One of my Christmas presents from Luke this year was an overnight trip to Charlottesville, VA for wine tasting and sight seeing. I had never been to this particular part of Virginia before and I have to say it was absolutely gorgeous!
We started by visiting a few wineries and doing some tastings. All of the places we visited were $10/tasting and included souvenir glasses.
I honestly don’t know that I have ever seen so many wineries in such a close area, there are so many to pick from! All of the wineries have maps with the wineries, breweries, and other attractions, and everyone was super friendly.
After several wineries we decided to head to our lodging. We stayed at Baileys Retreat Cabin (you can book through airbnb here) and I cannot reccommed it highly enough. The cabin was so cozy, and the location was absolutely breathtaking! If you are looking for a nice, remote place to stay, look no further.
Later that evening we headed back into Charlottesville to do some shopping and then head to dinner. We ate at Mas Tapas, which was absolutely amazing! Our dinner started out a little rough, we waited for over an hour on a Tuesday night… Mas Tapas doesn’t take reservations, so make sure you show up when they open, or you can expect an extremely long wait. However, that rough start was nearly forgotten once we tasted the food! Side note, while I was too busy drinking it to take a picture, the sangria was also delicious.
We started out with brioche bread covered in melty cheese topped with apricot preserves.
Second course was a gooey artichoke cheese dip served with crusty bread, so rich – it was super rich, and probably my favorite of the night.
Our next round included a tasty beef empanada and a really amazing beef with aioli. The steak was hand down Luke’s favorite of the night (which is unsurprising). I agree it was really good, but they only serve it rare, which is less cooked than I prefer.
We finished up with some bacon wrapped dates, which were a perfect combination of sweet and salty savory.
On the way home we stopped at Monticello for a tour. While it was an incredibly foggy day it was still such a great place to visit. Photos weren’t allowed inside (if you go, you should absolutely go on a tour, it’s so pretty and very informative) here are some shots from outside!
There was a giant garden and vineyards, which are still in operation.
And, lastly, some shots from the kitchen, which isn’t part of the main house, but is in the basement/open area underneath.
It was an amazing trip and we definitely plan to go back, if you’re looking for a nice relaxing getaway I suggest you checkout Charlottesville, VA.
