During the winter, we decided to go to our favorite beach – Folly Beach, South Carolina. Ideas about where we should go on the way there and the way home were thrown around. We knew we did not want to go to Gatlinburg because we had done that twice before, so it was time for something new. I mentioned Charlottesville, VA, and Hershey, PA, as possible destinations. Hershey was quickly vetoed because it would take too long to get there and then too long to travel down. So we decided Charlottesville would be our destination.
When I was a teenager, my mom, sister, and I would travel down to Charlottesville via bus. We would first go to Washington, D.C., and visit different historical sights during our layover. I’m getting sidetracked from my story.
There were 3 things on my agenda for our visit to Charlottesville – Monticello, the University of Virginia rotunda, and the pedestrian mall. About a week before our trip, I emailed Jo. Jo was my November Foodie Pen Pal. We had exchanged emails about her motorcycle trip to Ohio and how much she loved Cincinnati-style chili. So I sent her a box with ingredients to make chili.
I emailed her because she lives in Charlottesville, and as a foodie, I needed the 4-1-1 on good places to eat there. She offered to meet us at the pedestrian mall if we had time so she could give us a local’s perspective on great foods to eat. I warned her about the Wee One and the Imaginative One because I didn’t know if she wanted to spend a Friday evening with two elementary-age children stuck in a car for 7 hours and then walk around Monticello for 3 hours (almost actual times). They could get a little squirrely. She was okay with that, so we met up.
She helped us find parking and even find Hawaii license plates. The Wee One loves looking at license plates and yelling out the different states. His goal was to find Hawaii and Alaska. There were 2 cars with Hawaii license plates in the parking lot we parked in. Supposedly I owe him Legos because he found one of the rare license plates.
It was so much fun talking to her about foodies and other random topics such as running, walking to Monticello from her house, and where Dave Matthews had his first gig. My Hubby even enjoyed talking to her and loved her accent because she is originally from Quebec. She even showed us the Coke machine (which doesn’t work) at Chap’s ice cream. The boys loved the place. They could draw and write their name in chalk. They were not so happy about walking around, but when you are 8 and 10, parents can make you do boring things.
Here are some pictures:
Believe in the Magic Traci Diary 