The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm – Thanking the Vets

Veterans taking advantage of B&B for Vets at the Inn at Sugar Hollow Farms

On Wednesday November 10th, we were fortunate to spend a free evening at the Inn at Sugar Hollow Farms as part of B&B for Vets. It’s rare for Holly and I to get a chance to escape together; it only happens a few times a year. We wanted to arrive early enough to take a short hike and enjoy the scenery, but the sun was already setting as we left our house. We decided to make a short detour into Charlottesville to have dinner at the Horse and Hound Gastropub.

That put us at about a 7pm check in. We missed out on the beautiful drive out west from Charlottesville due to the darkness. We pulled into the Inn and were greeted at the door by Dick Cabell, one of the owners and inn keepers, along with his wife Hayden. We were the only ones in the house at the time and were given a short tour and had an opportunity to talk to Dick about B&B for Vets and his own prior service in the U.S. Army.

The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farms is just miles away from the Shenandoah National Park and has wonderful mountain views on all four sides. While they do have Wi-Fi internet access, cell phone reception is mostly absent so it is a great place to get away from the world. We stayed in the Woodland Room in the ‘Main Inn’ that Dick and Hayden constructed on the 70 acre property in 1995. There is also the Farmhouse Inn which has three more rooms as well as the self-contained Shenandoah Suite (with its own private entrance and porch). The Farmhouse is the original house for the property.

This was my first B&B stay and my wife’s first B&B stay in the U.S. We were pleasantly surprised. Like most of the rooms, we had a private fireplace that we fired up immediately while enjoying a bottle of Octagon 2006 from Barboursville Vineyard. We then ventured to the main floor to enjoy some of the common spaces. The Inn has a sunroom, a large living room with fireplace and picture windows, the dining room, and a TV room. We chose the TV room (with the TV off) and played a few games together. There is a decent selection of books, board games, and game books to enjoy. Then… showing our age and status as parents of young children, we went back to our room and basically passed out around 10:30pm.

Innkeeper Dick Cabell showing us his last US Army uniform

We woke early and took a walk on the property and just stared at the surrounding mountains, full of Virginia fall colored leaves. We walked until it was time for the included breakfast. Dick and Hayden did not do the bare minimum as part of B&B for Vets, they instead made six rooms available to veterans! Included were two active duty soldiers, one from Ft. Hood and one from Military District Washington (MDW). There were also two retired Marines (with their wives) and a very nice non-veteran couple at breakfast. It was a lot of fun meeting fellow veterans and talking about our experiences. It culminated in the innkeeper, Dick, walking out with his last set of US Army fatigues from the 1960s.

Although still early, we had kids to meet at home and after only a short time at Sugar Hollow, we left to make our 30 minute drive back to our house in time for the kids to get off the school bus.

I want to thank the Inn at Sugar Hollow Farms and the many other B&Bs and Inns across America that generously donated their rooms and hospitality to the Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, and Sailors this Veteran’s Day. We hope that readers will choose these Inns when planning their vacations (a list of participants can be found at the B&B for Vets website). I also encourage all veterans and active duty military to take advantage of this program next year… you are all deserving of this gift!