a one day trip to the beach? in september? why yes, we just pulled in after a day at sandbridge beach near virginia beach.
we discovered the beach last weekend. i told charlie that the day was one of my favorites. ever. it was so nice to get away - like really away - for the day, catch some sun and listen to the waves. the weather could not have been better. the beach is about a 3-3.5 hour drive east on 64. there is free parking after labor day, a public restroom and a market right nearby and i am a huge fan. charlie mentioned today that it's probably a good thing we didn't discover this sooner, or we would be total shut-in beach bums.part of what made today so lovely, was the busy busy day we had yesterday. phyllis, a wonderful lady who works over at t&n printing (printed our wedding programs and could not be more helpful when i need something printed for work), and her husband own the korner restaurant and invited me and charlie to stop by for breakfast. the place is a little hole in the wall on the corner of 9th and cherry, that we have driven by often and never stopped in. word is they have some killer bbq, but it isn't a regular menu fixin' so you have to know when to stop by. charlie had a western omelet that was huge and came with home fries and biscuits. i could have eaten these biscuits all day, friends. they were delicious! i had an egg with some bacon, home fries, and of course more than my share of biscuits. the plates are around $5 and it is a whole lot of food. we'll have to check back for dinner. the menu had burgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches listed and we loved the vibe. i felt like an insider just being in the place!
after breakfast, we drove out to ashlawn-highland, the home of james monroe.
after a $5 resident ticket fee (sweet deal and you get in for free if you bring a guest), we joined a short tour of the house. charlie says this is now one of his favorites as it wasn't pretentious at all and it felt so accessible. there are no ropes on the furniture and the tour guide mentioned that ~80% of the furniture in the house actually belonged to the monroe's.charlie decided on a whim to swing by blenheim vineyards (owned by the matthews family - i.e. dave matthews) just to see it. our nuvi took us the back way through a very rough looking part of town, so we were extremely surprised to see the beauty of the property when we arrived. the view of the area is absolutely stunning!
being the non-wine drinkers that we are, we ended up not tasting any wine ($5 for a tasting), but instead just admired the building and view. we'll have to go back and actually drink some wine. it was pretty pathetic if you ask me!on the way out, we passed simeon market. i had driven by the market a few times and was intrigued by the quaint little place and it's funny name (my dad's name is simeon). it ended up being quite the find and the roast beef sandwich we split was delicious! my dad will be asking us to stop by the next time he's down i'm sure.
to round out the day, charlie and i decided to check out a couple shops we hadn't been to before. we drove down 250 to the barn swallow. i had seen the place on my drives out to crozet and was always intrigued by the rustic looking building and the sign touting artisan crafts. this may be one of my new favorite shops in c'ville. they had the best assortment of pottery, artwork, jewelry, furniture, accessories...i loved it and have my eye on a few things (...charlie...).
we also stopped by ivy corner, by the post office in ivy. this place was really cute! they have some great plants (at good prices) and really nice gift items. apple trees were half price and were very tempting.
and last but not least, we finally made it to and george! i loved just about everything in the store. it felt like a luxury just to walk in and i admired every knick knack, cup, vase, candlestick, and chair in the place. i especially loved erika jack's stationery.
it was a busy weekend and i'm feeling much more in the know about c'ville!
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