Rockettes in C'ville

Charlie treated me to a showing of the Radio City Rockettes at JPJ for my birthday gift. I am a big Christmas fan but have somehow missed out on seeing the classic Rockettes. Let me just say - those are some awesome legs! But this post is really just a commentary on the seating at JPJ. First of all, those stands are steep and I'm not quite sure how some friends of mine have made it out of there in their drunken states without killing themselves on the cement stairs. Second, no one in the audience (I don't care how nice your legs are) should wear an above the knee skirt to see a show at JPJ. I saw way more thighs than I needed to :)

Cafe Cubano

We have been horrible downtown mall visitors. Charlie and I are such fans of Marco and Luca's noodles and dumplings that we have been remiss in visiting Cafe Cubano which is right across the way. One of my co-workers and I were needing a little bit of a breather from the office yesterday and ended up on the downtown mall. After veto-ing Baggby's, the new Mexican hole-in-the-wall at the Jefferson, the hot dog cart, and losing Revolutionary Soup somewhere in the chaos, we ended up at Cafe Cubano. I had one of the combos (the half panini and soup combo) with a smoked salmon panini (I was craving some smoked salmon once I saw it on the menu) and the soup of the day (a tomato bisque). It really was delicious. I'm not much of a panini eater as I find that 9 and a half times out of 10, they are way too greasy - but this was part of the remaining 1/2 of 10 and was not greasy at all. I am a big fan! Some ladies next to us has two different variations of the popular Cuban sandwich (I asked the woman behind the counter what the most popular sandwiches are) and they looked like some seriously delicious sandwiches. I'm thinking I might have to return soon and try them. Here is the menu just in case you want to look before you head over.

Cafe Cubano can definitely hold their own against Marco and Luca's and that is saying something :)

aqui es mexico

donde? on carlton road off of monticello.

a couple of my work friends took a lunch break today to say farewell to on of our coworkers who is soon to have a babe. one of the girls used to live in mexico and recommended aqui es mexico as authentic delicious mexican food. she was right! it was delicious!

so delicious that we may have to add it to our dinner club list and regular dinner stop.

Clifton Inn

We are getting married at Clifton Inn next July! So its a little weird that we have never eaten dinner there. My mom got us a gift certificate to Clifton, so for our anniversary we decided to treat ourselves to a fancy night out.

Clifton is a classy place. Not only is it a beautiful place, but the staff is great and the food is amazing. I had halibut, local quail, and a chocolate tart. Betsy had parmesan and pear ravioli, duck, and toffee bread pudding. We were also served a delicious little zucchini corn fritter before our meal was served. It was all great and I can't even decide what I liked best. Betsy liked the bread pudding and the fritter the best. Betsy's not a fussy food person, but she said "it sure was good." We like dressing up too. The best part about the whole night, though, is when we walked out the front door of the house. It is gorgeous, especially on a clear night. The property is really something. We are very excited to spend our wedding day and night here.

Cassis

So, a friend of ours knows some people who work at Cassis and he took us out for dinner there the other night. We actually didn't realize Cassis was worth checking out... The first time we went to Cassis was the first time we went out to bars in Charlottesville. It was a weird scene filled with cougars and "interesting" music. We basically wrote off Cassis, but we were wrong.

All the food we had for dinner was delicious. Our friend had the steak tartar as an appetizer and loved it. We all split roast duck breast with blue cheese polenta - yum. Betsy and friend had sea scallops, which were are waitress' favorite dish on the menu and I had the lamb. It tasted like it was slow cooked all day -- very tender and sweet. The whole menu seemed to have an autumn feel. The lamb was very much comfort food with lots of autumn/winter flavors and the sea scallops were very rich.

Cassis is on Water St. right next to Mono Loco, across from the Clock Shop. It is a little pricey, but we put it in the same category as Zocalo, so it's worth it. Also, it's a popular spot for Darden professors and wine tasting parties, so it seems to have a solid reputation.

Bang!'s Second Chance

The first time I went to Bang! I wasn't all that impressed. I don't know if it was because I had heard so much hype about it, or because the service wasn't that great, or even because we didn't order the right things, but the second time around made up for it. I met my friend Meg for dinner there the other night. We sat outside (which I loved - except for the major mosquito bites I woke up to the next morning) and I noticed that they have new menus. I think they may have cut out some of their menu items and scaled it down a little. We tried a mushroom ravioli/dumpling thing, pork tacos, coconut rice, and a vegetable noodle dish. Each one was really yummy and I love the tapas/family style way of eating.

Two thumbs up for Bang! the second time around.


They also seem to have really good cocktails...at least they looked good :)

Mono Loco

We had been to Mono Loco for breakfast, but hadn't made it over for dinner yet. That all changed last night. Another visitor - another restaurant, so we checked out Mono Loco. The food was really good...not up to Continental Divide standard or even El Puerto, but it was still good. There is a lot on the menu and it is hard to choose just one thing. They have a lot of seafood options too which I found a little surprising. Our friend, Randy, had a salmon burrito and thought it was very tasty. I wasn't as impressed with my dinner (so much so, that I forgot what I ordered). I thought it would be a contained dinner (like a taco or burrito) but it ended up being a loose salad-type of dish. They do serve a lot of food in terms of quantity and I would go back just for the atmosphere. Randy pointed out how many restaurants take advantage of outside seating in Charlottesville, and Mono Loco is no exception. I really like their outdoor area.

Boylan Heights

Speaking of burgers, the Econ Dinner Club ventured over to Boylan Heights on the Corner for our last get-together. Thumbs up all around. The burger varieties are so fun and different and not to disappoint. Charlie had some crazy concoction with onion rings, chili, wing sauce, everything on it - and it was goooood! I had a plain cheeseburger with avocado on it - delish! And their fries are delicious which automatically adds points in my book (they also have sweet potato fries - a good choice).

Service was a little off - granted we had 12 at the table - but overall another repeat restaurant in Charlottesville!

Henry's

Last weekend, we had a couple of visitors and decided to check out Henry's on the downtown mall. Charlie and I had seen it a couple of times while walking around (it's kind of hard to find since it's downstairs, under another storefront). We all had burgers and they were really really good. I had the Henry burger with an egg on top and it surprisingly wasn't very greasy or heavy.

A fun place to go for a casual dinner.

Dr. Ho's

Yummm Pizza...

Today, Charlie and I went on a yard sale search. We drove out towards Scottsville and on the way back decided to check out Dr. Ho's. I first heard about this little pizza place on the way to my sister's wedding when we got a little lost and ended up out by Dr. Ho's instead of at King Family Vineyards - whoops!

Anyway, the pizza makes up for the name. Charlie thinks it might beat out Mellow Mushroom and Christian's. The crust is great - very light and fresh. They have great toppings and I think they use all local vendors to supply their ingredients.

Worth getting lost for.

Giraffe!!!

Betsy has lived all around the world...Liberia, the Philippines, Nigeria, Indonesia, the UK. She has done all sorts of great things like visited remote villages in West Timor, gone on safari in South Africa, hung out with orangutans in Indonesia, and laid out on the beaches of Bali. But there is one thing that Betsy has always wanted to do, and it took her all this time and a trip down Interstate 81 to near Roanoke, Virginia to finally do it --- that is hand feed giraffes of course!!

In Natural Bridge, Virginia, there is a place called Virginia Safari Park. It is about 75 minutes from Charlottesville, just north of Roanoke right off of I-81. It costs $14 per adult, and there is some pretty neat stuff to do there. The main attraction is to buy animal feed from the front gate and drive through their 180 acre park. When you drive through the park there are animals EVERYWHERE! There are tons of different types of deer, moose, pot-bellied pigs, zebras, ostriches,

emus, camels, llamas, buffalo, and more. As you drive through you stop and hold buckets of feed out the window and the animals come right up to you and eat! In fact, sometimes they come all the way into your car (Betsy got surprised by a very hungry zebra).

After we drove around (it took at least 45 minutes, maybe longer), we parked the car and walked through the Safari Village. This is a walking tour that is especially well suited for the kiddies. There are goats, really big tortoises, monkeys, birds, and a warthog. The kids can hand feed some of the animals like the goats. But the main attraction is at the end of the walking tour, the giraffe feeding station. There are four giraffes, two parents and two babies, in a large field. You can stand up on a large platform about 15 feet in the air and if one of the giraffes comes over you can feed it. The problem is that the giraffes are perfectly content chewing on the grass in the field. We waited up on the stand for about 30 minutes, and finally "Katie" the giraffe came up to us and let us feed her some millet. By the way, Betsy thinks every giraffe is named Katie. She was a beautiful giraffe, and very shy, but she got up the courage to come up to us. Betsy hand fed her 3 times! We stood right next to her. I think she liked the attention because after she was done eating she stuck her head over the fence and looked at all the people in the park.

the train

We live right by the train tracks...

Yesterday's train took over 9 minutes to clear the tracks so I could drive to work...



9 minutes...

Charlie timed it.

Dear Bayley

Dear Bayley,

Recently you were at Old Dominion Animal Hospital and were given your rabies vaccination. There is a law in Virginia that requires your vet to notify the local Treasurer's Office whenever they vaccinate an animal.

At this time, in the records at City Hall, it does not appear that your owner has bought you a current dog tag. Dog tags are required on every dog more than four months of age and the tags are required to be purchased every year by the last day of January. If by chance you actually DO have a City of Charlottesville Dog License for 2009, please have your owner call (434)970-3157 and ask us to correct our records.

Please ask your owner to fill out the application form, send it to City Hall in the enclosed envelope, along with the appropriate fee, and we will mail a license to your home. If this is not done within 30 days, it will have to be reported to Animal Control that an unlicensed dog lives at your house.





Seriously....this is the letter we got in the mail the other day....addressed to Bayley Murry.

#1 - Bayley gets a name change before I do! Who knew he wasn't a Moats anymore...
#2 - Charlottesville is seriously on top of their game
#3 - Vienna is not...and neither is Newark, DE



Bayley has his first license for a whopping $4!

Charlottesville Tire

We bought our car last July, which means every July from now until it kicks the bucket we need to get a Virginia State inspection. In Northern VA the typical process is to get up really early in the morning and drive to a gas station who does inspections and get in the inspection line. It can take anywhere from 30min to 2 hours (depending on how long the line is), and I think I remember it costing about $40. I haven't observed this behavior in C'ville, so I decided to take another approach. First I walked over to the auto shop right near our house and the very friendly lady at the front counter said that they were very busy and I could have an appointment in a few days.

So then I drove a few more blocks down the road to Charlottesville Tire. They are located at 843 West Main St. in Charlottesville. I walked in not expecting to get an inspection. They appeared to be very busy, which was confirmed when I talked to the guy behind the counter. After talking to him for a short while he could squeeze me right then, which was the only time I could do it because Betsy had to take the car to work in an hour. The inspection took 10 minutes, and the whole operation they had going seemed to be running really tight. Also, I forget the guy's name who was behind the counter, but he was very nice.

This seems like a great place to take your car, and I will be recommending them to anybody who asks for a mechanic.

CK Nails and Spa

I love this place! I can't recommend it enough.

CK Nails is a little hard to find (it is behind the Blockbuster on 29 next to Barrack shopping center) but they are moving at the end of the month to the front of the building. One of the ladies at rockpaperscissors recommended I check it out. They are cheap ($32 for a mani and pedi) and so so sweet. The salon is clean and quiet. The lady who did my nails spent a long time really making sure she did a good job and I didn't feel like I was being pushed out of there in any kind of hurry.

These people really care about their jobs and the people that come in - so much so that while I was in there, 2 people came in just to say hi.

Love it!!!

The Bavarian Chef

The Bavarian Chef and my family are dear friends. My parents discovered the restaurant when my sister was an undergrad at UVA. The restaurant quickly became part of our routine - we visited every time we were on our way either to or from Charlottesville. If I'm not mistaken, we ate at the Bavarian Chef for Caroline's college graduation dinner.

The restaurant offers traditional German fare and a lot of it. Each table not only gets to order individual entrees, but a selection of the side dishes are then served family style. This might be my favorite part of the restaurant. Their whipped potatoes are awesome - lots of butter, some smoked bacon, deliciousness. There is a potato dumpling dish, creamed corn, green beans, whipped potatoes, spaetzle, carrots, zucchini, red cabbage - and if I remember correctly there are free refills on these.

The entrees are a little hard to pronouce but are fun to taste. Some of the dishes I have had are better than others. Most recently I tried the Wiener Schnitzel. I can't say that I loved it. It seemed a little too breaded and over cooked. Their roasted pepper soup with crab meat was great though! Their sausage entree is huge - 3 huge sausages on top of kraut.

Whatever you get, be prepared for a lot of food. And make sure to check out the boot of beer!

speeding tickets and 29

when i first came down to charlottesville to visit my sister at uva and until now, i have been warned about the cops on 29. fortunately for me, i haven't encountered them yet - well, not until this past weekend. mr. charlie was driving us up to northern virginia for the att national golf tournament and right around warrenton, the lights went on. we got pulled over for speeding while listening to barbara streisand - i guess she moved charlie a little too much. the ticket is $5 for each mile over the speed limit and then the additional processing fees. there is a court date set for august when we get back from our trip. there were cops everywhere this weekend. who knew it was such a prime weekend to catch traffic violators.

so...watch out for cops on 29. especially on big holiday weekends.

bayley is 5!

i was watching "regis and kelly" the other day and they had a dog specialist on. turns out dogs have a emotional maturity level of an 18 month old toddler. despite his emotional age, our munchkin turned 5! we felt a little guilty this year since we haven't been around for bayls' birthdays for the past couple of years. not like a dog needs a huge party, but we owed it to him to celebrate a little. we made him a mini burger and he had a couple pieces of popcorn. popcorn might be his favorite thing we drop on the floor. and he was such a trooper with that hat!

more planting

check out our new garden!

and check our green beans we planted earlier in the spring.

they were delicious - i only wish we had more.

Trivia Night at McGrady's

So a lot of my friends hang out at McGrady's every once and a while, but Betsy and I have never joined them. This past week we wanted to get together with some friends who had been out of town for awhile and we agreed we should go cheap (we students don't get paid in the summer), so we settled on McGrady's. To my pleasant surprise it also happened to be trivia night, so after eating 10 wings for $2.75 we had an hour and a half of slightly embarrassing trivia fun. (No one believed me that the frog is on the foot of a horse.) There was a good young crowd at the bar and outside on the porch and it seemed like a mix of students, alum, and town folk. All in all we had a really fun time for pretty cheap and we are planning on going back, although we would like to get a seat on the porch next time. I also discovered that they are the town Steelers bar, so I will most likely be there a few times in the fall.

The Donut Truck

Another "we've been meaning to go here" spot. The Donut Truck "Carpe Donut" definitely met our expectations. The donuts are slightly flavored with cider (yumm) but are still light and fluffy and perfect. When did I start loving donuts so much? Delish!

Baggby's

Considering Charlie and I both love sandwiches, we have been meaning to check out Baggby's on the downtown mall for a while. We went tonight before enjoying the music of Fridays After Five. I had a Remarkable, with avocado, turkey, bacon, cream cheese, sprouts, all kinds of good junk. Felipe had a Sundown and said it was delicious. Charlie enjoyed his classic Italian style sub called the Grinder. All were a big hit and well received picnic-like food for our Fridays After Five outing. They are a little high priced but I feel like they are comparable to Take it Away and The Market - so a new stop on the sandwich train.

We did it!

We finally took advantage of Fridays After Five! Shocking that we haven't been before now - but we did it! The band was actually really fun and it was nice to just sit and enjoy the music. And surprisingly, there were still stores open which was a nice little break from sitting.

creative juices

Since school ended and summer began, I've been a little antsy. The problem with this is that I decide to get into all sorts of trouble, like reorganizing the house or painting furniture. I started with the dining room table (which is now sky blue). The dining room chairs were obviously next in a deep bronze-y brown, and next came the purple bookshelf. I had been thinking about replacing the cheap bookshelf that I have had since college, but realized I have no money. So I painted it instead. We were thinking of using the leftover red paint from the headboard but we didn't have enough to coat the piece. So we found a glossy deep purple spray paint. The original plan was to wall paper the back of the shelves to add a little fun...but I stenciled it instead. Here is the finished experiment:

rockpaperscissors

Ah stationary. Is it embarrassing that it makes me giddy sometimes? Since Charlie and I have been engaged I have ended up in the black hole of wedding blogs and this one makes my heart pitter-patter!

Charlottesville is such a fabulous city and it would not be complete without an awesome stationary store. With my job situation kind of up in the air, I started working part time at rockpaperscissors (scarpa's sister store and an awesome paper shop). The shop carries a great variety of greeting cards, journals, notebooks, home accessories, and of course amazing custom stationary options. It is so hard not to flip through the binders of designers and drool over the beautiful and fun options.

Michael's Framing

I bought Charlie some artwork for his upcoming birthday (shhh...he hasn't seen it yet) and got it framed at Michael's. I brought the artwork in to be framed in April and still don't have it because Michael's messed it up...uggggh. I picked two different frames that coordinated...when I went to pick up the prints, the frames didn't match what I had picked. Apparently, the company that supplies the frames to Michael's changed one of the frames and the frame I had chosen was no longer available. I was totally pumped about the frames I had picked so I was really bummed and shocked that no one had noticed or told me about the change. I had to talk to Michael's 3 - count 'em - 3 times to get this all resolved and I still don't have the prints. Hopefully the new frames I picked (which they are not charging me for) will be the right ones.

I also framed a print Charlie does know about and there was fuzz under the glass - so they're re-doing that one too.

Totally bummed and will definitely be checking out other framing options in Charlottesville for future framing.

Stay tuned for other framing choices in C'ville (I have some other projects to be done).

Once his birthday comes and goes, I'll post pictures of the prints and frames.

Riverside Lunch

I love burgers. I love french fries.

I had a cheeseburger and french fries at Riverside Lunch on the corner of Meade and E. High. And yes, it is open for dinner and it is delicious. A heads up ('cause I always need a reminder) you can smoke inside in Virginia and Riverside Lunch is no exception. The burgers were awesome and somehow magically flat and still delicious. The diner-type building has been open since 1935 and totally looks the part. A cheeseburger is $3.00, a bacon cheeseburger (Charlie's choice) is $3.60, and a basket of fries is $3.40. Each topping costs extra (we think) and the burgers come with nothing unless you ask. They also serve hot dogs, cheesesteaks, fish sandwiches, onion rings, and they had good beer specials. You seat yourself and then pay up at the register.

We were a little surprised at the total bill of $17 and change - which is how we came to the conclusion that all toppings are an additional cost - but it was delicious and totally worth it.

We loved it.

Top 100 Restaurants in C'ville

(according to urbanspoon.com -literally cut and pasted from their website)

Goal: eat at each one!

Best restaurants in Charlottesville


1 Bodo's Bagel Bakery Sandwich Bagels $
2 Continental Divide Mexican $$
3 Mellow Mushroom Pizza $$
4 MAS Tapas $$
5 Beer Run American $$
6 Christian's Pizza Pizza
7 Duner's American $$$
8 Bang Tapas $$
9 Bodo's Bagel Bakery Sandwich Bagels $
10 Fleurie Restaurant French $$$$
11 Belmont BBQ Barbecue $
12 Lemongrass Thai $$
13 Littlejohn's New York Deli Sandwiches/Subs $
14 Virginian Restaurant Pub Food $$
15 Basil Mediterranean Bistro French $
16 Miyako Japanese Cuisine Sushi
17 Riverside Lunch Burgers $
18 Bizou American $$$
19 Chipotle Mexican Grill Mexican $
20 Tip Top Restaurant Diner $
21 Marco & Lucas Asian $
22 Lime Leaf Thai $$
23 Crozet Pizza Pizza $$
24 Boylan Heights Burgers $
25 Milan Indian Cuisine Indian $$
26 Eppie's American $
27 L'etoile Restaurant American $$$
28 Petit Pois Restaurant French $$$
29 Aqui ES Mexico Mexican
30 C & O Restaurant French $$$
31 Maharaja Indian Cuisine Indian $$
32 McGrady's Irish Pub American $
33 Splendora's Gelato Desserts/Ice Cream
34 Zocalo
35 Five Guys Famous Burgers Burgers
36 Flaming Wok & Teppan Yaki Chinese $$$
37 Sticks Kebob Shop Greek $
38 White Spot Burgers $
39 Aberdeen Barn Steakhouse $$$$
40 Bodo's Bagel Bakery Sandwich Bagels
41 Orzo Kitchen & Wine Bar Wine Bar
42 Pad Thai Thai $
43 Sticks Kebob Shop Greek $
44 Ten Japanese $$$
45 Blue Moon Diner American $$
46 Fabio's New York Style Pizza Pizza
47 Greenberry's Coffee & Tea Co Coffee
48 High Tide Burrito Mexican $
49 Himalayan Fusion Indian $$
50 Royal Indian Restaurant Indian
51 South Street Brewery American $$
52 Tavern Breakfast/Brunch $
53 Tea House Chinese $$
54 Fox's Cafe Diner $
55 Martin's Grill Burgers $
56 Mona Lisa Pasta Incorporated Pizza
57 Panera Bread Sandwiches/Subs $
58 Sakura Japanese Steak Steakhouse $$$
59 Shebeen African $$$
60 Shenandoah Joe Coffee Roasters Coffee
61 Spudnut Shop Donuts $
62 Take It Away Sandwich Shop Sandwiches/Subs
63 Arch's Frozen Yogurt
64 Ben & Jerry's Desserts/Ice Cream $
65 Bonefish Grill Seafood $$
66 Cassis American $$$
67 Chaps Ice Cream Desserts/Ice Cream
68 Downtown Grille American $$$$
69 Feast Sandwiches/Subs $
70 Five Guys Famous Burgers Burgers
71 Hot Cakes American $
72 Ivy Inn Restaurant American $$$
73 La Cocina Del Sol Mexican $$
74 Lord Hardwicke's American $
75 Mudhouse Coffee $
76 Vinny's Italian Grill Pizza
77 Wood Grill Buffet Buffet
78 Ciro's Pizza Pizza
79 Dragon Lady Restaurant Chinese
80 Escafe' Restaurant American $$
81 Fardowners Restaurant American $$$
82 Siips Wine Bar $$$
83 The Market at Forest Lakes Sandwiches/Subs $
84 X Lounge Tapas $$$
85 Arch's Frozen Yogurt
86 Blue Ridge Pig
87 Bluegrass Grill & Bakery Bakery $
88 Chick-fil-A Fast Food $
89 Christian's Pizza Pizza $$
90 College Inn Restaurant Pizza
91 Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant Mexican
92 Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant Mexican
93 Monsoon Restaurant Thai
94 New China Chinese $
95 Revolutionary Soup Soups $
96 Tailgate Grill American $
97 The Upstairs American $$$
98 Vivace Italian $$$
99 Albemarle Baking Co Bakery
100 Copacabana Brazilian International Brazilian

Favorites so far

Charlie and I were talking about our favorites in Charlottesville since last July and we're pretty much on the same page:

Betsy's:

Continental Divide
Spudnuts
Take It Away

Charlie's:

Continental Divide
Maya
Zocolo
Spudnuts

We can't wait to add more!

Si Tapas

We finally made it across the street to Si Tapas. The decor is super fun and the lights are extra dim...I mentioned to Charlie that I think this place would be really fun for a rehearsal dinner or small casual reception.

About the food: Charlie and I, being the food junkies that we are, ordered the most food out of everyone. While it is a tapas place, the servings are actually pretty large. We ordered the mussels, grilled asparagus, avocado fries, empanadas, and the carne tacos. Definitely a good variety and more than enough food. The mussels were a little bit bland but still very good and the bowl was huge. The asparagus was actually more blackened and that gave it a fun twist. Avocado fries were without a doubt my favorite selection of the evening. They were a little warm, very creamy, and had a very light breading around them. Really fun. The empanadas were my second favorites. They had a little kick to them, which I liked and the sauce they were served with was really interesting - kind of vinegar-y. And then there were the tacos - yum. I think there were 3 empanadas (smaller in size) and 3 small tacos. There was plenty of asparagus and it seemed like the avocado fries was just one avocado cut up.

Other hits at the table: Kulli had brussel sprouts and loved them. They looked a little crispy and she said they had a little kick to them - maybe wasabi? There was an order of the mushrooms that was well received. The massive olive sampling was fabulous if you like olives. The chicken kababs was a full meal in itself with rice on the side. The fish tacos looked amazing. I think everyone was really pleased.

Note: It seems like shell fish is not their specialty (we do live in Charlottesville) but it is still very good.

The drinks: Pomegranate mojitos were flowing freely and were highly recommended and many people enjoyed their own tumblers of wine. Word is the sangria is awesome and getting a carafe would be well worth it.

Next stop is the Is Venue upstairs. The music sounded fabulously fun.

restaurant slot machine

Charlottesville restaurants on Urbanspoon

Meet Billy the Turtle

We now have a pet turtle. Sometimes I just don't know when to say no.

The kids at school found a tiny itty-bitty baby turtle flipped upside-down and covered in ants on our field last week. He couldn't have been more than a couple days old. In our first rescue attempt, we flipped him back over and sent him back towards the pond on the other side of the fence, but he wouldn't move and ended up back on his back. So we climbed the fence and put him in a tupperware container with some water, sticks, and leaves. Katie (what a munchkin) named him Billy.

Magically, he ended up in Charlie's office in a $60 set-up. So we now have a Bayley and a Billy. Who knew turtles could be so cute and so expensive?

He is finally eating and basking in his 40 watt basking light on his floating rock formation and actually is pretty cute.

The goal was to give him to the school for one of the classrooms but with school almost over, no one wants him. And I don't think Charlie wants to give him up either.

Maybe when he grows, we can add him to my parent's pond?

who knew?

I just found the best reference website for the downtown mall area. I'm sure it is completely common knowledge that this existed, but I just found it and am fascinated. It could totally make dinner club selections a little easier.

They have an updated list of everything to do, see, eat, and buy on the downtown mall and the map feature is fabulous (not for me of course since maps and I are not friends).

This will totally be going up on the wedding blog for our guests to check out.

Love it!

Charlottesville Downtown Mall

Arch's

So, if you move to Charlottesville, I'm almost positive someone along the way has mentioned Arch's delicious frozen yogurt. I crave this stuff regularly - especially the Vanilla Bean with ooey Gooey Brownies on top (don't worry - no salmonella). The Vanilla Bean is key. I had No-Frill Vanilla this time and it just wasn't the same. We decided to check out their regular food menu at the Emmet Street location for dinner tonight. Charlie and I walked out totally stuffed and wondering how Arch's would fit into our long list of sandwich favorites. Let me tell you, they are up there and have definitely earned bonus points for the frozen yogurt option post sandwich. We both picked sandwiches served on sub rolls which were then grilled - really a cool twist that I haven't seen before. The grilling wasn't a typical Quizno's type of grilling. It was almost panini style without the grease. The ingredients seemed very fresh and the place was packed. It did take a little while to get the food but it was worth it. The salads looked awesome too. Also - Monday night special - free chips and a drink when you order a sandwich - perk #2! I think Tuesday's special is similar but with a salad order.

ahh

don't you just love swimming pools?


*this pool is not in charlottesville...

The Local

Dinner Club #3's trip was out to Belmont to visit The Local. I had heard great things about it and figured most of the Econ kids don't get out to Belmont very often. We set up a reservation for 12 and got ourselves ready for a night out.

Unfortunately, we waited over an hour and a half for dinner to come out. Thank goodness there was good company and we kept ourselves entertained - but I think an hour and a half is a little too much. When the food finally came out, people weren't as impressed as I thought they would be. 4 people ordered the spare ribs and while the presentation was fun (individual dutch ovens for each) there was nothing to write home about. The trout came with bones in it and the skin on (totally fine but unexpected) and I had a pasta dish I could've made in my own kitchen. The food was by no means bad, but I was a little disappointed since I had heard such great things and it didn't seem like the food warranted the prices they were charging. The only dish that got a rave review was the Carbonara. Surprising!

The atmosphere of the restaurant is really cool and Charlie and I decided that we could be the fun couple who go to nice restaurants just to sit at the bar. The Local will be added to that list.

Book Sale

The Gordon Avenue Library had a pretty large booksale last weekend. One of the ladies who works in Charlie's department told him we might want to check it out since they had a lot of children's books. It was crazy - we got almost 50 books for $10. My teaching library is growing!

We'll have to remember to look for the next one and give people a head's up.

Gardening

We planted our first seeds together. Cheesy I know - but I can't help but laugh and call our new seedlings "Our Love Ferns" (thanks Kate Hudson). We hopefully will have a bunch of herbs, green beans, pumpkins for the fall, and wildflowers. Some of the flowers might not pop up because the day after we planted them, our landscaping guys came through and re-mulched all the beds - covering our baby flowers - I was so bummed.

yummm

The most delicious smell has entered our house courtesy of Archipelago Botanicals' Almond Sage candle. I can't get enough of it. I stopped in O'Suzannah yesterday and picked up some fun books to help Charlie and I come up with some wedding inspiration and splurged on this candle - so worth it. mmmmmm

The Nook

Charlie and I tried going here a couple of times but could never quite make it in the door for one reason or another. We made it in this morning for breakfast. I have to say I really love the downtown mall and how you are able to chill out and eat your meal in the middle of the patio area. The Nook is a diner type restaurant near the pavillion end of the mall. I had a waffle (nothing new and exciting here) and Charlie had a breakfast burrito called "the mess". I really liked The Nook and the prices were great too. $11 for breakfast. Since we didn't go inside, I don't how much room there is, but I think we will definitely be back and maybe even with friends.

Dogwood Festival Parade

On our way to find the Carpe Donut Truck (which unfortunately won't be around until September), Charlie and I stumbled upon the Dogwood Festival Parade going down High Street. I had been hearing about the Dogwood Festival but I thought is was just a festival event that was over by now (it started last Thursday). I was wrong. The parade was quite long and added a little fun to our day. I forgot for a moment that we lived in the South until I saw the Confederate Soldiers (just 2 of them) riding down High Street on their horses in full Civil War period uniforms. We also really enjoyed the Vintage Car part of the parade that included a 1980s Cadilac with crazy wheels. It really just looked like they took all the cars off of our street and put them in the parade :) It might be a fun tradition to check out the parade every year just to give us some humor in our day!

The City Market

I got out of bed this morning (before noon, believe it or not) and Charlie a I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather by checking out the City Market. We've been meaning to go but have either had something else going on, forgotten, or I haven't gotten out of bed. Depressing, right? :) My friend, Erin, has a stand at the market where she sells her jewelry and has been telling me to go for a while. The market is fabulous! The flowers are beautiful and the plants they have are awesome - lots of herbs and lettuces. I can't wait to see what changes as the season progresses. The Market really is an awesome positive for living in Charlottesville.

China King Buffet

We did it. We finally visited the Charlottesville establishment that everyone has been talking about - China King Buffet.

The Buffet is off of 29 in the same shopping center as Whole Foods. The decor is typical of a Chinese Buffet and it is hard not to stare at the ceiling that flashes little white lights like stars - classic. For $12 a piece, 4 of us tried just about everything the Buffet offered including the Mongolian BBQ which I really liked. Make sure you request "not spicy AT ALL". I requested "a little spicy" and felt like my tongue had shriveled up and disappeared. It was hot!

Charlottesville may not have the most gourmet Chinese food options. But China King Buffet is pretty fun and definitely worth checking out - especially the ceiling!

Dinner at South Street Brewery

When our friends from DC came down for a short weekend visit, I was asked to find an easy and affordable dinner spot. I decided on South Street Brewery thinking we could hang out there after dinner and make a full evening out of it. While plans changed regarding our post dinner hang out, we still headed to the brewery for our sustenance. There wasn't enough table space for us all to sit together - kind of a bummer - even though the lady on the phone told me we would all be able to fit at one table. The food was very good and the feeling there is like a way more chilled out Fridays. I had a caesar salad which had way too much garlic on it - not really recommended. Charlie tried to dig in to the massive plate of ribs which he really enjoyed and our two other friends we sat with had chicken pitas. While the food isn't the best of Charlottesville, South Street Brewery has a great vibe and good late night menu. Recommended as a bar but maybe not the best place to check out dinner.

Mono Loco

We took a big group of friends who were visiting from DC to Mono Loco for brunch. I was a little suspicious when we walked onto the patio and sat down - the patio is not the cleanest looking place. My hope - a hole in the wall (which, when they're good are my favorites). Service was a little slow but when we got our food - worth it! The breakfast burritos were delicious and huge. Everyone's food looked awesome. The chips and salsa and guacamole were definitely worth adding to the bill. While the food doesn't quite live up to the breakfasts we had in Austin (I dream about them) it is definitely going to be added into our catalogue of breakfast spots... We'll have to try another meal there in the very near future.

Maya

We took the Dinner Club to Maya for their $12 Tuesday special a couple weeks ago. I love being able to walk to these restaurants. It makes the evening so much more fun and more of an event. You aren't just hopping in a car, eating, and heading back home - there's more to it somehow when you walk (and I guess it's good for you too). Back to Maya - The $12 Tuesday menu is somewhat limited but from what I could tell, you can't go wrong with anything. Maya's menu is not Mexican or southwestern like I had imagined (good research on my part) but it is southern comfort food - delicious. I had the chicken fried chicken (I just had to) with collard greens and mac and cheese (yummmm) as my sides - definitely not a light dinner. Charlie had ribs with green beans and masked potatoes. If you know Charlie at all he is a major green bean and potato eater. Other vegetables rarely enter his repetoire. He claims the green beans were the best he has ever had and the mashed potatoes were excellent. The atmosphere of Maya is casual, relaxed, and not at all stuffy. Word is that they have great live music and delicious martinis. I think we'll be back!

Carmike Theater

I screamed "FIRE" in a movie theater. And then danced up and down the aisles.

Last Monday, Charlie and I went to see "Confessions of a Shopaholic" (yup - he takes me to chickflicks) and there was no one in the movie theater.

Carmike Theaters is past Fashion Square Mall going up 29 North. It's kind of hidden behind Albemarle Square shopping center. While it isn't the most convenient movie theater, they show movies that the other c'ville theaters don't show.

Turk Mountain

Last weekend our friend, Dao, came down to visit us from Washington DC. He had a B-school interview at Darden, so hopefully he will be joining us in Charlottesville next year. Dao is an outdorsy kind of guy (he's single too if anybody is interested!) so we decided we should take advantage of Charlottesville's close proximity to the montains, even though it was only 35 degress and cloudy.

Turk Mountain is in Shenandoah National Park. It is about 15 miles north of the south entrance to the park which is accesible by I-64 and Rt 250. A week pass for the park costs $10 and a year pass costs $30. There is a small parking area at about mile 95 for the Turk Mtn. trail. You start out across the road on the Appalacian Trail headed south, and then shortly dodge right onto the Turk Mtn. trail. The trail takes you down into a valley, and then up along a ridge to the summit of Turk Mountain. The hike is about a mile and a half to the top and is somewhat strenuous, but not too trecherous. At the summit there is a georgeous view of the Shenedoah Valley and all of the other Mountains nearby. The whole expedition took about 3 1/2 hours counting the drive from Charlottesville.

Spudnuts

309 Avon Street

. (period)






Charlie's quote of the morning "Oh-My-God". Really, these doughnuts are fabulous and I now have no remaining sadness that Krispy Kreme is no longer open on 29. Spudnuts has been around forever and clearly they have perfected the art of doughnut making.

These doughnuts are delightful!

Cocina del Sol

I love going out to dinner with a group of people. Don't get me wrong, I also love entertaining at home, but when you go out, no one has to clean up and everyone pays their own way. People are able to eat and drink whatever they want... it's mostly the clean up factor. I feel like group dinners are such a rarity that I started a monthly dinner club for Charlie's Econ friends.

Our first victim - Cocina del Sol.

I ran into it quite by accident as it's next door to a teacher's supply store - Teacher's Edition. After I saw it, I remembered that there is a Cocina del Sol in Crozet that Charlie and I had spotted when we went to a fair and the line had been out the door. The Charlottesville branch is on the corner of Hydraulic and Commonwealth (not visible from 29).

9 of us met this week (UVA's spring break helped with the low numbers) and everyone really enjoyed their food. Charlie had some pineapple adobo taco that he wolfed down. Jeff had the red snapper tacos. I think there were a couple salads ordered and I had the beef burrito. I can't vouch for the margheritas as Charlie's friends have trouble unwinding during the semester but I liked the Corona! The prices are reasonable - I think Charlie and I paid $30 for 2 dinners and drinks.

Cocina del Sol is smaller than I thought it would be but the atmosphere is fun, a little funky, and comfortable. There was only one waiter working as there weren't too many people on a Wednesday night. I would love to see if/how the place fills up on a weekend night. I'm sure it will be fun to try again.

Stay tuned for the next adventures of the Econ dinner club :)

Parking Meters

Parking in downtown Charlottesville is sometimes tough - especially on weekdays during class time for UVA students. Charlie and I usually walk to the Downtown Mall but on the seldom occasion we do drive, we like to park in the lot between Water Street and the South Street Brewery. There are parking meters all over Charlottesville and shock of all shocks (for those of you from DC especially) - one quarter grants you an hour.

It's wonderful!

If you're willing to walk, there are plenty of residential areas with parking right near the Corner or the Downtown Mall.

Verizon

Can you hear me now? Not in Charlottesville. Verizon does not have towers in Charlottesville. Alltell and AT&T are available but no such luck with Verizon. Without towers, service is a little shoddy. Phone calls don't go through without some clicking and clacking before the dial tone starts to ring and the phone usually says you are in and extended network.

Phones work but not without a couple hiccups and glitches everyday.

Snowshoe Mountain Ski Resort

Charlie and I are not the best at celebrating romance. Charlie was so proud of himself this year because he made a Valentine's Day dinner reservation at Zinc. We didn't go. Instead we decided to go snowboarding and skiing at Snowshoe. We have been meaning to go skiing since we started dating in 2003. I have been a couple of times since then with various groups and Charlie and I went with a bunch of Girl Scouts courtesy of my mom.

Last year, I tried snowboarding for the first time. I decided to try it again this year figuring I had already broken my tailbone once and should be better this time around. No broken tailbone, just some gnarly bruises.

Snowshoe is a decent drive away from Charlottesville. Our Garmin took us to Snowshoe via curvy and steep mountain roads that made me want to jump out of the moving car, but we made it (stomach intact) in just under 3 hours.

The mountain is huge and has a good variety of slope difficulty. I stuck with the green slopes as I didn't want to end up in the emergency room on Valentine's Day. The runs are long and criss-cross all over the place, making finding your way back to the starting point a little difficult. After misplacing Charlie for at least an hour, I figured I should head back up to our meeting spot for our lunch date at 1. I got there an hour later at 1:30 after two bus rides and quite a hike. The ski patrol recommended taking one of 4 bus routes to get back to the other side of the resort rather than attempting to find my way back using the slopes and lifts. I still have no clue where I was or how I got there.

We stuck towards the purple side of the mountain for the rest of the day (each section is color coded) near where we parked the car. The lounge on the purple end was pretty small and did not have that cozy lodge vibe I have felt at other resorts. The only seating area was in the Hoots bar where they served hot dogs, hamburgers, wraps, and plenty of liquor. Charlie and I both had cheeseburgers (that I do not recommend). Next time we'll have to check out the other section's lodges and restaurants.

In regards to pricing, Snowshoe is pretty standard. Lift tickets are $70 for a weekend and there are plenty of rental options. I think a multiple day pass is a better way to go and a better deal than a one day pass, but we had a lot of fun.

Next time we'll try a multiple day trip and check out renting one of the slopeside rentals - New Years trip??

Marco and Lucas

We have found our favorite place to eat in Charlottesville! Marco and Lucas, despite the name, is a tiny Chinese noodle and dumpling shop on the downtown mall. They serve dumplings, pork and vegetable buns, sesame noodles, sweet sour spicy noodles, and a soup. That's it - that is their menu. The place is tiny. The kitchen is right behind the counter and consists of a 5 foot long counter with a stovetop on which they cook the dumplings. There has to be a steamer or oven of some sort for the buns. The noodles are served cold and are delicious. The sweet sour spicy flavor has hints of chili, apples, and cilantro and the sesame noodles taste like they are in a light peanut sauce. The dumplings are addicting and at $3 a serving, you can afford to eat as many as you want. The best things about them is the sauce. I have actually heard it referred to as "crack sauce" - it is delicious!

Since discovering this jem right before Christmas, we have probably been back about 8 times and we can afford to do it! 2 dumplings, 1 pork bun, a noodle, and a can of soda is $12 and fills Charlie and I up.

Marco and Lucas is in the shopping center a little past Christian's Pizza. It's door faces the entrance to Cafe Cubano - which we will also have to check out.

Humpback Rock - Hiking

One of our good friends from college just returned from South Africa where he was working with the Peace Corps. We missed him terribly and even more so when all of our friends from New York and Delaware would call us and tell us about the fabulous time they were having with Joey back in town. Charlottesville is a little far away from the Long Island town Joey now resides in again, but he finally made it! We took him to Continental Divide, Marco and Lucas - twice, Splendorah's, Alakazam and Snooky's on the downtown mall, to hang out on the campus lawn with Take It Away Sandwiches, and to Humpback Rock.

Humpback Rock is off the Blue Ridge. It takes about 40 minutes to drive to the trail from downtown C'ville and the hike is close to a mile. While the hike is a little strenuous we all made it in one piece (and that is saying something). At the top of the mountain is a huge rock with ledges and cracks and beautiful views of the Charlottesville area on one side and the west on the other. You can see the variety of landforms that make up the area - hills and valleys, forests and farms. It really is refreshing and beautiful. Great date place!

Martin's Tailoring

I have had about 8 pairs of jeans and pants sitting on a chair in my living since we lived in DC. I haven't been able to wear them because they all needed to be hemmed. I have had some hemming disasters - including a pair of Joe's Jeans that ended up as clam diggers and a pair of Seven's that my little sister wears as cut-offs. Needless to say, I am a little hesitant to get things hemmed.

Martin's Tailoring came recommended by a sales clerk at Fashion Square's Gap. Since I'm wearing jeans everyday to work now, I figured I should probably get off my butt and do something about the unwearable pile. The shop is in the shopping center across from Barrack's Road Center next to El Puerto and behind the yellow brick building. It definitely seemed like the place to go to get things altered and hemmed as the little bell on the door was ringing constantly. Most people seemed to have an actual friendship with the little Asian man pinning all of their items as they stood on the wooden hemming blocks. His name is not Martin. He worked very quickly pinning Charlie and me and a week later Charlie and I had new beautifully hemmed jeans to add to our wardrobe. The hems match the originals and they are all the perfect length. I think we had 8 pairs of pants to hem for $47. My fears of hemming may be subsiding.