After grabbing a bite to eat, we went to church. Lucy said she didn't care about going to her old church there so we decided we were interested in checking out the Acts29 plant in there. Acts29 is a church planting organization and our church in New York is part of it. We weren't super impressed with the Charlottesville church, but it was okay.
From church, Lucy dropped Amanda and I off near the University of Virginia where we hung out for a couple of hours while Lucy met a friend for lunch. We strolled through some of the shops just off campus and then picked up bagel sandwiches at Bodo Bagel to take with us over to the UVA lawn.
The UVA campus was gorgeous! We spent some time exploring it - it didn't seem terribly huge. I love how they have kept all the buildings the same...red brick with white trim, lots of arches and columns. It felt very prestigious to me.
The pretty chapel on the campus was really
the only building that didn't look like the others
Lucy had mentioned that the Cardinal was the state
bird, so I was excited to see some on campus!
I tasted one of the cherries off this tree!
We had fun exploring the tiny gardens behind the buildings that line the Great Lawn. From what I've heard, some of these buildings are professor's homes and some are student housing. These are some lucky students to have such nice backyards!
This is the back of one of the residences
We even spotted a little bunny in one garden
After exploring the UVA campus, Lucy picked us back up. (I feel like I should explain what happened to Carlos. He went to college at Liberty, just an hour from Charlottesville, so he headed down there on Saturday night and met back up with us Monday morning. He totally missed out on our Sunday Funday). From UVA, Lucy took us to a popular fro-yo place in Charlottesville. Lucy is lactose intolerant, so she couldn't get any and dropped us off and went to get gas. Just as we were about to order, Lucy called, "I just remembered. You have to get the ooey gooey brownie topping". We weren't exactly sure what it was, but if it's the thing to get, we were definitely getting it! So, that's what we did...Amanda got it on vanilla yogurt and I got it on peanut butter yogurt. It was basically like brownie batter on top of our frozen yogurt. It was sinfully delicious. What a treat!
Next up? The Blue Ridge Mountains, of course. These mountains are one of Lucy's most favorite spots in the world...and they are quite pretty. I've seen them before, but this was the first time I realized why they got their name. They seriously look blue from off in the distance. Very cool. We hiked - a short, but hard hike. Lucy said she likes to just get to the top quick so she can enjoy the view, which meant we basically walked straight up a really steep incline from the bottom to the top of the mountain. This really made me realize how out of shape I am!! Got to get back to consistent running!
Ready to go!
I can't believe we just climbed that!
Lucy did let us stop for a couple of breaks
The reward - beautiful views!
And lots of photo ops
And some moments of solitude
After the hike, we were ready for our next adventure...a farm adventure! Lucy has some sweet friends who live on a farm. They used to live in Mississippi where the man was a pastor, but retired about 10 years ago and moved to Virginia and onto a farm. They had never lived on a farm before, but have picked up quite a lot about farming and are turning a profit now. They love to share their farm and all they are learning with others. It was a fun evening!
This is the lovely home of their parents who live on the property. Once they have to move into assisted living, they plan to turn this house into a B&B...it will be amazing, I am sure!!
This picture does not do their dogs justice. They
are HUGE and have beautiful fur!!
They fed us an amazing dinner in the lovely home and it was almost all straight from their farm! We started by trying out some of their goat's milk...tasted just like regular milk. Then we had an amazing salad with veggies from their garden, cooked kale from their garden, and grass-fed burgers. It was one of the best tasting burgers I've ever had and all he did was put a little salt & pepper on the meat and grill it - amazing! For dessert, we were treated to cherry pie made from cherry tree and the crust was even made from their own ground flour. It was a delicious and fun meal!
After dinner, we took a tour of the farm. We started with the bee hives...their newest endeavor on the farm.
We got to milk their goats. Before we left on the trip, when I first was told we were going to be milking goats, I was a little apprehensive. I'm just not an animal person :( But, once we got there and they asked if anyone wanted to try, I was the first to say "I do"! I don't know what overcame me. I guess I just got into the spirit of the farm. I kind of liked doing it...maybe I need a farm!
We saw their chicken eggs and incubator and then some baby chicks!
We strolled through their extensive garden and ate vegetables I've never even heard of straight from the ground.
There were pretty flowers, too!
What a fun Sunday it had been! After a lovely breakfast at a cool coffee shop, Monday mostly just consisted of a long drive back to NYC. We did get to stop at Chick-fil-a for lunch....yumm-o!
Although Charlottesville was not my favorite place - it was just a little too small for this girl who's been in NYC a little too long. But, I did like a lot of things about it...especially the mountains and the wineries. And we obviously did a lot of really fun things. I am so glad I got to go see this place that Lucy loves and spend the weekend with such fun friends!
1 comment:
That looks like so much fun! I want a garden so bad but there are too many creatures around here that will eat it all. They've already eaten my rhubarb. Guess it's a good thing there's a farm up the road I can just buy it all from.
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