Sweet Virginia

Finally, I'm getting around to this post. Back in September, my mom, her sister/my aunt Jeanne and I drove up to Charlottesville, Va. to visit my cousin Ellen and her husband (Jeanne's daughter). It was so much fun! Ellen had the whole trip planned out and showed us the best of Charlottesville.

Our first stop was Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's house. Wow, if you haven't ever gone -- you must go! It is simply gorgeous! I can't believe all the fantastic things his house had. He had a heart for architecture that was well before his time.

We took a tour of the house guided by the funniest lady. All throughout the tour she has the attitude about her, like she actually knew Thomas Jefferson...like they were on a first name basis. It made for an interesting tour, but it was so funny. We were in his bed room and I thought off to the side was old survey equipment. So she told us her spill then asked if there were any questions...so I asked if that was in fact what it was. She responded, "Of course, Jefferson's father was a surveyor so it would only be natural that he would have dabbled in it too! On to the next room!" So clearly questions were not actually welcomed! :)

This is the front of the house. Don't you love the sidewalks? It's like this along the whole house.

This is the back porch!!

The is so innovative! They would put live fish in this pond after they were caught from neighboring streams and get them out once they were ready to cook them...so they were fresh!

Jeanne, Ellen, Mom and me overlooking the pumpkin patch.

This is the kitchen where they prepared all the food. Notice the copper sink in the corner...it was gorgeous! How funny that they had that then and people would pay a ton of money for that today. What's more interesting, all the pots and pans were copper.

This was the chef's room. The only other thing in the room was a fireplace and a small table for two. The board said that his entire family would stay in this room and the accommodations were considered nice! Yikes!

Mitchie Tavern

We drove to Carter Mountain Vineyard and did a little wine tasting. They also had apple cider doughnuts...yummy!

Here we are at Riverside Lunch, owned and operated by Ellen and her husband Lee. It's famous for their burgers so the trip wouldn't have been complete without sampling their famous double-cheeseburger. It was delicious...even though it may not look like it in the picture. If you are ever in Charlottesville, you have to eat there! This is not diet food, but worth every calorie!

Last but not least, Lee took us on a tour of University of Virginia's beautiful campus. I have been to a lot of college and I have never seen a more spectacular campus! They actually call it "the grounds". All the buildings are so stately and the architecture is very similar between the new and old buildings. I can't imagine going to school there! Here is a couple of pictures of the famous Rotunda.

Oh and one really random site. We saw a groundhog! I've never seen one in person, but there he was on the side of a hill. He was so cute!