• WHERE Lexington, Virginia
• HOW MUCH Around $170 per night, not including the llama trek, which starts at $15 per person
• MORE applewoodbb.com

GETTING THERE From Washington, D.C., take Interstate 66 west to Interstate 81 south, where you'll finally shake the suburban sprawl. The next 110 miles are a bucolic cruise past Shenandoah Valley ranches and dairies. In Lexington, join college students for a sandwich at Blue Sky Bakery, then drive almost seven miles south on Highway 11 to Buffalo Bend Road. From Roanoke, take Interstate 81 north 50 miles.

BEST MOMENT Soaking up views of the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills from the hilltop behind the inn while hanging out with Stryker and Spunky, surely the most personable llamas you'll ever meet. And, for the record, you do not ride a llama during a llama trek. You walk beside your furry partner and appreciate his company—and enthusiastic grass eating—while strolling along Buffalo Creek and navigating the hilly countryside.

FAVORITE CHARACTER Stryker. My trekking partner sniffed my hair when I met him. Then he sniffed my breath. I guess I passed his test because he started the trek by my side. 

LOCAL LORE In 1750, Lord Fairfax hired a teenager named George Washington to survey the land around Natural Bridge, a 215-foot-tall limestone arch nine miles south of the inn. According to legend, the future president carved his initials into the rock. If you squint when gazing up at the arch, you might be able to make out a "GW."

WHAT'S GREEN The three-story inn, built in 1979, is a convective envelope house, a type of passive solar home. Owner Chris Best calls it a "house within a house," since the interior is protected by enclosed porches with deep overhangs. This puts a solar-conditioned space between the home's core and Virginia's extreme temperatures, so it stays warmer for longer than average in winter. On hot days, the porches buffer the house.

WHAT'S NOT GREEN The communal Keurig machine. The coffee selection is nice—Italian roast, light roast, French vanilla—but the unrecyclable K-cup waste is not.

PLANET-SAVING OPPORTUNITIES Twin River Outfitters (canoevirginia.net), a local kayak-rental company, helps get the community together every October for the James River Regional Cleanup. It supplies canoes and trash bags, while volunteers provide muscle, removing tires and hundreds of bags of trash from the 45-mile waterway. To help keep the Upper James River Water Trail (upperjamesriverwatertrail.com) clean, Applewood guests can pick up litter all year.