A Virginia Valentine's Day Weekend

Happy (late) Valentine's Day, everyone. I hope you had a good weekend. I sure did! Jason surprised me by booking two nights at a traditional country bed & breakfast in Barboursville, Virginia (about 20 minutes outside of Charlottesville). Nestled in the foothills of the Shenandoah mountains, Prospect Hill Plantation Inn consists of a 1732 manor house, with various outbuildings that have been renovated and decorated in an authentic historic style.

We left after work on Friday, and after getting stuck in some nasty NoVa traffic, we finally arrived at the inn around 8:30. As we pulled into the long, tree-lined driveway, I felt as though we'd entered another world. With its winding cobblestone walkways, fountains, and series of quaint yellow clapboard buildings, Prospect Hill Plantation Inn resembles a small village. We were greeted by the proprietor, Bill Sheehan, and immediately whisked into the dining room, where our traffic-frayed nerves were soon soothed by a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon an incredible four-course meal: creamy carrot soup, a mixed greens salad, tender pork tenderloin in a rosemary sauce with asparagus and mashed potatoes, and an amazingly moist tres leches cake. Sated and far more relaxed, we were led to our cottage, the Carriage House (pictured above). It was dark when we arrived, but upon waking Saturday morning, I was delighted to find a perfect view of the surrounding rolling hills, illuminated by a soft orange-pink sunrise.

After a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, bacon, orange juice, and tea (which Bill delivered to our cottage), we set off to explore Charlottesville. We started with the downtown pedestrian mall, which reminded me a little bit of the Ped Mall, in Iowa City, filled with restaurants, shops, and people strolling and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. I fell in love with a shop called Caspari (pictured at left), which carries a well-edited collection of exquisitely designed paper products, home furnishings, and other sophisticated knick knacks. We also enjoyed getting lost in Circa, a labyrinthine 10,000 square-foot antique store overflowing with a colorful array of treasures, with a great selection of retro 50's and 60's era wares.

My favorite place in Charlottesville was Main Street Market, a collection of nine locally-owned culinary delights all tucked under one roof, including: Feast! (a specialty cheese and grocery store), The Butcher of C-ville (a wide variety of all-organic meats), http://www.sfdatwestmain.com/, Albemarle Baking Company (fresh-baked artisanal bread and pastries), Hedge Fine Blooms (florist), The Seasonal Cook (cookware and kitchen items), Geerharts Chocolates, Orzo (restaurant and wine bar), and Calvino Cafe (coffee shop). It was a true food-lovers' mecca, though I refrained from buying anything, preferring instead to just absorb the loveliness of it all (and absorb some cheese samples at Feast!).

After a quick lunch at Christian's Pizza (a slice of spicy chicken with peppers and a slice of spinach artichoke - both delicious), we decided to check out Barboursville Winery (pictured below) a vineyard set in the gently sloping hills surrounding former governor James Barbour's estate, which still contains the ruins of Barbour's house, designed by his friend, Thomas Jefferson, and gutted by a fire in 1884. Bought by vintners Silvana and Gianni Zonin in 1976, the vineyard now produces Virginia's most award-winning wines, and offers spectacular scenery, tours of the wine-making facilities, and a tasting of 16 wines for a mere $4 per person. The staff at Barboursville's was super knowledgeable, but also very approachable (none of that "Oh, you can't taste the notes of blackberry? You poor plebian...you probably can't even detect the hint of tar either.") I picked out a bottle of the Vintage Rosé, a light berry-flavored blend, and a bottle of the Pinot Grigio, an award-winning varietal with a light, fruity taste. A staff member explained that the Pinot Grigio grape is incredibly tolerant to Virginia's seasonal fluctuations, and so has thrived and produced wonderful wine. Jason also picked up four bottles of red - I believe the Cabernet Franc Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon, the Octagon Blend, and the Nebbiolo (Jason, correct me if I'm wrong).

For dinner that night, we drove back into Charlottesville and ate at the Blue Light Grill (pictured below), a lively little raw bar and seafood restaurant on the pedestrian mall. We, of course, could not resist the oysters, and started with a sampler plate. Dinner for me was Shrimp Fettucine with ribbons of zucchini in a lemon buerre blanc sauce. Jason ordered the Monkfish and Shrimp Sautee, served with potato sticks, chorizo, spinach and a garlicky-basil sauce. The food was wonderful, and the portions were pleasantly modest, which was good because we decided to stop at Splendora's (pictured below) for gelato afterwards. I had a scoop of Bacio (chocolate and hazelnut) and a scoop of Salted Caramel. Jason ordered Chocolate, Mexican Coffee, and Espresso. It was a delicious way to end a truly delicious day.

Sunday, we ate breakfast at the inn (goat cheese omelettes, sausage, fruit, orange juice, and tea), and bummed around Charlottesville a bit more. Most of the stores were closed though, so after walking around a bit, we decided to just head back to DC.

It was an absolutely lovely weekend, and I must say, I am a very lucky girl.

Pixie Dust

One of the best things about living in Adams Morgan is the continual
sense of being surrounded by things as-of-yet undiscovered. The
neighborhood continues to reveal its nuances, and, perhaps to the
surprise of some, I'm finding that there's more to this place than
bars, clubs, and absurdly large slices of pizza (though admittedly,
about 96% of the joints along 18th Street fall into one of the three
categories.)

Happily, though, the other 4% can hold their own. As evidence, I
present one of my favorite recent discoveries, Miss Pixie's Furnishings & Whatnot, a thoroughly charming treasure trove of antique and vintage furnishing and...whatnot. With an eye for the feminine, the ornate, and the fabulous, Miss Pixie's pink-painted walls house a whimsical - yet, well-edited - collection of furniture, kitchenware, art, and all sorts of other knickknacks.

I'm not sure who Miss Pixie is, but she has impeccable taste, with sort of an Anthropologie meets Charlotte York vibe, only less expensive (on both counts). On my first trip, I found a sweet little mustard-yellow end table, with an even sweeter price tag in the double digits. More recently, on New Year's Eve, upon realizing that I had no champagne flutes, I headed over to Miss Pixie's and scored a vintage set of four for $12.

Unlike some antique emporiums, Miss Pixie's is not overly cluttered. In fact, browsing the neatly displayed collection feels pleasantly like wandering around your most stylish friend's apartment, whose furnishings just happen to be for sale. Plates of chocolate chip cookies add to the coziness factor, as does a sales staff who remembers faces and names.

Chatting with the uber-friendly sales assistant on my last foray, I found out that Miss Pixie's neighbor, the beloved lounge/coffeeshop Tryst, actually buys most of its furniture from Miss Pixie's. (I'm actually typing this post from Tryst, in case you're wondering whether all those yuppies on their iBooks are actually writing things of substance or just typing emails to Mom. Ok, so I did that too. Hi Mom.)

And, um, all this writing about Miss Pixie's is making me wonder what new stuff she's got in the store, so I think I'll finish my latte, close up the iBook, and head on over.

Good to know:
Miss Pixie's is located at 2473 18th Street, in the heart of Adams Morgan. It's Metro-accessible, well, you know the drill, dear readers...Dupont or Woodley on the Red Line. Take yer pick.

Photo of 18th Street (Miss Pixie's is the store with the pink awning, naturally) by Flickr user Eye Captain.