The Red Hen is the perfect restaurant. Delicious food, friendly staff and service, competitive wine list, warm ambiance, and affordable. 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and a bottle of wine will typically run you under $200 for 2 people. In DC this can be unheard of. Their menu changes seasonally, but has many dishes as a constant like their Mezzi Rigatoni and Whipped Ricotta Crostini (my absolute favorite). They also always have a delicious Cacio e Pepe pasta off-menu if you ask. If you are in search of a formal sit down for a special occasion definitely book a reservation well in advance, but our go-to move is going on weeknights and sitting at the bar. Their bar staff are great about seating you fairly and serving you drinks if you have to wait.
One of the best 1 Michelin starred restaurants in DC. The Dabney, within the last 2 years significantly updated their dining experience, now offering a full 7-course menu that changes daily. Their cuisine features flavor from their wood burning grill that is visible from all tables while you dine. Brendan & I love dining at Michelin restaurants, but I can get nervous if the food will be too “weird” for my taste. Thankfully, this is never the case for The Dabney. It is always obvious what you are eating, and they do a wonderful job of simply elevating their ingredients. You will definitely need to book a reservation far in advance for their sit-down experience, but luckily, they also offer walk-in bar seating with an a la carte menu if you are looking for a more spontaneous night. Never miss ordering their catfish sliders with their homemade sweet potato roll!
This may be an unpopular opinion to some, but this is the best pizza in DC! Their wood fired pizzas have been stealing our hearts since 2016 and we try to enjoy it as much as we can. Our favorites off their menu are the Pretty in Pepperoni and the classic Cheese Please. Their menu has really creative rotating pizzas with toppings such as spicy strawberry jam, smoked brisket, and sweet peppers which we will usually throw into the mix of our order with our staples. The simplest way to enjoy Timber is by getting their takeout, but if you have the time, it is so fun to dine-in at one of their picnic tables indoor or outdoor and order drinks off of their beer and wine menu to pair with your pizza. My best friend and I almost never miss celebrating a birthday at their original shop in Petworth while splitting pizzas and sharing a bottle of their tap red wine. Outside of pizza, Timber also offers breakfast! This includes bagel sandwiches from their sister location, Call Your Mother Deli (another favorite of ours), wood fired biscuits and breakfast empanadas (the best kept secret of DC). Their breakfast empanadas are GENIUS, pizza dough balls filled with a variety of bacon/egg/cheese/etc.
Charlottesville or “Cville” for short, is mine and Brendan’s home away from home and our regular escape from the bustling D.C. area. It’s a small to medium sized town less than a 3-hour drive from D.C. with a little under 50,000 permanent residents and is the quintessential “college town”. Cville is home to Shenandoah National Park, the University of Virginia (where Brendan studied undergrad), hundreds of wineries/breweries, and home to an incredible variety of cuisine. We grew to love it so much we even got married here! Any weekend in this Virginia town is filled with wine, good food, and countless activities outdoors.
After years of visiting and finding our true favorites, here are what we consider the gems of Charlottesville:
Visiting Cville (especially, only for a weekend) can seem overwhelming with deciding where to start. After many years of traveling, we have come to realize that less is more, and that always applies to Charlottesville. For wine tastings and breweries, settling into a place for the day feels superior to running to as many tastings as you can before the sun sets. This is our #1 tip when visiting, it will make your time that much more relaxing, we promise.
As for the cuisine, you really can’t go wrong as long as you know what food and vibe you are in the mood for! We never miss going to Bodo’s for breakfast, getting coffee at Mudhouse, or going to dinner at The Alley Light on each of our visits (if that gives you any clues).
If you have a full weekend away in Cville, we recommend boxing one of those days off for wine/beer tastings and a fun dinner along the downtown mall, followed by heading over the Shenandoah National Park with a packed lunch for a quick hike on your second day before leaving. If you have some extra time, definitely check out UVA’s campus and walk along “The Lawn” or drive over to Monticello to see a true Virginia staple. Each morning grab a fun breakfast/coffee at one of the places listed above and you will be set for the perfect weekend!
We like to think this is the best kept secret of Charlottesville. The Jeff is the perfect boutique hotel with only 8 rooms and a self-check in system that creates a very private experience. They offer suites and studios, with the main difference being square footage. Each room is equipped with a mini fridge, Nespresso machine, large flat screen TV, and a Marshall speaker (our favorite). The Jeff is also centrally located in the middle of the downtown mall, steps away from so many of our favorite restaurants.
The Quirk is a great full-service hotel on Main Street just a short walk away from of the downtown mall. You can enjoy being walking distance to many restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops just right outside of the hotel. We stayed here during our wedding weekend and felt completely taken care of and look forward to staying again! They have 2 restaurants, 1 cafe and 2 bars on sight for your convenience.
Located a 15-minute drive east of downtown Cville, you’ll find this quaint hotel nestled in the countryside. Stay here if you are looking for a tranquil retreat away from the hustle and bustle. With a restaurant and bar on site you will have almost everything that you need for a nice weekend away! In the summer months you will also have access to their outdoor pool area. Brendan and I have only stayed here in the winter, but we still felt like we got ample access to their grounds and amenities. We highly recommend booking far in advance due to their weekends filling up quickly, as The Clifton is a popular wedding venue.
Bodos is a total must do when in Charlottesville and is home to some of my favorite bagels. Their bagels are always served hot and fresh (no need to ask for toasting), they have a variety of cream cheese flavors, and have a full menu for breakfast and lunch. Depending on which of their multiple locations you go to, you’ll run into the big college student crowd or small young families coming in for breakfast after their weekend sports games. My go-to order is always a bacon, egg, & cheese on an everything bagel and then splitting half of a plain bagel with their blueberry cream cheese with Brendan. Make sure to also order their cute water cup to go with your order. We always stock up on a dozen bagels and cream cheese to take back to D.C. with us every time we visit.
This is the most adorable little French bakery and is fairly new to the Charlottesville area! We recently discovered Coo Coo Rachou during our last visit and their pastries are absolutely delicious. Each week they will post on their Instagram their upcoming menu which will typically include croissants, pain au chocolat, homemade English muffins, baguettes and more!
Mudhouse is a great stop in the mornings, especially if you are staying along the downtown mall. Picture a cozy coffee shop with the newest indie hits playing in the background, brick walls, original wood floors with the strong scent of coffee filling the room. I am personally not a coffee drinker (Brendan can vouch for their coffee), but their chai latte and other teas are always great. They also have a small selection of pastries and breakfast items to pair with your drink of choice.
This is an adorable cake shop on Main Street, very close to the downtown mall. They offer cake tastings paired with champagne and other goodies. We got our wedding cake here and it was so delicious! Our favorite flavor is by far their tri-color carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.
A popular lunch stop for unique sandwiches and snacks. We have come here many times on our way out to the vineyards to grab a picnic lunch. In Cville’s peak seasons (Summer & Fall) we recommend ordering ahead of time.
This is a classic restaurant along The Corner, on UVA’s campus, and is the oldest restaurant in Charlottesville! On weekend nights you can find students dancing on the tables all night long and then crawling in the next morning for their delicious brunch. We love ordering their potato cake covered mac and cheese to pair with our entrees.
If you are looking for a very casual spot this is it! This is a chain restaurant, but it really doesn’t feel like it! The day after our wedding, this was our #1 choice to help revive us after the full weekend. This is a total dive bar with the perfect burger, French fries, and a local craft beer nothing could be better.
Tucked away in the Belmont neighborhood, The Local is a leisurely walk (30 min) from the downtown mall or a quick drive to get to this cute dinner spot. They have a vast menu with all kinds of options, so it is easy to get pretty much anything you could crave. Reservations may not always be necessary but would be helpful to book just in case.
In Belmont, right next door to The Local is this amazing Italian restaurant. Brendan loves Italian food, so we are always trying to find the best places and Tavola exceeds all expectations. They have such a wonderful rustic, cozy atmosphere with friendly service and incredible pastas. We recommend making a reservation ahead of time as this is one of the more sought out dinner spots in the area.
This is one of the best date spots in the area and we try to go each time we visit. They don’t have too many tables, so you definitely want to try and snag a reservation ahead of time. If you get lucky, or if you request it, they have an adorable table tucked away in their wine cellar behind the host stand where you will get complete privacy during your meal. One of our favorite dishes is their beef stew.
Tucked away at the end of the downtown mall you’ll run into C&O’s lantern lit entrance, where you will walk into this adorably cozy old house for dinner. This is another wonderful date night spot in the area, and is also a popular place for special occasions and events. We have spent many special dinners here and always look forward to coming again. We recommend making a reservation ahead of time.
The creme de la creme of Charlottesville wineries is Pippin Hill. You can find delicious wine no matter where you go in Charlottesville, but if you are looking for an entire experience this is your place! Our favorites off their wine list jump between their Petit Verdot or Viognier (both Virginia wine staples) and their Chardonnay.
Our move at Pippin is to either get a reservation on their veranda (our favorite) for lunch or to bring a picnic blanket to sit on their lawn (no reservation required). Reservations open up 60 days out for their veranda or inside the tasting room, and estate tastings (disclaimer: Pippin does not allow outside food). We recommend arriving as soon as they open at 11:00 am if you are sitting on the lawn due to their parking lot filling up quickly. If you have a reservation no need to come earlier unless you want to! Either way, you can enjoy your afternoon ordering their food and bottles of wine, watching the day go by with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the backdrop.
Pippin knows how to please their guests, and their food is no exception. They have their own vegetable gardens with seasonal ingredients that they use on their ever-changing menu. Our favorites are the grass-fed beef sliders, heirloom tomatoes & burrata, and hummus platter.
Pippin, in addition to being an incredible vineyard, is a very special place to Brendan and me because we got married here! We knew this was the place we were meant to get married, after years of visiting and falling in love with their wine, food, and ambiance. It felt so special to bring all of our favorite people to truly our favorite place. You will not find a more perfect place to spend time on your weekend away.
King Family is a Charlottesville wine staple and a big favorite of ours. It’s the perfect place to bring a picnic blanket and your favorite snacks to relax for the entire afternoon. A big draw to King Family is their polo field and weekly polo matches throughout May-October. Picture an extensive field with the Blue Ridge Mountains and King Family’s staple green and white barn in the backdrop. Our favorites on their wine list are the Meritage Red Blend and their Crose rose wine.
King Family sells limited food (cheese & crackers) so if planning on spending your afternoon there, you definitely want to plan ahead. Sometimes on the weekends they will have a food truck on their property but otherwise, we recommend stopping at Greenwood Grocery for picnic supplies and sandwiches. It’s a small store with specialty groceries, wine, beer, and a great deli counter with one-of-a-kind sandwiches.
If you want to feel like you’re tucked away in the Virginia mountains, Veritas is a perfect stop on your weekend in Charlottesville. This was our first winery experience in Virginia, and it quickly became one of our favorites. Reservations are needed for guided wine tastings, indoor/outdoor tables with food service, and their seasonal fire pit tastings. But, without a reservation you can still spend time on their lawn or inside their tasting room for walk-in wine tastings and ordering off of their menu. Veritas allows outside food, so a homemade picnic is also a fun option! For their wine, our all-time favorite wines are their White Star and Red Star blends, they are both perfect easy drinking wines.
If you somehow get tired of drinking Virginia’s wine all weekend long, you don’t need to venture too far to find other great activities in the area! If you head over to the University’s campus you can find a wonderful place to walk around and view all the beautiful old architecture and learn about UVA‘s history. You will find the famous Rotunda on the lawn at the center of campus and not far from there is The Corner, filled with tons of restaurants and bars for students and visitors. Our favorites over here are Boylan, The Virginian, Bodo’s Bagels, and the local UVA merchandise shops.
Outside of UVA, you can drive about an hour north of cville and run into Shenandoah National Park for a day (or weekend) filled with hiking and exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains. Another great option is to drive along Skyline Drive and enjoy the views from plenty of overlooks. This is especially beautiful in the fall. Our favorite hike in the park is Old Rag, which is a 9.4 mile circuit up to see an incredible view of the park. It is difficult hike, so we recommend bringing plenty of water and food and plan your daylight hours accordingly. Another great option is hopping on to the Appalachian Trail for as much distance as you like.
Brendan and I stumbled upon Sicily during our honeymoon research when we were struggling to find a warm “honeymoon vibe” destination at the end of October. When we thought of a honeymoon, we were craving a hot, in the sun everyday kind of beach experience. Your mind instantly goes to the Bahamas, Florida, California, Greece, Portugal, and the list goes on. We wanted to be as abroad as possible, so the states were off the table. Looking at October this list was quickly nixed due to weather not being ideal or (Greece) islands being closed due to the end of the season. Then walks in Sicily.
We are huge fans of Italy and had both traveled back in high school with our families but had never been to Sicily. With some quick research we realized that the chances of it being hot enough for a beach experience in late October looked feasible. Yay! The research that ensued after that discovery was really exciting; the food, the terrain, the wine, and more. We made it official, booked our flights and hotels and made Sicily the first stop for our honeymoon during the last week of October 2022.
Spoiler alert, we loved it so much that we decided to revisit Sicily again in October 2023 for our first wedding anniversary! Follow along as we go through all the areas we explored during our 2 visits to Sicily and show you how it just might be the best destination for off-season travel.
Sicily
Home to almost 5 million Sicilians, Sicily is the largest island in Italy and offers a one of a kind Italian experience. While visiting, you can expect a wonderful variety of Italian culture mixed with a Mediterranean influence. Throughout the island are many still standing, intact Greek temples from as early as 10,000 B.C. representing one of the many groups of people that used to call Sicily home. Many Sicilians refer to themselves as such instead of Italians, and their pride for their region is evident in everything you can experience while on the island. Sicily is also home to the largest, active volcano in Europe, Mt. Etna. Situated in the northeast of the island, Etna stems off the coast with hundreds of vineyards planted at it’s base. Of all Sicilian wine, Etna wine is a prized product of the area due to its unique flavor from the volcanic soil.
When considering visiting Sicily for yourself know that you will truly get the best of all vacations including incredible cuisine and wine, breathtaking views and landscapes on the coast and inland, and a rich and friendly culture difficult to find in other corners of Europe.
The primary language in Sicily is Italian and keep in mind that many of them only speak Italian. In the bigger cities and at the hotels we picked we were happily surprised to run into a good amount of people who also spoke English. It was fun though exploring the smaller towns with little to no people speaking English, making us pick up a few Italian phrases for the remainder of our trip. We jokingly will still throw out “buonissimo” and “ciao bella” to each other for fun even now.
How to Get to Sicily
My toxic trait is I will pay an egregious amount of money for the convenience of a direct flight. Unfortunately, there are no direct flights from United States to Sicily (If you discover otherwise, hook a girl up!). But needless to say, it is 100% worth the layover. We have had layovers in both Zurich and Munich on our way to Sicily but there are many other cities that offer layovers as well. There are 2 airports on the Island, PMO in the city of Palermo, the capital of Sicily and CTA in the city of Catania. We have flown in/out of both airports and they are very easy to navigate. PMO, is on the northwest side of the island and CTA is in the northeast side.
Do I need a car?
You absolutely need a rental car to get around the island; it is about a 4-hour drive to go across the whole island, which if you do this, it offers a beautiful drive. Thankfully, from either airport you can access the entire island. Sometimes one airport has cheaper flights than the other, so make sure to double check before booking. A car is 100% needed to get to all of the off the beaten path beaches, explore little towns, and be on your own schedule for the entirety of your trip.
Sicilians can be funny drivers who love to zip past you and swerve in and out of their lanes, but it never felt unsafe while experiencing it ourselves. They always seemed to have a funny impatience to pass us, but then would just coast in front of us for the rest of a drive. Almost all of the roads are 2 lanes so it can sometimes be necessary to pass people, just be smart about it. When it came to parking we thankfully never had any issues, even in the busier cities. Some of the streets, depending on where you are, have very narrow cobblestone roads and alleys that you may need to navigate but we made sure to do research ahead of time to know exactly where to drive and park in the towns.
The Terrain
Sicily really surprised us in the variety of it’s landscape. Driving through the center of the island you will find rolling hills of limestone covered in greenery and vineyards with ancient Greek temples in the backdrop. Along the coasts, you will run into hundreds of beaches and rocky cliffs hanging over the ocean just begging for you to pull over and jump in. And mixed in between the coast line and the center of the island are hundreds of one-of-a-kind towns and cities tucked into the limestone rock boasting with Sicilian culture. Sicily has much more elevation than we were expecting and it made for incredible views along our drives throughout the island.
The Weather
Both of our trips were in October and both times were consistently 75-80 F degrees every day with cooler evenings being in the 60s. Perfection! We’ve been told by locals and have seen through research that their summer months can get quite hot at a ripe 100-105 degrees F in peak heat July, so we were thrilled to be going in October. For our travel research we have used Weather Spark to help with looking at weather trends for the times of year for where we are traveling and this has helped properly prepare us for all of our trips.
The Cuisine
The food you can expect here has an emphasis on seafood mixed with Italian staples like pizza and pasta. Our personal favorite Sicilian foods are the massive arancini (rice balls usually filled with a beef ragu or eggplant and cheese) and their super special almond granita with brioche (frozen almond treat typically eaten for breakfast). We had also found wonderful sandwich shops with varying paninis and other baked goods which were always a 10/10 for our packed beach lunches. Other memorable dishes we enjoyed were swordfish pastas with hazelnuts and veggies, eggplant carpaccio (eggplant and bell pepper marinated in olive oil, served cold), freshly grilled sea bass either paired with olive oil and lemon or with homemade pasta, and cannoli filled with ricotta cheese and pistachios.
North Western Sicily
Scopello
Oh Scopello, Scopello, Scopello. Brendan found this wonderful area of Sicily by chance while looking on google maps. Following the coastline, we zoomed in and found this little remote town a 5-minute drive away from the water. It is adorable with essentially only 2 main streets. There are maybe 5 restaurants and cafes and very few air bnbs and hotels. We stayed outside of the town and would drive into it for dinners which worked well for us. We loved Scopello but it is definitely out of the way from a lot of the main attractions in Sicily so keep that in mind when considering a visit, but if seclusion is what you seek Scopello is the perfect destination.
Picture birds chirping and flying past your window, sea breeze and the soft rushing of waves hitting the concrete patio below. To us, it was heaven.
Where we Stayed- Tonnara Di Scopello
-Hotel by the sea
-5 minutes drive to Scopello with restaurants and shops
-We recommend at least 3 nights to get into full relaxation mode and to be able to truly soak it up.
Where we ate-
-Scopello Restaurants
Lo Zingaro Nature Reserve
we recommend bringing water shoes just in case. Most beaches are covered in different sized pebbles mixed with sand, and a small amount are rocky cliffs so having your feet covered will make for a more enjoyable experience getting in and out of the water.
One of the best parts about Scopello’s location is its proximity to the Lo Zingaro Nature Reserve. During our first trip to Sicily, this was one of our favorite stops and only a 10-minute drive away from the town.
South Western Sicily
Scala dei Turchi
North Eastern Sicily
South Eastern Sicily
Scicli, Sicily
Scicli
I just want to squeeze Scicli and bottle it up and take it with us everywhere we go. It is simply the cutest, quaintest town. When planning our second trip to Sicily we had the one rule that we had to stay in a new area than from that of our honeymoon. We found this town just by searching for unique Air BnBs in Sicily and found this one. This is usually the way we decide where to go when traveling! It ended up being the perfect home base for us while exploring southeast Sicily. 20 min drive to some beaches, and a 45 min drive to the bigger town of Noto. Scicli is small to medium sized with beautiful stone streets blending into the natural hills and cliffs of the area. We loved walking into town from our Air BnB in the mornings and grabbing breakfast at our favorite granita shop and picking up picnic items for our day out exploring. You will run into many baroque styled churches mixed with small boutique shops and restaurants. Luck for us foodies, Scicli has a booming food scene and the food we had each day was incredible. We also only saw very few tourists during the day visiting the town for a tour, but none of them seemed to be staying in Scicli like we were. Cue off-season and this was the big perk of our trip.
-add restaurants
Noto
Noto is a sweet medium sized town on the southeast coast of Sicily. Thanks to “The White Lotus”, Noto has officially been placed on the map. This does not always bode well for traveling with the goal of less tourists but thankfully Noto has handled it’s fame well. Noto has everything you could need in a European town and is extremely close to the beach and other fun sites; which is why it was an easy decision to visit on both of our trips!
There is a long main street with a bunch of restaurants, cafes, and gelato/granita shops. North of the main street you will find grid like streets scaling up a gradual hill with more shops and restaurants scattered throughout. It is small enough to make you feel like a local quickly but also big enough to offer an array of activities and food during your stay. It is possible to drive a car through this town, but not down every street so be mindful while navigating. Thankfully, there is a surface lot in the center of town allowing visitors to park either daily or overnight, we used this ourselves and did not have any issues.
If you only get to visit a few areas during your trip to Sicily, definitely make Noto one of them! It is a wonderful place due to its ideal location to the beach and easy accessibility to neighboring towns.
Just a 20 minute drive will land you at one of our favorite beaches on the entire island, Spiaggia di Calamosche. This beach is unique in that you have to walk along a short trail (~ 1 mile) to get to the actual beach. This usually will scare off most tourists and you will be left with a fairly empty beach only filled with the locals. As your arrive at the trailhead for the beach there is a monitored parking lot for you to park (5 euro), you then will walk over to the entrance of the trail where you will check-in and pay another 5 euro to enter. Then you will enjoy a leisurely walk along a sandy/rocky trail with glimpses of the water as you near the beach (be careful if walking in flip flops, but definitely doable). Then you will arrive to large stone staircase down to the water and then you can pick your spot for the day and enjoy a picnic lunch! Last time we came here we brought 2 sandwiches from a Noto cafe and a bottle of white wine for our afternoon.
Ragusa
A wonderful medium sized town nestled in the cliffs of the southeast side of Sicily. We only got the chance to spend an afternoon in Ragusa and we definitely want to return for a more in depth visit.
Charlottesville, VA is a small to medium sized town less than a 3-hour drive from D.C. with a little under 50,000 permanent residents and is the quintessential “college town”. It is home to Shenandoah National Park, the University of Virginia (where Brendan studied undergrad) hundreds of wineries/breweries, and home to an incredible variety of cuisine. When I would visit Brendan in college, we would primarily spend our time exploring UVA’s campus, the local wineries and Shenandoah National Park. After college, Charlottesville became the perfect getaway for us, and we found ourselves wishing to go back more and more. We grew to love it so much we even got married here! Any weekend in Cville is the perfect filled with wine, good food, and countless activities in the outdoors. After years of visiting Cville and finding our true favorites here are our favorite gems in this cute little town.
V i n e y a r d s
Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards
The creme de la creme of Charlottesville wineries is Pippin Hill. You can find delicious wine no matter where you go in Charlottesville, but if you are looking for an entire experience this is your place! Our favorites off their wine list jump between their Petit Verdot and Viognier (both Virginia wine staples) and Chardonnay.
Our move at Pippin is to either get a reservation on their veranda (our favorite) for lunch or to bring a large picnic blanket to sit on their lawn (no reservation required). Reservations open up 60 days out for lunch reservations for their veranda or inside the tasting room, and estate tastings (disclaimer: Pippin does not allow outside food). Either way you can enjoy your afternoon ordering their food, bottles of wine and watching the day go by with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the backdrop. Pippin knows how to please their guests, and their food is no exception. They have their own vegetable gardens with seasonal ingredients that they use on their ever-changing menu. Our favorites off their menu are the grass-fed beef sliders, heirloom tomatoes & burrata, and hummus platter.
Pippin, in addition to being an incredible vineyard, is a very special place to Brendan and me because we got married here! We knew this was the place we were meant to get married, after years of visiting and falling in love with their wine, food, and ambiance. It felt so special to bring all of our favorite people to truly our favorite place. You will not find a more perfect place to spend time on your weekend away.
Logistics
We recommend arriving as soon as they open at 11:00 am if you are sitting on the lawn due to their parking lot filling up quickly. If you have a reservation no need to come earlier unless you want to! We highly recommend making Pippin and any other winery you’re visiting during the weekend, your only plans for the afternoon. After many years of wine tasting, we have come to realize that less is more. Settling into a place for the day feels superior to running to as many wine tastings as you can before the sun sets. We promise.
King Family Vineyards
King Family is a Charlottesville wine staple and a big favorite of ours. It’s the perfect place to bring a picnic blanket and your favorite snacks to relax for the entire afternoon. A big draw to King Family is their polo field and weekly polo matches throughout May-October that the public can attend while at the vineyard. Picture an extensive field with the Blue Ridge Mountains and King Family’s staple green and white barn in the backdrop. Our favorites on their wine list are the Meritage Red Blend and their Crose rose wine.
King Family sells limited food (cheese & crackers) so if planning on spending your afternoon there, you definitely want to plan ahead. Sometimes on the weekends they will have a food truck on their property but otherwise, we recommend stopping at Greenwood Grocery for picnic supplies and sandwiches. It’s a small store with specialty groceries, wine, beer, and a great deli counter with one-of-a-kind sandwiches.
Veritas Winery
If you want to feel like you’re tucked away in the mountains, Veritas is a perfect stop on your weekend in Charlottesville. This was our first winery experience in Virginia, and it quickly became one of our favorites. Reservations are needed for guided wine tastings, indoor/outdoor tables for the tasting room menu, and seasonal fire pit tastings. But, without a reservation you can still spend time on their lawn or inside their tasting room for walk-in wine tastings and ordering off of their menu. Veritas allows outside food, so a homemade picnic is a fun option! For their wine, our all-time favorite wines are their White Star and Red Star blends, they are both a perfect easy drinking wine.
Charlottesville Activities
If you somehow get tired of drinking Virginia’s wine all weekend long, you don’t need to venture too far to find other great activities in the area! If you head over to the University’s campus you can find a wonderful place to walk around and view all the beautiful old architecture and learn about UVA‘s history and the founding by Thomas Jefferson. You will find the famous Rotunda at the center of campus and not far from “the lawn” is The Corner, filled with tons of restaurants and bars for students and visitors. Our favorites over here are Boylan (a burger sports bar), Bodo’s Bagels, and the local UVA merchandise shops.
Outside of UVA, you can drive about an hour north of cville and run into Shenandoah National Park for a day (or weekend) filled with hiking and exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains. Another great option is to drive along Skyline Drive and enjoy the views from plenty of overlooks. This is especially beautiful in the fall with all of the foliage. Our favorite hike in the park is Old Rag, which is a 9.4 mile circuit up to see an incredible view of the park. It is difficult hike, so we recommend bringing plenty of water and food and plan your daylight hours accordingly. Another great option is hopping on to the Appalachian Trail for as much distance as you like.
I am writing this blog as both a creative outlet for myself but also to educate others on how to travel more enjoyably. Brendan and I have discovered that traveling in the off-season has given us the most peace and relaxation while traveling and is a feeling we want to continue to replicate trip after trip. Off-season are the “shoulder season” months (March-May & September-November), or the time of year the majority of people do not travel. And the reason off-season is so great is because of just that, less people. Less people mean less tourists, empty beaches, cheaper flights and accommodations, open dinner reservations, and seeing a place in its natural state to name a few.
Traveling can be daunting, especially depending on where you are headed. For example, going to new countries where English is not the primary language alone can seem like a lot. But imagine stepping into that atmosphere and having that still be true, but you are not concurrently bombarded with thousands of obnoxious tourists complicating your travel. Imagine having the locals taking you under their wing and giving you their honest and personal recommendations because you are the only foreigner there. Imagine learning something about their culture you probably would have not otherwise discovered due to being there in off-season. We love traveling in the off-season for these exact reasons. And when traveling, relaxation has to be at the top of my priority list and this way of travel gives us just that!
The off-season can vary depending on what your destination is and when you are traveling there. This can be hiking in Yosemite in January, cliff jumping in a small Croatian town in July, or tasting Italian wine in October. Even if you are traveling during a peak-season there are still ways to emulate the off-season feeling. When planning a trip, be mindful of researching the less touristy areas of your destination and get creative with where you want to stay. For example, you are traveling to Italy in June, instead of going to the hot spots like Rome or the Amalfi Coast, check out Piedmonte or Puglia instead. Any time of year can be your off-season, but you just have to know how to navigate it to get that true “having the place to yourself” feeling.
My husband, Brendan, and I met many years back in high school and throughout our relationship we both discovered our love for traveling. Trip by trip we have stumbled our way through travel mistakes and have come out on the other side with some newfound wisdom. We have always known that travel is what makes us happy together, but we learned that traveling in off-season makes us even happier. We now chase the feeling of “having a place to ourselves” trip after trip. And once you have felt it for yourself, you will want it too!
Outside of traveling, we enjoy sharing bottles of wine over late night dinners with our friends and family in the Washington, D.C. area, hiking, watching old Disney movies, listening to Nat King Cole, baking cookies, and spending quality time together while we imagine up our next adventure.
