Yum.

A couple weeks ago Matt took me out for the perfect dinner.  His is on the left, mine is on the right.  Matt being the traditionalist that he is got a classic New York hot dog.  I got the Rise and Shine - scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese.  I figured since I don't get up early enough to eat breakfast normally I'd have it on my hot dog for dinner :)  Oh, and the tator tots were AMAZING!

GRADUATION!

I'm going to let pictures speak 1,000s of words...

Those were the hightlights!



Reflecting on Charlottesville

I've been thinking that I've become quite disgruntled about Charlottesville and how excited I am to leave the area in hopes of what Georgia will bring.  In all honesty, Charlottesville probably isn't THAT bad of a town.  Not my favorite city I've lived in, but there are many great qualities and memories that I will come to miss after June 4th.  As a way to prove that I have enjoyed aspects of this community - Matt, Nigel and I have compiled our top ten events/places in Charlottesville.  They aren't in any particular order.  Drum roll, please:

10. McGrady's Irish Pub - good food.  Where else can you get a sandwich with fries on it?

9. C'ville Market - fresh produce, dirt cheap prices

8. The many dog parks - this is Nigel's pick, but we love our time there just as much as he does!

7. King Family Vineyards - Darden hosts a BBQ picnic every year at the scenic King Family Vineyards.  Yummy food, hoe-down music, friends and the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains as the backdrop.

6. Having our first home together - While it hasn't been easy adjusting to each other's habits, we love having the other person there.  But we haven't been the only one who has had to adjust.  Nigel went from having an all night cuddlefest with Mommy to sharing the bed with Daddy.  Poor Nigel.

5. The giant snowstorm of '09 - Was it the never-ending whiteness, the delirious forecasters on TV, the glorious snow days or just the extremity of it all that made it so crazy.  Either way, it was more snow than any of us had ever seen.

4. Mount Vernon - Definitely Matt's pick.  It's pretty cool having so much history in your backyard.

3. Big Brothers/Big Sisters - Man, did I get lucky being matched with Leya.  What a joy to be able to spend time with her.  Want to know how awesome she is?  She loves the library so much she has her library card number memorized.  Told ya she's a good one.

2. Adopting our first little boy! - We couldn't be happier with our first little guy.  He's crazy, he's sweet, he's handsome, he's perfect. 

1. Carrying Jenn over the threshold - Yup, Matt came up with that all on his own.  Man, I married a good one.

Foam (Faux) Henge

Yes, ladies and gentleman, this has been my favorite attraction in Virginia.

Not the history -

Not riding on an elephant.



Nor the views



Or the beach.

Foamhenge.  A life-size version of the England landmark made COMPLETELY out of foam.  Does life get better than that?  And you know how I just love taking pictures of landmarks that look like the real, but really aren't.  Case in point:

Paris, TN - not Paris, France.  Betcha couldn't tell the difference.



Now Matt gets a smidgen embarrassed that I get so excited about these "educational, historic" opportunities when they're anything but historic or educational.  Whatever, Lawson, I just saved you $1,000s because we need not go to Stonehenge anymore.  That's something you can take all the way to the bank.



Mt. Vernon - The E! True Hollywood Story

MOUNT VERNON IS AWESOME!!!!  To tell the truth, I have a man crush on George Washington.  But really, how can you not?  The man pretty much single-handedly guaranteed American independence and thereby the freedom of the entire war.  Plus, my MBA side likes that he was a pretty good business man.

Gristmill

Jenn and I started with the business side of GW.  He built a gristmill and it is reconstructed near Mount Vernon.  The reconstruction actually works and they mill corn and wheat that you can buy at the gift store.  Speaking of gift store, I may have broken the bank while shopping.  Jenn didn't seem to mind because she was busy enjoying the accent of the cashier who appeared to be from Holland.  Jenn states, "She sounded like a Heidi and looked like a Helga".  Moving on, GW, when President, signed patent #3 – amazing that the president actually looked at those things back in the day.  Anyways, it was an invention that minimized labor at the gristmill so when he returned the patent, he enclosed a letter asking for the machine.  It’s now installed and working – Jenn and I got to see the mill run.  They say they can produce 50 lbs of flour in 15 minutes and in Washington’s day it would have run eight hours a day, five days a week for the entire year.  That’s a lot of flour and the mill was a big money maker.  Here's a look at Nigel's money maker (his hiney, not his hot dog costume):

GW also started a distillery.  He hired a Scotch whiskey maker to run it and when he died, it was the largest distillery in the US and it made a tremendous profit.  Unfortunately, after GW, it was run into the ground.  It was reconstructed a few years ago with donations from American whiskey makers and they still make whiskey there – but at $85 a pint it’s a bit out of my price range.

Distillery

At Mt. Vernon proper the house that GW owned for most of his life still stands.  It’s a beautiful location overlooking the Potomac river.  The house has nine bedrooms to accommodate all of the people who wanted to visit.  They estimated that on any given day there would be about 400 people on his estate - between family, visitors and slaves.  There is also the bedroom where Washington died.  Martha locked it up after his death and never used it again.

Back side of the house - parties and social gatherings were held on the lawn

The other great thing about Mount Vernon is that it is relatively cheap and doesn’t take any tax money.  At the same time, since it’s so close to DC, it’s a lot more crowded than the President homes near Charlottesville.  Still, it was pretty great, and the best part is that I think Jenn liked it as well.

GW - Jenn's Impressions

We went to Matt's personal DisneyLand... Mt. Vernon.  You thought I was bad about seeing Howie Long; it was nothing compared to the excitement Matt had about going to his hero's home.  Admittedly, it was a bit cute, but I would never, EVER confess that to Matt. 



I really didn't know what to expect going there.  Based on my experience with the other presidential homes, I thought there'd be the house, some outdoor things and a giftshop.  Boy, was I wrong.  There was a wharf where you could cruise the Potomac, MANY rare breeds of animals that were alive during GW's time, but not as popular anymore.  We couldn't resist the hiney shot.



There was a museum with many artifacts including his bust, swords and beautiful jewelry.  Oh yeah, and those disgusting famous dentures.  Martha was a saint.

They offered several additional tours in addition to the tour of the home - we chose the National Treasure tour.  I love the National Treasure movies.  In fact, Matt makes fun of me because he thinks that most of my knowledge of history comes from those movies (and Forrest Gump).  Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.  Anyways, the tour allowed us to go into the basement of the home, peer into the ice house AND get a pretty spectacular view of the house from the beach.  Unfortunately (for me), the tour was less about the movie and more about little known facts about the house.  And it wasn't lead by Nicholas Cage.  Actually, isn't he in jail?  Maybe this could be his community services.  It was definitely worth the extra $5, but it wasn't exactly what I expected.  See my official National Treasure Tour badge?



All in all, I was pleasantly surprised.  George Washington - well done.