CurbPlaces Blog

Since Fourth of July makes you think of grilling out King Family is taking care of that for you. For $10 you get a tasting, signature wine glass, hot dogs, chips, and lemonade. More details.

Thursday July 3rd there will be a parade on the downtown mall honoring our troops.  The parade will start at 6 followed at 6:30 with a concert by the Air National Guard Band of the Smoky Mountains.  The concert is free and open to the public.

The Fourth of July is by far my favorite holiday. Christmas and Thanksgiving get stressful but July 4th just reminds me of family and cookouts, so I’m excited about this weekend. It’s also nice when the 4th falls on a Friday because you get a long weekend.

The Chickenhead Blues Band is playing at Fridays After Five and then McIntire Park always has a great fireworks display around 9. The McIntire festival starts at 4 but no parking will be available at the park. This year the CTS is offering a free shuttle from K-mart on Hydraulic or the Albermarle County Office Building. The park always has amusement rides and food for the event.

Another thing I want to do on Friday is go to Monticello again. President Bush will be the 4th President to visit Monticello on Independence day, in the past Roosevelt, Truman, and Ford have attended. There will be special hours of operation to Monticello, but a certain amount of outside visitors will be aloud at the ceremony.

There are so many events going on this weekend.  What are you up to?   Here’s a list of several more.

I just stopped by Caspari, not a regular visit for me, but I heard they had new biodegradable silverware on sale, very random but, I wanted to check it out for a shower I’m throwing this weekend. The silverware did not look like it would hold up or might give your guests splinters, it’s wooden, really cute though for a party, I thought it would be reusable. I wonder if the knife would actually cut anything, it looks very flimsy. The link above for wooden silverware is for paper + cup. They make really nice wooden silverware that you can customize, fun idea for a wedding gift for guests to take home.

A lot of the store is on sale, but the best deals are the back room sale. All their disposable dinnerware (napkins, plates, name cards) are really on sale 50-75% off. I bought a bunch of really cute plates for $4 total. It’s going on all weekend. Their really pretty moustache chairs are also on sale, they’re usually $1,200, on sale for $650, still a lot for a chair, but things are a lot cheaper right now in there than usual.

Orientations are already starting for fall and students who have decided on The University are coming back for a visit.  Last night I heard parents discussing where they wanted their little girl to request to live next year and she was explaining that this is the first year that the students are not given a choice.  I think it’s a great idea that The University stopped taking requests because that will put the students in a more diverse living environment instead of the way it is now, obviously still very separated.  It gave an unfair advantage to students who knew more about the University because they could request a specific dorm that another student wasn’t aware of.   I think I would be upset if I couldn’t choose where I wanted to live, but it does seem like they are trying to create a more conducive environment for diversity.

Friday Night from 7-11pm Ivy is having a 5 Course Wine Dinner with a tasting of 3 wines at the end for $78.  The dinner will be on the porch.  The menu looks like the dinner includes a little bit of everything.  The event is sponsored by Rio Hill Wine & Gourmet.

Carter Mountain is open. The location in Charlottesville with apples and peaches is not in full swing yet though. I went up the mountain on Saturday and the store is open but there are not any apples or peaches to pick right now and no peach ice cream yet. They built a huge new building this year, it looks like they are putting the finishing touches on it. The back deck will be nice this summer, it’s taller than the store now and you can see Charlottesville. Peach picking will begin in mid-July.

Carter Mountain’s Spring Valley Orchard in Afton, VA is now open to pick cherries. Cherry picking lasts for 4 weeks. They are open Monday-Friday from 12-7pm and on Saturday and Sunday 9am-5pm. Directions

When my sister got married we had a lot of family and friends in town and we wanted to do a wine tasting of 4 vineyards to show people around Charlottesville.  We rented a van to drive us around, but the driver was horrible at directions, he didn’t know where the vineyards were, so after each vineyard he would drive back to Charlottesville and then back out to the next vineyard, our plan was to go to all of them in an afternoon since they were all in a cluster.  We only made it to 2 because he was so confused about the directions.  The point of the story is that I like that some vineyards are grouped together for example when you go to White Hall, King Family is around the corner.

I found another example of this this weekend.  First I went to First Colony, this is where we had my sister’s rehersal dinner, it was so pretty at night.  The road you drive up on is not very pretty but it’s still one of my favorite vineyards.  Then we went to Kluge.  Kluge has an amazing setting passing the Albermarle house on the left with a beautiful pond in the front of the house and rolling hills, with a huge vineyard in the front, then you turn right and they stick you back in the woods.  It’s still really pretty, it would be a great place to spend an afternoon with a picnic.  The trees make the area nice and shady and they have a bunch of tables set up for you to hang out under the trees, but I think the tasting room should be on the property you pass before you turn off to the tasting room.  When you turn off to the right again from the tasting room there is another smaller vineyard on the left called Blenheim 434-293-5366.  You have to call ahead for a tasting, but I thought it might be a fun addition for an afternoon of tastings.

Which vineyard is your favorite?

Visiting Monticello for the 5th time this weekend made me think of all the history we have in Charlottesville.  We have the last working pole ferry in the United States, and you can ride it for free.  Scottsville near the James River Runners houses the only pole ferry still operational in the United States, the Hatton Ferry.  Hurricane Agnes ended the ferry operation in 1972, but it was rebuilt in 1973 and is currently maintained by The Virginia Department of Transportation, The Albermarle Historical Society, and Albermarle County.

The ferry is guided by a 700 feet wire that is attached to the boat, that’s where it gets the name pole ferry.  Even though the water is low right now they are still making trips across the river.  The ferry is in service from 9am-5pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  434-296-1492  

It’s hard when you have people coming in town and you don’t have a guest room.  When they stay a couple days you want them to feel comfortable and hotels don’t.  One of my friends just started renting out his “carriage house” I’m not sure that’s the right name for it, but it’s a really neat apartment above the garage and he just opened it up for extended stay guests(2 night minimum.)  It might be a good option if you have family or friends coming for a long visit and is especially nice since almost all my family lives out of town and I don’t have a guest room.  The whole apartment is newly renovated with hardwood floors and new appliances, the back deck looks out on the woods even though it’s only 5 minutes from downtown. (434)242-0380 or travis@charlotteramsey.com