Meet Virginia – Day 1!

Happy Monday! This weekend was one for the scrap book for sure and I can’t wait to share it! We traveled up to Charlottesville, Va. and the surrounding area for a weekend of wineries, cideries and breweries. We had a few that were must-visit locations but we didn’t have every minute planned out which was great because it allowed us to just stop if we saw something that look interesting. Not only was all food and drinks delicious but the scenery was stunning and we had perfect weather!

Our first stop was Bold Rock. We already knew we loved their ciders but somehow getting them on draft is always better than a bottle. Plus we had never been to their Cider Barn and it was such a cool venue with a beautiful view! Our favorites were the IPA (India Pressed Apple) and the Honeydew. We brought home some of each!

 

Next up was a tiny grocery store to get sandwiches for lunch. This very unassuming little store, Greenwood Grocery, was a recommendation from our friends so we picked up sandwiches and brought them to the next winery. Let me tell you this was one of the best sandwiches I ever had! I got the Blue Slate and Will got the Wessex. Both were beyond delicious!

We brought them with us to Veritas and ate them with a bottle of the White Star, a really light, refreshing white that was perfect for lunch outside on a hot day. Then we did a tasting and had the best host. If you are ever at Veritas ask for Doug to do your tasting. He was hilarious and honest and made our tasting so much fun. Our favorites was the Viognier and we brought home a bottle! Also, about the tasting bar was LOVE made out of corks and I was obsessed with it. Clearly something similar needs to go above my fireplace!

 

We then stopped at a much smaller winery, The Flying Fox. Nothing was awful but nothing blew us away either. My favorite part was actually the artwork on some of their bottles.

 

The boys had specially requested a stop at Silverback Distillery. I don’t typically get in to the liquor side of drinking but I had a London Mule with their gin and it was very tasty. Will brought home a bottle of whiskey and he will certainly enjoy that for a while.

We finished the day with a stop at Blue Toad Cidery. This tasting was HUGE! Will and I split one and had a hard time finishing it! But they were all very good. Our favorites were Harvest Blend which tastes like autumn in a glass, Hawaii Toad Ohh” Pineapple, because we went to Hawaii for our honeymoon and get instantly nostalgic for anything pineapple and the APA Triple Hopped.

After all of that we headed to the hotel to check in, clean up and head to dinner. At the urging of a bunch of friends we went to Citizen Burger Bar for dinner. Will and I love a good cheeseburger and we expected a lot from this place after all the rave reviews we heard. I will say we were a little underwhelmed but it might be that people talked it up to much. Hard to tell. We shared a wedge salad and a burger and the salad was easily our favorite part. After dinner we stopped at South Street Brewery and had a beer that was good before realizing we were all exhausted and it was time to call it a night. We aren’t as young as we used to be!

Make sure to read about our stops on day 2!

Linked at B Loved Boston and Her Heartland and Soul, Hello Monday, Let it Shine, MIMM