Norm MacDonald was performing at the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races! I had to be there! Norm is probably my favorite comedian of all time, and I’ve probably seen every single thing that he has done. From watching him back on SNL to currently watching all the old and new clips on YouTube, I’m a pretty big Norm fan. (See the full video recap below).
So on the day of the show, we packed a night bag and headed towards Charles Town West Virginia! However, the show was not until the evening, and I didn’t really feel like losing hundreds at the black jack table, so a delay for our arrival was paramount to my financial survival.
We decided to google some breweries along the route and make a few pit stops along the way, 5 breweries to be exact:
LOUDOUN BREWING COMPANY
Leesburg, VA
This Leesburg brewery is located on the edge of downtown and is set in an unassuming cape cod home. The place has been converted into a small taproom with a loft that has several couches, chairs and video games.
Address: 310 E Market St, Leesburg, VA 20176
Website: https://loudounbrewing.com/
WHEATLAND SPRING FARM & BREWERY
Waterford, VA
Located in Waterford, Virginia, this brewery is set on a small farm and features several outdoor picnic tables, a barn loft, barn seating and a lot of grassy area to roam around. They also offer some food, although everything here is on the more expensive range. Our tiny grilled cheese sandwiches ran us over $30.
Address: 38506 John Wolford Rd, Waterford, VA 20197
Website: https://www.wheatlandspring.com/farm-brewery
OLD 690 BREWING COMPANY
Purcellville, VA
Old 690 is located down a bumpy rocky road but is tucked away in a cool little location. There is a decent amount of indoor seating but people like to hang out outside on the patio and run around in the grassy field.
Address: 15670 Ashbury Church Rd, Purcellville, VA 20132
Website: http://www.old690.com/
HILLSBOROUGH VINEYARD & BREWERY
Hillsboro, VA
This spot is a pretty cool winery with a great view of the sun setting across the vineyards and beyond the mountain. Recently, they also added some beers on tap, but the focus still seems to remain heavily on wine. If you have people in the group who are into wine AND beer, then they have you covered. Come before sunset.
ABOLITIONIST ALE WORKS
Charles Town, WV
This spot is located in downtown Charles Town, a very old and abandoned looking downtown but pretty cool nonetheless. This place has a lot of seating, a menu of food, an outdoor section and a bar. The thing that stands out here, is that when they pour you flights of beer, they pour you BIG samples…like half a beer big. Don’t “get a flight of everything” here. They also had the most creative brews of all the spots on the journey, and our final one before Norm.
So that was the 5 brewery trip through VA and into WV. We had some fun checking out all the different spots. Each one was different from the settings, to the beer offerings. If you ever head out to Charles Town, I recommend you make a few stops along the way as well, and create your own DMV Adventure.