Good news! The chilly weather we had ran the race in this morning had all but disappeared for the rest of the day. We had nothing but sunny skies, warm temps, and beautiful views. 🙂
Perfect bike weather, am I right?
I love having the option to bike places around here. Last night we rode the bikes to dinner, this morning to the race, and afternoon they were our vehicle to lunch. Sure the hills are a little bit of a challenge and I look a little dorky on the bike, but it’s so much nicer to be in the great outdoors rather in a boring car.
Plus, it’s fun! 🙂
We took the bikes to the downtown mall area and met a large group at Eppie’s for lunch.
From left to right: Christine, Lani, Allie, Sarah, Josh, Heather, Kath, Matt, Eric
Eppie’s is a cute counter order restaurant that serves local southern comfort food.
Apparently Eppie’s is known for their wonderful vegetable platter (which looked really good when I saw them walk by), but none of the vegetables side were sticking out at me when I ordered. Instead I followed our group’s trend and had the soup and salad combo.
1/2 the Santa Monica salad with extra chicken for protein
1/2 the Tomato BisqueSoup (wasn’t a fan)
And a pumpkin muffin (tasted like pumpkin cornbread)
The atmosphere of lunch was fantastic. I loved catching up with old [and new] friends.)
After lunch Kath suggested we head to Arch’s for what she swears is the best topping of all time: Gooey Brownie.
Apparently if you order is on the side you get extra gooey brownie. 😉
I added the froyo to the top of the gooey brownie and proceeded to swoon. The gooey brownie was like thick, rich brownie batter. A. Ma. Zing. 🙂
Just as we sat down at Arch’s I was spotted by a reader. Hi Kate! It was nice meeting you!!
Kath said she wanted three things for her birthday.
- Running
- Frozen Yogurt
- Wine!
So, off to the Virginian wine country we went to sit, taste, and enjoy the gorgeous views.
First up: Blenheim Vineyards (I guess Dave Mathews owns it?)
We did a traditional tasting outside and sampled a few whites and reds.
The aromas were enticing, but the actual wine was just ok.
Stop #2: Kluge Estate
We all split two of their tasting flights.
I really enjoyed the reds on each of the flights. Apparently Virginia isn’t very well known for their wines, but I was quite impressed today. Much better then the disgusting grape juice Florida tries to sell off as wine. *shudders*
After wine tasting it was back to Casa de KERF for a potluck birthday celebration with friends.
Before the party started I nibbled on a bajillion of Matt’s Cracks and had a couple of mini glasses of Matt’s Oatmeal Stout and Pumpkin beer (both were delicious. 🙂 )
Food time!!
My plate plus many handfuls of other items on the table. My favorite had to be the bacon wrapped dates. So good.
Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Dessert!
I don’t know how it started, but someone had a great idea to have a Pumpkin Beer Off. Three separate pumpkin beers were opened to sample and compare.
Though all were pumpkin beers, they each had their own distinct flavors and pumpkin approach. My vote was actually for the Cottonwood. It had the nice pumpkin flavor without going too overboard. 🙂
Hey Mom! Look who I found!
It’s my cousin Andrea! 🙂
Andrea writes the blog Bella Eats and just became a full time photographer (check her work out, she’s fabulous!). She has lived in Charlottesville for the last 5 years and I can’t even tell you the last time we’ve seen each other face to face. It was nice to actually say hi and play catch up. 🙂
Kath threw a great party and it was really fun to mingle with the Charlottesville crowd.
But, now I’m exhausted and ready for bed. It was a long, full day, but I would not have expected anything less.
Good Night!
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