Friday, July 21, 2017

Friday, July 21, 2017

Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2008, before Mattie was diagnosed with cancer. As was typical, we went for a walk on Roosevelt Island that weekend. If you look carefully you will notice Mattie picked up a stick and was carrying it along his journey. Not atypical for Mattie. He always liked to collect something on his walks and bring it home. Little did we know in this picture how our lives were going to change just a few weeks later.... as Mattie was diagnosed with cancer on July 23. 


Quote of the day: Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?' ~ Brian Tracy

We drove to Charlottesville today. It is truly a very peaceful and less trafficked stretch of road to drive. As it is only about 2.5 hours away from Washington, DC. In comparison to driving in the Northeast, this was a breeze. Look at the sights along the way! Plenty of greenery, less cars, people, and congestion!

We passed several wineries along the way, as this is part of Virginia's Monticello Wine Trail. With about 33 vineyards near the Charlottesville area. This wine trail is considered the "birthplace of American wine," because it was inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s vision of grape growing and wine making.

Can you see all the grape vines growing in the distance?

On our drive, we stopped at Early Mountain Winery. My friend, Annie, who lives in Charlottesville told us about this vineyard, as a lovely place to stop for lunch. Was she right!!! 

This was the outdoor portion of the restaurant. People came to dine, drink wine, and take in the rolling hills and greenery. 

 Our table view!

The outdoor patio was surrounded by flowers, and the honey bees truly loved these flowers. 

This is Early Mountain's vineyard, and they make and bottle their wine on-site. 

We arrived at the Boar's Head Inn this afternoon. It is as hot as blazes outside. I think you could fry an egg on the sidewalk kind of heat. But the Inn is quite charming, traditional, and has a real old world feeling to it. 

The interior of the rooms. 

We are actually staying in this building, behind the Crape Myrtles. 

Our room has a balcony, and we were surprised by receiving these wonderful flowers as we entered our room. My friend Annie, lives close by, and dropped off this arrangement from her garden. 

I met Annie in 2011, as we were both advocating for childhood cancer on Capitol Hill. She lost her daughter to cancer in 2010. We got along with each other as soon as we met. When Annie comes to DC, she visits us, and when we come to Charlottesville, we visit her. 

This is the view from the balcony. 

The property around the Inn is lovely and despite the heat, I did walk around it today. 

Tonight we are going to the Ivy Inn for dinner. This is a family owned restaurant that I researched and found. The Ivy Inn is located one mile from the University of Virginia and was once part of a larger estate named “Faulkner House“ after  William Faulkner, a Southern aristocrat and distinguished University “writer in residence.”  In 1815, a fire destroyed the original Inn, which was built in the early 1700’s.  A year later, Jesse Pittman Lewis rebuilt the estate, adding several outbuildings, including the present structure, which now houses the Ivy Inn Restaurant. The kitchen, located in the back of the house, was formerly a tollhouse, where weary travelers rested from their journeys between Richmond and Staunton.