Garlic and Wine Festival

This past Friday, Boo and I took a 1/2 day, then zoomed up to Tyro VA. We were camping out at Crabtree Falls for the night. The ride up was pure silliness. Let's just say, there was some laughs, giggles, and robotic popping going on. As we crossed into Amherst County VA, I paid more attention to the rolling hillside and meadows and as we entered Nelson County VA, I just oohed and ahhed at the views of the mountains, apple orchards, and cute farms with pumpkin patches sprinkled about. We finally pulled into the campground, picked up our permit and headed out to site #23. It was full of trees, a bit steep, and you could hear the stream near by. The site was perfect for us hammockers, but we were worried about the Jacky, Brian, and Brian, who were meeting us there and were going to be in tents!

As Boo and I were hanging our hammocks and tarps up, a cat came up and started following us and rubbing it's tail up against our legs. We tried to shoo the camp cat away, but the more we tried to make it leave, the more it stayed around us. We just gave up and him roam around our campsite. Boo and I decided to start the coals going on the little grill for our burgers, well.... the cooler did it's job and kept the ground beef frozen solid. I suggested walking up to the campground store to see what they had for provisions. They had nothing but canned spam, beanies and weenies, pop tarts and candy. So we hopped in the car and drove up 3 miles up and over the mountain and stopped at Montibello Campground and checked our their store. (Cute store by the way.) We decided on some hotdogs and buns and a bottle of ketchup. Driving back to the campsite, I remembered that the AT runs thru this area on a section called the Priest. Boo says he saw the AT trail head as we started up the mountain to our campground earlier today. I only wish we had the time to climb it!!

As we pulled into camp, Boo started making a fire, while I lounged on my camp chair and pet the camp cat. About 20 minutes later, Jacky, her husband Brian, and her brother Brian pulled in. We helped them set up camp, then Boo started the grill for our hot dog dinner. The weather has turned a bit on the chilly side, so we all bundled up and called it a night. Boo and I had our down jackets and chillaxed in front of the fire a bit more. We noticed all the stars out and Boo pulled out his I-phone, with the star chart application and we tried to find out what all the stars are. It's a beautifully clear night with tons of stars and hints of the milky way. Around 11pm, we put out the fire, slink into our hammocks, and call it a night. I sleep warm and snugly through the night.

Around 7am, I wake up naturally and hop out of my hammock. Boo is awake as well and it seems he has company. The camp cat decided to sleep underneath his hammock last night. The others are still sleeping, so Boo and I sneak off to take showers. By the time we get back, everyone is awake and making breakfast. Brian breaks out the gourmet hot chocolate and we all sing happy birthday to Boo as we drink our cocoa to start off the day. After everyone is showered, dressed, and full, we hop in my car and zoom down the mountain and back into Amherst County for the 20th annual Garlic and Wine Festival! As we pull into the parking area, there's already a crazy line of people just waiting to get in. We all spill out of my car, grab our camp chairs, and head over to the entrance to wait in line with other garlic fanatics. The aroma of garlic is swirling around our noses, making us salivate. Minutes later, we are walking thru the gates, getting carded, and slapped with a festival winetasting bracelet. We are meeting Judy and Bob, but since they are not here, we scout out a nice shady spot to put down our chairs. We decide to sit under an Osage tree that has some interesting fruit, monkey brain fruit to be exact. I swear that's what it's called. Thanks to (brother)Brian for researching this interesting, grapefruit sized fruit that was gingerly dangling above> us on this tree. Poor other Brian almost got knocked out when one of the fruits fell just 2 feet away from his head. We all heard that loud thud. Anyways, we set up our chairs, and lay out our blankets in between two music stages, under the Osage tree. Just as we finish getting comfy, we get a call from Jacky's sister, Judy. She said her and Bob just pulled in and are in line. We walk up to the gates to meet up with them. After hello's and hugs, we walk back to our camp spot, set up Judy and Bob, and head out to pick up our commemorative wine glass so we can get down to business. WINE TASTING!!!!
As a group, we all navigate through all the vendor stalls, stopping to sample garlic goodies, and checking out the crafts. We finally get to the wine glass tent, hand over our purple ticket, get our tasting bracelet's checked and are given our 20th anniversary Glass Garlic Festival wine glass. We collectively walk down to the tasting tents and begin our rounds! We start with the Mountain Cove Vineyard tent and are literally 4 deep in line. After we tasted 4 different wines, Boo and I agree we liked the Tinto and that we are sooooo getting a bottle of SKYLINE White to sip on later in the afternoon. I liked the Peach wine too, which is interesting, considering I'm not a big peach flavor anything person. Next we move over to Wintergreen Winery tent and we all think that the Chardonnay was the best. I still heart the raspberry dessert wine and the Viognier though and I thought the Cabernet Franc was OK. By this point, I'm feeling slightly warm and giggly. We all move on to the Rebec Winery tent. We get up to the front and considering this is the title Sponsor and we are AT the Rebec Winery, I have to call out Rebec. B/C the older, long hair in a low pony tail lady who was pouring our wine had the worse sour look on her face. She was not engaging or educating us on the wines like the other wine tents. Her pouring was literally a splash. Barely enough to wet my mouth and taste the wine. So out of spite, we all sample every single wine. Yep. ALL 15 wines. hahaha! Honestly, b/c the lady poured such small amount, it all mixed together in the glass and I couldn't tell a difference. Plus, between Boo and Bob with their funny commentary on each taste, I was laughing to hard to notice the wine. Bob decided to bum rush the crown and just wedged himself up in line. Boo whispered to me, "Look at Bob, he doesn't play, he wants his wine tastings!" I laughed (probably b/c I had too much wine already) and blurted out to Judy, (and probably all people within a 2 mile radius), what Boo said. He turned red and Bob just laughed. I seriously had the giggles and I didn't let the sourpuss wine pourer ruin my buzz. We all had such fun pronouncing Gewurztraminer and I almost pee'd my pants just looking at the faces Boo made when he tasted the Rebec red wines. Oh... and did I mention it was a whirlwind tour? Before we had a chance to swill down the minuscule sip, she was whipping out the next bottle to splash in our glasses. So this all happened really fast, and sloppy, but it was so entertaining and funny. After 3 tents, we decided to pace ourselves better and save the next 3 tents for later. So we walked the rest of the festival booths and sampled some more garlicky treats. Like garlic burgers, garlic chicken, garlic infused olive oils (25 of them), garlic bread, garlic dips, garlic chips, garlic BBQ sauces, garlic jams, garlic pasta noodles, garlic fries, even garlic popcorn! Who needs lunch when you've got free samples!! hahaha!

Sober again, we decided to grab a bottle (or two) of our fav's and head back to our picnic spot, to relax, sip on our wine, and isten to the live musicians. We lounged around chit chatting and drinking for a couple of hours before Boo and I decided to take one last walk around the festival, to see if we missed anything, and to check out another wine tent.) We saw booths selling 20 varieties of garlic, we saw more tastings and even tried pickled garlic. Seriously. haha! Then we hit the Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery. Again, it was packed, but we waited in line for our turn and I have to say, this was THE BEST wine presentation of the day. The lady pouring was the daughter of one of the wine makers. She told us a story for each wine, gave suggestions on pairing the wines with food (like if you're making brownies, use fruit flavored wine instead of water to give the brownies a nice flavor.) She explained and educated us on each wine, and was just all around excited and happy to be there. She made me want to be there, not to mention her pourings were pretty ample too. What was interesting is that not all the wines were made of grapes, mostly fruits, but it was still very good. We even got to try the mead and a pear sangria. I'm still thinking about the sweet cherry wine. Yum! I walked away with a real appreciation for Hill Top and a feel that they really cared about their wine.

When we got back, everyone was looking for something sweet to soothe their sweet tooth, so we all ventured over to the ice cream vendor to score some garlic ice cream, (kidding!, but they did have one year.) Boo and I split a strawberry short cake sundae and are stuffed to the gills. After listening to another hour of music, we decided to call it a day. We packed up our stuff and rolled back up to Crabtree Valley Campground, where we decided to go for a hike! Their was a waterfall hike (that was all up hill). It was 2 miles up to the upper falls and 3.6 miles (up hill) to the Appalachian Trail. Since it was Boo's birthday, I decided to stick with him and hike up as far as he wanted to go. The rest of the group went all the way to the top, Boo and I made it about 1/2 way up, then turned around and hung out near the trail head. A few minutes later, Judy joined us. We chit chatted for an hour before the others made it back down. After our hike, we all felt pretty hungry for dinner so we let the birthday boy choose the restaurant, via GPS, since we didn't know what was around here and then we drove up the mountain and hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway. As we sped along, we noticed that the sun was going to be setting soon, so we decided to stop on an overlook and catch the sunset. It was such a beautiful ending to a great day. After lots of photos, we piled back into the car and arrived at the restaurant, only to find out it was closed!!! hahaha! We just let it roll off our back and went across the street to check out THAI MEX for dinner.

Seriously, the restaurant was called Thai Mex, and it sold both types of foods under one roof. Intrigued, we all decided to check it out. As we walked in, we noticed it was live music night, YAY! There was a guy playing some beautiful guitar music in a candle lit dark room with a bar. I immediately liked the ambiance of the little place. We were escorted to our table and chips and salsa were brought out for us to munch on as we checked out the menu. Soon, a really social Thai woman comes over to greet us and take our order. We have a fun time discussing the menu, ordering up our dinner, and finding out the guitar player is really the local Judge letting off some steam. We finally order and Boo and I both go for Mexican dishes, Brian and Bob also get Mexican, while Judy, Jacky, and the other Brian all take their chance on Thai. When we finally get our food, almost all the orders are wrong. haha! But everyone was in such good spirits, that we just went with it. At the end of the night, we hear the Judge wishing someone a happy birthday as he starts strumming the birthday song, we all start singing and wish Boo and happy birthday. (Oh... Jacky, Brian, and Brian. THANK YOU so much for treating us all to dinner!) Stuffed and relaxed, we say good bye to Bob and Judy (whom are staying at Afton B&B) and shuffle off to our campsite. Little does Boo know, that at the campsite, Jacky, Brian and Brian, brought birthday cupcakes to celebrate his birthday. Once we are all settled in, we once again, entertain Boo with our lovely singing voices and belt out the birthday song. The cupcakes were yummy and a nice treat to end our full day. We call it a night around 10pm and all slink off into our little respective homes for the evening.

The next morning, Boo and I wake up later than usual and start packing up for our ride home. Jacky, Brian and Brian have another full day of fun ahead of them. They are hitting a couple of winery's, hanging out with Bob and Judy, and then going on a hike before heading home on Monday. After a quick breakfast of more gourmet hot chocolate, Boo and I say our goodbyes and head down the mountain, past the apple orchard, past the pumpkin patches, past the rolling meadows, and onto the highway. I wanted to stop by my favorite little liberal arts college on the way home. I love this campus and I love all the amenities it offers it's students. It's a private all girls college named Sweetbriar College, (their colors are my blog's colors! Pink and Green!) and if I had to do it all over again, I would of LOVED to have gone to this school. It has an equestrian center, a boat house, rolling meadows with hiking trails, brick statuesque buildings, and it's tucked away down a long winding road thru a forest. It's so enchanting and such a beautiful campus. I can just picture my future daughter (if we EVER have kids and that's a big IF) attending school here. I can see her riding her horse in the meadows, rowing her boat in the lake, jogging along the dirt trails, checking out the stars in the observatory, playing tennis in one of the 50 courts, walking along the shaded brick campus.....aaaahhhh..... I don't know what it is, but I really have this deep affinity and affection for this little college. Boo saw the score board in the soccer field that said they are called the Sweetbriar Vixens. How adorable is that! Anyways... a girl can day dream can't she? hahaha! The rest of the ride was pretty easy. We made it home early enough to have a relaxing Sunday.

It was a great weekend getaway spent with friends, enjoying wine, garlic, and camping. I hope everyone had a much fun as I did, and Happy Birthday Boo! Hope you had a good weekend. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!