Blogged In

Fabulous weekend. At my company’s Christmas party, Jill had won us a weekend getaway at the Meander Inn, a bed and breakfast near Wintergreen, 40 minutes southwest of Charlottesville.

I worked from home on Friday so we could leave around 4:30. We left about 15 minutes late, so we ran into plenty of traffic until Gainesville. We were planning on arriving at the b & b at 7:30, then making a dinner reservation at 8 at D’Ambola’s, an Italian restaurant nearby. We were in the middle of Charlottesville at 7:30, so we called the b & b. They had recommended D’Ambola’s, and when Jill explained the situation, they told us to go ahead and eat and they’d leave us a key. We were glad they did, the food was great. I had lamb stuffed with spinach and a tiramisu cheescake.

We ended up getting to the b & b a little after 9, and our hosts, Francesca and Alain, were still up. We briefly chatted, then unloaded our stuff. We went out on the deck, over the ice, to use the hot tub. We couldn’t figure out how to turn on the jets, so we just soaked. We went to sleep soon after, because we had a big day planned on Saturday.

I was up at 7:15 for a 7:45 breakfast of fresh eggs (they have chickens) and sausage. We got rolling, picked some rentals up for Jill at the Ski Barn because we forgot her boots. We finally made it out on the slopes, and conditions were excellent. The only downside of the day were the huge crowds. I never took the 6 person express lift because the lines were so long. I particularly enjoyed the Highlands side, especially Cliffhanger. The worst wipeout I’ve ever seen happened on the blue slopes. A girl, obviously a begineer, was having trouble maintaining a snowplow as she approached the lift. She was having trouble slowing down, and I thought she’d fall, but instead she smacked hard against a wooden fence. The ski patrol came over quickly, but I didn’t see what happened to her.

Jill went in and hung out near the fireplace around midday, but I kept going until 3:30 – we weren’t coming back and I still had some stamina. By the time we got loaded and on the road, it was after 4. We had time for one winery (they all closed at 5), so I voted for Hill Top Berry Farm & Winery, only 500 feet from the b & b. I wanted to try their fruit wines. We ended up getting their Blackberry Wine, Rockfish River Cyser (an apple and honey blend), and Strawberry Melomel.

Dinner was included with the b & b package (as well as 3 bottles of wine to take home, and another with dinner), so we changed and relaxed for a while before then. We ended up eating with two other couples, Chris & Lucinda and Syam & Shannon. The food was amazing; we had squash soup with ginger and cornish hens wrapped in bacon. For dessert I had cheescake while Jill had a raspberry torte. We ended up chatting with the other couples and the hosts for several hours, until we were the only ones left. At that point we went for the hot tub again (we’d asked how to work the jets). After that, we were exhausted and were asleep well before midnight.

Sunday started with Eggs Benedict, one of my favorite breakfasts. We packed up and got going. First we hit Wintergreen Winery. One of the 3 wines we got from the b& b was from here; Jill got two different bottles. I elected not to partake in any wine tasting today because I was driving. We were going to make only one more stop at Afton Mountain Vineyards, but Veritas Vineyard & Winery was on the way there, so we stopped at both, picking up several more bottles.

We weren’t in a rush, and stopped on the way back in Charlottesville. We got some snacks for the Super Bowl party we were going to, some glass bowls for centerpieces, and a bookstore. We still were early, so we went to Chili’s. That was a mistake. The place was packed, and it took 35 mintues to get a couple appetizers.

We showed up early to JD & Sue’s Super Bowl party, but they let us in anyway. We watched some Discovery Channel shows before the big game. We were only able to stay for the first quarter, then we had to leave to make it to The Old Brogue to see Beth Patterson. She was great (and turns out to be a big Rush/prog rock fan) – she even covered an Iron Maiden song! I videotaped the game and watched the rest I hadn’t seen after the show, then went straight to bed.

I went with Dave & Hannah to go see Henry Rollins last night. Interesting mix of stand up comedy and political rants – very entertaining and I’ll definitely go see him again. Equal time for W., Ann Coulter and Sheryl Crow.

The highlight of the night was Nectar, just 3 blocks away from Lisner. I had the hanger steak with potatoes and a spinach puree that was superb. For dessert I had a “Pie A La Mode… Kinda”. It was the guts of a pie, on a bed of ice cream, surrounded by a pastry shell. Good, but odd to look at – kinda like an apple pie autopsy.

So we went to the Girlyman show last night, and they were great. Short set (they were opening), but still worth going. However, it took longer to get there then we stayed for the show.

Jill showed up early, so we were ready to go on time. When we got to the platform at Ballston, the next train was 10 minutes away – during rush hour. When we transferred at Metro Center, there was a 10 deep crowd waiting for the Red Line towards Shady Grove. We caught the second train going through. Very crowded (we didn’t need to hold onto a pole, we couldn’t move) for several stops. When we were almost at Grosvenor, our train came to a stop. The train in front of us was having mechanical difficulties, so they had to get everyone off. Then we pulled up, and that train’s passengers came aboard. Nice and crowded again. We got to Shady Grove, and went to the bus stop. The bus we were waiting for pulled up five minutes later, but the driver wouldn’t let us on. A couple minutes later, Metro cops turned up. Some guy was not getting off the bus. It wasn’t clear if he was drunk or on drugs, but he couldn’t walk under his own power. The cops got him off the bus and administered smelling salts, then we were allowed to board. We got off at our stop – according to Metro’s Rideguide, it was a block to the BBQ place where the show was. It was close to a mile, over a bridge, with no sidewalk (thanks to the snow) and the cars whizzing by inches from us.

Thankfully, due to leaving early, Girlyman was just starting when we arrived. We’re About 9 were good and the ribs and beer (Killian’s on draft) were tasty, but the trip there was draining and we left after the first set. The trip back was uneventful; we took a cab to Shady Grove, then Metro to Ballston.

So I saw a banner ad on the Post site a couple weeks ago about a drawing for free Redskins season tix if you sign up on the waiting list. Did it, didn’t think about until today. I got a voice mail from someone in their ticket office, asking me to call them back. When I did, turned out she wanted to sell me club level seats – which START at $275. Now while I might pay that much for a concert (though I haven’t yet – think my max was $200 for Jill’s bday gift of Celine), there’s no way in hell I’d pay that for more than one game a season, if that.

I’m miffed ’cause they got my hopes up and pulled a bait and switch.