Charlottesville, VA 2013

Since we were already so far south visiting Michele, Kevin and I did our pilgrimage to Charlottesville on Thursday. We love Charlottesville because we met here, it's warm and pleasant, it's green and full of trees and mountains, and it's the home of UVA which we love just as much, just to name a few reasons.

On UVA grounds

We went a little over a year ago, and we did pretty much the exact same things this time. It's pretty much our Cville greatest hits. Kevin went hiking during James's naptime, which made him very happy. The man really loves hiking. Back when we were dating I used to go and even kind of keep up. If he brought me along he usually kept the hike a little easier and I'd do 3-7 miles with him. These days I find the stairs somewhat challenging.

After naptime, we had Belair Market sandwiches- we always get the Jefferson sandwich because it's turkey and cranberry. Then we went to the main UVA grounds because they're beautiful. We took photos there again this year. The first time we took photos there together was in 2008, first for my law school graduation in May, and then we took engagement photos there later in the summer. It's fun to bring James to the place it all began even if he doesn't get yet. Last year we got James a Virginia t-shirt, this year he scored a Virginia shirt and hat.

James is flying I think

James's preferred mode of transportation in the heat

Then we went Downtown. We took a photo in front of Mudhouse Coffee again this year. It's where we met and had our first date in 2006. Their coffee is totally holding up, even after all this time drinking fancy Brooklyn coffee.

We Kevin and I met 7 years ago!

This time when we went by the Freedom of Speech Wall, James was inspired to chalk it up. Apparently, he has a lot of speech he wants to share. Or scribbles. He also felt the need to crowd this little girl out. SHe was pretty close to his age, but he prefers older women of 3 or 4 years old.

Drawing with his new Charlottesville girlfriend

We met up with James W. for dinner at the noodle place on the mall. I had this bright idea to pass some time while we waited for James W. James has been asking about bubbles frequently because he saw some episode of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that featured bubbles. There's a CVS on the mall so I figured they would have bubbles for kids. Not only did they have bubbles, but they had Mickey Mouse bubbles. James went crazy. He doesn't care at all about Charlottesville, but the bubbles were the highlight of the day for him. It was maybe too exciting actually because I was getting worried that he was going to fall on the brick while chasing the bubbles with wild abandon.

Bubbles!

Little James looks excited to see James W. but is in fact just excited about the bubbles

I always called Marco & Luca Noodle Shop "the dumpling place." That related to the fact that I always just got one order of dumplings there. Since we were making a whole dinner of it we got dumplings and different types of noodles and I have to say the non-spicy noodles are now my favorite. I'm going to have to figure out how to make them because I've been dreaming about them ever since I got home. Kevin, James, and James W. are also big fans. Afterward, we went to Splendora's Gelato, where I was planning to have a gelato to myself, but James immediately helped himself to copious amounts of Mexican chocolate. Yum.

Marco & Luca Noodle Shop


Hello, gelato!

Finally, I let Kevin and James W go get drinks and have a good time without a toddler. But James and I had a good time at the hotel. We watched a little Mickey on my Kindle, blew bubbles inside, and he had a luxurious bath with all the plastic cups the hotel room offered.

Like a little angel watching a video on the Kindle

Our last trip to Charlottesville in April 2012, and our trip to Charlottesville in June 2010. (Michele, this one was a love letter to Charlottesville.)

Visiting Allison and Dan in Cape Elizabeth 2012

Our friends Allison and Dan moved to Maine after they got married. At first, it seemed impossibly far away, but then Allison pointed out that she was only 2 hours from Boston, and that Dan commutes to work in Boston a couple times a week. So, we all piled into our two-door car (my own circle of hell) and off we went to Maine. You don't have to tell the Clous twice to come visit you! Allison and Dan have a beautiful house in a beautiful town.

Allison not only took us to the sites, but we ate lobster rolls twice. She certainly knows the way to our heart! We spent some time in Cape Elizabeth and some time in Portland. We went to the Fort Williams Park and the lobster roll food truck there (yum), the Portland Head Light, Two Lights, Lobster Shack in Cape Elizabeth.

James, Allison, and me in front of Casco Bay

In front of the Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth, ME

James loves Maine!

Strolling around Fort Williams Park

Yeah, they get to live here, all the time.

Dan, trying to get some work done on the back porch

In Portland, we got delicious sandwiches at Duckfat and took them to Fort Allen Park to picnic.  We also made a stop at Shipyard Brewery. There aren't any photos of our lovely picnic in the park because I spent a little while chasing James around and trying to keep him from bashing himself on the many cement monuments.  Mercifully, Kevin and Dan took James back for a nap so Allison and I could enjoy the rest of the afternoon. We also got some amazing licorice gelato at Gorgeous Gelato in Portland.  Apparently there is quite the gelato rivalry in Portland, and Allison is committed to Gorgeous, so I won't threaten our friendship by mentioning the name of the competition. Suffice to say, I didn't try the other gelato place.

Fort Allen Park in Portland, ME

We didn't have to venture far from the house for lovely sights and activities though. For one thing, Allison flattered me by asking me to take photos of her family. I might have liked this better than lobster rolls (but maybe less than gelato). We went on a long walk with James through a path in the woods near her house. Kevin even went on a longer walk/hike in a different part of the same woods (sans James).  They also live near a a scenic rocky beach.  We would have stayed longer, but you know, James tried to eat the rocks. Thank you for all your wonderful hospitality, Allison and Dan!

Allison and Dan volunteered themselves for an Ericka-style photo shoot

Beautiful walking path near the house

Allison, James and I at the beach

Failed attempt at a family photo- but we have a lot of those

Photo bomb! And it's a better (accidental) family photo!

Coco got her own shoot too

James's First Trip to Charlottesville 2012

Last week, we took James to Charlottesville, Virginia, where Kevin and I first met. We haven't been to Charlottesville since Lukas and Sarah's wedding in 2010 because it's such a long way from where we live now.  So while we were in DC, and Kevin had time off from school we decided to keep going and visit.

I lived there for 3 years while I went to law school, and Kevin lived there for 7 years, 3 for college (he graduated early) and 4 that overlapped the years I was there.  We only spent 2 of those years there together, but they were 2 really great years.  So we took James to see where the magic that made him started.

The three of us on UVA Grounds- Day 2 (yes, I popped James's collar)

We were there two days, and we started both days by walking around the grounds and taking photos. UVA is so beautiful, which I'm sure is one of the reasons it's the only university in the United States to be designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

James running around Grounds with his new UVA shirt- Day 1

On the day we arrived, Tuesday, we also met up with James W. whom we hadn't seen in ages. We went to a place that hadn't existed when we lived there but had great food and draft beer, Beer Run.  James met James for the first time, and W. taught C. to fist bump over dinner.

Fist-bumps with James W.

After dinner, we all went to the Downtown Mall, and James W. kindly took some photos of the 3 of us.   We took a photo in front of Mudhouse Coffeehouse because that's where we met in July 2006, almost 6 years ago. From a cup of coffee to baby James!

Where we met 6 years ago, and took engagement photos, 4 years ago

Chalkboard on the Downtown Mall, where we took a photo 2 years ago

Day 2, James was pretty tired from traveling and took a long luxurious nap at the hotel before we started our day.  After walking around grounds, we ate at Revolutionary Soup, which has the most amazingly delicious soup ever- Vegan Spicy Senegalese Peanut Tofu. I used to get it all the time in 2007 and 2008, and I was so pleased to see it on the menu. We left after James puked some little chicken pieces all over his little shoes. It was time for his second nap, so we tried to see how far we'd get in the trip back home before he woke up.  Not too far, so we ended up also visiting a random town on the way back, Mt. Jackson. More on that later... Kevin's turn to write.

My cute sweet boys enjoying hotel nap time


Playing on grounds