One of our closer neighbor wineries, Stone Mountain Vineyard, sent out their newsletter this week reminding us of their Annual Sunset Dinner.  It’s scheduled for June 26th at the Vineyard, and will be catered by C&O Restaurant, one of the Charlottesville restaurants to begin the “great food” movement here way back when.  Since C&O began serving dinner in Charlottesville there have been many restaurants who couldn’t keep up with the increasing quality locals and guests demand.  But C&O has thrived.  So check this event out at the Stone Mountain web site.

Here are a few events to plan to attend in July and August.  Why not plan a quick getaway in Charlottesville?

July 4 - First Colony Winery, Burgers and Bluegrass

July 10 - Horton Cellars Winery - Annual Pig Roast

July 10 - Jefferson Vineyards, Fete de la Bastille

July 10 - Veritas Winery, Starry Nights with Abbey Road (Beatles Cover Band)

July 17 - Prince Michel, Third Annual Prince Michel Car Show

August 14 - Veritas Winery, Starry Nights with Little Freddie King (New Orleans Blues Legend)

August 21/22 - Autumn Hill Vineyards, 8th Annual Harvest Prevue and Perspective Open House

Here are a few events to plan to attend on the Monticello Wine Trail in May and June.  For more information on any event please go to the winery web site:

May 13 - White Hall Vineyards, Dinner at the Vineyard

May 22/23 - Ash Lawn Highland (James Monroe Home), 16th Annual Virginia Wine Fest

May 23 - Del Fosse Vineyards, Crepe Day

May 30 - The Evans Center at Wintergreen Resort, Wintergreen Festival of Wine and Food

May 31 - Del Fosse Vineyards, Memorial Day Weekend BBQ

June 6 - Del Fosse Vineyards, Wine and Food Pairing Lunch

June 13 - Veritas Vineyards, Starry Nights with King Cadillac (Retro Rock ‘n Roll)

June 19 - Prince Michel Vineyard, Annual Wine Club Cook Out

June 19 - First Colony Winery, Pig Roast

June 20 - Del Fosse Vineyards, Father’s Day BBQ

We’ll provide more events as we become aware of them!

In addition to the daily tours at Monticello, the month of May offers several special activities relating to the gardens so loved by Thomas Jefferson.  Here are a few:

May 8 - Spring Bird Walk (plus don’t forget the Montalto Challenge 5K race on the same day)

May 13 - Tea-time talk on Jefferson’s Impossible Love

May 15 - Sustainable Gardening Workshop

May 22 - Center for Historic Plants Open House Lecture

For more information on any of these activities please visit www.monticello.org.

Not only are we having the best April weather in the six years we remember … but things are happening all around us! Here are just a few events for the coming week:

April 14 - Zoso-Tribute to Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Theater.

April 15 - Klezmer Ensemble with special guest Socalled, Old Cabell Hall; Flaming Lips, The Pavilion; Lisa Lampanelli, The Paramount; Jaime McLean Band, The Southern Cafe and Music Hall; Eli Cook, The Batesville Store.

April 16 - Fridays After Five, The Pavilion (Chickenhead Blues Band); Baseball vs. Virginia Tech, Davenport Field; Palladian Chamber Orchestra, Newcomb Hall Ballroom.

April 17 - Carter Mountain Orchard Spring Fling grand opening; Charlottesville Marathon; Morven House and Gardens, part of Virginia Garden Week; Men’s Lacrosse vs. Duke, Klockner Stadium; University Singers and UVa Chamber Singers, Old Cabell Hall.

April 18 - Larry Kee; & Natural Bridge, The Pavilion; Lift Evry Voice, The Paramount; Women’s Tennis vs. Clemson, Snyder; UVa Chamber Music Series, Old Cabell Hall; Three Charlottesville home gardens on the Historic Virginia Garden Week tour.

April 19 - Raging Bull, The Paramount; Three Charlottesville area home gardens on the Historic Garden Week Tour.

April 20 - Thomas Jefferson, Gardener, Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center; Pavilion Gardens, University of Virginia; A Night of Percussion, Old Cabell Hall.

The unseasonally warm temperatures this April should result in a very special Garden Week in Virginia. There are many local Albemarle-Charlottesville events April 17 through April 20, including University of Virginia Pavilion Garden Tours and University of Virginia Art Museum “Flowers Interpret Art” show.  To see the schedule visit www.vagardenweek.org.

Lots going on this weekend in Charlottesville … here are just a few highlights:
African Children’s Choir at The Paramount, April 9
Spring Wildflower Walk at Monticello, April 10
Home and Garden Show at JPJ Arena, April 9-11
Corey Smith at the Jefferson Theater, April 9
UVA Baseball vs. Georgia Tech, April 9-11

We opened the pool last Wednesday … and after a post-snow hiccup with the pool heater we finally had the water temperature at 84 degrees F. by Saturday morning. With daytime temperatures this week in the 90’s April swimming has never been so good!

The temperatures this weekend are predicted to be in the 70’s instead of the 90’s … but the combination of sunny skies and hot tub at 103 degrees F will make this the perfect weekend for a day lazing around the pool while gazing at the Blue Ridge.

Here are a few special events in April at James Madison’s newly restored home:

March 28 through April 3 - Archaeology Expedition and Excursion.

April 11 - Spring Big Woods Walk.

April 30 - New Forest Trail Opens.

For more information on any of these events, please go to www.montpelier.org.

After a very tough winter what could be better than spending a weekend enjoying what the local wineries have to offer.  Here are just a few of the April events which have been brought to our attention:

Barboursville - April 4, Easter Celebration; April 10th, guest chef Patrick O’Connell from the Inn at Little Washington; April 7-18, Spring Barrel Tasting.

Stone Mountain - April 25-26, Spring Open House.

Veritas Winery - April 4, Easter Brunch; April 23, Magic of Music Ball.

King Family Vineyard - April 18, Meritage Blending Class.

Jefferson Vineyards - April 10 and 17, Meritage Vertical Tasting.

For more information on these events, go to the Activities Page at cedarspringinn.com, and follow the link to the specific winery.