Wine Country

Friday evening I had the opportunity to travel just a little north of Richmond into some of Virginia's best wine county.  Northern Virginia is an area highly populated with fine wineries and vineyards.  Sometimes it's as easy to find a winery as just following the "grape" signs along the road.  Other times you need GPS and a map...I put my new iphone app Va Wine in My Pocket to the test and it did not fail!  I just wondered if I should share all the details in one post of spread them out.....one post may not do each one justice but three posts seems a bit much for me to try and type out :)  Maybe I'll just type til my fingers get tired. 

This fun trip was the brilliant idea of my good friend Stephanie.  She is awesome at planning things to go do and she always comes prepared.  I thought I was good at organizing events but she has me beat....there was an itinerary typed up and waiting for us when we got to her house. 

Our first stop was at Potomac Point Winery.  Located in Stafford County, the winery is only an hour and a half north of Richmond.  You do have to travel a few back roads with twists, turns and curves to get there but then you pop up over a little hill and see it.....stunning.  This is a beautiful winery with a lot of Italian influences.  With an open courtyard with tables/seating and a second story patio you have a feel of a European cafe.  The tasting room has a large four sided bar and a small room just to the side of the bar for children.  The tastings are offered three ways, Classic (9 wines) $5, Reserve (7 wines) $7, and Premier (all of them) $10.  We opted for the Premier and it was well worth getting to try them all.  I ended up with a bottle of 2009 Chardonnay, La Bella Vie Rose, and a bottle of the Abbinato.  There is also a bistro on site for lunches and dinner.  Very cozy room to the side for that. 




At first sight :)





Some of that Italian influence.





The courtyard.





Enter here.





For your shopping pleasure.





The Bistro room





Playroom for the kids.





Another shot of the courtyard.





When are they open?





Large ballroom.





They put their name in the tile in case they forget where
they are...





Until we meet again Potomac Point.


I think I will have to at least break this into two posts...Part II tomorrow :)

Monday Love

Where does the time go?  It was just Friday and now....it's Monday already!  Guess times flies when your having fun :)

A glimpse of the weekend with a little Instagram magic....

Shirley Plantation.



Morais Vineyards and Winery.



Hartwood Winery.



Potomac Point Vineyard and Winery.

It was a very busy weekend.  Just the way we like it.  I'll share all the details starting tomorrow.  Hope you have a great Monday.  



Yay or Nay

In November Mark and I visited the Abingdon Winery in Abingdon Virginia.  It was a great visit and a wonderful winery, sighhhhhhhhhh.  We can't remember which on of us picked this one out to buy but either way it was a good purchase.  The makers of the wine describe it as "A very sweet blush blend of Traminette, White Chambourcin, and White Cabernet Franc"   The very sweet part is dead on!  This wine needs a warm piece of pie or fresh fruit to pair with.  Since I don't lean towards the really sweet my guess is Mark picked this out :)  I enjoyed it enough tho to ask for a second glass.  Sipping it by the fire last weekend was a nice touch.  So of course we have another Yay on our hands! 

I might be hitting a winery or two this weekend...can't wait to get started :)

A weekend at James River State Park (what we did)

You would think that in the middle of the winter in Virginia there would not be a lot to do.  Especially outdoors in a park.  But that wouldn't be totally true.  While at James River State Park we managed to stay busy with fun activites almost the entire time.....of course the down time relaxing wasn't bad either. 




We played cards.



We played board games.



Christy taught Emma the importance of stretching...lol.

When we weren't inside playing games or goofing off the park offered plenty of trails to hike or bike.  When you check in they give you a map of the park and the trails.  I found the map to be pretty accurate.  Mark found the map frustrating.  There were markers on most of the trials to let you know what trail you were on...a few didn't match the map but for the most part it was easy enough to figure out where you were and how to get to where you wanted to be.  One particular overlook was just stunning.



Hiking up to the overlook.





I told them to try and look happy. 

 



The Tye River coming into the James River.

Now is that a pretty sight or what?  






The Tye River overlook.



We stayed to see the train pass over the trestle.

To get to this overlook it was just a short hike up a hill (not even a mile from foot of hill).  We didn't stay here for very long since there was still plenty more to see.  The kids wanted to go back to the cabin so Mark and I dropped them off and tryed another trail next to the James River. 





The mighty James.



A picnic area along the river.

This trail was the one we thought wasn't clearly marked and found that when it was marked it didn't match what was on the map.  We still were able to find our way from the trail, up a hill and back at the cabin's front door.  The trail starts off near a parking area close to the river.  In the summer this area has kayak rentals and intertube rentals.  So you can put in here and just flow down the river.  From what I understand you can get a shuttle back up to where you put in.  I'm excited to return in the warm weather to give this a try.  Since we brought the bikes we also had to at least put the wheels to the road once! 




Tommy did the heavy work.




Emma did the easy work :)

The park had three lakes to fish, an amphitheater for outdoor events and has several pavilions for picnicking.  They offered a basket weaving class for an extra $55, a tractor ride up to the Tye River overlook and had a class on owls the weekend that we went.  I was surprised that being the middle of winter they offered so much to do.  Because we were busy with our own activities we didn't opt for the extra stuff they had but I was glad to hear they offered so much.  I'm glad to say that our little family was happy to just sit around the fire or to just sit around talking and goofing off...I'll have to try and remember next time to not doze off with my feet exposed....




There were a few pranksters in the cabin.

 

It was a great weekend!  Always good to get away with the family of some quality time together.  Can't wait to do it again :)

A few random pics...




A picnic shelter near the base of the overlook trail.



Take only memories...leave only footprint.



Cabin #7 journal.

 

A weekend at James River State Park (where we stayed)



James River State Park



Almost smack dab in the center of Virginia, in Buckingham County, is James River State Park.  With about three miles of the park right along the James River and 1,500 acres of land I thought this would be a great place to spend a weekend with Mark, the kids and my parents.  And guess what....I was RIGHT!  Friday afternoon Mark and myself loaded up and made our way to the park.  It was a short two hour drive from Dinwiddie County so just the right amount of time to feel like you are "getting away" without driving forever. 



Yep...all packed up.

Some people like to camp in the cold and out of season.  We are NOT those people.  So when we go to a park in the winter you can be assured we will not be staying in a tent.  The park has 18 cabins, 2 lodges and a bunkhouse.  The cabins are between 2 and 3 bedrooms and the lodges have 6 bedrooms.  Not positive on the number of bedrooms for the bunkhouse but the park website indicates it sleeps 14.  We stayed in a two bedroom cabin and had plenty of room for everyone. 



Lucky cabin #7.



The front of the cabin.



BIG porch that wraps around the side.

I have stayed in at least one other state park cabin so it was exactly what I expected.  Very clean with basic furniture, enough linen for everyone in the house and a kitchen with all that you need to cook a meal.  Their website spells out what you need or don't need to bring along. 



I love me a fire!



The kitchen.




The living area.



Bedroom #1




Bedroom #2



Bedroom #3...........just kidding!



My parents and the kids complained that the beds were hard.  I couldn't tell because I feel asleep so fast I don't think I even got to feel the bed :)  Guess chasing Emma all day, a glass of wine and a warm fire can do that to a girl. 



This is a shot of one of the lodges.

The cabins are all together on one road that forms a circle.  The park website indicated that none were river view but in the winter three of them looked like they had a pretty good view (even if from a good distance) of the river.  In the summer that might be a different story with the leaves on the trees.  Cabin #13-#15 are the cabins with the views of the river.  But even without a view of the river we enjoyed a sit on the front porch listening for birds and animals in the woods. 



Our view from the front porch.

We really enjoyed the stay at the park.  The kids even said they had a good time (and my kids are quite the critics now days).  The fact they stayed so busy was part of the reason they enjoyed it so much...I'll post tomorrow more on what we did while at the park.