Thursday, August 6: Arrival and UVA

In August, Ashton and I made a trip to Charlottesville, Virginia. After about a nine-hour drive, we arrived Thursday evening. Ashton drove the first half when it was pouring down rain. I drove the second half when we got into the mountains. I'm used to driving on flat Indiana roads, so the mountains took some getting used to.


Right before we got to Charlottesville, we stopped at some scenic views along the route. It was beautiful! Now I understand why Ashton misses living in Virginia so much. The mountains are breathtaking.

Ashton's friends Lyndsey and Ryan so kindly let us stay at their house. They have the cutest dogs and cats: Rocky, Cody, Jasper and Oliver. 


That night, we went to Cafe Catura for dinner, then to the Biltmore for some drinks. The nightlife mostly consisted of frat brothers and girls dressed in weird outfits--which makes sense because it's a college town. A giant Jenga set was calling our name, so we played a couple games.


In the middle of them, a peculiar lady--in her mid forties, maybe--said she was new in town and she asked to watch us, and she joined us for a game or two. She gave me weird vibes, but she was nice. By the end of the night, we were exhausted so we headed back to the house.

Friday, August 7: Wineries, Wineries, Wineries

Friday began with a scrumptious--I love that word--breakfast at Hot Cakes. Ironically they didn't have pancakes, so we got some sandwiches.


This was the big wine tasting day we had been waiting for! We started out at Veritas, then made our way to Afton Mountain, Cardinal Pointe, Pollak, and Kings Family. I stocked up on some great wine.


Here's what I bought from each winery:

Veritas: White Star
Afton Mountain: Mountain White
Cardinal Pointe: Quattro, Rosé
Pollak: Pino Gris
Kings Family: Crosé, Loreley


By the time we finished visiting five wineries and tasting all the delicious wine, we went back to the house to take a nap and get ready for the night. Nap time was glorious. There's nothing I love more than a good nap--especially after wine tasting.


Dinner time came by and the four of us were in the mood for some Mono Loco Mexican food! Ashton and I split a burrito, drank some margaritas, and we were feeling pretty good. While walking around the Downtown Mall, one of my flip flips broke. Luckily there was a CVS still open, so I bought two-pack of flip flops--only $4! 


After running into some of Ashton's old Virgina friends, we walked to Skybar. The view from the balcony was pretty sitting next to the tall trees and and watching people walking along the main strip of the Mall.

We walked over to Miller's another bar, and went upstairs to get a few more drinks. It was too smoky for my liking, but playing pool with Ryan and Lyndsey was fun.


A few more drinks down, we checked out a gay bar, Escafe. It didn't feel like the stereotypical gay bar which was nice. I don't think many of the straight couples even knew it was a gay bar--ha ha. Ashton and Lyndsey boogied down on the dance floor, then we headed back home. 

Saturday, August 8: Monticello & Starry Nights

Saturday morning began with a hunt for a new place to stay. A pipe burst at Ryan's & Lyndsey's, putting the shower out of commission. Ashton's other Virgina friends, JT & Elizabeth, saved the day and let us stay with them for the remainder of the trip. Thanks again to all four of you for letting us stay with you!



After we figured out where we were going to sleep that night, we drove to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's estate! I was so beautiful, and the house was intriguing. Ashton and I went on a tour of the house, and it was neat to see how innovative Jefferson was almost 250 years ago. He was brilliant.


Ashton took me to her old neighborhood in Charlottesville and showed me her old house, the place of "epic parties" back in the day.

Then you know what time it was... nap time! We had to save our energy for Starry Nights!


Starry Nights, a concert put on by Veritas, was my favorite part of the whole trip. Ashton, Ryan, Lyndsey, Tanan, and a couple other friends enjoyed sipping on our White Star with strawberries and snacking on Chex mix and french bread.



The sky was beautifully clear that night. I hadn't seen that many stars in a long time. We danced, we sang, we drank wine. That's all I could have asked for.

Sunday, August 9: More Wineries!

Sunday morning, we woke up to the smell of pancakes. JT & Elizabeth made us breakfast. They're so thoughtful!


Ashton and I made a trip to Harris Teeter to get some lunch food to take with us to Glass House Winery. We met Steven and his girlfriend, Dawn, to do a wine tasting and have lunch together.




After a couple bottles at Glass House, we went to Pippin Hill to do one last tasting and share some appetizers. Pippin Hill had the best views of the whole trip. The flowers combined with the mountains in the background made for a beautiful landscape. This, of course, inspired me to buy more wine to take home!



JT and Elizabeth made three kinds of "haute dogs" for dinner: Tijuana, Californian, and French Poodle. They were so unique and were easily the best/most topped hot dogs I've ever had.


We made one last stop at Miller's to meet Ashton's friends, James & Angie. We had a couple drinks outside in the Mall and chatted until a couple guys came around yelling at each other about how one of them stole money from the other. Police were called and one of them was arrested. He was carrying a knife and following the other guy walking in circles around the area we were seated. That was a queue for our time outside with Angie and James to end. James and Angie, being pregnant and all, called it an early night, and Ashton and I went to Millers to meet her old friend, Pete.

We sipped on cocktails, snacked on some nachos, and listened to a band called B.C. They were pretty good! As night progressed, the bar got emptier, and we decided to call it a night. JT and Elizabeth had driven us to Miller's, and we thought we would be able to get an Uber back. The closest Uber was 20 minutes away, so we just hopped in a taxi instead. We needed to rest for our long drive home in the morning.

Monday, August 10: A Long Drive Home

Sadly, our trip had to come to an end. It's good to be home again, and we'll have plenty of wine to enjoy until next time!