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.

The Circus at JPJ

So when I was a kid I went to the Circus and I was amazed at all the acts and how fantastical everything was. Everything just seemed larger than life. 20 years later.... A friend of mine had two tickets to the Circus at John Paul Jones Arena that he wasn't going to use, so Betsy and I decided to take them off his hands. Let me tell you that the circus is a lot different when you are 24 than when you are a little kid. The whole thing seemed pretty small and most of the acts were kind of lame. The highlights of the show were the elephants (duh...) and a really funny clown who wasn't really a clown at all. He was more like a silly Frenchman who does bicycle tricks. (I should mention that his outrageous French accent slipped into an Australian accent sporadically) The climax of the show (for me anyways) was this silly Frenchman riding a bicycle that was about 10 inches long through a hoop of fire. We enjoyed ourselves, but we probably wouldn't spend $20 on tickets again.

Lee's Grill

This is a small restaurant just east of 14th and University on the Corner. It has very good cheap Asian food. It has Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and other Southeast Asian dishes. I had a Vietnamese beef noodle soup and Betsy had a grilled beef dish. Both dishes were very good, and at the right price this place will become a once-in-a-while lunch stop for me. The service was excellent and the waitress made us feel very comfortable. I think they do take out too, so it might give us a break from Asian Express.

O Suzannah

O Suzannah is an adorable stationary (which I love) store on one of the side streets off the downtown mall. I had had a few friends recommend I check it out. The store is much bigger than it seems and is packed with journals, calendars, cards, books, pens, and other knick-knacks. The owner apparently loves planners so I already felt a kinship with the store :) We were there right before Christmas so it was pretty crowded. I doubt this is the norm so I'll have to check it out again when I can take my time browsing. A great place for gifts and cute office supplies.

Posh Style

On our C'ville exploration day today, we stopped in any stores we had been meaning to check out but had never gone in. My mom told me to pop into Posh as she met the owner and loved her. First thing - a little old lady was sitting on the couch right in front of the door and greeted Charlie and I with "you are welcome". The store carries vintage jewelry, gloves, purses, and other nic-nacs but they also carry some cute quirky clothes - some Michael Kors mixed with some designers I haven't seen anywhere else. The store smelled like Charlie's grandmother's house and definitely had some charm. I might stop in again if I'm looking for a little vintage gift. Worth checking out at least once.

Eloise

I am in love with this store! I could just sit in here for hours and love my life.

The clothes are super cute - and you should see their clothes for kids - expensive, but cute. Sitting right on Water Street, Eloise carries Nanette Lepore, Theory, fabulous jeans and tees, James Perse, and super fun jewelry. They have a bargain bin the back of the store and a great couch area for boyfriends (or fiances) who have been dragged along.

You have to check it out!

Wonderful, just wonderful!

Splendora's

This gelato parlor on the downtown mall is quite fabulous and they have tons of fun flavors, including a newly discovered Apple Cider flavored gelato. I think this flavor may be a close second to Turkey Hill's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (not like they are very comparable). It was delicious and very comforting while at the same time fresh and refreshing.

Charlie highly recommends any of their coffee flavored gelatos.

I just get the bambino sized cup (just one scoop) while Charlie opts for the small - which gives you the option of having two flavors.

Mmm Mmm

Erin McDermott

I started teaching/subbing at a day school and found out that one of the preschool teachers I work with makes jewelry when she isn't busy teaching. Erin McDermott is super cute, friendly and I just checked out her website. Several Charlottesville papers have interviewed/reviewed Erin and her jewelry and have loved her.

The names of her designs are fabulous and fun and while I don't really wear jewelry other than a crappy, tiny pair of diamond studs and my engagement ring, each of her designs is totally adaptable to whatever style you are wearing and are totally flirty and cheerful.

Just a little shout out.