72 hours.  

3 hikes, 15 miles, 3 wineries, 1 brewery, 3 dinners, 1 breakfast, 1 visit with family, 1 visit with friends, 2 movie, and 2 naps.

ALL in 72 relaxed hours.

All to celebrate 14 years since the best wedding ever.

Hikes:

• CrabTree Falls

Amazing hike.  Took 2 hours 20 minutes including the 1-mile scenic tour we took after we reached the peak. It’s the largest waterfall west of the Mississippi.  It’s actually quite dangerous with over 30 hikers having plummeted to their deaths in more recent years when slipping on the rocks. It is pretty much a straight uphill path and then straight downhill on the way back.

• Rivianna Trail – This is a trail right in downtown Charlottesville.  A great nearby trail for the morning before we checked out of our Airbnb.
• Ragged Mountain Area Trail – We did the entire 6.7-mile loop.  Up and downhill the entire hike.  It was close to home, a great workout, and great choice in hikes for Saturday afternoon.  Turns out we had done a portion of that trail the last time we were visiting with the girls.  We just didn’t realize it until we were at the end of the trail. 

Wineries

• Early Mountain – Simply breathtaking views, location, and indoor space.  Wines were yummy and charcuterie board delicious. Definitely want to visit this winery again.

• Barboursville – Was on the path home and since we had both heard of it and it was rated well, we decided to check it out.  Neither of us could figure out why the hype…scenery was lackluster as was the building and the wine. 
• Pippen Hill Winery – A beautiful location.  We went on Saturday and met Kaya and Addy.  While we weren’t hungry, lines were long, so we ordered everything outside.  Kaya had not eaten lunch, so I ordered an overpriced charcuterie board.  For $37, they gave me two paper plates, a block of crumbly cheese, prosciutto, salami, a drop of honey to be put together by yours truly.  Seriously.  The setting is indeed gorgeous, but the wine is expensive and I think they have lowered their quality and service at the expense of numbers and packing the place.

Breweries

• We visited Devil’s Backbone.  It was on the way home from our CrabTree Falls hike – we ran in when the sky opened up.  To avoid driving in the thunderstorm, we stopped here.  The outdoor space looked cool, but we weren’t interested in being outside during the storm.  The inside felt like it should be in Jackson Hole.  Justin ordered a beer, me a flight.  I didn’t like any of the beers. Not a place I wish to return. 

Dinners

• Oak Heart Social – Yum!  Cool vibe!  Lots of couples and couples and friend groups meeting up.  They suggest sharing so we split the shaved salad, beets, and seared rockfish.  All delicious!  We were debating ordering a fourth thing…the sausage and mushroom pizza sounded so good, but we thought it would be too much food….we thought wrong as Justin ate six Wegman’s meatballs when we got home. 
• Brasserie Saison – We had dinner reservations with Sam and Zabby.  While the ambience was cozy and nice and the food was good, the service was a bit awkward.  For example, they forgot to make Justin’s dish and the way they handled it was weird.  We started with bread and butter and a Brussel salad…both delicious.  The ladies had the trout and the men, the steak frites.  Dessert, we shared some chocolate mouse and crème Brule, both very good.  Food was good, but not to die for and service just weird.

• Orzo Kitchen and Wine Bar – Yum!  We went on a Sunday.  Place was a little darker than my liking, but food was excellent. Crowd was mostly multigenerational per table.  Then there was me and Justin and a few others. We started with the shaved zucchini salad and the Lebanese Muhammara, both scrumptious.  Justin ordered the lamb shank bourgignon and myself the peasant beef and pork Bolognese, both fantastic. I rarely order pasta, but it felt like the right move and it totally delivered.

Breakfast

• Saturday and Sunday morning we enjoyed yogurt at our AirBnB, our standard Greek yogurt and berries breakfast.  We went for breakfast after our hike Monday morning. I had a few places in mind, but hadn’t made a final decision and since in a time crunch we ended up at Blue Moon Diner, where we had coffee and omelets.  Omelets were fresh, a decently priced choice.  Though if I had to do a breakfast spot again, I would try Oakheart Social. 

Family

• We enjoyed a nice visit with Kaya and Addy Saturday afternoon.  They met us at Pippen Hill Winery.

Friends

• We enjoyed a great evening with Sam and Zabby who we hadn’t seen since spring 2019.  It was really fantastic meeting up with them.  This height cracks me up.

Movies:

• We watched two NetFlix movies…I actually sat still and we cuddled on our small couch and enjoyed watching not one, but two movies, with no electronics in hand!

Naps:

• Need I say more, not sure how, but even doing all these things, we managed to take two one-hour naps while we were away. 

14 years married, 22 years together.  Honestly seems like college and just getting together was yesterday.  It hardly seems like we have been together that long.  You are my best friend, my person, and I love our life and doing life with you.

As if no time has passed, Karolin slipped back into our house and our lives merged for a wonderful week.  Our activity calendar and evening activities are busier than in the days when Karolin was our au pair, but with a few rain and runny nose cancellations, we managed to eat family dinners more than I anticipated.  The girls’ activities allowed for some one-on-one and two-on-one time.  There were lots of hugs, cuddles, reminiscing, and enjoying the present.

We feel so fortunate that Karolin continues to visit us on her vacation time…she could go anywhere, and she chooses us.

Labor Day Weekend we escaped to Williamsburg, Virginia, for one last summer adventure. While school started the prior week, the girls had both Friday and Monday off.  We departed early Friday and headed straight to Jamestown. Colonial America is the 4^th Grade History curriculum so it was good to be able to make the history come to life. The museum and settlement and ship replicas were interactive; we all enjoyed it. 

Friday evening after checking into our hotel, we briefly explored D.O.G Street before heading to Amber Ox for dinner.  The food and vibe were fantastic, though if we were to go back, we would leave the kids at home as they weren’t as impressed as we were.  We figured a visit to Kilwins would put a smile on their face.  Their ice cream is so delicious, it made us all happy!

Saturday morning we woke early, ate breakfast at the hotel (a late change to our hotel to get one that included breakfast) and then headed to Water Country USA.  Fairly early on, we ran into Grace, Matthew, and Suzy Thompson and spent half the day doing rides with them.  The girls loved the water park.  Emerson was the bravest tackling several of the high thriller rides, Harper tackled a few of the high thrillers, and like me, Avery got her thrills from the low and medium thrillers. The park closed at 7:00 and while the girls could have stayed to closing, we wanted to be able to shower before dinner. We found a cool spot, an indoor warehouse type space, which housed long rectangular tables, arcade games, beer, and food stands.   We indulged in the beer (Precarious Beer Project) and tacos (Electric Circus Taco).  It was a unique and fun experience for a Saturday evening.  Oh yeah, and we made another visit to Kilwins.

Sunday morning routine was the same as Saturday.  When we had gathered plenty of snacks and food, we ventured to Busch Gardens for the day.  Our family favors water parks over amusement parks, however, we all had a great time.  The risk level of the girls on the rides was a repeat of the water park.  Emerson went on a total of two different roller coasters, riding a roller coaster three times in total.  Harper did two roller coasters, one time each.  Avery did the bumper calls multiple times; they were her favorite ride.  When we stumbled across some of the Sesame Street rides when searching for a bathroom, those became my targeted rides. The girls made fun of me…two of those rides were thrilling enough for me!

We did a lot of splitting up with rides. The Log Plume was the only ride all five us did, besides the bumper cars.

While we didn’t close down the park, we stayed late and missed our dinner reservation.  Sals was open late so we went there knowing it would be a good spot for the girls. 

Monday morning, we strolled through campus before heading home.  It was a great way to end the summer….some reminiscing, some history, new experiences, fun, and family time.