A visit to The Hunter's Head Tavern, Upperville, Virginia

Yesterday I got together with my British friends for lunch, and instead of opting for our usual meet at Panera Bread we decided to go to Upperville, which is a bit of a drive but not too bad, probably an hour-and-fifteen minutes from my house. As I enjoy getting in the car and going for a road trip, in this case a mini one, I volunteered to drive. I picked Hazel up first and then Kathy, and we met our friends Anne and Jackie at the tavern. It's a lovely run out there, through the most beautiful countryside and the time went fast as we talked all the way. You can learn a little bit about this small town if you click here.

If you click on the link here it will take you to The Hunter's Head Tavern website. It's about as close to an English-style pub as we have ever been to in the northern Virginia area. The girls have been here before but not for a long while, and when Kathy found out that I had never been she suggested it for our next get-together. It was an extended birthday treat for me too as at our last gathering Anne was not able to come and I was very glad it worked out for her this time. She also bought me lovely birthday gifts and a sweet card with birds on the front of it. She knows I like birds. Her gift to me also had a bird theme painted on them, three pretty center-piece candle holders, along with a lovely bird calender and some gardening gloves because I mentioned last time how we had gotten into trouble with the poison ivy and that I really needed a decent - and safe - pair of gardening gloves. As an added treat there was a very pretty set of bathroom towels. I felt like it was my birthday all over again.

As we were early I had time to take some photos and above I took one of Hazel and Kathy making their way up to the back of the tavern.

There is a very pretty courtyard at the back and the entrance is the door that you can see through the archway.

We walked into the bar area and were shown to the dining room on the left.

This is the pub food menu but there are other dishes that are offered other than 'British' food.

I enjoyed looking at the artwork on the walls which were mostly of animals dressed in old-style garb.

The one below was my favorite.

This didn't come out too well.

Loved this 'notice'.

This fireplace was also in the bar area.

I also loved the old steps.

This is the dining room. We sat at the table on the far left of the photo. There are waiters and waitresses who bring out your food, but you actually have to order it yourself at the opening next to the bar. You are given a wooden spoon with a number and place it in an obvious place on your table. Before your food comes they deliver a fresh, home-baked loaf of bread, which I have to say is absolutely delicious. The food was very good too. Hazel and Jackie ordered the fish and chips, Anne the quiche, Kathy a crepe stuffed with vegetables in a curry sauce and I had a Turkey Club Sandwich, which was so big I decided to take half of it home and Gregg had it for a snack later in the day. The chips that came with our meal were also very good. For dessert we weren't that hungry but we couldn't pass up the Sticky Toffee Pudding. We also ordered a Blueberry and Lemon Pavlova and asked the waitress if we could share. She bought us five spoons and we polished the lot off. My favorite was the Sticky Toffee Pudding. Here is a link telling you all about it. Ours was served with English Custard. The Pavlova was also excellent but the Sticky Toffee got a big thumb's up from all of us. I'm afraid I didn't remember to take any photos of the food as we were so busy talking and I forget.

This is the courtyard out back with lots of tables. We elected to eat inside as it was very humid. It would be nice to return when the weather is cooler so that we can actually sit outside. If we choose the weekend I think it would be prudent to make a reservation.

Hazel and I waited outside a few minutes for Kathy and Anne. The day was rainy and when we realized it was coming down pretty hard we sheltered under the umbrella for a bit of a chat.

It wasn't long before Anne and Kathy joined us. Jackie had already left. Anne lives in the other direction and we said goodbye in the parking lot. It was still raining pretty hard for a third of our journey but it stopped the closer we got to home.

My first experience of The Hunter's Head Tavern was a very pleasant one, and Gregg and I will be going back as when I showed him these photos he said he would like to see it for himself. On reading about it I learned that it was built in 1750 as a log cabin by a Scotsman named Steven McPherson. It is also supposed to have several ghosts, one a middle-aged colonial man dressed in brown. You can learn more of its history if you go to their home page here.