Hokies

Trip to Keswick, VA

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Bruce with his Mr. Toad hat

Last weekend, we headed to Keswick, VA for a three-day celebration of my father-in-law’s 60th birthday.  The Montgomery family converged on the area, coming in from MD, NC, and MN for the festivities.  Even my mom, sister, brother and their spouses came in from the Ruther Glen area on Saturday and Sunday to celebrate as well.  Being a Hokie, it’s hard to admit that Keswick and Charlottesville are gorgeous places to visit, but they truly are and I can’t wait to come back again in July for Janet & Adam’s wedding at Veritas!

While in Keswick we took a day trip to Monticello with grandparents and great-grandparents.  I hadn’t been to Monticello since probably 5th grade so it was nice to visit again after so many years.  We checked out the main house, stables, and Jefferson family gravesite.  With a 13-month old our time was limited, but that also meant we have more left to explore the next time we visit.  I also found some time on Friday for a little pool and wine time, which was fabulous!

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On Friday night, we had a delicious 8+ course meal and wine pairing in the private wine cellar at Keswick.  We ate delicious courses of tuna, ribeye, cheese, sorbet, mushrooms, etc all paired perfectly with champagnes, pinots, zins, cabs, etc.  Everyone at dinner also got to learn about my new fav wine, Orin Swift’s The Prisoner!

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On Saturday afternoon, after a fun morning photo shoot with my Kristen Garten Photography (check out Kristen’s work), I headed to three different wineries with my sister and sis-in-law.  We visited First Colony, Trump Winery, and Carter’s Mountain Orchard & Winery.  All three were very unique, but I think the red wine sangria slushie at Carter’s was our unanimous favorite.  July at Veritas can’t come soon enough!

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On Sunday morning, we explored the walking trails and gardens of Keswick followed by some romping time at the nearby playground. And, yes, even little Ripken got to come and enjoy some pampering at Keswick!

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The entire weekend was such fun…seeing family from all over and having them get precious time with Ashley was a great joy!

Thumbs up: reservation system/flow at Monticello, food and wine at Keswick, pool time, walking trails, playground, pet-friendly hotel, nearby wineries
Thumbs down: nothing to report

Hokies 3.2 Memorial Run on Crabtree Creek Trail

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img_1767This past weekend, we explored part of the Crabtree Creek Trail greenway with over 50 fellow RTP Hokies for our annual Hokies 3.2 Memorial Run.  Our friends Becca and Brent organized the run, which started and finished at Big Boss Brewing Co.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day for the run and such a great reminder that Hokies are awesome! We even started the race with some Enter Sandman blasting from the car radio!

img_1770Like I said, we started the race at Big Boss Brewing Co, which is located at 1249 Wicker Drive in Raleigh.  Btw, they started a weekly run club about a year ago that you should check out! We headed north on Laurelbrook St and then made a left onto Hodges St, which runs parallel with the greenway.  Just east of Atlantic Ave, we jumped onto the Crabtree Creek Trail greenway and headed west.  This section of the greenway parallels Crabtree Creek so you have a nice view of the rapid flowing creek and several major overpasses and train tracks to cross under.  Being that we were pushing a stroller and not in our usual William & Kate shape, we lost sight of the group a few times on the way out.  Luckily some of the trail became familiar to me and at the fork in the road we headed right instead of left towards Kiwanis Park. We ran until we reached Oxford St and then turned around and headed back for a total of 3.2 miles.

Overall, this stretch of the greenway is nicely shaded, paved, and flat!  And, the best part of all was finishing the race with some much needed local beers at Big Boss with some awesome Hokies!  Ut Prosim!

Thumbs up: flat and shaded greenway, passing by the RTP Hokies hangout Carolina Ale House @ Creekside Dr, cold water and beer at Big Boss

Thumbs down: lack of signage or maps at forks in the greenway

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Naylor Family Farm & All Things Halloween

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Pumpkins, beer, Hokies & family…those were on the agenda a few weeks ago when my in-laws came into town. After some suggestions from my mommy group, we decided to head down to the new Naylor Family Farm in Fuquay-Varina to visit the pumpkin patch. Before setting out on the search for the best pumpkins, we stopped at Aviator’s Smokehouse restaurant in downtown Fuquay-Varina to enjoy a yummy lunch and tasty microbrews. I would recommend the wings paired with a beer flight while Bill would recommend the Monster sandwich and its four different types of meat with the Oktoberfest.

After lunch, we headed a few miles south to Naylor Family Farm. It’s not the typical “park” I should be blogging about, but it has great outdoor activities for the entire family.  Being new, there wasn’t a crowd on hand so we were able to leisurely take our time through everything. We paid $15/person for a Master Pass to all the different areas. There are different admission passes depending on what you’re interested in doing. They have a large corn maze, relaxing hayride to the pumpkin patch, petting zoo, barrel slides, straw bale playground, and larger pumpkins/fall produce for sale. The family was extremely nice to chat with and excited about their first year of operation so be sure to check them out.  After the pumpkin patch, we headed over to Carolina Ale House with the RTP Hokies to watch the Hokies beat Wake Forest!

With the last weekend in October coming up, I encourage you to get out and enjoy some of these fall activities. Naylor Family Farm is open until Nov 5th; Aviator Brewing Company still has the Oktoberfest, and the Hokies are playing at Duke at 12:30pm! In addition, be sure to check out these other favorite Halloween activities of mine:

Happy Halloween to all!