Adidas originals, and a denim jacket, for an athleisure outfit that was comfortable enough for the weekend and cool enough for downtown Lynchburg.

That afternoon we set out to climb Flat Top Mountain, since we had climbed Sharp Top Mountain, another of the three mountains that make up the Peaks of Otter, last Thanksgiving. Flat Top is taller than Sharp Top, but not as steep, so the hike takes longer but isn’t as challenging. For the hike, I wore a comfortable tank top, athletic leggings, a soft quarter zip, and old sneakers. I knew I might need more layers, so I borrowed a hilariously oversized raincoat from my dad and a fleece vest and baseball cap from my mom.

We drove out to the Blue Ridge Parkway in Bedford and started the hike. The weather had turned gray and cloudy, but we got warm once we started hiking and since the trail wasn’t too steep we made great time. Unlike Sharp Top, where there’s an obvious “King of the Mountain” highest point, we got to the “Flat Top Mountain, 4,001 ft. sign” and then had to look around until we found the geographic marker of the highest point (which was a little underwhelming, since it was on a wooded ridge) and a rock outcropping we climbed to see the beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.

Just as we started back down the trail, what we initially thought would be a rain shower turned out to be tiny pieces of hail! We scrambled for our hats and rain jackets and kept going, but we were grateful when the hail tapered off a few minutes later. We hiked down the mountain, choosing our path carefully through the rocks and patches of mud on the trail, and picked up the pace when we realized we would only have half an hour to make ourselves presentable when we got back from the hike before our dinner reservation at Isabella’s. We were relieved to get back to the car after the five-mile hike, and sped back to Lynchburg to shower and change before dinner.

 

Once we got home, and I quickly showered and changed into a cute pink-and-white striped peplum top, white jeans, and a denim jacket (not pictured because we were in a total rush). My hair was a wreck post-hike, so I put it in a topknot. The Isabella’s reservation had been totally last minute, when I thought to check their online reservation system on Friday night around midnight and saw that there was one booth for four left at 8 PM. Unsurprisingly, the restaurant was packed—it seemed like half of Lynchburg was there! The food was wonderful as always, and after the long hike I savored every bite, especially the flourless chocolate cake I had for dessert. Saturday night, we finalized our plan with my brother and his family: church at 8:30, then Easter brunch at the house. I realized how early I would need to wake up to be ready on time, groaned, set my alarm, and almost instantly headed to bed.

Sunday: Easter Sunday

The next morning I was showered, blow-dried, and dressed on time (truly an Easter miracle) and we managed to get seats together in the balcony of the already-packed church. The music was amazing and everyone was decked out for Easter—I don’t think I’ve seen so many women wearing hats at church since the Royal Wedding. I wore a simple white sheath dress with a pink statement necklace and gingham wedges.

Brunch at home was totally relaxed—we hung out with my brother and his family, ate a ton of good food (my mom went full Martha Stewart and made homemade fried chicken), and had our traditional backyard egg hunt. Even though you would think we’re too old for an Easter egg hunt, my dad is always coming up with tricky new ways to camouflage the eggs in the flowerbeds. We lounged around until late afternoon, when we drove back to DC.

Did you go home for Easter? Did you have an Easter outfit this year? Let me know in the comments!