If you have been reading my blog for a while, you probably are sensing a theme - "better late than never"... Time really gets away from me but to be honest, it allows me to reflect on my trip and put more substance into these posts.
Making friends as an adult is hard. Everyone is at a different phase in their lives, priorities are different, and stress hits a whole new level. These things combined make it difficult to find time for friendships. I am BEYOND lucky to have found my very best friend my first year in college - and although we don't spend every waking second together or talking or snapchating - she is kindest person and I am beyond thankful that she opened her social circle to me.
Charlottesville is about a 4 hour drive from Charleston. Other than West Virginia road work, it’s an easy drive.
There were 7 of us girls and the Airbnb we rented couldn’t have been more perfect. It was in a great location and plenty of room/beds for all of us to get ready. Here is the link.
We got to town mid-afternoon on Friday and headed to the Downtown Mall. What a cool little area - a lot of local restaurants and shops. We had dinner on the outdoor patio at Citizen Burger. It was delicious. I had a burger and sweet potato fries - with a glass of my favorite champagne - Gruet.
After dinner, we walked through the Downtown Mall searching for a fun bar or a place to get a drink. Unfortunately, a storm was about to hit so our time downtown was cut short. Quirk Hotel was recommended to us - because they have a rooftop bar but reservations were required. I have a lot of friends in RVA that rave about Quirk in Richmond so I know it would have been a good time!
After leaving downtown, we went to The Wool Factory. 10/10 recommend. Such a cool venue with good apps and drinks.
Saturday was wine tour day. We used Norms Executive Transportation as our choice of transportation. We had a large Navigator that had plenty of room for all of us.
We started at Pippen Hill which was my personal favorite. I had actually gone to a wedding at PH before and knew it was going to be great. The views are phenomenal and the wine isn’t bad either. LOL. We grabbed a table on the lawn area. Some of us had their frosé and some had the wine flights. I will say that I was 100% hurting from the night before so a frosé was sufficient for me.
After Pippen Hill, we stopped at Greenwood Grocery for sandwiches and chips. Tip - we actually called our order in before leaving Pippen Hill and still had to wait about 30 minutes for our food.
We took our sandwiches to King Family, next. We found a nice big table and ate and grabbed a bottle of the house bubbles. It was really good. The lawn area and views at King Family are great. There were some food vendors on site.
After King Family, we went to Veritas. I had heard a lot of good reviews about Veritas. I liked their Rosé better than any of the other wineries. The views are great and you can see the vineyard from lawn.
Our wine tour was about 5 hours so after our tour was over we went back to our Airbnb for some chill time. Eventually, we made our way out to Champion Brewing Company. They have a back patio that we enjoyed. Then, we went to Kardinal Hall. Another A+ venue. They have a huge outdoor patio and you can even play bocce ball.
As we skipped out of town on Sunday, we stopped at Bodo’s Bagels for a bagel. It clearly is a Charlottesville favorite because there was a long line - it was just drive thru when we visited.
Since our trip, I have had some people message me about my thoughts on Charlottesville, etc. If you do the wineries and don’t make a table reservation, I’d recommend bringing lawn chairs. We brought blankets, which was fine, but I think sitting in lawn chairs would be better. Other than that, be prepared for windy roads on the way to the wineries! And, have fun! Cheers!
And PS - the customized koozies are a must. Here is the link.
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