More vineyards

Sunday was more relaxed. The weather was wet so I ended up just visiting more wineries. (Shame I know!) After lunch I headed to Attimo, where I forgot to take any photos - too busy drinking. It was nice and they had an amazing port! 

The second vineyard was up on the mountain near Roanoke. The road up was honestly one of the more challenging I have driven. I have never driven so many 180 degree hair pins bends, one straight after the other, before.  (So glad I don't get motion sick!)  

The view from the top was, well, less than inspiring!

View from Valhalla

And I am not being dramatic when I say Valhalla. Seriously, that is the name of the vineyard. And I have to say I was really impressed, a first for VA vineyards. The people were really friendly and recommended a few other places I might want to visit. I also prefer reds and they had some really good ones, the best VA reds I have tasted so far. After the tasting I sat and enjoyed a glass (and sober up for a time) looking at the "view".

Not the best view

A better view!

Places are also starting to put their Christmas decorations up which makes me feel very festive. I might put mine up soon. A bit early but I have leaving to go home before Christmas and want to enjoy them before I go. And have them up for my wine party in a few weeks.

Christmas fire place.

After sobering up and driving back to Blacksburg, I did some more food shopping (so much easier with a car) before heading home. (And doing more work.) 

Mabry Mills and vineyards

This past weekend I hired a car and managed to get out a bit. Friday night (when I picked up the car) involved a trip to Walmart. Not very exciting but I did find pumpkin flavored marshmallows! They actually taste like ginger bread to me but still good! I also got some bits for Thanksgiving. And takeout from Red Robin.

Most exciting Walmart find!

On Saturday, after brunch with Cait and a trip to Bollos (for treats) and Home depot (window insulation - not very exciting but my bank account will thank me later),  I headed to the south section of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I have been wanting to go for Mabry Mill for a while, apparently the most photograph place in Virginia for a while. Though my photographs don't look like any I have seen. It has been a little chilly recent!

Mabry Mill and frozen pond

Really big Icicles. 

And I mean huge!

All over the place.

A small broken off section, with my bag for scaling purposes.

I want to go back when it is open. (There weren't many people there but I was not the only one very sad when the restaurant and bathrooms weren't open.) In the summer that have demonstrations and activities on. And I had been planning on the hot chocolate. :-(

Cart

Mill pond.

More ice

I loved the wheel and icicles though.

It's been very cold.

And had a lot of fun watching the ducks ice skating.

Much sliding involved (though annoyingly more graceful than me on ice!)

The mill

After the mill, I attempted to get to a winery I have been wanting to visit for a while. But my GPS said not happening. Maybe next time. I ended up at Chateau Morissette. This is the local wine you find in the supermarket. And not very good. Still the tasting room was pretty.

Chateau Morissette

Inside.

I ended up with some sweet wines, including a ice wine which were ok and pretty cheap (VA wines are usually seriously overpriced). And I got some final christmas presents so not a bad stop. After the vineyard I went to a Meade winery. It was an interesting trip. (Alongside "find fastest route" on my GPS, I want a setting saying "Route I am most likely to live through". Currently we disagree on what route that is!) I also spent most of that trip wishing for a bring orange car as it was as hunting area.

I was a bit nervous when I got there and it looked like someones house. Thankfully there were other people there doing a tasting so I figured I was in the right place and my GPS hadn't sent me to the middle of nowhere. (Seriously around some of these places you have to be careful. They will come out with a shotgun if the think you are trespassing.)

The Meade winery

Different Meades

Meade is a honey wine and I didn't realize there were so many different types. (Honestly I went there hoping they were selling the honey too. But it seemed rude not to try them as I was there!) I got 2 different ones, a pumpkin spice Meade and a raspberry Meade.
I just managed to get to my last stop before they shut (and 2 other groups had the same last minute idea) at Foggy Ridge Cider.

Outside

Inside

Tasting options

This was the first good cider I have had in a while. (Most of the cider here is apple juice - I have been disappointed here more than once.) I got a few plus the one on the end in the photo above, an apple brandy. very tasty.

I ended up sitting outside for a while before driving home for obvious reasons!

On the evening, it was work and takeout. (Most places here don't deliver, assuming everyone has their own car so I took advantage and got thai from my favorite place.) And some more wine, of course. :-)

Mountain Lodge (Dirty Dancing)

On Monday I hired a car and drove up to Mountain Lodge, about 16 miles outside Blacksburg. The drive up was ... interesting. The first half is a dual carriage way so fine. Then it goes to a windy road (in the dark at this point). Which was also fine, though I am glad I didn't see the sheer drop on the far side at this point. It was when the fog descended when I become a bit nervous. I couldn't see a few meters in front of the car at one point! And on an unfamiliar road in the dark, it's not a good place to be.

The entrance of the hotel is 2 large stone pillars. Just as I was approaching (very slowly) a huge stag stepped out of the fog and into the road, looked at me briefly and ran off. It was amazing!!!!!

After that I went into the hotel area. Well I drove around. It was deserted. There were a few lights on. The hotel is a huge stone thing. I have seen that film. The girl dies in that film! It was a little unnerving. In the end I kind of abandoned my car near the most likely entrance (thankfully I was right) and ran inside. It was sooooo cold! But they plied me with hot tea once I got there so all good. (And nothing like where my imagination was taking me!)

I went up there to do some outreach for the Elder Hostel. Over 50s from around the country descend and spend a week doing astronomy. I did a planetarium show on Monday night, which didn't exactly go to plan thanks to technical difficulties. They were supposed to go to a professional show but no one wanted to go outside so they got stuck with me! (Somewhat less that professional - hey it's been about 3 years since I last did one!)
But they were a great bunch and didn't seem to mind my fumbling. :-) I was going to go and have a drink with them afterwards but once I got to my room I crashed! (I was going to take a photo of the room as it was nice but I made a mess first!)

On Tuesday morning, I gave a 2.5 hr talk on the history of Astronomy.
1.) 2.5 hours is a long to talk for!
2.) I spent the weekend learning about the history as I have no clue.
3.) I had a historian in the front row how taught this for a living.
Still, it went well. I know my limits so when the historian interrupted (politely), I was happy to stop and let him talk. It was interesting and it gave me a break. (And he is going to email his notes so I can improve the talk for a later date.)

My talk room.

The hotel was nice but a bit old and out dated. The bathroom was impressively cold in the morning (and had no shower curtain so ended up very wet too!).  This was not helped by a snow storm over night. I braved it after my talk to take some photos.

Snow

There wasn't a lot, thankfully as I had to drive that day back down the mountain. But it made the lodge look very pretty.

Mountain lodge.

Mountain Lodge's claim to fame is it was the set of Dirty Dancing. They have a lot of things out to remind people. I need to rematch the film now. (I meant to before I went but work has been crazy so haven't had much downtime recently.)

Memorial to Patrick Swayze

From the gazebo

Unfortunately there is a lot less of a lake than there used to be. A lot less.

The boat house.

Jetting to the "lake"

And I found a helpful thermometer to prove how cold it was. And I should point out this was without wind chill.

Cold!

I do not like!

 I did like all the little (fearless) birds around.

I wanted to get more photos but it was just way too cold. I had double layered fleece gloves on and after 10 minutes,  I couldn't feel my hands! So I got in the car and went home!

My Radio Debut!

On Sunday, I went to a RAD (self defense) class and after made my radio debut on the RLRONation radio show. I would like to think they asked me for my dazzling wit and genius. But honestly their original guest cancelled as she was sick and I happened to be at the RAD class and have been a lot so they know me. :-) And I figured I have a face for radio so why not?

With John, Nicole and Kenny.

It was interesting to see the studio etc. And the whole thing was a lot of laughs! The officers (John, Nicole and Kenny) are a great group and have awesome senses of humor. So it was spent laughing. They were doing a Meatloaf special so I got to sing along to the songs. (Once I was sure the mic wasn't on. No one needs to hear that!) It was part of the radiothon to raise money for the station and we raised at least $650. Again, I would love to think it was my startling wit but no! :-) Nicole has like a thousand relatives in the area who all called in.

After the show I got driven around in a police car (thankfully a first, and hopefully only, for me) and slightly kidnapped. But then they took me to Taco Bell for dinner so all good. :-) Not how I had planned to spend my afternoon/evening but it sure beats working!

Walk 'N' Wine.

On Saturday I dragged Steve on a outing with Blacksburg Rec Centre. ;-) It was called Walk 'N' Wine. The first part was a hike (around 4 miles) to a the 2nd tallest waterfall in Virginia, followed by a visited to a nearby vinegar, AmRhien. 

It took about an hour on the bus from the Rec center to get to the start of the hike so I just chatted to people. Once again it was an interesting and diverse group. Though no one else from VT which is very unusual.

Start of the trail

I didn't take many photos on the hike to the falls. It was cold! And I forgot to pack my gloves. But I did get a few.

Random house craving

Forest

Fall color

When we got to the falls, I was a little disappointed as it was on the over side of the gorge and it hadn't rained recently so it wasn't very impressive. Still, we sat and ate lunch and it was a better view than my normal lunch view (i.e a wall!).

Bent mountain falls.

Playing with the camera

On the way back, as a group we decided to take a different route which was longer but went near the creek, which was nice. Though he did say there were no hills. And he lied!!!!

Showing Christmas ferns

Our guide, Travis (who I shared a canoe with on the last trip), showed us the local fauna. He even gave out a sheet of leaves, though he missed off Poison Ivy, one I would very much like to know what it looks like!!!

Berries

The creek was a little way off the trail but we all clambered down as it was very pretty. I took some time to take photos and was the last one down there. (I got back up the trail pretty quickly when I realized in case they left me!)

Bottom Creek

The trail (Knight's trail) also went past an old Scout pond, used for swimming.

Pond

Color

At the beginning of the hike, Travis had explained how this was public land so there shouldn't be any hunting. But it was surrounding by private land and they do hunt there (and bullets don't respect those lines), he did have hunting vests for those who wanted them. At that point, someone came down a nearby drive in full hunting gear. I was pretty much first in line. And had to get a photo in my very fetching "I'm not a dear so please don't shoot me" vest.

My fetching "Don't kill me - I don't taste good" vest

After the hike, we went to a vineyard, conveniently placed at the entrance to the hike, and did a wine tasting. We all very much felt we had deserved our wine and most of us got a glass after the tasting to enjoy. Like most VA wines, they were for the most greatly overpriced. But I did get 2 of the sweet wines which were very nicely priced. And one was said to go really well with ice-cream in a peach wine and ice-cream smoothie (so that has to happen!) and the other great with chocolate. I couldn't go wrong really. (Though there was a nice white, I can get an equally good one cheaper elsewhere and frankly the reds were not good!)

Inside AmRhein

Harvest bird saying hi.

I spent the evening, guess what, working. I am crazy busy at the moment. Sunday was fun at RAD and on the radio - explained in my next post! :-)