Sperryville among America’s top ‘gems’
‘No-stoplights Sperryville is as quaint as they come’
Who would have thought the day would come when Sperryville would be lumped in the same category of cool as Telluride, CO., Newport, RI., and Sedona, AZ?
Thrillist, one of the country’s leading digital lifestyle brands providing all that's new, unknown or under-appreciated in food, drink, entertainment, nightlife, gadgets and gear, has just chosen Virginia’s Sperryville as “The Best Small Town to Visit in all 50 States.”
“The paradox of big-city travel is that you never really get a break,” observes the New York-based media outlet. “You ditch work in New York, LA, or Chicago to visit your buddies in New York, LA, or Chicago; come Sunday night you’re exhausted, and why did blowing $250 a day on cocktails and sushi and cabs seem like the smart move?
“Say this for small American towns: They know how to slowwww dowwwwn . . . nodding hello to strangers and other things that never really go out of style.”
Thrillist sent its army of writers across the nation with one mission: “visit small towns to get a glimpse of the good life after the rat race, to see actual stars at night, to get a heady dose of calm.”
And what did the publication say upon choosing Sperryville as Virginia’s best small town, er, village?
“We see you, Charlottesville. But in the foothills of the Shenandoahs, no-stoplights Sperryville is as quaint as they come. Plan to stay at Hopkins Ordinary Bed & Breakfast, a B&B with an on-site brewery, one of several sources of topnotch brews. Pen Druid is a wild new fermentation brewery famous for Golden Swan, made from wild yeast strains found in Sperryville’s wildflowers. Locals opt for Rudy’s Pizza [upscaled this spring to Rappahannock Pizza Kitchen, or RPK] or farmfresh sandwiches at Before & After, but just up the road in Washington is the twoMichelin-starred The Inn at Little Washington. Diners book months in advance and come from near and far to try chef Patrick O’Connell’s menu. Just make sure to get to bed early — Old Rag Mountain beckons. This 9-mile hike is a safe bet for some mind-alerting views, especially at sunrise, when you’ll find few other hikers on the trail.”
The article concludes of Sperryville (population 342) and its fellow 49 best small towns in America: “Would you want to live there? Probably not — if everyone did, there’d be a whole city there by now. But do you want to step out of your life for a couple of long, languid days? Yeah, you definitely could stand to visit one of these little gems.”
Thrillist sent its army of writers across the nation with one mission: “visit small towns to get a glimpse of the good life after the rat race, to see actual stars at night, to get a heady dose of calm.”