Backtrack to Easter Sunday in Charlottesville

Actual date of 2009 Easter Sunday is April 12, and I was still in Charlottesville, Virginia during that time. It was a refreshing experience to celebrate Christ's resurrection away from the traditional setting in the Philippines. Here, Roman Catholics celebrate Easter almost like Christmas. Since after a week-long penance and having a no-pork diet, we truly deserved a feast with our families.

Mary Jane Divine and Deborah Rose, members of LexisNexis Statutory Code training team and who went to the Philippines last February to March, invited us* to hear mass at the Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. The church is located at 401 Alderman Road, adjacent to the University of Virginia. As we all know, most Americans identify themselves as Christians (not necessarily Roman Catholics).  Deb and her husband Benjamin fetched us at the Marriott Residence Inn. I still think that those two gracious ladies (and Deb's husband too) were kind enough to go out of their way to accompany us in a Catholic Church. The celebrated Southern hospitality is simply amazing.

Inside the church

 

 A sight to behold - Mamy Mary with fresh, colorful blooms beneath

 

 Outside the brick walled church

 

 MJ took off her dogwood flower earrings and told us that dogwood flowering tree is Virginia's official State tree.

 

 Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church

Deb also invited us to lunch at her house in Riverbend Condominiums. How nice of her, huh? While we were marveling at Deb's digital photo frame that displays her Manila pictures, she served a deli tray full of.. just see the pic!

 

 Deli-cious tray of cheese cubes, cold cuts and olives and fresh strawberries

Deb's father, daughter and granddaughter also came to join us for lunch. Too bad I wasn't able to take pictures of Deb's homecooked meals.

 

 Post-lunch pic

After lunch, Deb invited us to take a stroll in the Old Mills Trail, just beside the Riverbend Condominiums, to check out Rivanna River. Really, when she said there's a clean river (I guess it is, compared to Pasig River), I was almost surprised.

 

The hikers (I switched to comfy sneakers from ballet flats during mass.)

 

Forward, march!

 

The dogwood flower

To my right is the Rivanna river (no sign of garbage, really) and, OMG, a huge rock! What the hell was I thinking then? Hahaha!

 

Riverbend Condominums

 

Goofin' with Deb's granddaughter (FYI, she's only 11 years old. Big kid!)

 

Back at RI: With our Easter loot bags from MJ

*The Fantastic Four

Blue Ridge Mountains & Blue Ridge Pig

Still on the same day (April 11, 2009), we went to a mountain farmstead in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Did you know that this massive land form binds eight states of Uncle Sam? These are the states of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia. Googles's the man! Click  here for more of Wikipedia's enlightening narrative.

I got some info from Wikipedia, and I quoted it below.

"The Blue Ridge Mountains are noted for their bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their distinctive color."

The famous bluish haze of Blue Ridge

 

Uber cold!

 

Oh wind, take away our sorrows...

 

Fall has just ended...

 

Looks like in the old bygone movies

We walked through the self-guiding trail through a mountain farmstead. I learned from a signage that it was originally a Land Grant tract dispensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia to induce pioneers to settle the Blue Ridge Mountains and establish the border of the Western Frontier. Later it became known as the William J. Carter Farm. The original buildings have long since disappeared, but were replaced by other authentic structures moved from nearby.

 

Walk-a-thon starts now!

 

HRH Minnie, Don (the boyfriend) and moi

 

Goofin' in the logs

 

Knock, knock, knockin' on log cabin's door

 

Little house on the prairie

 

Lemme out, y'all!

 

Reenacting the bygone tradition of lynching... Hahaha!

 

My own postcard shot (ehem)

 

I just found a deer!

Walking through the self-guiding trail of a farmstead was truly a learning experience. I felt like I time-tavelled to the early days of American pioneer and frontier life. On hindsight, it was truly a man's instinct that he needs to seek greener pastures and build his own family while trying to survive the atrocities of his government and environment. Don't we all love freedom? We, Filipinos, are no strangers of that fact. Up until our liberation sometime between 1944 and 1945, we have forever struggled for survival and freedom.

Holly Eldred, another trainor from LexisNexis, recommended a quaint and rustic resto named Blue Ridge Pig in Nellysford. Click here for this famous pull'd pork barbecue resto's review. I saw that pulled pork is spelled as "pull'd pork" in their menu, and the price is just right -$8 to $10. It must be the South American English, y'all! The resto crew (owners) spoke to us in a heavily-accented English.

 

Piggin' out in the Blue Ridge Pig

We ordered the house specialty pull'd pork barbecue sandwich with two side dishes: macaroni salad and potato salad. If you're going to ask my most honest opinion, I'd rather eat Mcdo value meal. Why? It was quite a turn-off when we saw how the pork meat being pull'd (whatever) into shreds by dirty hands. Let's just say that maybe he was digging up some potato plots before he pull'd. Totally unhygienic. Ew, sorry. Plus, I never did like onions in my potato salad. I heard it's an authentic recipe -good ole Southern potato salad, but I'm no onion lover.

Staring at his calling card which he proudly inserted in the ceiling

  

Cute pink pig lantern (Noticed our take-out styro boxes? We barely finished the pull'd pork barbecue sandwich.)

 

The sign says: "Rustic... Sophisticated... Smoked" - Meats and Sandwiches, The Washington Post"

It somehow impressed me when I saw The Washington Post's review in the resto's road marker. Wow. I consulted my fling* once again and found this: "The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest, founded in 1877. Located in the nation's capital, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation."

*Google

Monticello Wine Trail

After our first snow experience at Wintergreen Resort, Brian Yost and Heather Wright, training lead and lead editor for Washington, D.C. jurisdiction in LexisNexis, respectively, gave us another dose of Southern hospitality.

What started out as an e-mail spool via Microsoft Outlook turned out to be an unforgettable wine tasting experience. Why unforgettable? It's my first wine tasting activity, and I even posted in Facebook how excited I was. Just curious, do we have such activity in the Philippines?

As per e-mail invite, we understand that we have three wineries to visit. We were told that wine tasting fee is from $5-$10. Furthermore, if we feel more inclined to do some more wine tasting, we could visit five wineries. Images of me getting giddy-drunk, laughter among us, The Fantastic Four,  beautiful countryside and the fact that it's my first ever wine tasting activity gave me extra energy to fantasize the whole thing beforehand!

A) King Family Vineyards

I got the following info from my fling.*

"King Family Vineyards is a family-owned and operated boutique winery located in Crozet, just fifteen minutes from Charlottesville at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The winery specializes in small productions of ultra-premium wine that showcase the remarkable qualities of nearly 100% estate grown fruit. 

The covered veranda, expansive lawn, or brick patio are perfect for outdoor picnics while the Tasting Room and warm stone fireplace are inviting on cooler days."

Enjoying the uber cold breeze and the picturesque view of the Blue Ridge Mountains

 

Bottoms up!

(N.B. Ooops, the boyfriend is not yet my boyfriend here.)

 

With the wine lady feeding us wine info while giving us five kinds of wine to taste. I tell you, I got buzz after my third wine.

 

  Very unique, deer antler-inspired ceiling lamp they have!

For more info, check out their website.

King Family Vineyards
6550 Roseland Farm
Crozet, Virginia 22932

B) Pollak Vineyards

"Pollak Vineyards is a small family-owned winery founded in 2003 on a 98 acre site west of Charlottesville. Today twenty-five acres are planted in French vinifera with the intent of of producing estate grown wine that has the finesse and balance of traditional French wines. The more than 16,000 vines are hand-tended to achieve the best fruit. In the winery, many wines are made in small lots to control the process and and carefully coax the best fruit characteristics and blend of tannins. French oak is used for aging. A new winery opened in May 2008. It is spacious inside for production and tastings, and it has a large verandah and windows to showcase views of vineyards, pond and adjacent mountains."

  

It was probably five times colder than Baguio!

Perfect for soul-searching

 

Heather cheerfully sharing some wine experience

 

Listening to bartender's Pollak Vineyards 101

 

Say "Pollak!"

 

The Fantastic Four

For more info, check our their website.

Pollak Vineyards

330 Newtown Road
Greenwood, VA 22943

 C) Veritas Vineyard and Winery

"Veritas is a family-owned and run farm winery nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Andrew, Patricia, and Emily Hodson share the common goal of making wines of the highest quality from the rich Virginia terroir. We invite you to come and join us at Veritas. The winery offers our guests an intimate view of the wine-making process. Sit on our sun-drenched deck and take the opportunity to relax, enjoy the beauty of Virginia and taste our wine."

 

Rosy cheeks from too much wine or the uber cold breeze... or both?

Cheers!

The free wine glass

 

Enjoying the cold, cold breeze and the scenery

 

Brian preparing a yummy afternoon snack consisting of baguettes, two kinds of Virginia-made cheese and onion jam from the deli store called Feast! (For more deli-cious info, click here.) apples and seltzer water

   

Can't wait! Hahaha!

 

Baguette slice topped with cheese and onion jam

 

Promise, there was no memo telling us to wear pink or gray!

For more info, check out their website.

Veritas Vineyard & Winery
145 Saddleback Farm
Afton, VA 22920