Viva Virginia! Montpilier

We always set a few family goals on New Year’s Eve for the following year.  Last year, it was to hike 100 miles.  We documented that on this blog with various posts.  For 2014, we intend to visit at least ten places/things in Virginia that we have never visited before.  We have dubbed this pursuit, ‘Viva Virginia‘!    Be they historical, educational or just plain fun, we are on a mission to experience, and learn about, and enjoy places that we have always talked about visiting; but have never gotten around to doing.  In 2014, we are just going to ‘do it’!

Viva Virginia is an idea that has evolved and meshed from three different sources.  Back in November, when we visited Montebello, we had the aha moment that Virginia has so very many great things to do: many extremely popular, and many are hidden gems.  And that we have just stretched the surface of those places.  Shortly there after, I saw a post on the  Virginia Tourism Page (http://www.virginia.org/).  I have referenced this page, and it’s corresponding Facebook page a time or two before.  It is a great website, and serves the state very well, I do believe.  The post was a bucket- list themed highlight of ‘must-do things’ in Virgina.  In looking at the list, we had hit half of them, and the remainders looked very inviting!

JJ was our very first ‘Victor’ and he chose for us to the ropes course in Luray.  Here he is posing in front of the ‘victory board’.

The third piece of the puzzle comes from a recognition system we started in our family in September.  It is called ‘victories’.  When a member of the family does something good, anyone else in the family can nominate him or her for a victory.  We write that up on a chalkboard (in a color-coded fashion).  Then, on a weekend day at the end of the month, we have ‘Victory Day’.  And, the person with the most victories that month gets to chose something for us to do on that day as a family.  The only rule is it has to be a day trip.  I realized the boys especially needed some possibilities for their victories, and I started to make a list.  Then, when I saw the bucket-list article, and put it all together and Viva Virginia! was born.

Billy and JJ tied for the most victories in January, and they unanimously decided that our  very first ‘Viva Victory’ would be James Madison’s Montpelier.   It is just at about an hour from Harrisonburg, so a quick after Church, Sunday afternoon outing.  A very enjoyable one at that, and one in which we all highly recommend.

There are so many facets to Montpelier (James Madison himself, the process of renovation, the Constitution, Dolley Madison,the DuPont Family etc) that trying to do a full blog post on it will fall short on so many levels.  So, I am not even going to try.  Rather, I will share what stuck out for each of us individually as we discussed it on the ride home (interesting that none of us had even a similar answer):

Billy:  The war of 1812.  I did not know really anything about it until today.  And I liked the interactive ship display they have about the war.  (Note:  That is located upstairs in the house, where you can experience it just after the tour)

JJ:  I liked see how the houses were decorated back then.  I liked the Greek art on the wall.  (Note: He and I are currently reading the Percy Jackson Series, and a few of the paintings on Madison’s wall in the receiving room depicted Satyrs and Greek myths,we think).  And, James Madison had a cool chess set and really neat maps in his office.

Mickey:  I liked the details put into the building of the house, all the woodworking and panels.

Minnie:  Two things: First,  I found the renovation process to be the most interesting, and the painstaking detail that historians and anthropologists go to in recreating the house and time period.   And, second: being utterly disgusted with our politicians of today, what struck me about Madison and our founding fathers was their foresight and focus.  They were thinkers.   The Constitution is only 6 pages (including the Bill of Rights).  It is the supreme law of the land;  and, it has served ‘we the people’ well  for many years.  In our current political climate, we are hard pressed to find any bill under hundreds of pages or in most cases thousands of pages.  And they tend to mess things up, rather than improve the lives of ‘we, the people’!   Nowadays, we have schemers.

Finally, I think what surprised us all was this amazing view from Mr. Madison’s Front Porch:

We were so focused on the house when we walked up, it was not until we stood on the front porch waiting for the tour that we were even aware of the view.

One interesting pit stop to this trip is the Barboursville Ruins. It is less than 10 minutes from Montpelier; with the stop itself taking about the same amount of time.   On Christmas Day, 1884 the then Governor of Virgina (James Barbour’s) mansion burned down.  It was designed by Thomas Jefferson, and the remains stand to this day, where visitors can walk freely though the grounds.   Barboursville Vineyard is operated on what was then the estate.  The ruins have been preserved, and provide for a short, and yet unique experience.  It was Billy and JJ’s first trip to the ruins, and thought it was pretty cool.

So, our first Viva Virginia trip is in the bag.  One is checked off (and perhaps a half for the Barboursville ruins).  Do our VV&T readers have any suggestions for future ‘viva’s’?

Some ‘beary’ good advice by Billy and JJ

Seeing a bear on a hike is an alternately a scary and yet exhilarating experience.    In the moment, your heart is pounding and the adrenaline is kicking in, along with a healthy dose of fear.  Afterwards, when the heart rate returns to normal, and safety is assured, you think, ‘Man, what a story I have to tell!”  Especially if you get a good picture:

We have been ‘fortunate’ enough to encounter a bear three times on our hikes, and an additional two times while in our car on skyline drive (one time seeing a momma bear and  her two precious cubs scamper across the roads).  The most recent time, was our very last hike of the season in November of 2013.  Mom Mom was visiting from Ohio and we had taken her up on Skyline Drive.   She has never hiked before, so we were glad of the chance to share our hobby with her.   But, because we had been trading off the stomach flu during her visit, we  ended up doing just a short jaunt from Big Meadows to give her a taste of the woods.  It was but just a short distance into our hike when we came upon a rather large crowd of people gathered, giving off an air of excitement.  A lo and behold, not too far in the distance was a bear.  Who literally seemed to be posing for us!    We had joked all the way up the mountain about seeing a bear, because it is a running joke with Mom Mom.  She is always fearful for us on our hikes that a bear will maul us, or a snake will ‘chase’ us.  So, it was quite apropos that she actually experienced this bear sighting with us.  I am not sure if it made her overall more at ease with us sharing the woods with various wildlife, but at least we all escaped unharmed with the best photographic proof to date of our sighting.

Which brings me to the inspiration for this blog post:  We have had a nasty, cold winter.  And as such, Billy and JJ have been out of school a lot….with full days, delays and various illness related absences.  In the summer, they have their own blog that they frequently post to:  The Adventures of Billy and JJ (http://billyandjj.blogspot.com/   ) in an effort to help keep their academic skills sharp.  They have missed so much school recently for all the said reasons, that I have felt compelled  to have ‘homeschool’ time in between their Spongebob, XBox and Snowbarding pursuits.    Mostly it has been math and reading…..but our favorite Spongebob episode, ‘How to prevent a Sea Bear Attack’ prompted me to have Billy and JJ inform VW&T readers of what they have learned about encountering a bear on the trails.

In their own words:

  What to do when you see a Bear….. by Billy

“What would you do if you saw a bear hiking?  Well, it sounds simple…..run, right?   Wrong Answer.  There are easier ways to not be harmed by a bear.  Remember, bears are just as afraid of you as you are of them, so if they don’t notice you , be quiet until it passes.  If it does notice you, be very loud and make lots of noise.  If the bear has a cub, DO NOT get it between it and its cub.  And don’t run.  That will startle it.  And it might chase after you.  The best thing to do is to get together with the rest of your group and try to look big.  Also, make as much noise as you can.  If you have bear-bells, rattle them like crazy.  That’s what you do when you see a bear!”

What I do when I see a Bear…..by JJ

“First, I stop what I was doing.  Then I either start shaking my bear bells (if I remembered to bring them) or I get together with my family and whoever else is around in a big group, and start to make noise.  Because bears are just afraid of you as you are of them.  Then I watch the bear (but do not make eye contact) and wait to see that the bear is a good distance away and hike on”

Take it from them, they have been there!

And, in case you were wondering (back to the Sp0ngebob reference, because that episode never gets old)……there is really only one way to prevent a Sea Bear attack; and that is ANTI- SEA BEAR CIRCLE (ONLY A CIRCLE, NOT AN OVAL, IT MUST BE A CIRCLE)- all the experts say it is the only way to stop a Sea Bear.  And those experts would be Patrick and Spongebob.

There are many ways, however, to ATTRACT a Sea Bear attack (again per Patrick and Spongebob) and those are:

1)Playing the clarinet badly (They might hate the sound or it upsets them.)
2)Waving a flashlight around (It’s their natural prey.)
3)eating or holding cubed cheese or possibly cheese in general (Perhaps they hate it or the smell might set it off.)
4)Stomping around (They take it as a challenge.)
5)Wearing a hoop skirt (It might disgust them.)
6)Wearing clown shoes (Ridiculous.)
7)Wearing a sombrero in a goofy fashion (Offensive, perhaps.)
8)Screeching like a chimpanzee (It may mimic the sound of a dying animal to them.)
9)Running from a Sea Bear (It might show cowardliness.)
10)Limping from a Sea Bear (It might also show cowardliness.)
11)Crawling away from a Sea Bear (This ALSO might show cowardliness)
12)Drawing ovals in the Dirt (Dirt ovals can’t protect against sea bears.)

Wine and Chocolate Paring at Bluestone Vineyards

If you are lucky enough to spend any time with Lee Hartman, the winemaker at Bluestone Vineyards, I daresay you might come away from your encounter with a case of Oenophilia.  His enthusiasm for his craft is that catching.  And, I had the great pleasure of doing just that last weekend;  not that I needed any convincing about the whole wine-loving part!   A wine friend of mine extended me the kind offer of joining her table at the Bluestone Chocolate and Wine Paring where I had a wonderful time in the company of some old, and new friends.

Our table at the wine and chocolate paring

Mickey and I have been to numerous vineyards in the last few years, doing tastings and attending other events like concerts and races.  But, I cannot think of another time we have had the chance to interact with the winemaker at any of the establishments.  I shall break down the wine/chocolate experience throughout the rest of the blog, but I think the thing I most enjoyed was just witnessing the energy that Lee possesses not only for his vineyard and wine, but the entire industry.  He likely would probably be pretty successful in any endeavor he chose, but lucky for us in the Shenandoah Valley, it is  wine-making.  Not only did I enjoy Lee speak about each of his wines during the event, he spent loads of time with our table after the event sharing his passion and ideas.  I came away from the day thoroughly impressed with Bluestone Vineyard, and look forward enjoying the fruits of their labor much more in the future.    So, other than enjoying great wine, chocolate and company…..two other things came out of this event for me:  1) We need to do more events with winemakers and 2) I need to get Mickey out to Bluestone really soon!

A sample of our samplings!

The wine and chocolate paring session is a fun occasion that is in its third year at Bluestone.  Guests of the event are tasked with helping the winery staff come up with a list of likely parings of their seventeen wines, with an equal number of chocolate options.  Yes, you read that right….it was a lot of wine, and a lot of chocolate,  and a lot of fun. The afternoon was actually spent in what is to become the new tasting room of Bluestone Vineyard.  And that happens to be the basement of the ‘manor’, which also doubles as the owners house.  It sits amid the vines, uphill from the current tasting room and has this incredible view:

Despite it being a unseasonably warm, and beautiful day,  it was still early January so we were left anticipating how appealing this setting will be in the warmer months of the year.

Yummy Warfel’s Chocolate

On our tables were samplings of a Harrisonburg ”Chocolatier’; Warfel’s (who has a store in the Daytons Famers Market).  Among other delights, they provided us with the very interesting Earl Grey Lavender Chocolate, Chilli Chocolate, and salty logs.  There were forty some of us in  attendance using our knowledge of wine pairing, or just plain luck (or not) to set up the wine/chocolate pairings that Bluestone will offer during the week of Valentines Day.

Each wine was poured one at a time, starting with the Sauvigon Blanc.   We worked our way through the whites, then the reds and then finished with two dessert wines.   As the staff came around with the wine sample, Lee imparted a great deal of wisdom to us:  about that specific grape, how it grows well, and his methods in making wine.  Also interspersed was a bit of history and insight into Bluestone Vineyard, as well as antidotes from the wine world.   Since Mickey was not in attendance, I had great intentions of taking copious notes on my phone for which to provide VW&T readers with some good tasting notes.  But, with the combination of so much information being delivered, attempting to do a good job pairing the chocolate to wine, and most importantly enjoying the company of my table, I fell short in that task!  But, in reality, that is not how ‘I roll’ anyway.  I always do my reviews based on the overall experience and flavor of the event.  And for that, I did not need notes.

The spreadsheet we were given to record our pairings

Being a type A person; at first, I really wanted a little more direction in our task at hand.  I was overwhelmed with the number of chocolates and did not know where to start.  But, after about the third pour, I started to work things out.  At first, I took too big of a sip of wine per chocolate piece, leaving me with only one sample per wine.  However, I started to find my grove, and wound up being able to taste 3 chocolates per pour, if I paced myself.  It was at about that point as well that our table got a good banter going back and forth about what tastes good with what…..and every once in awhile, a resounding ‘NO’!  We had two instances where we really felt a particular wine (they were both whites) did not pair well with any chocolate, so it will be interesting to see what chocolates those wines end up being paired with.  In general, our table all seemed to get better at the process as we went along, and hopefully were able to give Bluestone some good feedback on our spreadsheet.

One of our family’s favorite things to do on a lazy weekend is to have Mickey assemble one of his famous cheese plates.  He pours us a glass of red and white (Sprite for the kids) and we just go to town sampling different combinations, and sharing our findings.    The experience at our table really reminded me of one of our cheese plate sessions….which really encapsulates what I like about wine:  First off, is just the fellowship with friends.  But then second is the relationship between wine and food, and how each one makes the other better.  Sometimes the combinations are expected, and sometimes surprising, but that is what makes the process more all the more fun.  Before this event, I had little experience pairing wine with chocolate, but have since informed Mickey that he needs to start adding some chocolates into his cheese plates.  He hardly complained!

The staff at Bluestone is now hard at work taking the data we provided them with on the wine and chocolate and coming up with a special tasting to be offered the week of Valentine’s Day.  As a thank you for our input that day, Bluestone passed out complimentary tastings to all of us to come sample the fruits of our labor.  That gives me the best excuse ever to get Mickey out there…..FREE wine.

I became a Facebook Fan of Bluestone right after the event, and just love this picture they posted a few days later.

Really good things are happening at Bluestone.  Lee Hartman told us that the vineyard was a ‘family hobby gotten horribly out of control’ which is a unique way of describing the commitment the family has to the endeavor.    We were privy to a few steam of consciousness coming out of his head about the future direction of Bluestone Vineyard, and it will all be wonderful to witness and experience as it all unfolds.  The family works hard and with passion, it is no wonder they are finding lots of success.