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Lunch Trip to Topping, Virginia

Shawn (June 20, 2025)

Our day trip to Topping, VA started out as a simple concept - one that occurs to Zack and me on a regular basis: where can we fly to that isn’t too long of a flight, but that will also offer an interesting change of scenery for both us and Jasper (our canine traveling companion)? My search usually begins by scouring Google Maps for airports and then cross referencing results with bringfido.com. bringfido.com is a nifty tool for those who like to travel with their furry lil’ buddies (sorry - as much as I try, I can’t bring myself to use the term “fur babies”) and has mapped out dog-friendly businesses, activities, restaurants, hotels and more for you to explore. It has proven to be a valuable resource since we adopted Jasper in 2023. (We aren't sponsored by Bring Fido ... but if someone wants to reach out, we'd be open to it).

The restaurant Merroir came up as a dog friendly suggestion on bringfido.com - only a 25 minute walk on Google Maps from Hummel Field, and apparently offered lots of outdoor seating for two-legged and four-legged patrons. The temperature promised to be be in the high 80’s that afternoon, but a 25 minute walk sounded like a breeze. But alas, a “breeze” was not in the cards for us that afternoon.

Getting the plane ready was a snap, and before you knew it, we were up in the air at altitudes that were well above the heat zone (Big Boy has no A/C). But once we landed, deplaned and tied-down, we definitely began feeling that heat. Luckily, I had brought along changes of shirts and sunscreen and so we set out to make that 25 minute walk to Merroir. It was a pleasant walk, but was certainly long enough to work up a sweat. I changed t-shirts when I thought we were getting close, but something that stood out to me were the number of cars driving past us as we trekked along with Jasper. There wasn’t much else along this road besides the restaurant awaiting us at the very end of it. So why were there so many cars driving past us? It was a Friday afternoon, sure, but it was 2:30pm and certainly not a peak lunch or dinner time…

Upon arrival, we saw that Merroir was bustling with activity on its patio: both human and canine! As the hostess led us to our table, I counted about 10 other dogs lounging or milling around beside their owners! Either bringfido.com is doing it’s job, or Merroir is Topping, VA’s worst kept secret for dog friendly restaurants! Jasper was thankfully well behaved (being a husky, I suspect the heat had worn him down a bit and wasn’t quite as “reactive” to the other dogs as he may have been otherwise). We had an enjoyable lunch and refreshments before we had to psych ourselves up for the long, hot walk back to the airport. Why is it that we never seem to notice our discomforts as much when we’re GOING somewhere, but always seem to take note of them when we’re heading home???

Zack and Jasper left ahead of me, as our server was MIA and I still needed to settle the bill. Zack also wanted to fuel up the plane before we left and hoped that he could get started on that so we could leave before the FBO closed (FBO = Fixed Base Operator or the Airport Office). After settling up and using the restroom, I think I ended up being about 25-30 minutes behind them getting back to Hummel Field. When I got there, Jasper and Zack were chatting with some tenants at the airport and had NOT gotten around to fueling up the plane! Luckily the MOD (Manager on Duty) let myself and Jasper cool off in the lovely air conditioned FBO (even though they had technically closed 5 minutes prior) while Zack fueled up the plane. Then we took off and ascended to higher altitude bliss to avoid the heat.

Despite the heat, it was a pleasant afternoon and a memorable little day trip for us and Jasper!