Residence Inn By Marriott Charlottesville

Left Huntersville heading up 77N - 81N toward Virginia Wine Country in the aftermath of hurricane Ida. Quick stop at the Va state line was worth it - great maps. <br><br>Our first winery stop was Rockbridge Vineyard - exit 205. Absolutely wonderful. Not a glitzy new tasting room but very enjoyable. Hard to believe our favorite wines on the tasting were the $10 wines; St Mary's Blanc (Vidal Blanc ...

... one of only 26 remaining copies of the broadsheets printed to spread the news of the Declaration of Independence throughout the colonies. We were mooching about in the gift shop at closing time when an announcement was made that there was to be a special presentation to mark the occasion together with drinks and snacks. Well, needless to say, we didn&#8217;t need to be asked twice and we spent a very pleasant evening chatting to one of the curators and ...

... food, especially breakfast. Got some salmon hash that came like eggs benedict. IT WAS AMAZING!!!! First night we went to Fellini's and had a bottle of wine. It was really nice!! Definitely partied hard with these guys, although I could not really keep up. Had a blast. On the way down to Duck we stopped by his friend Stephen's. <br>

<br>As we left Albany driving towards Charlottesville, i kept thinking how absurd it is that I have yet to ramble in my own backyard. I've lived in New York for years and yet, I've never traveled south of Philadelphia! Our first stop was Shepardstown, a beautiful college town with

... house with a tall ceiling, then a couple bars on The Corner... which were all packed. Then around 3am, I trekked back home with friends, passing through The Lawn in front of the famous Rotunda. A couple people were scattered on the staircase looking into the dark lawn. We joined them, waiting for something to happen. <br><br>That's when we saw two naked girls ...

... the famous traveling rock show &#8220;Lollapalooza.&#8221; For all the planning that went into this trip, Lollapalooza probably was easier to put together and may not have cost as much. <br><br>Pre-Trip<br><br>I made ever-changing lists of destinations, worked up a budget (which fluctuated several times due to changes in the exchange rate), and wore out my satellite modem doing online research on the locations and what there was to do once we ...

... that in order to kill time we'd head down to Charlottesville's historic district and check out several cute stores!  While we browsing there was a lot going on as people had gathered to thrown a Tea Party in protest of the current governement...it was interesting to see it live as we were hearing about them on the news.  When we exhausted that area we drove over to Jeffereson Vineyards for a quick tasting ...

... owned by Phil Wendel. Phil spent a couple of hours talking to us about his operation especially the links he has established between the medical and fitness industries. Like us, Phil is also working on athlete development programs particularly for young people aged 8 to 12 years old. Phil has given us passes to all three of his centres so we can explore the facilities over the next two days.

... perfect day! We visited one of his vineyard sites from 1774 which is now a commercial winery (Jefferson Vineyard) and tasted some excellent wines. Then we drove by the historic Michie Tavern, established in 1784, served as the social center of its community and accommodated travelers with food, drink and lodging. Today, visitors encounter the Tavern's past through a historical ...

drove with two friends down to Roanoke to visit another friend for his birthday. the two friends in the car had a falling out or something during college so kinda awkward silence and stuttered conversations for the 2 1/2 hr drive. especially since i'm not particularly talkative.