Charlottesville is hands down one of my favorite towns. Because of it’s location and it’s entertainment options, Cville has become the rendezvous point for my mom and I since I moved to NC. It’s exactly between the two of us, and there’s always something to do.
We’ve been to wineries, breweries, restaurants, historical touristy attractions, and more. But never have I gotten to enjoy the town with friends and such good food. This weekend Cville turned to KERFville!
The place: Cville
The occasion: Kath’s b-day
The crew: Meghann, Sarah, Allie, Christine, and the birthday girl herself. (Plus Cara & Brittany & more!)
I pulled into Cville just in time for lunch at the Downtown Mall- a trendy-yet-quaint outdoor shopping & dining spot in the center of town.
Soup, salad, and pumpkin bread at Eppie’s was just the start of good weekend of eats.
Spinach, date, corn, and goat cheese salad. Good at first, but by the end I was over it. The extra pumpkin bread may have hitched a ride in my purse.
Followed by peppermint patty fro yo & brownie goo at Arch’s.
Forget about the fro yo- it was all about the ooey gooey side of brownie batter.
Just in case ice cream & brownies weren’t enough for birthday celebrating, we hit up two local wineries: Blenheim & Kluge, both of which I find extremely difficult to pronounce, even before you factor in the wine.
First up, Blenheim:
I took copious notes. See?
(Why take notes when you can just drink?!)
I’ve never met a wine I didn’t like, but I wasn’t blown away by any of them.
Next up: Kluge
It didn’t matter what the wine tasted like, they get automatic kudos for presentation style. (But the wine was really good.)
We might have split 14 wine samples between the 7 of us.
So far: good meal, good dessert, good wine… what more could you want?!
How about some serious beer sampling?!
Homebrews a la Matt. The oatmeal stout was like coffee & beer all combined into one (my kind of beer!).
I don’t even need to tell you the pumpkin brew was delicious.
We even got a lesson in the history of pumpkin beer, followed by a showdown of bottled pumpkin brews. I think I might have found a rival for my beer-nerd buddy Ian…
First there was one. Then two.Then three.
Let the showdown begin!
The Cottonwood & Schlafly’s were the clear winners. Cottonwood for multiple bottle consumption, Schlafly’s for enjoying pie in a bottle. (Try saying Schlafly’s 3x fast. I can hardly spell it.)
Of course there was good food too. I can’t even begin to tell you what was there.
All I know was Andrea’s butternut squash & mushroom empanadas were to die for, the pumpkin goat cheese rocked my socks off, and those gingerbread cookies were as good as they look. Yum.
Just in case all of that wasn’t enough, the celebration ended the next morning with a giant batch of the infamous KERF oatmeal.
Kath: putting the glamorous back in oatmeal.
How do you think this selection of toppings worked out for my incredibly indecisive nature? Too.many.choices!
Some of everything’s the way to go. Coconut peanut butter, buckwheat granola, ginger pear preserves, Allie bars… I’m sure there was more…
I’m pretty sure I need to start eating oatmeal on my porch. If only my porch looked like this…
So glad to see my North Face buddies, Cara & Meghann! (They were at the scene of the knee crime…)
And thanks to Cara for being the hostess with the mostest!
And with that, the weekend was over in a flash. Whew. (Picture overload much?)
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