Out For a Walk in Colonial Williamsburg
One of my family's favorite things to do on a nice weekend, is go to Colonial Williamsburg, for a nice long walk. On days like this, we don't buy tickets to any of the museums. We simply go to walk, people watch, stop at the sweet shop, Barnes & Noble, and just enjoy the day.
We recently did this when a cousin of my husband came for a weekend stay. We had a lovely afternoon. Of course, there is much more to do on your visit to Colonial Williamsburg.
There are several museums you can visit, stuff for couples, families, and history enthusiasts from learning about gardening in the 18th Century and fashion of the period.
Foodies can come and enjoy scrumptious traditional meals of the time as well as learning about both the Native American and African American experience.
Of course there is also stuff to learn about our military history and even some of the British royal history for those who are royal-watchers. The Colonial Williamsburg website, has several itinerary suggestions to help you plan your visit.
We often extend our walk through some of the campus at William & Mary, it is so pretty with mature magnolia trees, green carpets of grass, and historic buildings.
The Hugo Spritz - Recipe
I remember the first time I ever savored a Hugo Spritz. It was on a warm summer afternoon while at a lavender festival in Venzone, Italy. I had run into a friend at a local bar. Saw she was drinking something which clearly involved mint and lime. Mojitos are my absolute favorite cocktail so I had to ask. She replied, "This? This is a Hugo Spritz." Thus my new love was born. I asked the bartender how I could make one at home and he shared the
Hugo Spritz Recipe.
It's simple and delicious and contains a combination of elderflower syrup or liqueur and Prosecco.In Italy the phrase "bar" most often refers to a place you can get an espresso, usually consumed quickly, standing at the bar, or quick meal and a glass of wine, it's not like the bars here in the States. Kids are often seen enjoying gelato or sandwich while their parents enjoy a spritz, as did I on this special day when I sipped my first Hugo Spritz, and then my second. It was pretty hot as I recall. Making this the perfect simple recipe for a refreshing drink you can savor all summer long.
Alas, I am no longer in Italy and though I miss it every single day, there are still ways to bring Italy home to America. One of those ways is the wonderful aperitifs... Like this lovely and very pretty Hugo Spritz.
Authentic Italian Hugo Spritz Recipe
Ingredients:
1 ozSt. Germain or other Elderflower Liqueur (or syrup).
3-4freshMint Leaves
1small slicelime (optional)
2 oz unflavored sparkling water
4-5ouncesprosecco*, chilled
ice
To prepare:
Fill a wine glass with ice. If you want to serve it as it is served in Italy only add two ice cubes, three at the most. If your guests ask you for more give them the side eye and huff, "No!".
Pour one ounce of St. Germain directly over the ice and then add a few mint leaves and a slice of lime.
Top off the glass with 4-5 ounces of chilled prosecco.
Stir briskly for a moment and enjoy pronto!
*For a non-alcoholic version, swap out the wine for ginger ale or lemon/lime soda and use Elderflower syrup.
Bluebird Gap Farm and Park, Hampton Virginia #travelvirginia
This weekend we took our kids to one of the most fun parks in the Hampton Roads area, Bluebird Gap Farm located in Hampton, Virginia. If you're visiting or new to Hampton Roads, and you have kids, this is a great way to spend a few hours. Bring a picnic and make a day of it. There is no fee to enjoy this park which makes it even better. Be sure to add this to your free things to do with kids in Hampton, Roads list when planning your visit.When at this park you can enjoy a family adventure while having an opportunity to educate your kids about farm animals which is cool because you don't need to travel to the countryside to enjoy this. It's nestled within an urban environment and has a bunch of cool animals from your typical farm animals like pigs and goats, horses and cows, but you also can see alpacas and llamas and peacocks! You can also buy snacks to feed the farm animals too. How much fun is that? Apart from the farm animals, they have a garden, and great playgrounds as well as covered pavilions and stuff to hold a nice little gathering. Picnic tables are plentiful and the ambiance is great.
Ellena's favorite thing to do at the park (or any park) are the swings. She loves them. 
They're my favorite too!
We made a little video of some highlights from our afternoon at Bluebird Gap Farm.
Wine Tasting at Willamsburg Winery
This week my best friend and goddaughter are visiting from Miami. We decided to go out for a wine tasting at Williamsburg Winery. I haven't been to a wine tasting, much less a vineyard since moving back Stateside from Italy last year. The drive to Williamsburg Winery on this particular autumn afternoon was lovely as the leaves on the trees were dressed in the color of sunsets.
The property itself is located on the Wessex Hundred Farm. When you first arrive, y
I wanted to have an open mind and not compare the wines produced by the Williamsburg Winery to the amazing wine I enjoyed while living in Europe. I didn't really know what to expect, but I'm happy to report the wine I sampled from
What I found absent with respect to first impressions was the lack of warmth from their employees. We got none. Williamsburg Winery right off the bat received a zero with respect to their hospitality. We weren't welcomed in, and I had to stand in line and basically figure out where I was supposed to go to pay for my wine tasting (hint it's the room
Our party consisted of three adults: myself, my husband who was our designated driver, and my friend Michelle, her daughter and our three children. My daughter was in a stroller. The staff member who helped me complete my purchase informed me there was a seating area for children and non-drinkers. There are a few stairs you have to navigate - to actually get into the tasting room. The staff member seeing my stroller didn't inform me of a ramp or other means to enter the tasting room; if there was one, I couldn't speak to it. We were left to our own devices to get into the tasting area. My husband helped me hoist up our stroller the few steps that led into the tasting room. This was a bit annoying, not because I had to lift my stroller up a few steps, but because there was no customer service, not even an offer to help lift the stroller, which would've been appreciated and politely declined since we're more than capable of doing this ourselves.
In Europe, many of the vineyards I visited, welcomed you in like old friends and had places for children to play which included playgrounds, or swing sets or even a few toys or crayons and paper.
The area for the non-drinkers is basically a few tables and chairs off to the sides. I have to mention there are two places on the property you can buy food or lunch, I learned this by overhearing other guests. I totally understand a winery need not be kid-friendly and making your establishment as non-child friendly as possible (including the absence of baby changing tables in the restroom off of the tasting area), but not doing more to make your guests (all of them) feel more welcome and appreciated I found distasteful.
The tasting area is standing room only, which is pretty standard. I hope they do have stools available for guests should they need it. I didn't see any, but I also didn't ask about this or purposefully look for them. Tables are set on wine barrels which was fun. I would've loved to have had the fireplace crackling, for my friend because fireplaces are scarce in Miami, but alas it wasn't exactly "fireplace" cold on the day we visited. The tasting room itself is spacious and reflects the "old world" style of the facade. The area was clean, inviting. and felt cozy despite its large size.
The tasting room staff was much more cordial. We had one lovely young lady approach us because my husband was wearing a Yankees baseball cap, and she asked where we were from; as she herself was from the Bronx. Of all the staff she was the most friendly and the one person who FINALLY made us feel welcome and like we were actually wanted there. It was at this point, where I began to feel like, maybe this experience wasn't going to be a total downer.
The tasting room staff were knowledgeable enough to tell us about what flavors we may taste, and what mixtures were in the blended wines. As far as informing as to what part of the States grapes were grown (when they weren't grown on their estate or in Virginia) was unavailable - not a big deal as most people don't really care about this sort of thing.
They do have a class you can take to learn more about wines. This is something I was excited to see, and I think I would want to take. I love learning about wine.
About halfway through our selections, my husband took the kiddos outside to walk the property while Michelle and I finished up our tasting. I was concerned they would get restless and begin to disturb the other guests. As I mentioned before this winery is not kid-friendly. It doesn't even try to be. If you have an older child who wouldn't mind sitting for about an hour, then bring them along, but bring snacks and something to entertain them.
Now for the wine. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised. Their wine was good. I enjoyed all of my selections and the few sips I had of my friend's choices. They have a wide variety of offerings including sweet dessert wines. I stuck mostly to the drier whites and reds but did sample one dessert wine.
My favorite wine was the Adagio. It most reminded me of wines I could find in Italy like one of my favorite wines from Italy produced by Bessich wines called a Novello. The bottle of Adagio would've set me back $75.00. It stayed at the winery considering my cash of Italian and European wine is still quite plentiful. However, if you would like to try a bottle of wine from Williamsburg Winery the " J. Andrewes Merlot" was delicious and is affordably priced at $13.00 a bottle.
If red wine isn't your thing I would suggest you try their "A Midsummer Night's White" (love that name!) I tried a sip of my friend's, and it was sweet and fruity and easy to enjoy. I liked the James River White the best.
The Petit Manseng I also enjoyed. My friend Michelle did not. She thought it too strong. She prefers sweeter less bold wines these days.
Williamsburg Winery has a large selection of wines, and you're sure to find a selection to suit your pallet.
Overall I would recommend a stop at the Williamsburg Winery. Go for the ambiance and the wine -which is the true gem. Don't expect too much from the staff who I'm in no way bashing. They were never rude or impolite, but had they been a tad bit more welcoming or at least had a person greet me as I walked through the door, would've made my experience pretty perfect. In the future, I hope to try one of their two restaurants-sans the kids.
Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, Virginia. I FINALLY made it!
I've wanted to visit Fountain Bookstore since Maggie Stiefvater mentioned it on one of her social media channels. If you don't already know, she sends her signed books and other goodies to the store. I already have several signed books by Maggie from when I attended a signing at Books & Books in Miami several years ago, but I did manage to score a signed copy of The Raven Boys, which I didn't have a physical copy of. Apart from Maggie's signed copies they have a fairly large selection of signed books which is super cool.
What I love best about independent bookstores is the personal experience. The person who helped me, I think his name was Chris asked me about why I liked Maggie Stiefvater (they get quite a few fans - no surprise) but he'd never actually met one. I'm fairly certain I convinced him to read her books now. He, however, got me to buy Laini Taylor's Strange the Dreamer, which I have seen, but haven't really picked up. However, he said it was one of the best fantasy books he's read in a long time and that it had him in tears. He had me at "sobbing".
I also picked up my book club's next read which is, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I'm super excited to read this one!
MilFarm "You Pick" Berries and Christmas Trees in Williamsburg Virginia
While my mom was here we visited Williamsburg,Virginia and took the boys to pick fresh berries at MilFarm. It's a Christmas Tree farm that has "you pick" berries during the summer months. In May and June strawberries are available and in July blackberries and blueberries, which were the berries we picked on this visit.
We showed up on a quiet afternoon and what struck me most, was that the farmstand was unmanned. The proprietors of MilFarm had set their berry picking on the honor system. I loved this, it put a good feeling in my heart to know they were trusting of their customers enough to be honest about how much they picked. We went in and grabbed a few baskets to fill and
My mom and the boys did the work of picking the berries while I sat and enjoyed the warm summer day and the natural beauty of the farm.
Though we'll be using an artificial Christmas tree this year, I do hope to purchase a fresh wreath from the farm available to purchase at the Williamsburg Farmers Market.As I understand it, one can pick and flag a tree for their holiday anytime after Halloween. They open for cutting trees on weekends beginning the day after Thanksgiving. The tree varieties they grow include: Cedar, Leyland Cypress, White Pine, Norway Spruce and Caanan Fir. Prices range from $5-$7 per foot depending on they variety you choose.Can you imagine how the air surrounding the farm must smell like when the trees are being harvested? I may have to take a drive just to see it for myself as I've never actually cut down our own tree.
A Stroll Through Riverwalk Landing - Yorktown, VA
While my mom visited us over the Independence Day holiday, we all went for a stroll through Riverwalk Landing in Old Yorktown, VA.
Riverwalk Landing is located on the Yorktown waterfront. There is a small beach and a pier to enjoy as well as quaint shopping and dining opportunities on the very picturesque setting of the York River which serves as a beautiful backdrop for a lovely walk. There are several opportunities to enjoy outdoor concerts, markets and I hear even a wine festival and tall ship visits.
Ellena is the first baby I've been able to successfully breastfeed. It's an accomplishment I'm so proud of. Feeding her in public, has been a struggle for me, I've spent a lot of time in the backseat of my car, but I think I've gotten the handle on it now. These cute covers have helped so much because they totally cover me (I'm the bashful type) when trying to get her latched on.
My mother gifted me with a few Alex & Ani bangles for mother's day. One was "mother" and the other "daughter". I love them so much. Here is a similiar one.