Warm Weather Weekend

It was an absolutely beautiful weekend, with lots of sunshine and warm temperatures, perfect for outdoor activities in the ‘burg. After a long season of indoor concerts and plays, I was more than ready to start spending evenings outside. We got back into our Friday after-work routine, stopping first at Kybecca downtown to taste some wine and admire the new awning that foretells the opening of the first phase of the wine bar (the outdoor cafe) in a few weeks. Next we stopped at the Fredericksburg Area Museum’s First Friday concert, featuring Junk Science (below). We prefer the smaller gathering at the Museum to the big First/Finally Friday crowd down on Sophia St.

Then we strolled around town, visiting a few of the art galleries with First Friday openings. And finally, we ended up at the Griffin Bookshop’s new digs on Caroline Street in the former home of the Pavilion. Stop in at their grand opening open house on Saturday, May 17 from 7:30 to 10 pm. They have live music every Friday and Saturday night from 7:30-9:30, and on Friday local musician Bob Gramann was playing (below). But I admit that we only listened briefly before finding friends on the back porch, where we spent the rest of the night until closing, chatting in the warm evening air.

I very uncharacteristically put in many hours this weekend engaged in a home improvement project, wrestling uncooperative wallpaper off a bathroom’s walls. But I’m not one to let household chores get in the way of a good time, so I put away the scraper in time to join friends at a Kentucky Derby garden party, even coming away with a few bucks after picking the winner. And on Sunday morning, we got in a little tennis at Riverbend High School before that pesky bathroom beckoned again. For all you Spotsylvania tennis players, the court at the Chancellor Community Center has been resurfaced this season, and new fencing put up, so our alternative tennis venue is looking good these days (ah, my tax dollars at work).

On Sunday afternoon, after victory over the bathroom was declared, my husband and I went to Hurkamp Park (below), where we laid out our blanket and enjoyed a lazy hour basking in the sun. We’ll be back in the park for the Fredericksburg Art Festival, May 17-18.