Cousins - part two!

Mary, Emma, Ben & Will - at their daddies' cousin Paige's wedding last week.

A Tale of Three Wineries

One week ago today, I spent a wonderful afternoon touring wineries in the Charlottesville, Virginia area with my 3 good friends who were my housemates in law school.

The original plan was to go to the spa at the resort hotel where we were staying, but when I was trying to book treatments for all of us at the same time, the idea of doing tastings at some of the wineries popped into my head. The only issue with that was the driving. It wouldn't be as much fun for the person who had to drive, plus there was the issue of us having to find our way to the wineries. I decided to check into how much it would cost to hire a limousine for a few hours. As it turned out, the four of us could be driven around in the limousine for four hours for the same cost as the spa treatments. As my friend Michelle so eloquently put it: "If I understand the question, I can be driven around Virginia on a winery tour with 3 of my best friends or get naked with a strange man. Difficult choice. Okay, maybe the winery tour."


First off, I would highly recommend the limousine company we used: QR Limos. Bonnie, who responds to quote requests, spent 20 minutes on the phone with me plotting out the most efficient trip; I did not receive service like this at all from the other company with whom I spoke. Our driver, Frank, was wonderful. He was very professional but also a lot of fun. We had a great time rolling through the beautiful Virginia countryside and would have enjoyed that aspect of it even without the wine. ;)

Our first stop was the best overall wine-tasting experience. It was Jefferson Vineyards. This winery is actually on the site where in 1774, Thomas Jefferson was the first to attempt to make wine in the new colonies. He failed, but the area around his beloved Monticello is now home to many thriving wineries. When we arrived, we went into the tasting room and were told they were about to begin another tasting. We paid our $5 each (which included the wines and a commemorative glass) and were happy to find that the four of us were going to be our own tasting group with our own guide pouring and telling us about the wines. Our guide was fantastic -- he was so informative and not the least bit pretentious. We got to taste 9 or 10 different wines, and he took his time explaining the various varieties and processes and answered every question thoughtfully. We were lucky to find that when the tasting was done, our guide was also the one who would lead the tour of th winemaking facility. We all learned a lot about how wine is made and had a lot of fun doing it.

When the tour was over, we got back into the limo and Frank took us to our next destination, Kluge Estate. This winery was absolutely gorgeous. When we got there and saw the beautiful grounds, we decided to make our cheese-and-cracker picnic there. Then Frank told us they had food available inside, and we found some wonderful things from which to choose. We settled upon a plate of stuffed olives and a curried chicken salad with pitas. We feasted at a picnic table under some trees and had a lovely, relaxing lunch. Then we moved back inside to do the wine tasting. The tasting, we were told, was $10 for 6 wines. This was in stark contrast to the earlier tasting we had done at Jefferson -- the tastes were smaller, and this guide did not have a fraction of the knowledge that our first guide was able to share. We were not impressed, but it was worthwhile to visit just for the lovely setting and the delicious food. And the staff was very gracious. One young man even went back and had the chef write down the recipe for the chicken salad we liked so much.

Our last stop was First Colony Winery. It was at the other end of the spectrum from Kluge Estate -- no frills, just belly up to the bar and taste some wine. The tastings here were free, and while the guide was not a fountain of information like her predecessor at Jefferson, she was much better than the guide we'd had at Kluge. We tasted some nice wines here, but at this point we were getting a bit "wined out." We ended the afternoon with Frank taking us on our last leg of the scenic drive, back to the Boar's Head Inn.

We could hardly think of a nicer way to spend an afternoon in our beloved Charlottesville. If you ever get the chance, take it!!

The funniest thing we've EVER seen on the road...

More family fun

Tuesday was Point Pleasant Beach -- playing in the ocean and riding the rides on the boardwalk. As you may have seen in the "Cousins!" post, the kids had a blast. So did the grandparents! It is not often that they do not get to spend time with all four of their grandkids together.

On Wednesday, we all went to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We drove to Liberty State Park in Jersey City and rode the ferry from there. Like the previous day down the shore, the weather was perfect -- dry and temperate. It was nothing like you'd expect in August! The ferry rides were great, too.

Ellis Island is fascinating for adults with an interest in history and whose ancestors passed through. I'd like to go back and take the audio tour and see some of hte exhibits we didn't get to see. It's not too exciting for young kids, though, and we didn't want to use up their patience and energy too early in the day. (Especially after our LATE night on the boardwalk!) We got lunch and ate it outside so we could enjoy the glorious day. The grounds are beautiful and the view of NYC is excellent.

So back on the ferry we went. The kids were a bit more excited this time as we were disembarking. Grandpa had made reservations in advance so that we could go inside the Statue and climb up to the observation deck.

It was not as cool as when we got to climb all the way up to the torch when we were kids, but it's as good as it gets in this post 9/11 world.

Note: if you are taking the monument tour like we did, prepare to put your larger bags and ANY food/drink you are carrying into the lockers before you line up for security. It only costs $1.00 and will save you time (and possibly embarassment). We stashed our cooler and water bottles and joined the line, which despite warnings in everything we read were not bad at all. I asked the woman at the door to the security tent where the nearest restroom was because Will had to go. She asked if it were an emergency and then, looking at his face, decided it was. She told me to hand my bag, keys, everything to my family and brought us to the front of the line for security screening. The set-up there is very high-tech. After the typical airport style x-ray screening, you stand under an arch where a recorded voice announces "air puffers on" and you are blown every which way by bursts of air (which apparently detect explosive powders and other dangerous substances). You might want to avoid wearing a skirt if you go! ;) Will thought it was pretty cool.

As we walked out of the tent towards the statue itself (and the much-needed restroom), I realized that my bag contained two large wrapped chocolate chip cookies we'd purchased at lunch to save for a kid-emergency and a couple of baggies of cereal and nuts. Oops! I'd left Emma holding the bag -- literally. It ended up taking the rest of my family a few extra minutes to get through the screening. If you ever hear me called "Contraband" or overhear someone say "Check Lisa's bag!," you'll know why!

This is the original torch, which was replaced when they did major renovations in 1986. The windowed design of it allowed water to seep in over the years, so when they replaced it, they used a solid surface.

Young at Heart

Cousins!!!!!

More in DC, then on to NJ...

Thursday, July 19th

We woke up early for White House tour try #2. We booked a taxi to pick us up at 7:45 to take us to the Metro. While we'd now walked it plenty of times, I thought it best not to start off the day that way. The taxi ride would ensure we could get to the metro and through the commuters' rush down to the WH in plenty of time for our 9:30 tour.

The kids found riding the Metro with the commuters to be a very different experience. While on our other rides they were able to choose their seats, at 8 a.m. we rode for awhile standing in a mass of people before they could sit down. But we made it in plenty of time. We stopped to use a restroom at a Starbucks where the line was too long for coffee-addicted Mom to buy a fix. Then we walked to the White House. We arrived at the Southeast gate before 9 and were surprised to learn that we could go right in.

The White House tours are "self-guided," meaning that you can set your own pace but that no one is narrating for you. However, the staffers who worked each room were extremely knowledgeable and very happy to answer questions. We learned quite a lot from listening to others' questions and the answers that were given, and we got to ask a few of our own. The stories behind the furnishings and portraits in each room are fascinating. And it is amazing to stand in the State Dining Room and think of the many world leaders and famous people who have been there.

We were unable to bring a camera, of course, but once we were outside and allowed to turn phones back on, I took a few pictures with my phone. I am not sure I can transfer them, but I will try later.

We were actually through with a fairly leisurely tour at about the time we expected to start. We walked to the Metro, rode back to Bethesda and walked back to Alex's house, arriving while the coffee date that she and our friend Jane were having was still in progress. :)

The kids rested and played with Frederick when he came home from camp, then we all went up and rested and packed up when he went up for his nap. Later that afternoon, we went over to Jane's house and visited with her and Abby and Caroline, which was wonderful.

We went back to Alex's and had wonderful pizza and salads delivered from a great Maryland chain called Mama Lucia's. And we got everyone to bed at a reasonable hour. I headed upstairs by 10:30 and had my head on the pillow by 11:00 which was by far the earliest night I had all week.

Friday, July 20th

I got up early in the morning to be able to get ready and load the car in time to leave for the National Aquarium in Baltimore by about 9:15. It was the first morning I was dressed before anyone else, though, and I completely forgot about the motion sensor alarm, which went off and took about 10 years off my life when I attemped to go down from the 2nd to the 1st floor. Yikes!!

When Emma and I went out to load the car, we found it was a beautiful, dry, cool morning. She asked why we couldn't have had weather like that to walk around DC!! Oh, well... We headed for the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, caravaning with Alex and Frederick.

What a fabulous aquarium! My kids have been privileged in the last couple of years to visit several major aquariums (though we haven't made it to the nearest major one in Atlanta yet). But I was really impressed with many things about the NAIB -- particularly its emphasis on preservation and habitat. We loved watching the divers feeding the marine life in many of the tanks throughout the facility. (At one point, Will announced that he wanted to jump into the one where the diver was feeding the fish lots of shrimp. LOL!) Will particularly loved the frogs exhibit where he got to see the vibrant colors and huge variations in many of the species he'd read about in his Reptiles and Amphibians Dictionary.

We headed out of the aquarium about 1:15 and walked along the pier towards our car. It was absolutely beautiful out, and we would have loved to spend more time on the harbor. Maybe next time...

Fear of ever-increasing Friday afternoon traffic kept us moving, though, and after paying the exorbitant fee they charge for parking in the Inner Harbor, we headed towards I-95 North and Grandma and Grandpa who were waiting. The traffic on the NJ Turnpike was a bit ugly, but it could have been a lot worse (i.e., we could have been driving SOUTH)! We made it to Edison just before 5 p.m. to a couple of very happy grandparents not to mention a great-aunt who had driven in from Toronto. :)

Fun in and around our nation's Capital

Sunday, July 15th

We took the direct but scenic route from Winchester on U.S. Route 7, through beautiful Loudon County, Virginia and the surrounding areas. Then we got on the Dulles Toll Road.

Will: Mom, what’s a toll?

Me: It’s money that they collect for you to do something like drive on a certain road or cross a bridge.

W: Why would they charge money to do THAT?

Me: Good question! Sometimes they charge a toll so they can get back some of the money they paid to build the road or bridge, or to fix or repave the road when it needs it.

W: I don’t think they should charge money for that!

Me: Me either! ;)

*****

We made it to Alex’s house in Chevy Chase right around noon. Her husband Michael had taken their 3 ½ year-old son, Frederick to her parents’ condo pool to swim and nap. Clea, who just turned 1 last week, just woke up from her nap when we arrived. Emma, who now LOVES babies, instantly became Clea’s keeper – not an unwelcome development for her mom!

After so much sitting in the car over the past couple of days, Will was in hog heaven in their playroom for quite awhile, playing happily all by himself.

The kids played and Alex and I got to chat. I helped her prep some food, as she had invited 2 of my good friends from college and their families over for dinner.

Dinner was SO nice. The kids played outside and ate their hamburgers and hotdogs on the picnic table that’s part of the swing set. The grownups got to sip wine inside and catch up. I had seen my friend Jane only once briefly during the last few years. She my roommate for a year in college and when I was a law clerk one summer in DC. She was organizer-extraordinaire of social and cultural events when I worked in DC after graduating law school, and she was my maid of honor, going above and beyond to help me to plan my DC wedding after I’d already moved South. It was great to see her and her two beautiful little girls. It was also wonderful to see my friend Tom and meet his wife Christine, who I really like a lot. The whole evening was so enjoyable and it passed by way too quickly.

After we got the kids to bed, we cleaned up and Alex and I stayed up too late talking. I don’t think “restful” is going to be a good word to describe this trip! ;o)

Monday, July 16th

Frederick went to camp this morning and Alex and I took Clea and my two kids to the National Zoo. It wasn’t terribly hot when we arrived around 10 a.m., but the temperature steadily climbed for the couple of hours we were there. We didn’t try to see everything since the zoo is so big and spread out. Among the highlights: we saw the prairie dogs, the lions, and the Komodo dragon (which was the kids’ favorite animal at our zoo at home) We got to see all 3 of the giant pandas, which the kids really loved.

We just made it to see the sea lion training at 11:30, which provided Will a much-needed chance to rest his tired feet. :) After a quick lunch at Alex’s house, once Frederick was home from camp, the three “older kids” went out back to run around and play in the sprinkler.

That afternoon we walked a few blocks to Jim’s house. His wife Eileen was out of town for work, so he had the boys – Josh (5), Aaron (3) and Daniel (1) on his own.

Once again, Emma’s junior babysitter skills were very welcome. She took over entertaining Daniel. We had a great dinner (and Eileen’s yummy homemade fresh-picked blueberry pie for dessert!) and the boys had a ball playing.

When bedtime rolled around, Emma helped Jim get the boys to bed. Then Jim, Emma, Will & I played an extremely competitive and action-packed game of Trouble.

After we walked back to Alex’s and I put the kids to bed, Alex and I had some wine and stayed up talking again. :)

Tuesday, July 17th

Tuesday morning, Alex dropped us at the Bethesda Metro station after she took Frederick to camp. We rode down to the Smithsonian stop and had a great (albeit hot!) long walk among the monuments and memorials. Will loved the Washington Monument,

and I was excited to get to see the World War II Memorial, which is really beautiful.

We made it down to the Lincoln Memorial with the help of a push-up Italian ice to keep us going.

After we walked up the many stairs and looked around,

Emma announced that she could walk no further and we took a cab to the National Museum of Natural History. All those sites on the Mall are really a lot more spread out than they appear to be from a distance! But still I was appalled at what a cab ride of less than 2 miles costs in DC nowadays!!

We checked out Emma’s choice of the rocks, gems and minerals exhibits and then had a fantastic lunch in the museum cafeteria. It’s not cheap, but it was delicious, healthy food. Even if you wanted fast-food type choices (as my kids did), they had natural, no-hormone/antibiotic chicken and french fries cooked in non-hydrogenated oils. I had rotisserie chicken with steamed broccoli and a homemade macaroni and cheese that was too good for the child I had thought would eat it. ;) After lunch, we headed up to see the Will’s choice – the dinosaurs. Then walked back to the metro, rode back to Bethesda and walked back to Alex’s house, with a stop at the Trader Joe’s a few blocks away, where the only eat-on-the-run ice cream was a box of bon-bons which the kids really enjoyed.

After a brief rest for the weary travelers, we got in the car and drove to Potomac to see Renee and her family. We visited for awhile, went to their neighborhood pool (which has 2 water slides which the kids loved), and went back to their house for delicious pizza and a yummy salad. The kids really hit it off

and disappeared downstairs to keep from reminding us grownups how late it was getting. Renee, Rick and I sat and talked till about 10, when I jumped up in horror at how late I had kept the kids out and we packed up and left. It was so great getting to catch up with Renee and I wish we’d had longer to visit.
Of course when I got back, Alex and I had to sit and have a glass of wine together. I didn’t go up to bed till midnight!

Wednesday, July 18th

Since you can't carry much of anything -- no purses or backpacks, no cameras, etc. -- into the White House and there is no where to store things, we put water bottles and our maps and guides into a plastic shopping bag we could throw away. Alex dropped us at the Metro again, and we walked around a bit before going into the White House Visitor Center, which is a few blocks away from the WH itself. I asked the woman working at the front desk there about the best way to get to the gate where we would enter for our tour, and she told me that the White House was closed for the rest of the day to tours because of an event. Apparently they really mean it on when they tell you to check the 24-hour visitor information line for status, and if I had done that before we left the house, we'd have found that out and planned the day differently. Oh well... I called the woman at our Senator's office who had gotten us the tour date and she called me back a few minutes later to confirm that we'd been rescheduled for the next morning at 9:30 a.m. So after a few phone calls to friends and family, we rearranged our plans to stay an extra day.

We headed to the National Gallery of Art. Once again, my plans went slightly awry. The kids had chosen paintings from a library book of American Art at the National Gallery and had taken notes to help us find those paintings in the Gallery. As it turns out, the rooms with most of the American artists were beign renovated, and we were not able to find "their" paintings. So the NGA was not their favorite stop on our DC tour, but we did see some very clever kids' short animated films in the auditorium, and we had an excellent lunch in the cafeteria there. ;)

We went back on the metro and again walked from the metro back to Alex's house. The kids rested and played for a bit, then we drove to the Cheesecake Factory nearby to meet our friend Mike from law school for dinner. The kids were a bit tired (imagine that!) but we had a nice visit.

Virginia!

Most of our drive yesterday was in Virginia. On a long drive, there is something very satisfying about crossing the border into a new state -- even moreso when it is a state in which you used to live.

As I lay awake this morning at 4 a.m., I thought "I love Virginia, but it doesn't love me." It seems that the moment I enter the Shenandoah Valley, my eyes start to water and my head starts to clog. At least it does in the summer and fall. I spent my first month in Charlottesville back in '87 sneezing -- to the point where I had to excuse myself from class a couple of times. I'd not previously experienced the joy of allergies, and this was a rude awakening! It improved over time as my body got used to the new pollens, but it never completely went away.

Still, I love driving through Virginia -- through the valleys dotted with beautiful farms, with the mountains in the distance.

Maybe that was an overstatement.

I confess, I do not love to drive. I don't hate it, but not being a particularly patient person, I'm not the best-suited for this particular mode of travel.

So why are we doing this crazy road trip???

I love the freedom and flexibility that driving gives us. Air travel is quicker and easier for many trips, but it doesn't leave much room for improvisation. I love being able to plan to go to DC and "play it by ear" as to how long we'll stay before we head to NJ. To talk about extending the trip to include Boston without committing ourselves to do so. It's hard to lug all the stuff that the kids (and, yes, *I*) want to bring on a long trip when we travel by air, and we can carry more and access it easily in the car.

When we took a similar trip 2 years ago, many of my friends thought I had lost my mind. But my kids have always been good travelers, and we had a wonderful trip. Three items of technology gave me the confidence to take that first long road trip with the kids -- the navigation system , the cell phone, and the dvd player. When we were shopping for a car 3 years ago, the first thing Tim said to me is "I am getting you a navigation system." With my fabulous sense of direction, finding my way back from a service station within sight of the interstate can be a challenge. It's so nice to have that comforting voice telling me, "take the next right turn," and then getting me back on track when I miss the turn anyway. The cell phone, of course, buys a certain peace of mind. And the dvd player -- when used sparingly -- just buys PEACE. ;)

At any rate, we made it to our second night's destination in Winchester, Virginia. I had intended to post to this blog last night, but the kids were complaining that it wasn't dark enough with the computer on. I turned it off with the intention of turning it back on once the kids were asleep. At about 2 a.m., I was surprised to find that I had fallen asleep myself.

We didn't set out yesterday until lunchtime, as the kids had decided they'd rather swim a bit in the morning and drive straight through than to leave earlier and take an extended break somewhere along the way. So we had breakfast -- a wonderful cooked-to-order (and still free!) breakfast instead of the usual mini-buffet, then headed to the pool. It was a perfect warm, sunny morning.


As you can see, they didn't have any fun!

So... after a not-so-fast fast-food lunch (note to self: avoid Hardees) eaten as we left Tennessee, a lovely lunch- and swim-induced nap, a Harry Potter movie with a McDonald's shake intermission (to allow Mom to reassess the destination), a gas stop with Blimpie sandwiches/wraps for dinner, and lots of driving, we arrived in Winchester, Virginia. The Hampton Inn here is very nice. The kids enjoyed another swim last night and everyone slept well. Emma just woke up and is getting in the shower, and Will is still asleep. :)

I will probably not post while in DC; I can catch up at Mom and Dad's at the end of the week. I am really looking forward to seeing all my friends in DC, and in the evening when we get the kids to bed, I know I'll be spending my time sipping wine and chatting with Alex instead of on the computer. Ahhhh...

On the Road! Or... We Survived the First Day!

The many days of planning, organizing and packing (not to mention stressing!) are behind us. We are officially en route to DC! It was a somewhat insane morning, driving Will the half-hour to soccer camp, coming home to finish packing (and not actually finishing loading the car until just moments till we had to leave), then racing back to get Will (slightly late for the 1 p.m. end time). By the time everyone used the rest room, got situated in the car, and we drove through DQ to get Emma and me some lunch, we didn't hit the interstate till nearly 2 p.m.

With a quick rest stop, rush hour in Chattanooga, and a quick Mickey D's dinner (yes, we hit all the quality eating establishments today!), we didn't make it to Morristown, Tennessee until around 8 pm. Eastern time. There would be no point in trying to convince the kids that it was too cool or too late to swim, so after we checked in and put our things in the room, we hit the pool. Or, I should say, the kids hit the pool. I was very happy in a comfy chair reading by the pool.

We're at a new, fairly nice Holiday Inn right off I-81. We're only going as far as Winchester, Virginia tomorrow (about 5 hours) and there is nothing in particular that the kids want to do there, so we may stay here and swim in the morning if the weather is nice.

If the truth be told, this is the part of travelling that the kids enjoy most. Mom may be all excited about showing them the sights in DC and NYC, but they are just as happy to be at an ordinary motel pool. ;p

This is not to say that they're not excited to see our friends or spend time with their grandparents or cousins, or that they won't enjoy all of the cool things our nation's capital has to offer. But one of the great things about being a kid, I think, is the ability to enjoy the simple pleasures of life without always wishing it were time for that next "big" thing.