a wintry williamsburg

as i've said richmond is located pretty much in smack in the middle of the state. which makes day trips (well, in-state day trips) quite convenient. next on the list was williamsburg, home to the historic colonial city, outlet malls, and most importantly my good friend jenny.

we started out that afternoon with a little outlet shopping - your basic gap/banana republic/nine west, with a gourmet kitchen store and michael kors for good measure. good for some last minute christmas buys but we didn't go too crazy. this was followed by dinner at jenny's favorite local restaurant, food for thought. it was very cute, as promised. there are quotes lining the walls to pique your interest, and if that's not enough each table is stocked with brain teasers and trivial pursuit cards. the food itself was great too and jenny tells me all the ingredients are bought locally. not what you'd expect from a restaurant that shares a block with the christmas mouse and a ripley's believe it or not. it's easy to forget what a popular destination williamsburg is, thankfully we have ridiculous tourist traps to remind us.

the main event that evening, and the impetus for the trip, was the grand illumination. basically this is where colonial williamsburg gets decked out with tasteful decorations, like wreaths and candles, and then sets off fireworks to celebrate how classy they are. it draws a big crowd, making driving and parking even more of a challenge than usual (they have an intersection that's widely known as 'confusion corner,' to give you an idea). somehow we made it and, more amazingly, were able to meet up with our friends, for the event. we made our way through the throngs of people and eventually gave up on the hot cider when we couldn't see the end of the line. fortunately the fireworks began just a few moments later. the event lived up to its name; the fireworks illumination the old city beautifully.

after the smoky finale, we and the other several hundred people, made our way back towards the downtown to our nearby destination, the green leafe. our desination? mug night, apparently a williamsburg staple. each sunday night the bar sells enormous cheap plastic mugs which they fill with even cheaper beer. sitting with a bunch of william & mary grads, i learned no one's ever made it past three. though some of us made a valiant effort (not pictured). cruelly, just next to the bar is some sort of evil establishment that sells cheese fries and other greasy delicious things to patrons who wander in at all hours of the night (though, to be fair, it was probably no later than 10:30). i don't remember how we got there, i just remember devouring a plate of cheese fries. like i said, evil.

the next morning, after we had all sufficiently recovered, we made our way to aroma's coffeehouse. what a treat! a favorite of locals and students, it's easy to see why. it's warm and inviting, the list of specialty drinks was miles long, and the menu made me want to come back for their brie fondue (!) and delicious cakes. even the breakfast menu proved daunting, it took me about 15 minutes to decide if i wanted a bagel with lox or strawberry crêpes.

all in all, less than 24 hours in williamsburg. but they were all delightful.

charming charlottesville

richmond, i've come to realize, is in a very nice location. it seems to be within in a hour of many major tourist destinations in virginia, to include charlottesville, williamsburg (hello, busch gardens!), and fredericskburg. in an effort to take advantage of this, and the unseasonably warm fall weather, we took a little trip to historic charlottesville.

the morning began with bodo's, a charlottesville tradition. it is unquestionably an institution in the city. if you so much as mention the name to a local, they will start drooling and telling you how amazing they believe it to be. it never fails, try it sometime. the bagels are certainly delicious and at $0.70 apiece, a bargain. after we'd had our fill of lox and cream cheese we continued on to another, slightly older charlottesville institution, monticello.

monticello is, of course, the home of thomas jefferson, which all good virginians will recall from their fourth grade SOLs and multiple field trips. after you fork over 20 precious dollars you're free to explore the cafe, gift shop (ooh, a thomas jefferson stuffed otter..) and introductory video. we bypassed this and went straight to the bus that takes you up the hill to the grounds. once there we explored the herb gardens, which, come to think of it, may have been my favorite part. they had planted fall gourds, little chili peppers, and some lovely flowers all overlooking some of tom's vineyards and the mountains in the distance. my only complaint was that some of the colors had faded from the trees. but i suppose that's beyond their control.

once it was time for our tour we queued up (do you queue up? or in? or just queue?) and dutifully followed our tour guide into the front door. the entrance hall is perhaps not what you'd expect, covered with native american weaponry, hunting trophies, and maps of africa. the rest of the house is about as you would expect, libraries, well-appointed rooms, and lots of little inventions and gadgetry.

once we left the house we were able to walk around the spacious backyard with more gardens and a lovely view of charlotesville. there's even a clearing where you can just barely see jefferson's precious rotunda through the trees. the house itself isn't bad to look at, either. i guess that unesco knows what they're talking about.

from here we made our way through the gardens and down the trail where we made a brief stop at jefferson's grave, a smaller take on the washington monument, it would seem.

from here we continued down the road where we soon came to jefferson's vineayards, conveniently located near his house. while there was a nice view and their white wines were some of the best i've ever had, we continued on in search of a different winery farther down the road. on the way we passed an apple orchard and the historic michie tavern (another time) before we arrived at our destination. blenheim vineyards is owned by another famous charlottesvillian, dave matthews. in fact it was his sister-in-law who gave us our wine tasting. but first, the building itself is a really nice wooden a-frame whose spacious windows allow for gorgeous views, not only of the vineyards but of the wine barrels on the floor below.

our tasting was lovely and followed by a snack of goat cheese and rosemary crackers on the deck where we enjoyed the november sun. once we felt we had sufficiently relaxed it was time to go. but not before a visit to the vineyards themselves. with the rolling hills and fall leaves they were quite beautiful.

the fall weather, the scenery and the company made it a wonderful day. what can i say, the city won me over, popped collars aside.

fall festivities

today lauren (the roommate) and i went on our long-awaited visit to the pumpkin patch. our previous plans had been dashed by cold and bad weather, but today was the perfect day - blue skies and unseasonably warm.

the pumpkin patch, simply known as 'the pumpkin patch', was a short drive away, just a few miles down 64. we were not disappointed by their selection. a huge farm, they had gourds in every size, shape, and color, rows of vegetables, all types of corn and produce, and hay bales.

we were invited to take a wagon or wheelbarrow over to the patch to select our pumpkins. i couldn't capture in a picture how big the place was, but suffice to say, you couldn't see it all from one point. we scouted all over for the perfect pumpkin. they had all kinds, some were still growing, some were bumpy, most had no stems. but eventually we selected our pumpkins. oh, and there were grasshoppers everywhere! those things can jump about four feet in the air!

we wheeled (wheelbarrowed?) our pumpkins back to the produce tent and picked up some smaller gourds for fun. the pumpkins turned out to be a steal at only 50 cents a pound! unfortunately there weren't enough people for a hayride, but we were anxious to get home anyway.

once there, we started scooping and carving. we used the designs you can buy in the little booklets with the tools. lauren's was a little more labor intensive.. mine was a bit goofier (can you tell whose was whose??) once we finished we lit them up and took them out on the balcony for the whole boulevard to see. all in all a lovely fall day that almost made up for my (lack of) halloween last year. US, 1. france, 0.