Lewisburg, West Virginia: It rained. Rained and rained and rained. Our little weekend getaway to view the fall foliage in Greenbrier County, West Virginia was getting off to a rather, soggy start. Greenbrier County lies in the southeastern corner of West Virginia along the Virginia border. Ninety-five percent of its land is composed of farms and forests with woodlands taking up 70 percent of the county’s 656,640 acres. The Allegheny Mountains rise to over 4,000 feet and are filled with wild rivers, deep gorges and countless trails—the perfect place to do a little leaf-peeping in early autumn… except for the rain.

After a four-hour drive from metropolitan D.C., my wife, Karen, and I arrived at the General Lewis Inn in Lewisburg at nearly 11:00 pm. A warm fire greeted us in the antique-filled living room of the 25-room country inn. We stood by the fire and petted the resident cat, Butterscotch, for a few minutes to help chase away the chill from the cold rain and then headed up to our room. Charming and functional our room was furnished with well-kept antiques and a pedestal bed. It didn’t take us too long to snuggle up under the thick down comforter and fall fast asleep.

By morning the rain had faded to a slight drizzle. We enjoyed a full country breakfast with Belgian waffles, whipped cream and strawberries, scrambled eggs, hash browns, grits, coffee and orange juice. Well, I did anyway. Karen hates breakfast and nibbled on piece of toast.

The inn has a full service restaurant and not just a dining room where breakfast is served. The owner of the inn, Jim Morgan, made the rounds, stopping and chatting with patrons. While I waited for my waffles he paused at our table and told us some of the history of the inn and offered a few sightseeing ideas in town.

The original structure was built as a house in 1834 and then expanded and converted into an inn in 1929. The inn and the town of Lewisburg are named after General Andrew Lewis. Lewis distinguished himself in 1774 by defeating the united tribes of the Shawnee Indians at the Battle of Point Pleasant on the Ohio River. Mr. Morgan had lots of stories to tell. The food was so good, however, that it was hard to concentrate on what he was saying. So I ended up nodding a lot and saying “Really?” The toast-eater, fortunately, took up the slack and made up for my lack of early morning conversational skills.

Back in the room, a quick look at the weather channel revealed that the precipitation was far from over. Hiking in the rain can be a dreary experience at best, but for some reason, both Karen and I have always loved the exhilaration of riding horses in the rain. On a horse, you’re not slogging and slipping your way along muddy trails.

We made arrangements to go riding at Swift Level Farm about a 10-minute drive away. Jennifer Jones, owner of the farm, met us at the stables. Swift Level is a riding and adventure retreat on a large farm. The property includes the main farm house, two separate rental houses and a bunkhouse with individual rooms for rent. Jones specializes in weekend and weekly riding excursions and can arrange for other adventures, such as kayaking, caving, mountain biking, etc. The riding vacations feature day long rides and can be as arduous as the rider wishes. But Jones always pampers her guests back at the farm. Full breakfast and a gourmet dinner are included on the retreats and a lunch wagon with a hot meal meets riders out on the trail. Massage services are also available. That’s my kind of riding!

About a dozen dogs of all sizes and makes bounded out of the stable, barking at us and wagging tails enthusiastically upon our arrival. Jones saddled up three horses as Karen and I checked out the other horses and played with the dogs. Karen and I wore our waterproof Australian dusters for the ride. We thought we looked quite stylish. Jones would be leading on Moose. Karen had Dolphin and I rode Curly. Jennifer grew up in Charleston, W.Va. in a family that breeded horses for several generations. By age seven she competed in both jumping and barrel racing. But despite her background and many years of experience, she obviously had no clue as to how to give a horse a proper name. Who names a horse Moose? Horses should have names like Thunder!!!

Anyway, I mounted Curly (Jeesh!) and the three of us headed out onto grassy pastures looking up at a long, forested mountain ridge. The foliage glowed with a soft golden hue. We trotted down a country road as a few of the dogs ran after us being all happy, happy, happy like puppies. We turned off the road and into a field that led to a steep embankment.

The precipitation remained a fine drizzle and gave the air a crisp, refreshing feel. With the temperature about 60 degrees, it was ideal riding weather. All the fields fluoresced into a bright green from the moisture even though clouds obscured the sun. I felt like I was riding in Ireland. We followed a narrow, winding trail down and into the woods and arrived at a shallow stream. Crossing bodies of water on a horse is one of those things that always feels exciting no matter how many times you do it. Hoofs beat through the water in thunderous claps and there’s always the slight fear that you’ll become unseated and end up flying off into the river.

We galloped up the trail on the other side of the stream and across several more pastures before arriving back at the stable. The ride lasted 90 minutes but it seemed as though we had only just left the barn. I hate that ‘time flies when your having fun’ thing. But it was exactly the right time. Drizzle turned into a shower while we walked the horses back into the barn.

We returned to Lewisburg for lunch at Del Sol Café and then explored town. Small pastel-colored colonial buildings line the few main streets and act as homes to art galleries, trendy restaurants and new-age boutiques. One store, All About Beauty, combined a hair salon and novelty shop. Another, Robert Antiques, mixed antiques, gourmet coffees and specialty wines. The town also has a very active performing arts community with the Greenbrier Valley Theater and, oddly enough, a Carnegie Hall, one of only three in the US (the other two being in New York and Pittsburgh). We strolled along the streets shielded beneath umbrellas and did a little early Christmas shopping.