Fredericksblogger

Spotsylvania Trails

2011-08-30T20:28:00.014-04:00

The post-Hurricane Irene weather has been beautiful, and we spent some time yesterday exploring the Salamander Loop of the Ni River Trail in Spotsylvania. This 1.75 mile trail was completed last summer, the first project of the Spotsylvania Greenways Initiative, an organization devoted to creating a system of trails throughout the county. The trailhead is at the rear of the River Run Business Park, just off Rt. 1 across from Massaponax High School. It’s an easy trail through the woods, no huffing and puffing required, suitable for kids and dogs. Nice and shady for a summer walk. And we even saw a salamander.

Below: Shady trail, Farm Pond, wild morning glories.

We’ve also been taking walks on the paths created behind the Lick Run Community Center on Rt. 3 West, on the Mullins Farm property just past Chancellor Elementary. These paths wind through land on which the Battle of Chancellorsville was fought, and there are exhibits and signs along the way that describe how the battle unfolded. The rolling hills are dotted with mature trees, and hundreds of young trees have been planted. Save this walk for a cool day, since it’s mostly open land with little shade.

Below: Lick Run Community Center, history display, rolling farmland.

Luminaria

2011-05-30T17:26:00.009-04:00

On the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, we attended the fifteenth annual luminaria at the Fredericksburg National Cemetery, honoring fallen American soldiers. A luminary bag with candle is lit for every soldier interred in the cemetery, for a total of 15,300 flickering lights. The idea for this memorial event started with area Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and it’s the scouts who set up the bags, place the small American flags, and light the thousands of candles before dusk. I remember the days when my kids were scouts and we helped set up the site, and I’ve driven past the cemetery on the night of the luminaria before. But this was our first time walking the grounds as darkness fell. Taps are played every half hour, and despite the crowds, a respectful quiet was maintained throughout the cemetery. We avoided the large group tours that were being conducted, and found quieter areas to walk. After the usual cookouts and start-of-summer activities, the luminaria is a moving, peaceful way to commemmorate the day.

Scouts keep the candles lit:

Darkness starts to fall:

A lone Marine bugler plays Taps:

Mt. Olympus Farm

2011-04-25T20:05:00.019-04:00

On Saturday, in search of a driving destination on a nice day, we settled on what was billed as the “Mt. Olympus Farm Earth Day Festival.” Now, we really weren’t expecting much in the way of a festival, but a drive in rural Caroline County seemed like a good bet. The farm is right off of Rt. 1, near Ruther Glen, and turned out to be very picturesque, with rolling hills and a sizeable lake.

Mt. Olympus Farm is similar to Miller Farms in Spotsylvania County. There are pick-your-own berries, plus a variety of veggies available in season. They also have two large greenhouses with annual and perennial plants for landscaping, herbs and vegetable plants for the garden. Plus, there’s a farm market with fresh produce, preserves, local dairy products, eggs and meats. The farm is family-friendly, with picnic tables and a small play area set up for the kiddies.

Strawberry plants for sale:

The earliest of the farm-grown berries:

The Earth Day Festival featured some local vendors, a few animals, face-painting for the kids, and food for sale. There was nothing particularly Earth Day-ish about the event. Next year, Cub Scouts, you might want to serve your Earth Day burgers in something other than styrofoam containers. And how about recycling bins for the cans and bottles? We sampled a few local treats, and brought home some excellent biscotti made by the Biscotti Fairy.

Biscotti Fairy goodies:

Mama minding her newborn lamb:

Alpacas...

and their wool:

Harbinger of things to come:

After strolling around the grounds a bit, we checked out the produce in the market. I was surprised to see so many vegetables displayed with the “Virginia Grown” sign. I’m not naive enough to think that tomatoes and cucumbers were harvested from Virginia fields in April. But I am trusting enough to believe that if the sign says “Virginia Grown,” then somewhere in the state, there’s a greenhouse turning out tomatoes and cukes. When I asked where the veggies came from, it turns out they were trucked up from Florida. When I suggested that the Virginia Grown signs were misleading, I was told that “those are just the signs we use” and that the farm-grown produce would be coming soon. A lovely farm, but they need to get their labeling right.

Historic Garden Tour

2011-04-21T15:38:00.012-04:00

April in the Fredericksburg area is the prettiest time of year. The trees with their baby leaves are that lovely apple-green color, and the dogwoods, redbuds and azaleas are in bloom, so even on my shady, deer-munched, untended piece of land, there’s spring color to be found. So it really is a perfect time for Historic Garden Week in Virginia, which includes garden tours in 32 locations, all presented by the Garden Club of Virginia.

The Fredericksburg area’s historic garden tour this year was in Spotsylvania County. Several of the properties were historic, and some were modern subdivision homes, all with varying amounts of landscaping and flower beds. This year’s tour was focused on the homes’ interiors, and on the many beautiful floral arrangements that graced each home, rather than on lush outdoor gardens. The variety of arrangements was an inspiration to me, because while many relied on cut flowers with showy blooms, just as many focused on native woodland plants, flowering trees and shrubs. So even a non-gardener like me could get ideas for filling vases with spring branches and buds and blossoms.

Our first stop on the tour was historic Millbrook. George Washington's sister, Betty Lewis, moved to this property after she was widowed, and could no longer afford the Kenmore mansion. She lived here for two years before her death. Her original house burned down, and this one replaced it in 1836.

The rear garden at Millbrook:

Stevenson Ridge, a B&B, is made up of a number of historic buildings moved to the site for use as guest lodgings and event venues. Riddick House at Stevenson Ridge is a circa 1812 home which was originally part of a North Carolina plantation.

The interior of one of the cozy cottages at Stevenson Ridge:

This home, in the Bloomsbury subdivision, had extensive landscaping, all personally tended by the homeowner, a woman in her 80's:

The front flower bed of another Bloomsbury home:

Savannah Stopover

2011-03-30T12:28:00.023-04:00

This year, on our annual trip to visit my mom in Port St. Lucie, Florida (been there, blogged that), we stopped for two nights in Savannah, Georgia. Armed with our invaluable walking tour guidebook ($6 well spent), we spent almost all of our time in the city walking around the downtown historic district, and I can’t remember a city center more picturesque than this one.

The city was laid out in the 1700’s around 8-block wards, with a square at each ward’s center. As the city grew, new squares were added, and today, 22 remain. This means that you can’t walk more than a few blocks before coming to the next square. Each square contains some artistic centerpiece: a statue or monument or fountain, surrounded by well-tended landscaping, brick pathways, and live oak trees draped in Spanish moss. And around each square, the city’s finest civic, commercial and residential structures were built, so that if you sit in a bench in any of the squares, you can just look around in all directions and see the city’s most historic and impressive buildings: a lavish antebellum home here, a church there, a beautiful inn next door.

The historic district is filled with attractions for visitors: historic home tours, history and art museums, trolley tours and carriage rides, shops and restaurants geared to tourists, boat cruises on the Savannah River, and visitor centers scattered throughout. Luckily we were there mid-week in late February, when the tourists weren’t out in force. I would be wary of the place on a sunny Saturday in spring.

The city is also home to the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), an institution that has bought up and transformed many of Savannah’s buildings into college spaces, so we did see lots of students out and about. The one thing we didn’t see much of were city residents going about normal, non-tourist activities. Other than businesspeople hovering around a few out-of-place modern office buildings, there didn’t seem to be many locals around town, other than the employees of businesses serving the tourist trade. If Savannah has a tagline, “historic preservation for the tourists” would sum it up well. Tourists or no, as travel destinations go, Savannah is a marvel of history, culture, and natural beauty, all wrapped up in a pedestrian-friendly bow.

This is the trolley tour we took, one of several operating in the historic district. A good way to get a guided orientation before taking off on foot.

Original home to the Savannah Cotton Exchange (c. 1887), one of many historic buildings along the riverfront.

Hamilton-Turner House, c. 1873, now an inn. The city is chock-full of similar historic homes.

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, c. 1896. Impressive interior, and no admission fee!

The fountain in Forsyth Park, erected in 1858.

The Olde Pink House restaurant (c. 1789), where we had dinner in a lavishly decorated dining room. And more fountains and gardens and trees and squares...

Burnley & Barboursville Vineyards

2011-03-08T13:13:00.011-05:00

On our way to Stanardsville in January, we visited two area vineyards. Our first stop was Burnley Vineyards, a small, home-grown winery established in 1976, with 32 acres of vineyards, and a tasting room in a converted house. We tasted quite a few of their 15 wines, and settled on a Rubix, a port-style dessert wine. An unusual choice for me, because I’m definitely more of a pre-meal drinker than post-meal. But I enjoyed it enough to consider exploring more dessert wines in the future.

The friendly face at the Burnley tasting room.

After Burnley, we stopped at nearby Barboursville Vineyards, a much bigger operation that includes event space and an upscale restaurant. Like Burnley, the winery was founded in 1976, but historic buildings at the site date back to the early 1800’s. One of the historic homes on the property has been turned into an inn, next to the ruins of the original estate, designed by Thomas Jefferson. History plus wine draws a lot of visitors, and I’ve read that on summer weekends, the tasting room is so crowded that it’s impossible to find comfortable room at the tasting bar. We were there on a dead-of-winter weekday, and were two of only a handful of folks in the large room, so we were able to taste lots of wines in a leisurely way. Barboursville has a wine for every taste, but be careful. When a winery has something like 20 wines available for tasting, you really do need to pace yourself if you expect to drive away safely.

Barboursville's large tasting room.

The sign at the ruins says: "Historic landmark designed by Thomas Jefferson for Governor James Barbour. Built 1814; destroyed by fire Christmas Day, 1884."

The 1804 Inn includes this building plus several small restored cottages.

Lafayette Inn

2011-01-29T16:33:00.020-05:00

January is our anniversary month, and for the past few years, we’ve been taking romantic getaways to historic inns to celebrate. This year, we targeted the Lafayette Inn in beautiful downtown Stanardsville, Virginia. We’d seen it on a brief stop in the town not that long ago, and when friends stayed there overnight and gave it pretty good reviews, we thought we’d give it a try. We went with realistic expectations, and had a lovely visit.

We’ve been to a lot of Virginia inns, many of them quite upscale. Oh, not of the Inn at Little Washington caliber, since that’s way out of our budget. But many places with the pricey antiques and the trillion thread count linens and the spa bathrooms and the his-and-her robes. The Lafayette Inn isn’t quite like that. It’s an old building, owned by a lovely couple trying to provide a quality experience without breaking the bank. So it’s a bit quirky. Some of the antiques are pricey, and some look like Sears circa 1963. No robes, nothing-too-special linens, the room was chilly, the fan in the small bathroom squealed, and the hot water ran out mid-shower. But the hosts were friendly and enthusiastic, they brought us a split of champagne and some gourmet chocolates as a welcome gift, and the gas fireplace worked like a charm. My husband and I have been married for 33 years. We enjoy spending these little getaways together. We’re not overly sensitive to things like noisy plumbing or rumbling street traffic or creaky floorboards. Just give me a room with charm and a working fireplace and a bottle of wine and a good book, and I’ll be happy all day.

There’s nothing much in the town of Stanardsville. We visited a couple of nearby wineries (more about that later), meandered through the Noon Whistle Pottery, and took the 5-minute walking tour of the town. But that’s all we really needed. We enjoyed dinner in the restaurant of the inn, where the innkeepers do most of the cooking, serving up mostly Southern comfort foods with a slightly gourmet touch. We ate till our buttons popped (enormous portions of tender pot roast and braised pork shank), and then were able to just hoist ourselves upstairs to bed.

Our room, the "Jefferson":

The lovely dining room:

Full breakfast in the morning. More diner than gourmet, but filling:

Here's an example of one of the more quirky pieces:

View of not much from the 2nd floor balcony:

The Noon Whistle Pottery:

Another local business:

Stanardsville streetscape:

Hello 909 Saloon, Goodbye Beijing

2011-01-03T11:25:00.005-05:00

We’d been waiting for months for the opening of a number of new restaurants downtown. Huck’s never made it and Foodē is still “coming soon,” but a couple of weeks ago, the 909 Saloon finally opened its doors at 909 Caroline St., in the space formerly occupied by Basil’s. We’d been watching its progress all fall, and had gotten a preview one day when we peered in and were invited on a little private tour. And finally, on a downtown walk last week, the place was open and we stopped in for a drink.

The decor looks like it was designed specifically for my demographic: the walls are filled with photos, posters and album covers of iconic musicians, mostly 60’s and 70’s rockers. The restaurant area is pretty tiny, but in the back, they’ve carved out a small music venue where another shop in the Galleria used to be, where they plan to host musical acts on a regular basis.

The place is owned by Brian Hyland, formerly of J. Brian’s (some of the art will be familiar to long-time customers of J. Brian’s), and the menu is similar: soups, salads, sandwiches and bar fare, but I expect it will all be pretty well done, if the soups we sampled were any indication. We had a “cup” each (really, a pretty good sized bowl) of their black bean soup and chili, and both were very good (I recommend the black bean). They had a relatively small selection of beers, but the ambiance was right up my alley. I expect it will be a go-to place for us when we’re downtown, and I’m hoping it strikes a chord with lots of other F’burgers as well.

In sad news for us, our favorite Chinese restaurant, Beijing on Rt. 3 West, closed its doors at the end of the year. We considered this our “neighborhood” place, since it was only a short drive from home, and it had been a regular stop for our family. Over the many years we’d been going, we had come to know the family, shared the progress of our kids as they grew up, and enjoyed the warm welcome, good food, and wonderful memories we experienced there. I know the recession has hit many restaurants hard, but I always expected that such an established and popular restaurant could weather the storm. We wish the De family all the best in the future, and will hold out hope that we may see them back in business again somewhere.

Prince William Forest Park

2010-11-18T22:12:00.012-05:00

We had our first-ever camping encounter back in the late 1970’s, when a friend introduced us to the notion on an overnight trip to Prince William Forest Park. I remember we bought a Montgomery Ward’s pup tent for the occasion, and that breakfast came from a Dunkin’ Donuts in Triangle. After that, we took quite a few car-camping trips, and even a few backbacking excursions, but once the kids came along, we could never get them all that interested in spending unplugged time with their parents in the woods. Our camping equipment sat on a basement shelf for over a decade, but this year (after a couple of good experiences camping at bluegrass festivals), we decided to dust off the gear and give camping another try with a simple overnight trip back to PWFP.

The park is lovely: 15,000 forested acres, with a bicycle-friendly scenic drive of over 20 miles, and 37 miles of well-maintained hiking trails. And it’s incredibly close to home, just a 45 min. trip up the interstate, perfect for an overnight trip.

Scenic drive through the park:

Stop at the Visitor Center to pick up your parking pass ($5) and check out the displays on the park's history:

The campground is tucked at the very back of the park, about 5 miles from the Visitor Center at the park’s entrance. There are 100 pristine campsites, some close to the small paved loop road, some farther back. Of the three sections, one is reserved for tents only, and while RV’s are allowed in two sections, there are no hook-ups and no generators allowed, which keeps things pretty quiet (well, except for the occasional barking dog or squealing child). We had such a good time that we took three overnight trips this fall, all in the space of one month, and had wonderful experiences each time.

One of the campsites on the C loop:

The more we camped, the easier it got. I tweaked the packing list, we kept most of the little stuff all together in a large plastic bin, ready to go at a moment’s notice, and we fine-tuned our menu. Because we’re retired, we were able to go without much prior planning (just a check of the weather to make sure there was no rain in the forecast), and to go on weekdays, when the park is quietest. We figured out which tent-sites were our favorites (back from the road, with fire rings rather than grills), and got practiced enough that we could erect our tent in about five minutes.

Our campsite, tucked back in the woods:

Our trip in early October was so much fun that we went back a few weeks later, and then did a third trip just last week, when we had the park almost to ourselves. Our routine was pretty much the same on all three trips: set up camp, hike for an hour or two, eat lunch, and then spend the rest of the afternoon tending our campfire, reading, playing a little backgammon, cooking dinner over the fire, toasting a few marshmallows, and then trying very hard to stay up to an hour late enough that it could, by some stretch of the imagination, be called bedtime.

A hike down to Quantico Creek...

followed by an afternoon of reading by the fire (coincidentally, I'm reading When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris).

We've perfected the campfire dinner: sausages on the grill, some homemade potato salad, good beer.

We found the whole experience to be very soothing, almost meditative. I suspect it’s a combination of being outdoors in a serene natural environment, and being completely cut off from technology. No TV to watch, no email to write, no Facebook to check. And a phone too dumb to help me out with any of it. Plus there’s something about tending a fire, with the rhythmic movement of the flames, the smoky smell, the crackles and pops, that I found addicting. The fall is the perfect time for camping, with relatively few bugs, and temperatures cool enough to enjoy a fire.

This week, the tents-only section closed down for the winter and won’t reopen until April 15, although the other two sections remain open through the year. But I think we’ll stow the gear away for awhile, and look forward to our next trip in the spring.

Rally to Restore Sanity

2010-10-31T14:22:00.009-04:00

I’m a big fan of both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. I watch their shows whenever they’re on, or as long as I can keep my eyes open. So I was excited about their “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” coming to D.C. Ordinarily, I would stay away from something that promised to be a logistical nightmare: the traffic tie-ups, the lack of parking, the overcrowded Metro, the hordes of people. But when I had the opportunity to join a chartered bus of Fredericksburgers, I decided I couldn’t pass up the adventure.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. There wasn’t much advance publicity about what the show would actually entail. I wasn’t sure if the crowd would be so big that I wouldn’t be able to see or hear much. But as it turns out, I had a fantastic time. The ride up was easy, we were dropped off within a short walk of the mall, and from the outset, the crowd was in good spirits, with plenty of creative signs and funny costumes on display. We maneuvered our way within one Jumbotron of the stage, where we could hear and see perfectly well. And the show was a lot of fun: doing the wave with a couple hundred thousand people, jumping in unison, listening to some good music, and enjoying a solid Stewart/Colbert comedy show. Best of all, everyone around us seemed to be very relaxed, just there to enjoy a good time--no stress, no problems.

I don’t think this rally is going to change the tenor of political discourse in our country (but wouldn’t that be nice?). But I was happy to go and be counted, to enjoy the laughs and the camaraderie of friends and strangers, to meet and chat with some new people, and to enjoy the experience of the peaceable gathering.

In his closing words, Jon sums up the point of the rally very eloquently.

Our bus arrives near the Mall:

Gathering before showtime:

The trees were the perfect perch, even for Santa:

Just a couple of typical rally-goers:

My favorite sign:

Virginia State Fair

2010-10-07T15:27:00.019-04:00

I’ve been in love with the Fredericksburg Fair since I moved to the area (and by “in love,” I mean in the way you love your goofy, embarrassing yet ultimately endearing uncle), but I’d never been to the state fair. But a couple of years ago, the fair moved from Richmond to Doswell, conveniently located about a 45 min. drive from home, so I decided the time was right for a visit.

The state fair was actually smaller than I expected. Larger than the local fair, but somehow I was expecting some huge, ten-times-as-big extravaganza like I’ve seen in movies. Maybe that’s true of the state fairs in places like Minnesota, Texas and Iowa, but Virginia’s is definitely a more modest event. Still, it was worth the trip for the agricultural area alone, definitely my favorite part. Here the animal exhibits were more varied than what I see at the Fredericksburg fair, with the usual cows, chickens, rabbits and goats, but also pigeons, guinea pigs, and alpacas, plus baby animals of all kinds, including calves, piglets, lambs, goslings, and freshly-hatched chicks. The exhibit halls were much more spacious and less smelly than the local fair. And there was plenty of educational information on animal husbandry, a variety of crops, and produced-in-Virginia products.

The sheep judging:

Mama and baby cow:

Mama pig gets no rest:

We watched baby chicks hatching:

A lot of pumpkin:

With the exception of a fairly nice quilt show (nothing ground-breaking, though), the arts & crafts hall was the same exact collection of frankly amateurish stuff you see at the local fair. Somehow I figured if a fair draws from a much larger area, the quality would be much better, but not really. And fairs have so many different categories (not just “photography” but “adult black & white photography, floral” not to be confused with “adult black & white photography, garden”), with first, second, third place and honorable mentions awarded, that the craft hall is littered with ribbons.

Lots of mediocre crafts, with plenty of ribbons:

Some very nice chainsaw carving:

The commercial vendors were the usual assortment of products I’m unlikely to purchase at all, let alone from a pitchman hawking his wares from a booth at the fair. Does anyone really make a high-priced purchase or choose a contractor this way? We saw demos for the same “waterless cookware” in at least 3 places, plus vendors of replacement windows, shower liners, hot tubs, sunglasses, footwear, gutter guards, cleaning products, Tupperware, jewelry...all the usual suspects. My favorite was probably the candy corner, where for a few dollars a pound, you could buy every kind of penny candy you wanted, including stuff I hadn’t seen since my childhood (wax soda bottle candy, anyone?).

We didn’t spend the money on a ride ticket (a fairly hefty price tag), but enjoyed strolling the midway, a kaleidoscope of colors, smells and sounds. All of the classic rides were there: Ferris wheels, Tilt-a-Whirl, Scrambler, carousel, tea cups, plus enough newer, more extreme rides to keep everyone happy. I was amazed at the number of “freak show” tents, which seem like such a throwback to an earlier time (and all guaranteed to disappoint) that I’m surprised people are still willing to pay for this type of thing. Plus so much fair food (and not a bite of anything healthy to be found). Maybe years of relatively healthy eating and an appreciation for well-prepared foods has spoiled me, but I don’t find fair food really all that appealing. It smells great, and seems like it would be such a treat, but a few bites into that candy apple or funnel cake or deep-fried whatever, and the thrill is gone. Next year, I think I’ll pack a lunch.

Funky food vendors:

I doubt this show actually features a terrifying gorilla girl by any stretch of the imagination:

Pig racing, definitely not PETA-approved:

We spent some time in the Heritage Village, with its emphasis on Virginia history, checked out the lumberjack show, and watched the Chincoteague pony demonstration in one of several large equestrian rings. There were a couple of concert venues with entertainment scheduled throughout the day, and we finished out our fair visit enjoying the Kings of Swing on the festival stage. All in all, we had a lovely day. We may not go every year, but I think we’ll be return visitors.

Via Colori

2010-09-28T21:38:00.016-04:00

This past weekend, we checked out the city’s first annual Via Colori street art festival, an event that brought together artists and performers in a weekend devoted to creating chalk artwork on the street. Unlike most art exhibits, this event focuses on the process, with visitors getting to watch the artists in action. With a slate of performers scheduled on two stages throughout two days, including a rock band, jazz trio, acoustic singers, a magician, and the Rappahannock Pops Orchestra, plus a number of food vendors, the festival was a lively celebration of arts in the community. The event was a fundraiser for the Fredericksburg Arts Commission, with donors paying a fee to sponsor an artist’s square.

Featured artist Curtis Goldstein at work on Saturday morning...

and here is his work at the end of the day:

Many artists used a grid system to enlarge their artwork from a small sketch to street-size:

Some artists worked more loosely:

I love this happy cow:

There were several works that included the Rappahannock River train trestle:

Despite a great start on Saturday, the festival was cut short by rain on Sunday morning, and the rest of the event cancelled. But by midday, the sun was shining, so we headed back downtown to see if any of the artists had returned to finish their work. We were happy to find lots of folks walking around looking at the rain-washed, but still visible artwork, and several artists back at work on their squares.

Signature artist Gabriel Pons returned on Sunday to finish his large-scale piece:

I'm sorry the artist didn't get to finish this version of Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring." It's striking nonetheless.

The rain couldn't diminish the beauty of this piece:

I’m hoping Via Colori catches on, with greater attendance, and more participants and sponsorship each year. I’m also hoping next year brings drier weather.

Into the Woods at Riverside

2010-09-07T23:02:00.004-04:00

Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods has been one of my favorite musicals ever since I saw a filmed performance of the Broadway show on public television, and I’ve listened to the Broadway soundtrack dozens of times. So I was thrilled when a friend was cast in a starring role as the witch in Riverside Dinner Theater’s production of the musical, and was excited to see the show last weekend.

The story weaves a number of traditional fairy tales together into a classic quest fable. But it’s not really a children’s story, certainly not appropriate for very young children. After the “happily ever afters” of Act I, the story explores what happens when reality intrudes on the happy endings, wishes that once seemed so simple become complicated, and decisions can have painful consequences.

I thought the Riverside troupe did an amazing job. I have to admit that when I heard the opening notes, the first “Once upon a time” spoken by the narrator, the “I wish...” of the first song, I was delighted, because it matched the soundtrack perfectly. In fact, because Riverside uses recorded music, there’s no slightly amateurish orchestra to distract from the songs. Every singer was first rate...not a weak voice in the bunch. I met up with several friends who’ve seen many Riverside performances, and learned that this isn’t always the case. They all agreed that this show is one of the finest musical productions they’d seen there. Inventive set design and lovely costuming were a bonus.

So if you’ve never been to the Riverside Dinner Theater, this show is the perfect one to try. For me, this was my first return after attending a couple of shows over 10 years ago, and it’s still true that the evening is more theater than dinner, so don’t go expecting a fine dining experience. But while the food is merely adequate, the show is a real treat, and well worth the price of admission. Into the Woods runs through Sept. 19; for ticket info, visit the theater's website.

Photo: Culpeper Star Exponent

Three Short Restaurant Reviews

2010-08-25T18:41:00.007-04:00

In the last month or so, we’ve tried 3 new restaurants (well, new to us). I didn’t bring my camera or take notes, but here are some quick impressions.

Bavarian Chef: We loved this place. Great German food, but with a cheffy flair. Pretty expensive, but good value, because the portions are very large. Excellent service, tasty entrees, nice variety of sides (especially loved the red cabbage). The old train station is elegant, and the vintage German travel posters added a nice touch. The place lacks coziness, and the acoustics are lousy, but no matter. This one goes on the regular rotation.

Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grill: We made the mistake of trying this restaurant on a Saturday night when the Redskins were playing. The place was packed, and we got stuck in the bar where the service was slow. The food was fine, but unless you want to watch sports and drink beer with your buddies, don’t bother. There are many other restaurants with similar food (The Fredericksburg Pub in the same part of the mall, or Ruby Tuesday, Red Robin, Applebees, etc.) but without that wallpapered-in-televisions ambience.

The Melting Pot: We went because we had a coupon (otherwise it can be very expensive), and I was surprised that the place was pretty full—I had no idea it was so popular. The decor is lovely, booths are all mostly very private, and the service was good. We started with a cheese fondue. I used to make cheese fondue regularly, and this one was nothing special. Then we got a mixed platter of meats and seafood with a few veggies to be cooked in oil, accompanied by some batters and sauces for dipping. Finally, a very sweet chocolate fondue, into which you dip equally sweet bites of cake and marshmallow, plus a few fruits. The whole concept of a fondue restaurant is interesting and different, and I can see how for a date, it’s a good conversation starter. But for me, the bottom line is that for my entree, they bring me a bunch of raw meat and make me cook it myself. I’m supposed to time it (no timer is supplied), so you’re either looking at your watch or taking your chances. I want a professional to cook my dinner and be creative. If you go, it’s for the experience, not the food. Not my cup of tea.

Monticello, Behind the Scenes

2010-08-12T10:50:00.014-04:00

This week, I had the pleasure of accompanying two good friends to Monticello to take advantage of the new “behind the scenes” tour. The last time I visited was about 15 years ago, and since then, the historic site has undergone major renovations, including the construction of a new $43 million visitor center that opened last year that includes a gallery, a theater, a discovery center, and a large gift shop (one of two on the property, because you just can't have enough souvenirs).

We started our day in the theater, watching the new video, Thomas Jefferson's World, which stresses the importance of freedom as the main theme of Jefferson’s work, tries hard to reconcile Jefferson’s ideals with his dependence on his “enslaved workers” (and for me, fails), and works its way all the way up to the inauguration of Barack Obama.

Our $37 behind-the-scenes ticket gave us access to the private second-floor bedrooms occupied by Jefferson’s extended family (mainly daughter Martha and her 11 children), and to the interior of the third-floor dome, complete with attic space. You climb up the very narrow staircases (the only ones in the house) to reach the upper floors, where unlike in the large rooms of the main floor, you are allowed to take photos. While much of the main floor is devoted to Jefferson’s social life, personal pursuits, and clever gadgets, the upper floors focus on Jefferson’s lively family life.

After our look at the upper levels, we joined the hoi polloi for the main house tour, and spent the rest of the afternoon roaming the grounds, checking out the gardens, and visiting Jefferson’s grave. We ended the day back in the gallery at the visitor center, where more details of the estate’s architecture are revealed. We could have used another hour or so to really explore every nook and cranny of the grounds and all of the exhibits and displays at the visitor center, but our time and stamina on this hot summer day just gave out.

The behind-the-scenes tour is given twice daily, at 10:30 and 2:30. Advance tickets are highly recommended, and can be ordered online. These tours will be available until Oct. 31. For more info, check out monticello.org.

One of the very narrow staircases in the home:

Peering down at visitors from a second floor bedroom:

Inside the dome:

Attic space off the dome room:

View from one of the dome room windows:

One of several skylights:

View from the garden side:

Gallery space at the visitor center:

The new visitor center is beautifully landscaped:

Summer Music in the Air

2010-07-05T14:46:00.004-04:00

Many towns across the country have outdoor summer concerts, and Fredericksburg holds its own against any of them, just one of the many things I love about this town. Despite funding cutbacks for the libraries and arts this year, there still manages to be lots of summer music in the air in Fredericksburg. On Saturday night, we caught the first Bluemont concert of the summer (a shortened schedule due to financial constraints) featuring legendary bluegrass banjoist Bill Emerson and Sweet Dixie (above). The group played a mix of contemporary and classic bluegrass, and the performance was a real treat. Next Saturday, we’ll be back to hear Furnace Mountain, for what sounds like a quirky mix of fiddle, bouzouki, bass, mandolin and washtub in what the band's website refers to as "ethno Appalachian roots music." This year, the Bluemont concerts are being held in the shade on the Kenmore St. side of Maury Field, so bring a blanket or chair, because there’s no bleacher seating.

We’re also regulars at Monday night’s Music on the Library Steps, where next Monday we’ll hear the always-entertaining Company Store Band. Despite serious library cutbacks, the Friends of the Library have managed to keep this concert series alive. We’ve also checked out the Thursday night concert series at the Village at Spotsylvania Towne Centre (is that enough misplaced e’s for you?), which continues presenting local musicians through the end of July (6-9 p.m., sponsored by B101). The crowd was non-existent on the night we went, but it was the first of the series (featuring Pete Mealy and Laurie Rose Griffith), so I’m hoping it’s picked up some momentum as more people hear about it. And at First Fridays this past weekend, we stopped and listened to the music in Market Square (Pete and Laurie again, but I never get tired of listening to them), sponsored by the Fredericksburg Area Museum monthly throughout the summer. The free concert begins at 7:00 pm and ends at 10:00 pm.—bring a chair if you plan to stay awhile. Add to that the monthly Finally Fridays concerts on Sophia Street, the lunchtime concerts at Hurkamp Park on Tuesdays in May, June and September, outdoor performances by the Rappahannock Pops Orchestra, the concerts at Celebrate Virginia, performances by the Fredericksburg Community Concert Band, just to name the ones I can think of off the top of my head, and you can see that you don’t have to go very long between outdoor summer concerts in the burg.

Bravo! Cucina Italiana

2010-06-15T10:54:00.012-04:00

We’d seen this Italian restaurant under construction in the new section of the Spotsy mall called the “Village at Towne Centre.” My expectations weren’t high—it’s yet another “plastic menu” chain. With an exterior that looks like it would be at home on Disneyland’s Main Street. And then there’s that annoying exclamation point in the name. And I’d read somewhere that it wasn’t as good as Carrabba’s. But in celebration of their grand opening, we got a coupon in the mail, and I can’t resist a coupon, so we decided to check the place out last Sunday.

Low expectations must be a plus, because we were very pleasantly surprised at how good the food was. The service was excellent (thank you, Andrew), and the menu had a lot of variety. We generally like Carrabba’s, and were expecting something along those lines. Which Bravo is. But I prefer the ambiance of Bravo’s spacious dining room, with tables and booths that afford more privacy than the jam-packed Carrabba’s.

It's still a chain (although a very small one, with only 35 locations), so you're not going to get innovative chef's specials. And a good food critic would visit a restaurant several times before passing judgement, so this review might be premature. But we had a lovely time (the inexpensive bottle of wine we consumed helped, I'm sure), it didn't cost us a fortune, and we'll definitely go back again.

Here's the "Flatbread Roma" we shared, in lieu of the pricier appetizers. It was crispy and delicious.

In front is the seafood risotto, and in back is the grilled scallops over potato gnocchi. The herb bread is forgettable, and I hate the dishes with the goofy logo, but the entrees were tasty.

Happy cooks are a good sign, no?

Wolfe Street Gardens

2010-06-12T12:22:00.020-04:00

About twice a week during nice weather, my husband and I head downtown for a walk. The neighborhoods of downtown Fredericksburg are at their best this time of year, with everyone’s gardens in bloom. And many downtowners take their landscaping very seriously. I’m not much of a gardener, and my property is entirely shaded, so even when I’m lucky enough to be able to grow some woodland plants, there’s not much color there. So I love the sunny little gardens of downtown. Even among the front yards that are postage stamp tiny, you’ll find many that are chock-full of blooms. This past week, we paid special attention to the yards on Wolfe Street, between Caroline and Spottswood.

The first garden is at the corner of Princess Anne. The gardener is hard at work at the center. From there, it was just a few steps to the next garden, where every square inch of front yard was filled with hydrangea and daylilies (also at top).

A tiny side garden:

I can't resist a white picket fence:

Near the end of the block, close to Spottswood.

Wolfe Street is home to the Wegner Metal Arts Foundry & Gallery, between Kenmore and Jackson, where the block gets more industrial.

I couldn't pass up this truck in a parking lot off Wolfe. I've never given much thought to horse's teeth, but now I'm wondering if there are cow dentists and pig dentists and goat dentists, too.

Trader Joe's

2010-05-25T10:41:00.013-04:00

Last week, a couple of girlfriends and I took the second in a series of road trips to Richmond to shop at Trader Joe’s. Joe’s is a different kind of shopping experience. The first time I stumbled upon one, by myself, I was a bit confused by the seemingly random selection of products. With experienced friends by my side for a little orientation, I got into the swing of it. It’s not really the kind of supermarket where you could do your weekly shopping. Instead, its claim to fame is specialty and gourmet foods, natural and organic foods, environmentally friendly products, and a great wine shop. There’s also a huge selection of Trader Joe’s store brand items, and the ones I’ve sampled have been excellent. And prices are surprisingly low.

The vibe at Trader Joe’s is decidedly anti-corporate. It feels like the kind of store your aging hippie friends would open (not to be confused with your deadly serious, all-too-earnest, strictly vegan, gluten-free friends). Maybe it’s the small size, or the hand-written signs, or the gray-haired men with ponytails who work there. And I understand that marketing has a lot to do with this—this is exactly the impression Trader Joe’s is trying to achieve: that they are the socially-conscious, eco-friendly, all-natural “little guy.” In reality, they are as corporate as any other supermarket chain. Still, it’s a fun place to shop, and I wish there were one in Fredericksburg.

Plenty of fair trade coffee, of course.

And now you know where to go to get your organic blue agave.

A good selection of thoroughly drinkable $4 wine.

Here are my Trader Joe's goodies. Love their "Better'n Peanut Butter" (lower cal & fat) and their chipotle salsa, but my favorite product is the orange muscat champagne vinegar. Mixed with nothing but olive oil, it makes a delicious, refreshing vinaigrette.

Flashback

2010-01-28T14:38:00.008-05:00

Thanks to Dan's comment on my previous post, I dug out some old photos I took of downtown Fredericksburg, circa 1981. Here's a shot of the back of the store Dan mentioned, Lowery & Cox. I guess guns really do go with everything.

The old Victoria Theater on Caroline, now the back entrance of the Fredericksburg Baptist Church.

Shelton's Shoe Repair. You don't see that many shoe repair places around these days, now that shoes are considered disposable.

Some things don't change that much, after all. Crismond's Shoes is still at its original spot on Caroline Street. Parker's Barber Shop is where Basil's is now (or was, since Basil's recently closed down). Two doors to the right is the old Colonial Theater, now "The Galleria." According to the poster, they were showing Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams. I don't know what the occasion was, but bluegrass on a flatbed truck on Caroline Street, courtesy of Picker's Supply, has to be a good thing.

Getaway

2010-01-16T13:18:00.022-05:00

To celebrate our birthdays and anniversary (three events that fall on two consecutive days, and which is increasingly being called the “birthversary”), my husband and I had our traditional annual inn outing. This year, we decided to return to L’Auberge Provencale, an inn outside of Winchester that we visited more than a few years ago. Our plan was to stop at a couple of wineries on the way there on Sunday (the best part about retirement is the flexible scheduling), and visit Winchester on Monday, which we remembered had a charming and historic downtown, not unlike Fredericksburg, but with a pedestrian mall that made strolling all the more pleasant.

We chose to stop at two wineries in Delaplane, Barrel Oak and Three Fox. The beautiful countryside surrounding the wineries is barren this time of year, and still covered with dirty snow from our pre-Christmas snowstorm. But we enjoyed the wine tastings, and came home with a couple of bottles, plus 4 new souvenir wine glasses to help replenish our dwindling supply (I’ve lost quite a few to a simple knock against the kitchen faucet).

Barrel Oak Winery has only been open a year, but has a lovely rustic beamed tasting room, with comfy seating where you can enjoy a bottle of wine and a light meal.

But really, visiting wineries is just a way to kill time until check-in. L’Auberge Provencale is at the top of my list of favorite Virginia inns, and we loved every minute of our stay. On a dead-of-winter Sunday night, we were the only overnight guests, so were lucky to get an upgrade to one of the most expensive suites. But the real highlight of the inn is the amazing French restaurant, where we splurged (and it was a big splurge) on an incredible multi-course prix fixe meal, featuring an amuse bouche, first course, second course, intermezzo, third course and dessert. Definitely one of the best meals we’ve ever eaten, with each course an artful layering of components. Plus more shaved truffles in one meal than I’ve eaten in my entire life. Then in the morning, you wake up to another multi-course meal, enough food to last till dinnertime. We don’t take this kind of trip often, but it’s something we look forward to for months. And it’s a lovely way to cap off the craziness of the holiday season, with this one little getaway just for us.

Taking photos at dinner is a tad intrusive, so I only brought my camera to breakfast, where my husband and I were alone in the sunny dining room, and where these luscious baked pears were just the first course of our morning meal.

I'm a sucker for poofy linens.

We had a sitting room with an array of reading materials. Am I the only one who thinks "Garden & Gun" is an odd combination of hobbies?

On Monday, we left the inn and headed into Winchester for our downtown stroll. Where we discovered things were pretty quiet, mainly because 1. it’s the dead of winter (did I mention that already?), 2. Monday is the day many small shops are closed, and 3. downtown Winchester is experiencing an economic downturn (like everywhere else), with many empty storefronts. The town definitely shows better in warm weather. The 83rd Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, scheduled for April 23-May 2, might be the perfect time for another day trip.

Winchester's empty pedestrian mall on a cold Monday.

We were much too full from breakfast to enjoy a Snow White burger, but this is tops on my list for our next visit.

Winchester has many lovely old homes, like this architectural wonder.

An early military office of George Washington's is preserved as a museum in Winchester. Closed for the season. Of course.

And finally, I have to end with a couple of public restroom shots. I have a penchant for a well-designed public restroom, and am particularly fond of the new trend towards artful basins: the shallow ones, the square ones, the oddly angled ones (check out the women's room at the new Firebirds Grill at the Spotsy mall). Here's the faucet at Barrel Oak Winery, designed to look like an old fashioned pump:

And while the all-automatic, hands-off public restroom is becoming more common, this was the first time I've seen this hands-off door handle, seen in the first floor restroom of Winchester's City Hall:

December Wrap-Up

2009-12-31T10:30:00.017-05:00

We experienced a traditional Fredericksburg holiday season this year: the downtown merchants’ open house, the Jaycees’ Christmas parade, holiday concerts, a church pageant, and too much time stuck in traffic on Rt. 3. Best downtown store decorations this year have to go to "A Place in Time" (photos above and below) which is so jam-packed with Christmas decor that it's almost impossible to actually shop.

Our best musical discovery of the season was the Stafford Regional Handbell Society. We caught their performance at the Spotsy Mall (do I ever have to call it the Towne Center?), and these young ringers were a treat to hear. I've joined the budding handchime choir at my church, so I can appreciate the work that goes into their concert. Next year, we'll try to catch their performance at Mount Ararat Baptist Church in North Stafford and avoid the noise and lousy acoustics of the mall.

And this month, we discovered a few new things on our strolls through town. Colonial Cupcakes finally opened, with its staff dressed in full colonial costume (bet the teenagers behind the counter love that uniform). We brought home a couple of samples, the key lime and the red velvet.

The Bella Italia market next to Castiglia’s opened in time for Christmas, a thrilling development for an Italian American like me. For our Christmas buffet, we stocked up on wonderful cheeses and sausage, plus a giant, but light panettone covered in confectioner’s sugar that we referred to as “Sugar Mountain.” (For the culinary purist, it was technically a pandoro, a similar bread also traditionally served at Christmas, but without the dried fruit.) They also have take-out specialities including homemade pasta, lots of deli meats, and Italian grocery items. I highly recommend a visit.

But for me, the most exciting change is that Virginia’s new restaurant anti-smoking law went into effect, where smoking sections now have to be completely separate areas, with their own ventilation system. A few of Fredericksburg’s oldest restaurants, like the Battlefield Restaurant across from the Park Service Visitor Center and the Rec Center on William St., went completely smoke free (a recent walk past the Rec Center found a cluster of smokers right in front of the entrance, huddled over the standing ashtray). I was so excited about returning to the main room at Sammy T’s, but the staff there was adamant that the restaurant was going to keep its arrangement of smoking in the big front room, no smoking in the little separate back room. I kept calling to see if they had changed their minds, but kept getting the same answer. So I was surprised and delighted that in mid-December, I finally saw this sign:

Better late than never.

(UPDATE: After seeing Emily's comment that as of late Dec. the arrangement at Sammy T's hadn't actually changed, I just called and was told that the management changed their minds, and the front room will continue to be the smoking room. I'm so disappointed. Not that they will care, but there are plenty of other non-smoking dining rooms in Fredericksburg to enjoy, so I won't be going back.)

The other noteworthy December news in town was the big snow. So many photos have been posted of the foot-plus accumulation that I don’t need to add much to the mix. I’ll just leave you with this photo from my front yard, where the snow reached 14 inches, a record December snowfall for this area.

Tonight, I'll kick up my heels at a New Year's Eve party and think about the freezing First Nighters downtown as we all wish 2009 a fond farewell. I'm looking forward to 2010...hope it's a good year for all of us.

Straight Razor Shave

2009-11-27T18:21:00.008-05:00

My grown son has recently become fascinated by the idea of straight razor shaving. He has researched the tools, watched how-to videos, and begun saving for a high quality straight razor kit. The only thing missing is that he had never actually had a straight razor shave. To me, the idea of investing in pricey straight razor equipment without ever having had the shave was a bit like buying golf clubs without ever having been golfing. So while he was home for Thanksgiving vacation, I decided to treat him to a straight razor shave in a traditional barber shop.

Now Fredericksburg is a historic town with many old timey barber shops. But when I started to call around, I had a hard time finding someone who offered the service. I kept getting the same answer...no one does that anymore. Not even the guy who’s been in business for 65 years. And searching the internet didn’t yield anything promising, until I came across an old forum in which someone mentioned a straight razor shave at a place near the mall. A little more searching turned up a gem of a place, “Village Square Barber & Hair” in the Village Square shopping center across from Costco.

So this afternoon, I accompanied my son to check it out. I could really see the appeal of this place. Men were getting classic haircuts, and everyone was treated to a soothing neck massage by the pretty young women who staffed the place. While there were a couple of women in the waiting area, and one holding a squirmy toddler for his first haircut, all the customers were men. Men’s magazines in the waiting area, and football on the wall-mounted TVs. My son got the full treatment he was looking for: hot steamy towel to soften the beard, an expert shave, a massage of after-shave, and a dusting of powder. All for $11. It was (literally) the closest shave of his life, and when he was done, his skin felt like it did before he hit puberty. While I’m sure there will be a straight razor in his future, at least now he understands the deft, experienced hand it takes to do it right. So this will give him something to shoot for while he’s hacking up his face.

And the point of this blog post is simply that when someone googles “Where can I get a straight razor shave in Fredericksburg?,” the answer will be here waiting for them.

River Hike

2009-11-11T09:31:00.011-05:00

The fall weather has been perfect for some hiking, and in recent weeks, we’ve explored a couple of paths along the Rapphannock River. If you start from the small parking area across from the canoe rental place at the bottom of the Fall Hill Ave. hill, there is a wide trail that leads along the river heading west. My kind of hiking—easy. Plus lots of scenic views of the river. You pass the site of the now-demolished Embrey Dam and eventually wind your way under the I-95 river crossing to...voila!...the site of the old quarry swimming hole. I used to hear stories from the locals about swimming here, but never knew precisely where it was. Tales (exaggerated?) of teenage exploits that included jumping off the quarry’s high cliff walls into the small lake were legendary. To get to the quarry swimming hole, you pass a lot of “no trespassing” signs, but my understanding is that as long as you are just quietly walking the trail, you’ll be okay. Swimming at the quarry (oldtimers’ stories notwithstanding) can be dangerous (a UMW student drowned a few years ago), and is strictly verboten.

Site of the old Embrey Dam, with marker naming this section of the river the "John W. Warner Rapids" (because politicians can't get enough recognition).

Nice wide path for easy hiking.

I-95 bridge.

Another quarry view.

Midwest Road Trip

2009-10-20T11:59:00.028-04:00

Downtown Lawrence, KS

In August, my son moved to Lawrence, Kansas for grad school at KU. We gave him a few months to settle in, and then thought the fall would be the perfect time for a visit. So in early October, we headed out for a 9 day road trip halfway across the country. Other than a few trips to California and Chicago (all by air), I’ve never been off the east coast. In fact, I’ll admit that I’ve been very east coast-centric all my life, never giving the Midwest much thought. Well, we had a wonderful trip, and now I’ve become completely enamored of America's heartland. The landscape is picturesque, the roads and cities are uncongested, the pace is slower, the towns are charming, the people are friendly...what’s not to like?

Heading west on I-64 is nothing like heading north on I-95, a trip I’ve taken way too many times. Midwestern friends thought I might find the drive west boring. Not even close. You drive the northeast corridor a few times, take a few trips through New Jersey, try to navigate in and around NYC, and then let’s talk about boring. The drive west was scenic and serene, from the mountain views in West Virginia, to the green rolling hills of Kentucky and southern Indiana, across the bucolic farmlands of southern Illinois and Missouri into Kansas, and there were stretches of road where we hardly saw other cars. Ten hours north is grueling; 10 hours west is pleasant.

The "boring" interstate through Kentucky:

People talk about Midwesterners as being particularly friendly. I think I figured out why. They are getting more sleep than we east coasters are. Midway through Indiana, Central time wraps you in its warm embrace, and suddenly, prime time TV starts at 7 pm, and you can watch the Daily Show and Colbert and still get to bed by 11. What a luxury. Come on, east coasters...how can we make that happen here?

I've heard Lawrence called the "blue dot" of red state Kansas, but the overwhelming sense I got there was not of liberal politics, but of the domination of the Jayhawk, that mythical bird once used to describe militant 19th century abolitionists. No matter where you go in Lawrence, you can't escape the KU Jayhawk:

KU has a beautiful campus. Here's some typical architecture:

Pretty fountain in the middle of campus:

We made it to Lawrence in 2 easy days of driving, and spent 2 full days in Kansas, with a day trip to nearby Kansas City. We took our time coming home, with stops in St. Louis, MO and Louisville, KY for some sightseeing. Our goal was to eat barbecue in Kansas City, hear some blues in St. Louis, and drink some bourbon in Louisville. Check, check and check.

In Kansas City, we visited the riverfront (the Missouri River), checked out the city market, and went to the excellent Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and adjacent Jazz Museum. But the highlight was our visit to the iconic Arthur Bryant's, established in 1908, and considered by some to be the most famous barbecue joint in America:

Lots o' meat. And white bread. And greasy fries.

Next stop, St. Louis. The Midwest is land of big rivers. I was excited to get my first glimpse of the Mississippi, although in St. Louis, it’s more industrial than picturesque.

Of course, the arch is the big highlight. Here's a view of the arch, the old courthouse, and a cool fountain:

How many photos of the arch do you need to see? Because I've got plenty more:

We spent some time under the arch at the Museum of Westward Expansion, visited the old courthouse where the Dred Scott case was first heard, and visited the renovated Union Station ( just like D.C.!). Here's the front of the station with the famous Milles Fountain.

St. Louis has lots of parks and fountains. In a city park, we came upon an exhibit of sculptures, including this giant head...

and this water feature:

Our trip to St. Louis included an evening spent at Beale on Broadway, a great music venue where we heard the dynamic Kim Massie, arguably St. Louis's best blues/R&B singer. After two nights in St. Louis, we headed for Louisville on the banks of the Ohio River:

Louisville's riverfront plaza:

One of Louisville's claims to fame is the ornate cast iron architecture of Main Street:

We toured downtown, and stopped in at the Louisville Slugger bat factory and museum:

Before heading home, we drove down to Loretto, KY, to take the tour of the Maker's Mark distillery and complete the BBQ, blues and bourbon trifecta.

We just scratched the surface of the surface of these cities, and are planning to go back each year, taking in more sights, and trying other routes. I leave you with a last look of just one more reason why our Midwest trip was so satisfying: it's the home of White Castle. Reason enough to go.

Maryland Renaissance Festival

2009-09-28T17:34:00.014-04:00

The only Renaissance fairs I’ve been to have been the local ones, first on Rt. 3E in Stafford, and lately at the Lake Anna Winery. But on Saturday, we were invited to join friends who were going to spend the day at the Maryland Renaissance Festival near Annapolis, and we were thrilled to go along. The Maryland festival is one of the largest in the country, covering 25 acres, big enough to need a map...a veritable English Tudor amusement park. There are ten stages with acts going on continuously throughout the day, over 100 little shops, dozens of food vendors, and five taverns.

Little Tudor-style shops and stands lined the lanes:

One of the festival stages:

We spent nine hours there, and still didn’t manage to see all of the performances and demonstrations. There were musical groups (bagpipes, drummers, Celtic music, madrigals), comedy acts, magicians, a sword swallower (I checked out sword swallowing when I got home, and it’s actually real, although pretty gross to watch), an acrobat/tightrope walker, belly dancers, swordfights, jousting, archery, storytellers...the list goes on. Comedy ruled the day--most of the performers, regardless of the act, kept up a running banter of jokes.

The sword swallower:

The Squire of the Wire:

For me, the people-watching opportunities were priceless. So many visitors wear costumes that you end up wishing you were wearing one, too. And then there’s the suspense of wondering if the tightly laced bodices of the women were going to hold up to the sheer force of the boobage. I kept expecting a major wardrobe malfunction at some point in the day, but those costumes are a marvel of engineering and there was nary a nip slip to be found.

The story line of this year's festival revolved around Henry VIII, on the hunt for his 6th wife, and if you were lucky, you could find Henry and his court roaming the grounds:

The festival is in a lovely wooded setting, and although it was quite crowded and we got a bit of rain, we had a terrific time. Two thumbs up...I highly recommend it. The festival is open from 10 am-7 pm; adult admission is $18. The festival runs weekends from August 29 through October 25. We drove up via Rt. 301 through Maryland, which was a pleasant 2 hour drive.

Now a note about the photos. I snapped pictures all day long, but my old camera had a major meltdown and I lost all of the photos. So the ones accompanying this post were all taken from Google images, mainly photos from the media and wikipedia. I am now in possession of a brand new camera, so I’ll be back to my own photos in the next post.

Yankees in Falmouth

2009-09-22T13:23:00.013-04:00

On Saturday, my husband and I checked out what seems to be becoming an annual Civil War commemoration, the “Yankees in Falmouth.” The Yankees arrived in Falmouth in 1862, and faced gunfire from the Moncure Conway House, but ultimately drove the Confederates across the river into Fredericksburg. Despite the name, both Yankees and Confederates were well represented at the weekend event. We started at the Falmouth Waterfront Park to hear about Civil War artillery and to watch the highlight of the day, shooting off the cannon, a plug-your-ears moment. Definitely a hit with the kids.

Cannoneers at the ready...

...Fire!

This re-enactor explained everything you'd ever want to know about Civil War era artillery and ammunition. One of us found it fascinating:

Then we went across the street to the Conway house, where Civil War campsites were set up in the backyard, and demonstrations were going on throughout the day. As a Unitarian, I’m familiar with Moncure Conway, a noted Southern abolitionist and Unitarian minister, but I never actually knew which Falmouth house was his. The large brick home on River Road is privately owned and not generally open to the public, but for this event, we were invited into the home to see the front hall and living room.

A Confederate campsite:

Vignette of Civil War accoutrements:

A campsite showing the role of women during the war:

Portraits were taken with period cameras:

Is this what they mean when they say "Yankee dog"?

Seasonal Rhythms

2009-09-13T21:23:00.006-04:00

We just got back from our annual beach week in Duck, NC. We’ve been going there for so long that we have our routines down pat. If the sun is shining, we’re on the beach. When the weather turns on us (as it did frequently last week), we go exploring down the beach road or hit up our favorite shopping areas. We know how many books to take, which store has the best selection of jigsaw puzzles, where to get the best seafood for cooking dinners in, how far ahead to make a reservation at our favorite restaurant for eating out. It was a completely relaxing vacation. Kicking back in the same comfortable location year after year is the perfect antidote to the little stresses and issues of life back home, and we’re already planning our 2010 Duck visit.

The neighborhood:

Beach tableau:

My husband and I are creatures of habit. Each season brings the return of favorite activities. In the fall, we look forward to Friday night football, concerts at the college, harvest festivals, and brisk hikes. In the winter, there are a host of holiday events, an inn getaway, and people-watching downtown over a cup of coffee. In the spring, we anticipate UMW baseball games, high school plays, and the Multicultural Fair. Summer brings the return of outdoor concerts at Bluemont and the library, a day spent on a nearby river or lake, maybe a camping trip, and always a beach trip or two. And always, there are walks to take, local plays to see, First Friday gallery openings to attend, and new restaurants to check out.

I’m into my third year of blogging now. I’ve written about all of these seasonal activities, sometimes twice. This feels like a good time to take a step back from blogging these routine outings, and save blogging for times when I do something new, something I haven’t written about before. I anticipate fewer blog entries, but hopefully I’ll still find enough interesting new adventures to check in from time to time.

In the meantime, no matter where you live, I encourage you to enjoy your town’s community events, check out the activities at a nearby college, and see what concerts and plays your local high school is offering. I guarantee you’ll be surprised how much is going on out there.

Mount Vernon

2009-09-04T13:27:00.011-04:00

Here’s yet another nearby major attraction that I’ve somehow missed in the last 31 years of living in Virginia. Kind of like being a New Yorker who’s never been to the Statue of Liberty. (Yes, I’m guilty of that, as well.) At any rate, we decided to spend a few hours at Mount Vernon on our way north for a dinner engagement, and I was really surprised at what a wonderfully presented historic site this is. Which of course is only fitting for the Father of Our Country.

Mount Vernon is a beautifully preserved estate, and additional visitor buildings have been added to the site to tell the complete story of George Washington. The setting overlooking the Potomac River is gorgeous, and is surrounded by green fields and lush woods. Despite its size, the mansion is actually an intimate and relatively un-lavish space, with small rooms all furnished with many original items. I’ve been in quite a few historic homes lately (Kenmore, Montpelier, Ellwood) where there is no furniture, or barely any, and fully furnished rooms really do help transport visitors back in time and give a glimpse into the daily life of the inhabitants. In addition to the house, there are so many other outbuildings and features to see: the kitchen, smokehouse, blacksmith, weaver, slaves’ quarters, stable, coach house, greenhouse, and acres of gardens. But wait, there’s more! There were more outbuildings to see, trails to walk, farm and wharf exhibits to check out, films to watch and museum displays to digest than we could possibly fit into the mere three hours we allotted to the visit. Next time, we’ll plan to spend the whole day there.

The day was absolutely beautiful for walking the grounds (lots of walking), there wasn’t a big crowd, and the $15 admission price seemed fair. If you can stand the drive up I-95 (oh, how we hate I-95), this is a great place to take guests with an interest in history. Which you probably already know.

Martha greets visitors:

The view overlooking the Potomac:

Just a tiny corner of one of the many gardens:

George and Martha's tomb:

The memorial to the Washington family slaves:

George on horseback, just one of several wax figure displays in the education center:

Shop Local(ly)

2009-09-02T16:42:00.003-04:00

I love these Shop Local tote bags. I picked up a bunch of them for $1 each at The Cat’s Closet downtown on Caroline Street (one of the few non-feline items they sell). They’re great for groceries, books, a trip to the Farmer’s Market, or whatever else needs toting, and they eliminate the awkwardness of using one supermarket’s bags at a different supermarket. All purpose, one size fits all. Use them when you shop locally, and display your Fredericksburg pride when you head out of town, too. And by “Shop 22401” I assume we can also imply the importance of stimulating the economy of the entire area by shopping 22407 (my home zip), 22405, 22408, 22553, 22554, and all the other local zips. And I am giving the economic development folks a pass on the bad grammar, which rightfully should say "Shop Locally" but which doesn't fit nearly as nicely on the bag. Happy shopping!

Film Festival

2009-08-27T21:21:00.004-04:00

The Rappahannock Independent Film Festival started today, and continues through the weekend. A young friend of ours was in a short film created by a fellow high schooler, so we went down to the showing at the library tonight to support the local talent. One day, when our friend is a famous actress, I’ll get to tell everyone I knew her when she was in One Time, Me and My Friends Robbed a Store! There was a good crowd in the auditorium, and the fun student film was very well received.

In a case of “these two films don’t match well,” the second film was a powerful and moving full length documentary about the Holocaust in Poland. No. 4 Street of Our Lady tells the story of a Polish Catholic woman who hid 16 Jews in her home for 20 months during the German occupation of Poland during World War II.

We enjoyed the evening so much that we decided we’ll go back on Saturday to see another block of films. Each block runs about 2 hours, ranging from two to eight films, and mixing homegrown efforts with bigger budget films. Admission is $6 a ticket. Check out the website for the full schedule and description of films.

Harrisonburg, Part 2

2009-08-20T17:08:00.014-04:00

We stayed at the Joshua Wilton House until the 11:00 checkout time, when they had to drag me kicking and screaming from the room. Well, almost. We had planned to leave for home after checkout, but then discovered that Tom Principato, a master electric guitarist, would be playing the “Fridays on the Square” concert series on the courthouse lawn. My husband was excited about seeing his concert, so we decided to spend another day in town, essentially killing time until the 7 pm performance.

Our first stop was the Shenandoah Heritage Market, a large building that houses about 20 different vendors. It’s kind of like the Virginia Bazaar, except much, much better. There were two highlights to the visit: first, the Country Canner, featuring jams, preserves, pickles, and relishes of all kinds, (with plenty of free samples) and then Grandma’s Pantry, which specializes in bulk foods (plenty of free samples here, too), including more kinds of grains than I knew existed.

Country Canner:

Grandma's Pantry:

The market was also filled with the usual gifts and collectibles vendors, with not much of interest to me. Except that now, I’m old enough (my 50's) that the collectibles shops are filled with mundane items from my childhood. Look, an Eight O’Clock Coffee tin bank! Look, Barbie dolls that don’t bend at the knee! Look, vinyl record albums! I’m trying very hard not to be the kind of person who goes through these shops pointing and saying, “I had that! And I had that, too!” Most of it really isn’t all that valuable. People who think they’d have a fortune if they’d only saved all their childhood junk won’t end up with a fortune, just a lot of old junk no one really wants. Still, it’s kind of nostalgic to see all this stuff, and I have to admit I was highly tempted by the coffee tin bank.

After the market, we let our GPS guide us to Purcell Park, where we set our ever-present folding chairs under a tree and read for a couple of hours. With still quite a bit of time till the evening’s concert, we decided to head “down the valley” (which is apparently how you describe going north, which is the direction the Shenandoah River flows) to see if we could find the new location of Rt. 11 Chips in Mt. Jackson. We had been to the potato chip factory years ago when it was a tiny home-grown storefront in Middletown, where we remember their small showroom with samples of every flavor of chip they made. And after visiting the Valley Turnpike Museum the day before, we thought a ride down (up?) scenic Rt. 11 would be a good way to pass some time. Well, Rt. 11 Chips are now so popular (you can find them in most of the Fredericksburg supermarkets) that they’ve had to move to a big charmless factory. Hard to find, not even on Rt. 11, and only a few samples to try. We struggled to find the place, and then were disappointed when we did. Nonetheless, we came home with a giant bag of salt and vinegar chips that lasted us about a week:

After dinner at Clementine, a casual bistro restaurant in downtown Harrisonburg, it was concert time. Fridays on the Square is like our Bluemont, except possibly better funded. Tom Principato is an award-winning guitar legend, and he put on a great show. I do believe my husband died and visited heaven for a little while. The weather was beautiful (noticeably cooler out there in the mountains), and by the second set, the crowd was up and dancing. And we bought one of Tom’s CDs for the ride home.

The only downside to visiting the Shenandoah Valley is the ride over the mountains. I’m not keen on twisty mountain roads with insufficient guard rails. I’m really not keen on them in the dark. And the rain. So our late night ride home was nerve-wracking for me. I had to lean back, pull a blanket over my head, and think happy thoughts.

Joshua Wilton House

2009-08-17T16:43:00.009-04:00

Our real reason for choosing Harrisonburg for our road trip was to stay and eat at the Joshua Wilton House. My husband and I have been visiting inns about once or twice a year since our youngest left for college, and we’ve been to quite a few in Virginia. This inn has been on our list of possibilities for quite awhile. The inn is a lovely Victorian right on Main St. in downtown Harrisonburg, a short walk from the Visitor Center. Our room wasn’t the most luxurious we’ve stayed in, but it had all the elements I need: a tastefully decorated room with a big bay window and appealing architectural details, a queen bed with comfy linens, and a sparkling bathroom with terrycloth robes and nice toiletries. We found a welcome treat of the most delicious fresh-baked blondie bites, butterscotchy with dried cranberries and nuts, in our room, along with sparkling water. And it was one of the less expensive inn rooms we’ve stayed in, so we definitely feel we got our money’s worth.

Room #3, behind the bay windows on the 2nd floor at the right of the photo above:

We had read about the restaurant beforehand, and knew that the chef developed the menu using local, seasonal foods from the area’s farmers, so we were really looking forward to dinner. We’ve cut back on our expensive dinners out lately, so we had a lot of pent up anticipation for this one. We weren’t disappointed. The highlights were an appetizer of peach-stuffed quail with prosciutto-corn flan, summer succotash and expresso-Zinfandel sauce, and an entree of coffee cured and smoked duck breast with cherry tomato-pearl pasta and roasted corn salad.

I didn't take photos at dinner (sometimes, it's just too intrusive), but here's our lovely breakfast, starting with fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh fruit with granola and yogurt, and a square of coffeecake still warm from the oven...:

plus French toast with coffee-maple cream, bacon and fresh peaches:

Another view of the inn:

The front foyer:

The flowerbeds in front of the inn:

Road Trip to Harrisonburg

2009-08-15T15:51:00.021-04:00

My youngest moved out of the house on August 8. For the first time in my life, I am retired with no dependent children. Go, me! To celebrate this rite of passage, my husband and I decided to take a little road trip to Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. It’s the home of James Madison University and the seat of Rockingham County (known as the Turkey Capital, with the largest production of poultry in the state and Tyson signs everywhere), although the main point of interest to us is that it’s the home to the historic Joshua Wilton Inn, where we had booked a room and had dinner reservations awaiting.

With our new GPS guiding us west, our first stop was Stanardsville (pop. 476, and the Greene County seat) in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We took a quick look at the town, which seems like it could be a little jewel if the recession ever ends and some serious restoration work could be completed. They do have a prominent courthouse building, a beautiful new county library (where we used the bathroom and the internet), and a quaint inn under renovation.

After a lunch stop at Hank’s Smokehouse in McGaheysville (hometown of one of my longtime F’burg friends), we headed to the White Oak Lavender Farm, just south of Harrisonburg. Rows of sprouting lavender...

farm animals to greet, including miniature horses, goats, sheep, one fat rabbit, and ducks in a beautifully landscaped pond...

and lavender scented gifts to buy.

The owner mentioned the CrossKeys Vineyard a few miles down the road, so we headed that way. CrossKeys is the kind of winery that really doesn’t appeal to me. The minute we parked, I could tell it was as much a wedding venue as a winery. Huge, brand new building with a big courtyard with fountain, indoor seating for a large crowd, and a bar with fireplace just right for the cocktail hour. All in that pseudo-European villa style, but lacking any of the warmth or charm of an actual historic villa.

The wine was fine...I really am not much of a judge of wine. I like drinking it, and I like what I like. My taste in wine is decidedly unsophisticated. But I always love a trip to the country, and wineries are always in such lovely, pastoral settings. The only thing that saved this winery for me was the beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains:

From there we drove into Harrisonburg, where we checked into the inn, and headed back out on foot to check out the downtown area. We stopped at the Visitor Center, which doubles as the Valley Turnpike Museum. Here’s a museum I could sink my teeth into: just one room on just one topic, the evolution of the Valley Turnpike (otherwise known as US Rt. 11), from Indian path to important transportation route to country byway following the construction of I-81. Rt. 11 stretches from the Canadian border in NY all the way to New Orleans. We’ve taken several trips over the years to explore the Shenandoah Valley via Rt. 11, from Winchester in the north to Waynesboro in the south, and it’s one of Virginia’s most scenic areas.

In the Visitor Center lobby, we encountered this glass-encased giant hornet's nest. Just a little oddity on display:

We left the Visitor Center, and took a walk around town. There are interesting shops, restaurants and taverns all along Main Street, with Court Square at the center. Not as scenic or charming as Fredericksburg, but probably better suited to college students. Here's the historic county courthouse:

The gazebo next to the courthouse is actually a springhouse. Unlike the springs of Saratoga Springs, NY, this aqua esta mala:

This is the original stone cottage of Thomas Harrison, the first settler in the area, who deeded the land to create the town. It's privately owned by the church across the street, not open to the public, and you can see that another commercial building is stuck right up against it. Not the best example of historic preservation, is it?

We returned to the Joshua Wilton House for a wonderful dinner and overnight stay. More about that, and day 2 in Harrisonburg, to come!

Lake Anna State Park

2009-08-12T23:52:00.005-04:00

Our uncharacteristically moderate summer temps gave way to a few days of real Virginia heat, so yesterday, we headed down to Lake Anna State Park for a little “beach” time. The 13,000 acre lake is man-made, created to provide cooling for the North Anna nuclear power plant (no, there are no two-headed fish, as far as I know). The swimming beach is very popular, filling up by early afternoon on the weekdays, and can get so crowded on the weekends that the park has to close to additional people. For us, this is a weak substitute for an oceanfront beach—there’s no surf, no ocean breezes, no salty sea air. But if you are looking for a safe place for the kids to splash on a hot day, it's a nice outing. The water is warm, there are clearly defined swimming areas for different levels of swimmers, and there is a lifeguard on duty.

Besides the swimming and picnic areas, the park has a camping area, with campsites for tents and RVs, as well as cabins ranging from 2 bedrooms with all the amenities, to tiny, rustic one-room cabins. We checked out the campground, but decided that it really wasn't our kind of place. We like to tuck our tent in the woods, out of the way of the RVs, and at this park, all the campsites are pretty out in the open.

Here's the beach area. If you need to stay out of the sun, you can set up in the grass under a shady tree:

There's a snack bar if you don't feel like lugging the cooler:

Next to the sandy beach is a shaded picnic area with grills:

Odds & Ends

2009-08-02T15:47:00.007-04:00

This was a quiet, hardly bloggable week. Mostly, I’ve been helping my 22-year old prepare to move to Kansas, including all of the administrative tasks required to set up residency in another state (that's his new home-to-be at the U of KS, above). We’ve had some of our usual weekly outings, including a stop on Friday night at the University Cafe to hear some music. So far, most of the live music there is just too loud for my tastes. When you can’t carry on even the simplest conversation over the sound of the music, it’s too loud. No doubt that’s a sign of advancing age...none of the kids there seemed to mind. I think the music at Kybecca is more my style. We also went to Bluemont last night, a perfect, breezy evening with a terrific fiddle-guitar duo. Very Prairie Home Companion.

I just finished reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and have been cooking up a local-foods storm with wonderful produce from the farmer’s market. I bought my first heirloom tomatoes, my first cage-free eggs, and even though I don’t eat much meat, I bought some Italian sausage made from locally raised, pastured piggies. I’ve started buying fresh corn and cutting the kernels off for recipes, instead of just eating it on the cob. Plus buying plenty of everything else that is abundant at the Farmer’s Market in July: all kinds and colors of peppers and squashes, greens and herbs, beautiful berries, peaches and melons. And in a crazy fit of domesticity, I actually baked bread. So it’s been a successful week in the kitchen.

Here's my sausage and peppers...

and my corn-zucchini-pepper-onion-basil salad:

The only new event of note this week is that I donated blood for the first time. My son has done it several times, and I decided it would be something worthwhile to try. So I made my appointment and went to the Red Cross donation center at the Southpoint shopping center (formerly the Massaponax Outlet Center). Everyone, including my son, told me it would be a snap. Just a pin prick, not really painful, and after a brief exchange of information, about 10 minutes to actually donate the blood. Now, I certainly don’t want to dissuade anyone from giving blood. And I’ll admit that I’m a bigger baby than most people. And now that several days have gone by, it doesn’t seem like it was all that bad. I’ll do it again, I’m sure. I’d just like to say, for the record, that it was more than a pin prick, definitely had its painful moments (okay, seconds), and it took more like 20 minutes for them to squeeze out a pint. It turns out there are all kinds of tips for what to do before you give blood that I didn’t know anything about. Like drinking mass quantities of water. So next time, I think I’ll be better prepared. Less nervous, too.

And I did get a cool pair of flip-flops. They were actually printed all over in white letters saying "American Red Cross" and "Donate Blood," but I was able to sand all that stuff off. And on the bottom, there are letters carved into the sole, so that when you're walking along the beach at the water's edge, your footprints will leave behind an important message. Cute, right?

The Ins and Outs of Downtown Fredericksburg

2009-07-26T19:51:00.022-04:00

There have been quite a few changes to the downtown scene over the last few months, with new businesses opening, and some old standbys closing up. One of our favorite new places is the University Cafe, which is unique to the downtown scene—a big, open space with lots of dining tables, plus seating areas with plenty of sofas and easy chairs, an eclectic menu, a bar (including a coffee bar), and most importantly, open late every night. We’ve stopped in a few times over the last month for a drink and a bite to eat. We’ve tried the pancake breakfast (breakfast available all day), complete with 2 large pancakes (several flavors available), 2 eggs and potatoes. We’ve also sampled the burgers, taquitos and noodle soup. The food isn’t anything to go out of your way for, but everything we tried was pretty good and pretty cheap. Yesterday we ended up at the U Caf twice (if that isn’t already its nickname, it should be). First, we dropped in to escape the heat after a stroll downtown in the early afternoon. We grabbed a couple of drinks at the bar and settled into one of the comfy couches, and people-watched for about an hour. After getting caught in the rain at Bluemont, we stopped in again to dry off and grab a late bite. I love the relaxed atmosphere, and I’m sure one of these days, you’ll find me curled up on one of the sofas, fast asleep. There’s music at night on the weekends, and while the youngster-to-oldster ratio increases as the night progresses, we’ve never been the only oldsters there, so haven’t felt out of place.

The decor is mostly contemporary, but the mismatched upholstery gives it the feel of a 1950's finished basement. Or discount furniture store.

I’m also looking forward to the opening of the Olde Towne Butcher, coming soon to William Street. I cook mostly vegetarian at home, but I’m hoping this new business will be a convenient source of pasture-grazed beef, pork and poultry, for those occasions when there’s meat on our menu. And after seeing the film Food, Inc. and reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I’m less likely than ever to get my meat at the supermarket meat counter.

Other new stores include Monkee’s, a high end women’s clothing store which is actually a chain with 18 shops throughout the southeast, and Scoops, a new ice cream shop. I’m a loyal Lee’s-now-Wally’s fan, so I have my fingers crossed that Scoop’s doesn’t hurt Leewally’s business.

Olde Towne Wine and Cheese closed down, but the Las Palmas Cafe, serving Puerto Rican food, opened in its place.

Across the street from the new Marriott, there’s a sign for “Colonial Cupcakes.” No info on that yet, but cupcakes can only be a good thing.

On the closing end of things, I’m sad that the Java Connection closed its doors after 27 years in the burg. I’ve been buying my coffee beans there for almost as many years (not to mention the occasional mug, T-shirt, and novelty candy). Where will I get my decaf Tip of the Andes now? I got to be friendly with the proprietors over the years (first Patt Miller, then her daughter Carrie), and would stop in often just to shoot the breeze. I know Carrie was planning to get married and move to the Norfolk area (by now, probably done and done), and although I’ll miss her, I wish her and new husband James all the best.

Yesterday we also stopped in to catch the final close-out sale at Ben Franklin, where everything was 75-90% off. Nothing but crap in sight. Ben Franklin seemed old-fashioned the day it opened in 1981, and I’m not sure how it survived all these years. It will not be missed, at least not by me. Other closings that I’ve noted include Frederick’s restaurant and Crystal Spirits, although I was not a patron of either. I’m just glad to see that although there's been quite a bit of turnover, most spaces don’t seem to stay empty long.

A parting shot: some things never change.

Mineral Bluegrass Festival 2009

2009-07-22T10:09:00.014-04:00

Last week, we camped for 3 days at the Mineral Bluegrass Festival, held in Walton Park in the tiny town of Mineral, VA. We had camped at a few bluegrass festivals in our youth, and decided to give it another whirl, retirement-style, which means we were able to get to the park early on Thursday morning to set up camp. We were one of 6 tents, surrounded by about 100 RVs, but found a quiet little spot in the woods, away from the noisiest of the RV generators. I think I have this car-camping thing down pretty well now, with our easy-to-erect popup tent, our old Coleman stove to heat up food mostly made at home, and most indispensably, our old sofabed mattress to sleep on, the one item missing from the camping outings of our youth. Despite the lack of flush toilets or showers, we had a lot of fun, and managed to keep clean and well-fed for the weekend of music, washing our hair with water poured from gallon jugs (cold!), and armed with a cooler filled with enough food to last a week.

The music began at 11 am each day, and lasted until 10 pm or later. The highlights for me were the legends of bluegrass, Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, and Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys (I guess bluegrass musicians are always boys, no matter how old they get). At 83, Ralph has slowed down quite a bit, letting his band do most of the playing and singing, but he still has one of the most recognizable voices in bluegrass, and still plays his claw-hammer style of banjo on a few songs. The other performers ranged from bands playing traditional old-timey bluegrass (my favorite) to the bands that really play country music, except with bluegrass instruments, always disappointing for me, since I’m no fan of country music. Overall, though, a great line-up of acts. We’re planning to make it an annual event.

It did seem to me like the crowd has morphed slightly from when we used to go to festivals in our 20’s. For the most part, bluegrass crowds have always been the oldtimers and country folks who grew up listening to this music. But it seems to me that in the old days, there were a lot more younger people, including the folk and roots music set, the aging hippies drawn to the festivals along with the older, more traditional crowd. More tie dye among the American flags, and a much higher tent-to-RV ratio. And definitely more young families. I saw only a couple of kids in the crowd the whole weekend. Maybe this is just Mineral on this one weekend, rather than a trend at all bluegrass festivals. Still, now that we’re nearly old-timers ourselves, we fit right in. Well, assuming we didn’t discuss politics or religion with anyone. This is still a place where liberals and/or non-Christians (and I’m both) better keep their mouths shut: one song explicitly described those who don’t believe in God as “God-haters,” which conveniently rhymed with “cowards and traitors,” and the “America, love it or leave it” sentiment was well-represented from the stage as well. And that sort of thing gets the biggest ovations. So I did my best to blend in, standing when the crowd stood for “God Bless America” (although I did remain seated for “Dixie”—yes, people in this neck of the woods rise for that), and trying to disguise, just a little bit, my New York accent, so that I wouldn’t be immediately seen as the godless heathen liberal Yankee that I am.

Ralph Stanley delights the crowd with some clawhammer banjo:

Our little homestead in the trees:

I was a little nervous to be under the trees when the thunderstorms hit. We had an inch of rain over the weekend, but besides a few little puddles inside the tent and a slightly damp mattress that needed to be hauled out and dried in the sun on the roof of the car, we fared well.

Cooking up a tasty meal on the camp stove:

If you were not inclined to cook, there were all sorts of dining options, including fried everything:

Vendors lined the top of the hill behind the concert area:

Every kind of jam or relish you could think of for sale, including mayhaw, which I had never heard of before (it's the edible fruit of a species of hawthorn tree that grows in the south). Plus an entire table of moonshine jelly. Yee-haw!

Here's an RV with everything the bluegrass camper needs, including the festively lit flagpole for flying Old Glory, and 2 satellite dishes, so you don't miss a minute of your favorite TV shows:

Homegrown Tomatoes Fail

2009-07-14T09:26:00.000-04:00

Here’s the plant I bought at the Farmer’s Market in early May. I was so proud of my patio tomato plant. Looks nice and healthy, right? I was envisioning harvesting a couple of tomatoes a week throughout the summer.

In less than 2 months, this is what it looked like. We had plenty of rain, it got several hours of sun everyday on the deck, and once, I even gave it a little Miracle-Gro.

Now the plant is completely dead and gone. Here is the entire harvest. A handful of golfball sized tomatoes. Oh, they were delicious, don’t get me wrong. But boy, was this disappointing. Talk about a black thumb.

And really, given that I can get all of the homegrown tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market for $2 a pound or less, it’s hardly a tragedy. Still, I’d love to know where I went wrong.

Downtown Marriott Opens

2009-07-12T23:40:00.011-04:00

The new Courtyard Fredericksburg Historic District opened for business about a week ago, and we checked it out on a recent walk. It was a quiet weeknight, and the desk clerk was happy to give us a tour. The interior is very striking, with contemporary design, clean lines, and bold colors. Finally, a departure from the bland traditional interiors of so many hotels. There is a spacious lobby, a cafe and bar, an indoor atrium area and small outdoor courtyard, and rooms with a boutique hotel feel. We got to see the best room in the building, a corner 2-room suite with kitchen area, and a wraparound balcony on 2 sides. Not huge, but very tastefully done with upscale amenities. There is also an indoor pool and gym that we didn't see. Actually, it's amazing that they were able to cram so much into a relatively compact area. Definitely no wasted space here. Rooms start at $119 a night during the week. I'm thinking it could be a nice romantic getaway, even if I’m only coming from not-so-far-off Spotsylvania.

Here's the lobby, with a wide-screen TV viewing area in the back:

Another lobby view:

The bar:

Communal table for casual dining or drinks:

Some of the rooms open onto the 4-story atrium:

Here's the bedroom in the 2-room suite. Compact without being too cramped.

Dark Star Orchestra at Celebrate Virginia Live

2009-07-09T16:46:00.007-04:00

On Tuesday, we went to our first concert in the Celebrate Virginia Live series, to see Dark Star Orchestra, a Grateful Dead tribute band. The series started in May, and has brought bigger-than-usual names to the Fredericksburg area. The venue is an undeveloped piece of land at the back of the Celebrate Virginia project, with a large stage, plus vendors selling food, beer and wine, band merchandise, and on the night we went, a moonbounce for the kids. Concerts are scheduled for Friday nights throughout the summer, although Tuesday’s concert was a rescheduled appearance due to rain in June (despite the fact that the shows are advertised as “rain or shine,” I guess the spring monsoons made the field too much of a mudhole), which may have been why the crowd was fairly light. We got there early to set up our chairs close to the stage—totally unnecessary, as the available space far exceeded the audience. And in any case, once the music gets going, everyone stands, so sitting in your perfectly positioned chair only gets you a wide-angle view of the guy's butt in front of you.

Each DSO concert is a faithful recreation of an actual performance by the Dead, song for song. We got a Dead concert circa 1986, which featured a pretty good representation of the Dead’s music. The imitation was credible—the Garcia and Weir counterparts were very similar in voice to the originals (the Lesh was not at all convincing), and the crowd (including tattooed youngsters, aging hippies, and lots of folks in commercially-printed tie-dyed T-shirts) clearly let themselves be transported by the music. We are big Dead fans, having seen the originals many times back in our college days, and for us, this band was enjoyable, but nothing like the thrill ride that was the Dead at their best (not that the Dead were always at their best). Still, it was fun to hear the old songs played live again, and I give DSO credit for an energetic and crowd-pleasing show.

I do find the idea of a tribute band a bit odd, particularly for musicians as talented as these guys. Aren’t they dying to play their own music? Don’t they find it creatively stifling to have to recreate someone else’s decades-old songs? I feel a bit sorry for the guys. I suppose it comes down to economics—if targeting the Dead-fan demographic fills the seats, it guarantees to keep the band’s career going. Not a bad way to make a living.

The scene:

The beer:

The merch:

Fourth of July on the Potomac

2009-07-05T20:35:00.013-04:00

We spent most of the 4th of July out on the Northern Neck, at the annual party of friends who own a home on Lower Machodoc Creek, off of the Potomac River. The drive out there is about 90 minutes for us, but it’s a quiet, peaceful ride through an area we rarely otherwise see. We caught up with old friends, relaxed by the water’s edge, and enjoyed plenty of good food and drink.

Their house sits on a very narrow spit of land that juts into the water, with no more than about 50 feet of land on either side of the road.

Here are a few photos from the neighborhood:

We came across quite a few osprey nests:

Here's something that was new to me: potato guns. These boys were shooting potatoes across the water, aiming for the ramshackle boathouse across the way (no boats, people, wildlife, or ramshackle boathouses were harmed in the firing of the potato guns).

Here's the ridiculous Hummer limo we encountered at a gas station on the way. I have no idea how this thing actually manages to pull up to a pump:

We made it back into town to catch about half of the Bluemont concert, featuring Scott Ainslie, an excellent blues guitarist and musicologist whose concert is like a workshop in the history of the blues.

As always, we watched the fireworks from Old Mill Park (not realizing that this was apparently an unauthorized fireworks-viewing venue this year), and then stopped at Carl's on the way home, where we ran into some old friends that we hadn't seen in way too long, making it a perfect ending to the day.

Back to Topsail

2009-06-30T11:05:00.005-04:00

I spent most of last week at my 4-day girlfriends’ getaway to North Topsail Beach, where the weather was hot and sunny, the water was especially warm, and the beach was uncrowded. Every year that we go, we get better and better at planning and packing so we can maximize beach time and minimize hassle. We bought fresh local seafood every day for dinner—this year, we had pesto shrimp, soft shell crabs, broiled scallops, and jalapeno crabcakes. Most of our time was spent at the beach or on the deck, chatting, reading, snacking, and enjoying an ever-expanding repertoire of beachy cocktails. With the occasional nap thrown in for good measure, and a chick flick for the one night we had some thunderstorms. Other than a couple of trips to pick up provisions, we were happy not to leave our little seaside neighborhood.

A quiet morning by the water's edge:

The view from the deck:

Jalapeno crabcake dinner:

Beach still life:

Wegman's Grand Opening

2009-06-22T12:39:00.011-04:00

You know you live in a small town when a supermarket grand opening is a very big deal. Although I think Wegman’s is more than a supermarket...it seems like more of a culinary amusement park to me. Yes, there are the usual groceries, but the big attraction seems to be all of the prepared foods, gourmet specialties, extensive bakery, well-staffed cheese department, upscale meats & seafood, plus the eat-in options: the market cafe, seafood bar, Asian bar, pizza, subs, sushi, etc., etc., etc. We got there around noon on opening day, parked in one of the parking lots of an adjacent hotel, and then made our way through the hordes to see what we could see. It was elbow-to-elbow people, really too crowded to give it a fair assessment. I have to say, the deli, bakery, meats & seafood sections looked very impressive. The prices seemed reasonable, and the staff-to-customer ratio on opening day was high. The free samples were flowing, and we nabbed as many as we could find. Jim Canty & Friends were playing in the wine section (they are scheduled for the library steps tonight), where you could sample mimosas. We checked out all of the sections, bought some fresh breads and tasty cheeses (ah, yes, a cheese department where I could get recommendations and sample cheese before buying is the one thing I’ve been waiting for), picked up our free recyclable shopping bag, and headed home.

I definitely get what the buzz was all about. Wegman’s has everything I can imagine needing in a supermarket and then some. But on the other hand, I’m not sure this is where I will choose to do my weekly shopping. I think the good old Giant, five minutes from home, will still be my go-to store. Sure, sometimes the World’s Fair of Food is what you’re looking for, but sometimes, you just want your shopping trip to be a quick and easy in and out, and that probably won’t be Wegman’s for me...at least not until the novelty wears off and the crowds die down. And here’s something that really bugged me: they wouldn’t let me take photos. Honestly, when I went to take a photo of the guy working the seafood bar, he got quite irate and told me photos were forbidden in the store (corroborated by other employees I asked), despite the fact I told him it was just for my blog. Were they afraid I was a corporate spy? Or do they just want to be able to control precisely how their store is viewed, to keep anyone from showing any imperfections?

I still need to give the Wegman’s shopping experience a thorough try-out, and that just wasn’t possible on opening day. But it sure does look nice.

This is the bread and cheese we bought for a Father's Day treat:

The New Adventures of Old Eileen's

2009-06-17T13:06:00.006-04:00

Eileen’s has been open for business in their new location since May, and I’ve been a couple of times. They’ve made some updates to the circa 1833 church building since the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship vacated this past winter, but nothing very drastic. They’ve put in a new floor, painted the walls, updated the air conditioning, changed out light fixtures, and rearranged the layout of the area behind the sanctuary. But when I go there, it still feels like my old church home, which is very comforting. I went to Sunday services at that building for almost 20 years, and now there’s nothing better than meeting a UU friend there for lunch and marveling at how great the old place looks.

When I stopped for lunch last Thursday at noon, the place was doing a brisk business. After we finished eating, my friend and I moved to the comfy couch section (right about where the minister used to stand) where we lingered just long enough to avoid parking tickets. I suspect Eileen’s will continue to be one of my favorite gathering places for a long time. I wish them all the best in their new-to-them, old-to-me location.

The Beaux' Stratagem

2009-06-14T11:16:00.007-04:00

Last night, we set up our ever-present folding chairs on the lawn at Kenmore to enjoy the Fredericksburg Players’ performance of The Beaux’ Stratagem, a Restoration comedy from the early 1700’s. The evening was a sort of play within a play. For the price of admission ($10), you’re invited into Kenmore, where colonial Fredericksburgers of the day prepare to attend the performance, and engage in banter about the play and tell stories about local characters. Then the costumed interpreters join you on the lawn as the play begins.

Between the conversations of the colonials, and director Fred Franklin’s funny and informative introduction, I learned about the troupes of actors who would travel from town to town to entertain the locals, as well as about mores of the day. The play itself was a silly romp, risque for its time, I’m sure, with a few modern touches just for laughs. We saw this group of actors recently in Macbeth, and I highly recommend any of their productions. They do an excellent job, and we enjoyed the light-hearted evening.

The play continues tonight and next weekend on Saturday and Sunday, June 14, 20, & 21 at 7 p.m. Bring a lawn chair or blanket, and have a picnic supper on the lawn. Don’t forget to come early enough to tour the mansion before the show, from 5:30 to 6:15. The play is recommended for adults and older children.

This trio of well-bred ladies discuss the scandalous nature of divorce. I hadn't been inside Kenmore since the most recent renovations, so it was interesting to have a look at the rooms. There was no formal tour, so I'll have to go back sometime, most likely when I have visitors.

A group of colonials, including tavern owner Capt. George Weedon, discuss the upcoming play.

Throughout the tour, we encountered a number of "George Washington's Young Friends," a group of colonial interpreters, all under 18, who often appear at local historical events.

The company takes their final bow.

Hunting Run Park

2009-06-10T21:14:00.006-04:00

We made our first visit to the park at Hunting Run Reservoir off of Ely’s Ford Road last week on a rare sunny day. I remember many years ago when some of the families who lived in that area were forced out of their homes to make way for the reservoir. It seems like it took a whole lot of years for the work to be completed. We visit Motts Run Reservoir pretty often, and have been to Ni River Reservoir a few times, too, so I was interested to see what this park had to offer. Right now, there is a fishing dock, a boat ramp and a few unshaded picnic tables. The lake is scenic and serene, perfect for fishing or canoeing or kayaking. I don’t own a canoe or kayak, and I’m not much for fishing. Here’s the thing about fishing: you need to be patient and quiet, and I’m neither. So I don’t imagine I’ll be spending much time at this park. But if you like fishing, the reservoir is 420 acres and is stocked with largemouth bass. Read more about it here.

Here's a view of the Hunting Run Dam from Spotswood Furnace Road. It's approximately 2,400 feet long and 90 feet high, in case you're interested in that sort of thing.

Virginia Renaissance Faire

2009-06-07T21:46:00.012-04:00

Today we took our annual outing to the Ren Faire on the grounds of the Lake Anna Winery to enjoy (at long last!) a beautiful day in the sun. The Faire seemed bigger than ever this year, with a really good turnout this afternoon. As always, there were several stages with entertainment going on continuously throughout the day: musicians, singers, storytellers, actors, acrobats and magicians. There were demonstrations of practical arts of the period, games and activities for the kids, and vendors selling food and trinkets, plus jousting, archery, and greyhound races. There's plenty of audience participation, with the stage acts as well as with all of the costumed characters, from peasants and revelers to nobility and the Queen herself, who roam the fairgrounds and interact with the visitors. To really get into the experience, it helps to have a touch of the theatrical in you so that you can play along, as do many of the Faire’s regular visitors who come in costume.

The queen appreciates a respectful bow from faire-goers as she roams the grounds with her entourage.

The jousting arena was one of the most popular attractions, where knights on horseback tested their agility and accuracy with the lance.

Mad Maggie jumps through hoops to entertain the crowd.

Her Majesty's herald strikes a pose.

Our old friend Randy Stubbs told us about his life sailing around the world with Sir Francis Drake, and gave us some souvenir treasures from the sea.

And of course, my favorite spot, the tavern, where we hoisted a brew or two (several fine beers on tap) and enjoyed some rousing songs and stories.

The Faire is open next Saturday and Sunday from 10-5. Admission is $7.

Crazy Weather

2009-06-03T21:40:00.005-04:00

I’ve heard of the proverbial golfball-sized hail, but I can’t remember ever seeing it up close until tonight. I always assumed it was a bit of an exaggeration. Turns out, not really. It’s been storming for two days now, and this evening, I grabbed a few of these hailstones from the yard, just for the record, and one of them is definitely golfball-sized. I’d call the others walnut-sized. Needless to say, my nearly-new-but-ungaraged car took some hits. My poor car has little indentations all over it, first from acorns in the fall, and now hail. They're not that noticeable unless I point them out, but still. As my mother says, “Too much nature.”

Tuesday in the Park with Lunch

2009-06-02T18:35:00.010-04:00

Before today, I’d never been to the Lunchtime at Hurkamp Park concert series, since it is held from 11:30-1:30 on Tuesdays, right in the middle of the workday. But as of yesterday, I am officially retired. So now I get to discover all of the middle-of-the-weekday events that I’ve been missing (if you know of any others, let me know). I was expecting the crowd to be mainly retirees, but it turned out to be more the mommy crowd, with more strollers and toddlers than I’ve seen in one place in Fredericksburg in a long time. There were plenty of folding chairs set up, and some tables with umbrellas to add a little extra shade to the very sunny (and today, hot) park, but most people sat in the shade of the big trees scattered throughout the park.

Local musician Wil Gravatt was the performer today, with his steel guitarist Jimbo Byram. How have I lived in this town for so long without having heard Wil Gravatt? Heard of, yes...heard, no. We really enjoyed his traditional country and western sound, with a honky-tonk flavor. I’ll definitely be paying more attention the next time I see his name on the schedule somewhere.

There were food vendors, in case you wanted to buy your lunch, plus a few mostly kid-friendly booths, like face painting. Despite the heat, the kids seemed to be happy just running, playing and dancing.

The Lunchtime in the Park series runs during May, June and September. We're planning to go as often as we can.

And speaking of local concert series, Music on the Library Steps started last night with a favorite of mine, the Sensations, a 10-man group who do R&B, soul & Motown classics, with a solid horn section and a great vocalist. Up next Monday: the Dixie Power Trio.

Miller Farms Market

2009-05-31T18:34:00.018-04:00

It’s strawberry season in Virginia, and I can’t get enough. My home-for-the-summer son suggested we pick our own, so I hunted on the web for pick-your-own farms in our area, and found Miller Farms Market, a new one to me. The place had been a dairy farm for decades, and only started offering fresh produce a few years ago. This farm appealed to me because they are a small operation, convenient to home, and in a direction that doesn’t require me to drive through town. And they don't charge an admission fee, something you may find at bigger farms with lots of "attractions." So we went out on a weekday afternoon last week and quickly picked about 11 pounds of berries, despite having to pass up many ripe, but water-softened, berries. All this rain makes for a big berry, but it takes a lot of sunshine to make them really sweet, something that's been sorely lacking around here lately. Nonetheless, fresh picked local strawberries beat anything else you can find, and these were well worth the effort.

From Fredericksburg, go out Route 3 West and turn left on Route 621 (across from Wilderness Baptist Church). Go 5 miles to the farm on the right. It's just a few miles past Fawn Lake.

Besides strawberries, the farm offers freshly picked produce, seasonal plants, free range chickens and eggs, and a wide variety of other food items from the region.

In the little shop, you can get jams and jellies, peanuts, honey, maple syrup, coffee beans, and other food and gift items.

Don't forget the rabbit food.

A highlight was the strawberry "shake" we sampled, made from Miller's own milk and strawberries, that was more ice cream than shake (I dare you to suck that up through a straw).

For the most part, I prefer my berries just sliced and eaten, with a little sugar if necessary. I certainly don't advocate smushing freshly picked berries into drinks. But my son had a hankering to make his own strawberry lemonade, and I do support any and all efforts of my children to make me delicious treats, especially if they buy their own lemons, do their own squeezing, and clean up after themselves.

Memorial Day in NYC

2009-05-28T16:56:00.022-04:00

On the way home from upstate NY, we stopped for a one-day stay in New York City, where we took in some of the sights with our daughter, who lives in Brooklyn. We started with a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (above: the view from the bridge), and landed in Foley Square in lower Manhattan, where the StoryCorps booth is located. StoryCorps is an oral history project which records interviews with everyday people (excerpts of which can be heard on NPR, and here). My daughter is a facilitator for StoryCorps, so we took a little tour of the booth.

Next stop was Chinatown, where we stopped for a snack of steamed pork bun and dumplings.

From Chinatown (and following a stop at the awesome Economy Candy), we headed to Central Park, where we spent most of the afternoon. On this beautiful, sunny Memorial Day, Central Park was like an enchanted playground, with something going on around every corner. Our first stop was a rest on the rocks by this lake (one of several in the park) to watch the rowboats.

The park was buzzing with activity: picnickers and sunbathers, horsedrawn carriages and pedicabs, sand volleyball and cricket games, dancers and acrobats. Here's "The Jazz Collective" at play, just one of the many musical performances going on throughout the park.

A guy on some kind of crazy bike:

A bride and groom pose for photographs:

The Bethesda Fountain, topped by the Angel of the Waters, is one of the many statues in the park. This fountain appears in a number of movies, such as Angels in America.

On the plaza above the fountain...hula hoops!

The much-photographed entryway to the Strawberry Fields section of the park, in memory of John Lennon:

This was my favorite performer of the day. A lovely young woman, dressed as a fairy, standing perfectly still and holding a rose. If you put a donation in her box, she came to life, reached inside her rose for her fairy dust, and sprinkled sparkles into your outstretched hand (click for the close-up). I was utterly charmed.

For dinner, we headed back to Brooklyn, where we ate at the Fette Sau, a great barbecue place in Williamsburg. Wyatt Cenac of the Daily Show was eating there, too, but of course, no one acknowledged his presence, because New Yorkers are way too cool for that.

And finally, a couple of random Brooklyn shots. Don't ask me to explain.

Wedding Weekend

2009-05-27T17:05:00.025-04:00

We took an extra long weekend to travel to upstate New York, together with our grown kids, for the wedding of a nephew. Between the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception, and the pre- and post-event gatherings, the weekend was a wonderful family reunion.

The wedding ceremony, on Saturday, May 23, was held outdoors at a beautiful park in Albany. Everyone was nervous about the weather, but it turned out to be a wonderful day.

On the day before the wedding, a group of us strolled around downtown Saratoga Springs:

We stopped at Congress Park to ride the carousel, as always, because we're all big kids at heart, and it's only 50 cents a ride:

The braver among us sampled some of the springs around town. The one below is the Hathorn Spring, which was discovered in 1866 and is supposed to have curative properties. It also has that delightful rotten egg smell. I didn’t try it, although I met a man at the fountain who said he had been drinking it nearly every day for 25 years, and he looked in pretty good shape, assuming he was in his 70’s. If he was in his 40’s, then it’s definitely not working.

Congress Spring, a less vile vintage:

We played around in front of Ben & Jerry's...

but passed up that ice cream (which you can get everywhere now, including Fredericksburg) for the gelato at Eugenio's Cafe Gelato, where I sampled the mocha cappucino and the bacio-chocolate hazelnut. Excellent!

Much of the weekend entertainment was provided by this little guy, the family's youngest member. I could watch him toddle around for hours:

We spent the day after the wedding relaxing in my mother's backyard, eating mass quantities of food. Our family tries hard not to go more than about an hour between meals. Here was our Sunday afternoon feast of antipasto, eggplant parmagiana, ravioli and meatballs:

W&M Commencement

2009-05-20T08:37:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, my youngest graduated from college. I’m not an overly sentimental person, so I am going to refrain from waxing poetic about the rite of passage. I'll just say that I have been struck by how major this transition is, for him and me both, and that I look forward to seeing how the future works out for him. My job of parenting is mainly done. Some will say that a parent's work is never really done, but in my experience, there's relatively little parenting required once your kids are no longer under your personal care and supervision, and no longer your direct financial responsibility.

At the end of the summer, my son will be heading to grad school at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. I don’t know much about Kansas, or anywhere else in the heartland for that matter, but it will be fun to visit him there, and explore an entirely-new-to-me part of the country.

The William & Mary commencement was full of pomp and tradition, as you might expect. Here are a few photos.

The Senior Class Candlelight Ceremony, held the night before commencement:

Commencement morning begins with the graduates walking through the Wren Building and across campus to William & Mary Hall, where the ceremony is held.

It's a rain or shine kind of tradition.

The processional into W&M Hall, as viewed from the nosebleed section:

Tom Brokaw was the commencement speaker. Here is the address.

Overall, I thought the speech was a good one, but I found this little excerpt pretty sexist. See if you agree:

"...to the women of the class of 2009, be forewarned: These boys sitting beside you who are about to become men will take their inner boy-and their baseball caps and their sports teams-with them and they will never completely understand you. To the male members of this class, remember this: These girls beside you who will become women will continue to spend what you believe is an inordinate amount of time and money on their hair and on their shoes. And guys, I promise you, you will continue to underestimate their abilities and their ambitions-and that's just the way they want it."

Really, Tom?

Potomac Point Winery

2009-05-13T15:30:00.016-04:00

On Saturday, we visited the Potomac Point Winery in the backwoods of Stafford’s Widewater peninsula, completing our tour of the most local wineries. I have to say, I was underwhelmed. Oh, the wines were fine, if a bit overpriced, and as of yet, made from grapes grown in the area, but not on the premises. It was the whole huge fake Mediterranean-style “villa” that turned me off. It looks about as much like an actual European villa as Cinderella’s castle in Disneyland looks like the actual German castle it was modeled after. The place was clearly designed as a venue for weddings and other special events, and on the afternoon we visited, there was a wedding getting ready to start. Nine different rooms or outdoor spaces are available for rent. As for the tasting room, it reminded me of our visit to Prince Michel, a bit too commercial for my tastes, although I suspect the owners might take the comparison as a compliment. Fees for wine tasting range from $5 to $10, depending on the number and quality of wines you want to try, and includes a larger-than-most wineglass (doesn’t match my souvenir wineglass set, sad to say) and a complimentary olive oil tasting.

This winery is in stark contrast to wineries such as Hartwood or Old House. There’s something much more homegrown about those other two, where the business and the wine have slowly evolved over a number of years...kind of an organic feel that I appreciate, and that is lacking at Potomac Point. The trip did, however, give us an excuse to cruise around a part of Stafford we haven’t really explored. We drove along the Potomac River, and checked out some of the homes down on Aquia Creek. The rolling hills and rural setting of Widewater is very scenic, and made for a pleasant drive in the country.

Okay, that’s it, I’m done with wineries for awhile. For the time being, I’ll limit my wine tasting to Friday nights at Kybecca, where I can always find a tasty wine at a tasty price.

The vineyards/wedding ceremony venue.

The courtyard patio.

Here's the tasting room. Note the mural above the wall. It's reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel ceiling where God and Adam touch fingers, except in this version, one hand holds out a wineglass, and the other holds out grapes. Since art is a matter of taste, I'll leave it to you to decide whether this is tasteful or tacky.

The olive oil tasting station. The olive oils were all basically the same oil with a number of flavored versions to try: basil, lemon, orange, lime, rosemary, etc. Personally, if I want the flavor of basil with my olive oil, I add basil.

Aquia Creek.

Garden on Deck

2009-05-09T12:20:00.006-04:00

I took the plunge and bought my first patio tomato plant at the Farmer's Market this morning. I can see that there are a couple of tiny yellow fetal tomatoes hidden in the leaves, so I take that as a good sign. I replanted it, as instructed, into a bigger pot, where I have been assured great things will happen. I'll keep you posted.

And here's the little herb garden I've started, with basil, chives and cilantro. Now it's just me against the squirrels.

Sunnier Days

2009-05-05T15:39:00.008-04:00

Seems like a string of rainy, dreary days is a good time to post these photos I took on a few sunny day walks in the past month:

The railroad bridge over the Rappahannock River, an iconic image of Fredericksburg.

Fishing and relaxing at the City Dock.

Daffodils in bloom on the embankment at the railroad station.

Fountain at Hurkamp Park.

Neat tulip borders at a downtown house.

Apparently, plans to turn the John Paul Jones house into a coffee shop have been scrapped, and the home is once again a private residence.

Early Farmer's Market

2009-05-03T09:06:00.008-04:00

The Farmer's Market on Rt. 3 West has returned, and I'm happy to get back to the Saturday morning routine of stopping there. Yesterday, there were a lot of garden plants available, and this might just be the year I expand the herb garden on my deck to include a tomato plant or two. When my kids were little (and before the Rt. 3 Farmer's Market existed), we had a real vegetable garden, mainly because everyone around me talked about gardening so much that I thought it was a requirement of living in Spotsylvania County. Then I discovered that gardens needed way more attention that I was willing to give (apparently, there's more to it than just planting and harvesting), so I gave it up after a couple of years. The only thing I could get to grow consistently was hot peppers--I guess the wildlife wasn't interested in those. Now that I can get hot peppers of every variety in bucketloads from the farmer's market, plus almost every other vegetable I need, I've just been a summer herb gardener. Nonetheless, the thought of a container garden on the deck still appeals. We'll see if this year is the year.

Asparagus, green onions, and lettuces were in abundance, as well as a few early strawberries, which must have been grown using extraordinary means, because it's really a couple of weeks early for strawberries around here.

In other Saturday news, I went to the matinee of Romeo and Juliet at Stafford High School, mainly because I knew the Juliet of that performance (who did a superb job in the role, despite having just a week's notice). It was an excellent production all around--a modern staging, with simple sets and costumes, plus over a dozen original songs interwoven throughout the show, all written and performed by two students.

And finally, I won $3 at a Kentucky Derby Party. And it only cost me $6 worth of bets. Is that actually considered winning?

Record High

2009-04-26T15:35:00.003-04:00

This is my antidote to a 95 degree day in April.

Lake Anna Winery

2009-04-25T08:40:00.008-04:00

We saved this trip for the first nice day after a long bout of rain. We’ve been down there before to see the Renaissance Faire a few times, but we hadn’t tasted any Lake Anna wine in quite a few years. We were actually very surprised, because the wine has improved tremendously since our last tasting at a wine festival a few years back. In fact, we liked most of the dozen wines we tried, and none were bad. As with a lot of wineries, there’s a small fee for tasting: $3 for wine only, or $5 for wine + glass. I always like to take home the glass. All of the wineries have the same shape and roughly the same size glasses, so they make a nice set. And it’s no big deal if someone breaks one.

The winery has events throughout the year. Here’s the schedule.

The tasting area is part of a large room for special events.

There's a small deck where you can sip wine and enjoy the view.

Nice graphics.

Another Motts Run Hike

2009-04-22T07:26:00.005-04:00

My husband loves to hike. I prefer to talk about hiking. “Oh, we’re planning a 3-mile hike this weekend.” “Yes, we go hiking all the time.” “That hike we just finished was really amazing.” Actually doing the hiking is often not nearly as pleasant. I know it’s good for me to do it—if walking is healthy, walking up and down hills on uneven terrain is even healthier, and getting back to nature can be a spiritual experience. But honestly, while I’m right in the middle of it, walking up some steep hill that I can’t even see the top of, I often wonder “whose idea of a good time was this?”

So last weekend we did about 3 miles of trails in Motts Run Reservoir, more than I usually like to sign up for on a casual afternoon. But now we’re in the “talking about it” phase, so I’m a lot happier. Actually, we had a fine time--the trails are well-marked (except for the Laurel Trail, for which they’ve chosen the blaze color “bark"--if you painted every tree entirely in that very soft grayish lavender color, I don’t believe anyone would actually be able to detect it), and there’s a nice trail map available. The hiking really wouldn’t be considered difficult by any reasonable criteria if you were in halfway decent shape, which is I guess why I was huffing and puffing the whole way. We went to the end of the Mine Run Trail (note to self: beware of trails that aren’t actually on the map, but are just indicated with a big arrow as being “over there somewhere”) for the trail’s promise of a creek. I do love a good creek, the kind with water rushing over rocks. This was the payoff:

So I have a good friend who recently hiked Stony Man Mountain in the Shenandoah National Park. I find that very impressive, considering we’re both in about the same shape. And that sounds a lot better than saying you hiked Motts Run Reservoir. So I either need to start hiking more impressive trails like that, or I need to just rename the ones I’ve hiked. Like saying that last weekend we hiked to the top of Turkey Ridge. And then we went all the way down to the, um, Mine Run Falls. I think that would work if I really sell it, and leave out any identifying details.

What I’m really looking for is that perfectly maintained and well-marked trail that goes to the top of mountains with amazing vistas, and down to waterfalls, with cooling rocks to lounge on, but no ascents or descents. Some sort of Escher-like terrain where you move up and down while staying completely level.

My favorite tree, the redbud.

Caroline Street Cafe

2009-04-17T18:49:00.007-04:00

When we first became empty nesters, we started eating out a lot, at least once a week and sometimes more. We could go wherever we wanted, didn’t have to consider the pickier palates of teenagers, and could afford nicer places when it was just the two of us. But lately, we haven’t been eating out as much. After a couple of pricey, but pedestrian meals out, I just felt like I wasn’t getting much bang for my buck. Maybe the novelty is wearing off, or maybe I’m trying to eat healthier. Or maybe since my hours were reduced at work, I have more time for cooking at home. Whatever. Suffice it to say, for us, cooking better meals at home has replaced a lot of eating out.

But after a particularly stressful week, we decided to let someone else do the cooking for the first time in a few weeks. I remembered that the Caroline Street Cafe has started offering dinner on the weekends (Thurs.-Sat., I think), advertised as “family-style” and only $15 per person for a 3 course meal. So we checked it out last weekend. We were pleasantly surprised. We started with homemade rolls and a chopped salad, then had a platter of lamb, seafood jambalaya, and chicken & sausage jambalaya. For dessert, we got a chocolate cake and an apple tart. The food was very homey—in fact, the jambalaya tasted like something I might have cooked myself. Which isn’t exactly a huge compliment, but it was hearty and pretty good. And the apple tart was fantastic. So with drinks, tax and tip, we had a 3 course meal out for around $50. I consider that a decent value.

There is no choice on these weekend dinners. You get whatever the chef is dishing up that night. We are very adventurous eaters, and are generally happy to eat whatever a chef wants to cook. In fact, it's a very refreshing change from all of the restaurants with set menus. But if you are at all picky, you better call ahead and find out what's cooking. On the night we were there, a family of 4 adults came in, and when told the menu, the dad said he didn’t like lamb or jambalaya, so they left. Better yet, if you’re that picky, stick with Applebee’s.

Above right: Entrees are served family style on platters. In addition to the lamb and two kinds of jambalaya, there was fresh squash and roasted potatoes.

Above left: The apple caramel tart was to die for. And the chocolate cake with whipped cream layers reminded me of 2 favorite snacks of my youth, Drake's Yodels and Ring Dings. Anyone remember those?

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T08:30:00.000-04:00

UMW’s Multicultural Fair

2009-04-06T16:47:00.008-04:00

This past Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for the Multicultural Fair at the college. This is one of my favorite local events of the entire year, one that I have only missed once or twice in the fair’s history. It’s a great people-watching opportunity, and I always run into a few people I know.

Philippine dancing (below and at top) by the "Pilipino American Cultural Arts Society" (that's not a typo):

The African hand-drumming club (the hand drumming is African, obviously not the club):

"Koto Buki Kai," the Japanese dancers, show some young'uns how it's done:

The food is arguably the best part of the day. For lunch, I had grilled veggies in a pita from this guy. My husband had fried flounder and oysters from another vendor, where I got to sample fried alligator. Delicious!

Here are some scenes from last year's fair.

The Miracle Worker

2009-04-04T09:03:00.005-04:00

Last night, I was awed by the amazing performances of Rebecca H. as Annie Sullivan and Brittany W. as Helen Keller in Riverbend High School's production of The Miracle Worker. When these two young women were alone on the stage, you forgot you were at a high school play. Their last scene together was exhilarating. Their struggles together were completely believable, never overacted. And Rebecca did an Irish accent that was very credible, not a distraction as fake accents on high school actors often are. So kudos to both of them for an unforgettable performance.

I also want to give a little shout-out to Rex, who gave a very convincing performance as "The Dog." In this production, dolls were used to represent babies, but the drama students took a chance on a real dog. Rex is onstage throughout most of one scene where he interacts with Helen, and I was amazed at how well that dog took direction. He appeared to hit all his marks, and not a bark or whimper out of him. I hope he is considering a career in theater or film. Or advertising at the very least.

You can catch the last performance of the play tonight at 7:00 pm. Admission is $5, a real bargain.

Stonewall Jackson Shrine

2009-04-02T11:34:00.009-04:00

We hadn’t been to the Jackson Shrine in many years, so with a free afternoon on Monday (I am almost living the life of a retiree these days), we decided to revisit the site. It’s changed a bit since we were there last, with a nicely paved road to the site, and a plaza with interpretive displays and restrooms that I don’t remember from our last visit. This is where Stonewall Jackson died, in an outbuilding on the Fairfield plantation of Thomas Chandler. Mistakenly shot by his own men at the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863, Stonewall’s arm was amputated (it’s buried here), and he was taken to the Chandler plantation, where he died on May 10 from pneumonia. The main plantation house no longer stands; only the office where Jackson received medical care remains.

The park ranger gave us a particularly dramatic retelling of Jackson’s last days. The ranger had one of those soft southern accents that would have been perfect in Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary. Jackson’s conversations with loved ones in the final days are a poignant part of the story. It’s hard not to tear up just a little.

Here's the room where he died, with the original clock, still ticking:

Jackson's deathbed, with original blanket:

Jackson's doctors met in this room:

The display area:

The site is open Saturday through Monday from 9-5 through the end of April, then open daily starting May 1.

North Anna Nuclear Power Station

2009-03-28T14:10:00.009-04:00

Ah, Spring. And what better spring outing than a visit to our own nuclear power plant? Actually, our intent was to spend a little time at the North Anna Nuclear Information Center, the visitor center at Dominion’s power station, which we figured would take around 30 minutes or so, and then stop at the Lake Anna Winery on the way home. Instead, we ended up spending over 2 hours at the information center, chatting with Mike Duffey, the center’s coordinator, learning more about nuclear power than I will ever need to know, and discussing the future of energy production in the U.S.

It was a very educational experience for me, who is not particularly scientifically inclined. I definitely felt only about as smart as a fifth grader, and if I had been in a group, I would have stayed at the back, hoping Mike wouldn’t call on me to answer any questions. I learned about nuclear fission, followed the process of producing electricity from the uranium mine to the light switch, saw a film about managing nuclear waste, and heard a bit about alternative energy sources. The center has all kinds of hands-on exhibits (Pedal a bike to create electricity! Use your body to complete the electrical circuit! Play the energy trivia game!) which makes it a favorite of school groups. I’d recommend it highly for upper elementary or middle school students with an interest in science.

Of course, the presentation is designed to present nuclear power in the best possible light. The bass on display only had one head, and no one mentions Homer Simpson (well, except me). Alternative energy sources like solar and wind power are dismissed as being unable to handle the constant demands of the average American household. You’d need to do a little research on your own to find out the latest advances in alternative energy, or to discover new ways to conserve. But aside from the expected pro “big utility” spin, I found the visit to be educational and engaging. The center is open weekdays from 9 to 4, and admission is free.

And we’ll just have to save the Lake Anna Winery for another time.

Mary Washington Revisited

2009-03-25T13:01:00.012-04:00

The University of Mary Washington should really be on anyone’s “most beautiful campus” list, and we always enjoy walking around the grounds. Yesterday on a walk through campus, we noticed the “Welcome to the New Lee Hall” sign above the door of the building, so decided to stop in and check it out.

My first job when I moved to Fredericksburg after college graduation (over 30 years ago) was as a clerk at Mary Washington (so much for the art degree), back in the days when Lee Hall housed the C-Shop, and where we used to go to play pinball (the old mechanical kind, before the digital age) and drink beer. The building has been through several incarnations since then, but the latest renovation is particularly nice. The building continues to house a variety of student services, like the new student accounts center.

On the floor above (I have no idea how they number the floors) is the new bookstore, where we stopped in and took a look around...

and upstairs from that, the large ballroom has been renovated into 3 smaller venues, but the architectural features, like the decorative wooden beams, have been preserved. The Underground student pub is getting a nice facelift, too, although it won’t be open for awhile.

The campus trees are starting to bloom and the campus looked particularly scenic, so we just strolled around, soaking up the atmosphere and taking pictures.

I ran into a friend who is the director of landscaping and grounds at the school, and she told me the color of this weeping willow was special, so I took a photo. Not that I know anything about trees.

The trees were in bloom on Ball Circle, and white Adirondack chairs were scattered around for lounging or reading or soaking up the sun.

This is the fountain in front of the Jepson Science Center. I love fountains. I think they improve any public space, as long as they're not turned off. Which is just a sad sight to see.

Across Rt. 1 from the college at the Park & Shop shopping center, work is underway on Eagle Village, a new college-owned development that will include student apartments, plus shopping, restaurants, and offices. So far, they've gotten as far as tearing down Roses, which now looks like this:

For more Mary Washington exteriors, click here.

Meade's Pyramid

2009-03-20T12:07:00.014-04:00

I had the afternoon off the other day (courtesy of the crappy economy), so we decided to check out Meade’s Pyramid, off of Lee Drive in the Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Military Park. I hadn’t heard about this Fredericksburg oddity until fairly recently (thanks, Nancy K., for the tip)—am I the last to know about this?

The 30 ft. square, 23 ft. high pyramid sits alongside the railroad tracks, and marks the place where Union Gen. George Meade’s troops broke through Stonewall Jackson’s Confederate lines during the Battle of Fredericksburg in December of 1862. The Union troops were ultimately beaten back by the Confederates, and as all Fredericksburgers know, the battle ended badly for the North.

In the decades following the war, the Confederate Memorial Literary Society wanted to commemorate significant Civil War sites along the tracks, to be seen by train riders as they made their way through the area. The project didn’t go very far, with this pyramid being the only one completed, probably dating to 1897. It’s modeled after a monument in Richmond’s historic Hollywood Cemetery, and contains over 17 tons of Virginia granite.

To check out the pyramid, drive to the parking area at the end of Lee Drive in the battlefield park that starts off of Lafayette Blvd. in the city. There you’ll find displays about the Battle of Fredericksburg, including cannons and artists’ renderings, plus a short trail that leads to Hamilton's Crossing, a former railroad depot that played a significant role in the war. You can see the pyramid in the distance from Lee Drive, where there is an informational display about it. We walked across the field to get a close up view. It sits on the other side of the tracks, but DO NOT CROSS the tracks, please. Instead, stay safely back, and enjoy the sight and sound of the train that is sure to come by while you’re there.

The battlefield displays at the end of Lee Drive:

The trail down to Hamilton's Crossing:

If a tree falls on your Civil War sign, does it make a sound?

Virginia Bazaar, Latin Chicken, Wood Shavings

2009-03-14T19:13:00.015-04:00

We’ve driven past the Virginia Bazaar indoor flea market at Exit 110 off of I-95 many times, and have heard the horrendous, yet catchy, jingle of its ads. So we thought that a trip down there would be a good outing to save for a rainy day. With nothing else on the agenda today, we headed to Ladysmith in the rain to check out the scene. From the ads, I always secretly thought that the place would be some kind of magical emporium, filled with fantastic treasures everywhere I turned, and bargains that no sane person could pass up. I was hoping that it would even be a great destination to take out-of-town guests when the weather was bad. Turned out, I was wrong. The place is filled with the same kinds of “antiques” (read: used stuff) and collectible crap you can find just about anywhere. Now, I know some people are serious collectors of sports memorabilia or beanie babies or vintage glassware, but for the rest of you, if you haven’t been here, you haven’t missed a thing. I will admit that maybe a rainy March day wasn't the best time to judge the place. There is space for many outdoor vendors, and maybe in the summer, the atmosphere is more fun if the outdoor vendors are out in force. On the plus side, admission and parking is free, and it's a pleasant enough drive down there (take Rt. 1 for the scenic tour of rural Caroline), so we'll probably give it another go in the summer just to make sure we didn't miss anything.

Tons of sports memorabilia. Not my cup of tea.

There were a lot of framed, signed original jerseys that were kind of cool to see, like this one of Boog Powell's. I guess this is the kind of decor you'd want if you owned a sports bar:

Honestly, does anyone even collect beanie babies anymore?

You can get all the books you want from the book sale at the library for $2 or less. No need to spend $7 on these:

Really? People BUY this stuff?

Priceless antiques, I'm sure:

Look, the kind of old stereo equipment all of us used to have, like speakers the size of telephone booths:

To salvage the outing, we decided to stop for a bite on the way home at Pollo Campero, a fast food restaurant at Cosner’s Corner. We don’t generally go for fast food, but this one held out the promise of the kind of tasty grilled chicken we’ve gotten at the Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken places in town. The restaurant is relatively new to the U.S., with only 34 franchises in this country, but with many more locations in Mexico and Central America. Known as “the Latin KFC,” the company’s mission is to be the leading Latin American chicken restaurant chain in the world, and I’d guess they have that distinction locked up. The place was packed when we got there, and we were the only gringos in sight, an excellent sign. The food was pretty good, and had some Latin specialties you don’t find too often, like yucca fries, fried plantains, and flan. But don’t go there if you don’t want chicken, because that’s all they have. No burgers, no sandwiches, no vegetarian options—just chicken, fried or grilled, in a handful of permutations. Not as fast or as cheap as more typical fast food chains, but worth a visit for sure.

Then a quick stop at World Market, because I love that store so much, where I wandered the aisles until I stopped dead at this display. And I knew that for all of the readers of my blog who are serious wood shaving aficionados, I had to take this photo. Woodfan69 and Woodforbrains520, this is for you. I know you grow your own free-range wood shavings up there in the northern outlands, and thought you might like to see this photo of wood shavings in captivity.

Dear Mother Nature

2009-03-13T18:21:00.003-04:00

Stop messing with my daffodils.

Music on Mondays in March

2009-03-09T22:04:00.004-04:00

The downtown library is offering a new concert series, “Music on Mondays in March,” which started tonight with the Quintessential Brass Repertoire, an outstanding group of professional musicians. One of the trumpeters is Zack Smith of the Dixie Power Trio (they often play locally), a couple of members are in U.S. military bands (always a good sign), and all of the players were top notch. They played a great mix of music, including light classical pieces, jazzy numbers, and a couple of Herb Alpert tunes (a big name from my 60’s-era youth). One of my favorites of the evening was “Mystery Medley”--instead of snippets of songs in succession, the piece featured the tunes layered on top of each other, including Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Pachelbel’s Canon, Puff the Magic Dragon, and the Burger King theme.

One small quibble: the library auditorium is a great venue for the performing arts, but they kept the glaring overhead fluorescent lights on throughout the performance. I’m not sure why the house lights never went down, even though the room is equipped with theatrical spotlights on a track in front of the stage which went unused. It would have made the evening much nicer to sit in a darkened room with the focus on the performers. Maybe next time. We’ll definitely try to get back for next week’s performance by “Driftwood Fire,” described as “Appalachian bluegrass and jazz.” Concerts start at 7 pm. Here’s the complete March schedule.

Signs of Spring

2009-03-08T21:31:00.012-04:00

With super warm temperatures this weekend (it hit 80 today), we decided to get back in the habit of walking the downtown neighborhoods. Saturday’s outing took us to the neighborhood below the college, from Sunken Road to Kenmore Ave. I was searching for the first signs of spring, and I know that many of the folks in that neighborhood take their gardening very seriously. If there was anything in bloom yet, I’d find it there. And I did.

The buds are out on the trees, the crocus in sunny spots is blooming, and I even saw some periwinkle with a few purple flowers. Most of the daffodils aren't out yet, but I did see this one small bunch of early bloomers:

This garden, near Kenmore, is ready for spring planting.

Fredericksburgers can never have enough mulch. Mulch is big business. We love our mulch.

There was plenty of action at Kenmore Park. Tennis and lacrosse players were practicing, there was a kickball game underway, and the playground was filled with kids of all ages.

On the corner of Monument and Littlepage, I found yet another hidden cemetery. I don't know how I've missed this one in my walks:

Salem Church Library Expansion

2009-03-03T16:44:00.009-05:00

We stopped by the Salem Church Library this afternoon to check out the grand re-opening of the new expanded facility. The expansion is quite nice—as a librarian friend of mine noted, there’s a Borders feel to the place now. All that’s missing is a coffee bar. Today the place was hopping. They have greatly increased the number of public access computers to 50, and it seemed like every one was in use today. There is a spacious kids’ area, and even a play area for the littlest kids. The adult non-fiction was set up like a bookstore, with easy-to-see subject signs. Plus quite a few small study rooms, a spacious reading room, and my favorite new feature, self checkout stations. It's laptop friendly, and there's even a drive-through book drop. I’m a regular library user, so I’m glad to see my tax dollars at work in a way I can enjoy.

Here's the main room, with the large central bank of computers.

Kind of a bookstore feel, no?

Guess what room this is:

Mega Storm

2009-03-02T12:07:00.008-05:00

At least that's what all of the news programs have been calling it. In our neck of the woods, it might not qualify as mega, but even 4 to 6 inches around here is nothing to sneeze at. We spent a good part of the morning shoveling the driveway and digging out cars. Not that I have anywhere I need to go.

My northeastern brothers like to get out the yardstick and take photos showing how deep the snow got. Well, three can play that game:

Here's a sight I don't often see:

We even dusted off the Toro electric shovel and gave it a spin. This isn't a product endorsement--I did just as well kicking the snow aside with my boots.

Port Saint Lucie, FL

2009-02-28T16:19:00.028-05:00

I spent the past week in Port St. Lucie, spring home of the NY Mets and winter home of my NY mother. The town is on the east coast of Florida, about halfway between Miami and Orlando. For me, its major claim to fame, aside from Mom, is the average daily February high of 75º. Mom lives in a townhome community with tennis courts and a heated swimming pool, and with temperatures in the 70’s and the sun shining every day, we were able to get in plenty of tennis and swimming. And of course, there’s the beach. She’s about a 15 min. drive from the beaches of Hutchinson Island, a sand bar not unlike the Outer Banks, except for the tropical blue-green water. And palm trees. And warm enough weather in February to sunbathe.

The week was a family reunion of sorts, with both of my brothers and their wives spending all or part of the week there. It was exactly how I like my vacations...plenty of lounging, reading, eating, jigsaw puzzles, games (Rummikub is a family favorite), and a little exercise thrown in for good measure. Even though Fredericksburg’s winters are pretty mild (we came home to 65º weather, so I can’t really complain), it’s uplifting to get such a huge hit of sunshine in February. Thankfully I didn’t have to come home to the mounds of snow on the ground in upstate NY and NH (home to my brothers).

So excuse me if this seems like I’m rubbing my sunny vacation in your winter-weary nose, but here are some photos:

Here's the beach in mid-week. Beautiful and blissfully empty.

On the weekend, we got to watch the kiddies at play at what was undoubtedly the high schoolers' end of the beach. I just have 2 little bits of motherly advice: First of all, just say no to the boombox. It's 2009 and the iPod has been invented expressly so that I can enjoy the beach without being subjected to your taste in music. And as for tattoos, call me old-fashioned, but when your tattoo looks like something unusual is growing out of your bikini bottom, that may have been a look to avoid.

There were plenty of shells on the beach, as well as this especially disgusting species of jellyfish:

Here's the community pool where we did some serious sunning. We had the place mostly to ourselves--I guess temperatures in the 70's isn't considered great pool weather for most of the locals. My sister-in-law makes yet another special cameo appearance on the blog.

I know shuffleboard has the reputation of being a game for senior citizens, but we enjoyed playing a few rounds, and we're years (or that's what we keep telling ourselves) away from senior status. It's not quite as easy as it looks.

We finished two 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles. Because that's how we roll.

We checked out the farmer's market at the brand new civic center (top right), which featured the usual produce, plus crafts, ethnic specialties and breads. With live music, too.

Fruits, veggies, and a little social consciousness raising...although I'm not sure the farmer's market was exactly the right venue for this table.

In one of the local supermarkets, there is a churro vendor right inside the store. Pay for your groceries, and on the way out, pick up a bagful of delicious deep-fried dough. Only 5 for $1.

Where can I get hot churros right out of the fryer in Fredericksburg? And if I can't, why not?

If you start in Maine and move south, you go through the northeast, the mid-Atlantic, the southeast, the deep south, and then about midway down the east coast of Florida, you find yourself back in the northeast again. And to accommodate all of those displaced New Yorkers and Jerseyites, there is TooJay's in nearby Stuart, an authentic New York-style Jewish deli. Complete with matzoh ball soup...

potato pancakes...

and, of course, pastrami on rye.

And I can't resist one more beach photo. Ahhh...

UUFF + Eileen's

2009-02-25T08:43:00.000-05:00

This is the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fredericksburg, the church I’ve been attending for the past 18 years. It's on Caroline St., between Amelia & Lewis, 2 doors down from the library.

This is Eileen’s, at the other end of Caroline St., where my husband and I frequently go for lunch after church.

Now the UUFF has been sold to Eileen’s, which will relocate to the 1838 building which they will update into a new and improved restaurant to be reopened in the spring. Our church (after a temporary stop in Spotsylvania during construction) will end up across the river in Chatham, tucked at the back of the Chatham Square Office Park, between the YMCA, Pratt Park, and Chatham Manor. And after church on Sunday mornings, we can have lunch and visit our old building at the same time. It’s like recycling for buildings.

Leftovers

2009-02-18T17:10:00.017-05:00

Just doing a little housekeeping, cleaning out some photo files, when I came across a few more photos, mostly textures, that I’ve been saving. I realize these may be of interest to no one but myself, but I do it as a public service, for the person desperately googling photos of wood shavings. So in that spirit, I give you...

wood shavings...

ferns...

straw (or is it hay?)

burlap sacks...

tractor tracks in the dried mud...

some wheaty thing that grows on a farm, possibly even wheat...

and a 1960's era Ford Thunderbird, parked on a downtown street.

Yes, it's been a slow blog week.