Agritourism is a great way to get to know rural life at working farms, vineyards, and on the water.
Here are some opportunities for fun in Virginia and Maryland.
Loudoun County Farm Tour
Loudoun County farms will show off how farms work the weekend of May 20-21. There are 36 farms on the tour. You can learn about honeybees at an apiary, how alpacas are raised, the different cycles of mushrooms, and even ride donkeys. The hours for each farm vary.
Zephaniah Farm Vineyard
Visit this 360-acre working farm to learn how grapes are grown and what goes into producing grass-fed beef. The farm has been in operation 75 years. With the exception of the Loudoun County Farm Tour in May, owner Bill Hatch says this is an over-21 vineyard, where 14 different types of grapes are grown. 19381 Dunlop Mill Rd., Leesburg
Rounton Farm
Fire off some shots into the sky at Rounton Farm, where you can learn how to skeet shoot with various shot guns for two hours. You can hunt there with a guide during the hunting season in the fall and winter; provided you have a hunting license or apprentice hunting license. 10155 Rapidan Rd., Orange
Jerusalem Mill Village
Get a taste of an historic mill town from the 1770s. Docents at the museum take you through its history. On weekends, watch skilled blacksmiths use authentic tools and see colonial cooking in the Miller’s House. There will be a historic villlage tour at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 6. Nearby, you’ll find Boordy Vineyards, which welcomes families. 2813 Jerusalem Rd., Kingsville, Maryland
Inn at Perry Cabin
Get an inside look at what the life of watermen is like by attending the fleet activities at the Eastern Shore resort that’s right on the Chesapeake Bay and the Miles River. Charter a boat to crab on the Chesapeake or travel to nearby Tilghman Island and tour the Waterman’s Museum, or St. Michael’s for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. 308 Watkins Ln., St. Michaels, Maryland
Feature image courtesy of Visit Maryland
