The second stop of my final college tour is Charlottesville, and this town has been treating us quite wonderfully so far!
Saturday
We took the 2.5 hour drive down to Cville from Maryland on Saturday morning. UVA con #1: Distance. It’s a total of 7+ hours away from my NY home, and the road from College Park, MD to Charlottesville is basically a two-lane highway with traffic lights. At least the farm lands on the way were pretty??
After we checked into our hotel, Mom and I searched for food around the UVA campus, naturally. We found a place called Marco and Luca Dumplings, and it had a tiny menu that highlighted their specialty fried pork + scallion dumplings.
Dumplings to share, my order of the sesame peanut noodles, and mom’s order of the sweet and spicy noodles
A pork bun to share as well
The noodles were my favorite! They were cold and refreshing for the hot day, and they had the perfect texture. Also, peanut sauce=’nough said.
Next up was lots and lots o’ walking around the UVA campus. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here— 80s and sunny! (Today it’s supposed to be rainy and blah though.) However, the heat is literally a warm welcome to BUGS. The bumble bees here are the size of baby birds. I kid you not.
After soaking up all the preppy-ness and loveliness of the campus and the Cville-ians, we headed over to the UVA Catholic center/church.
We ended up hanging out there for a while and then attending the evening Mass for Palm Sunday there.
After walking back to our car, we drove to downtown Charlottesville for dinner at Revolutionary Soup. Kath has recommended it on her blog before, so I was excited to try it!
To share: asparagus shiitake soup, half size local tofu wrap (local tofu, arugula, tomato, red onion, and fig dijon dressing), half Athens spinach salad (spinach, feta, artichokes, roasted peppers)
It was super tasty! My favorite thing on the tray was the salad. Love me some artichokes and cheeeeese.
Then we walked some more around the Downtown Mall.
Hm. K.
Stopped for dessert of course. More gelato 😀
Mine on the left: cookies and cream and ‘chi0 (pistachio). Mom’s on the right: coconut and mango.
I nearly licked my cup clean and then I helped mom finish hers. No gelato left behind. I also love how the spoons were like baby paddles, because that means the gelato disappears less quickly 😉 It’s also safe to say that cookies and cream is my favorite ice cream flavor. I always forget how good it is!
As we were walking back to our car, I spotted a cute crepe shop called The Flat… And we got sucked in.
We only had about half, don’t worry. 😉
Mom wanted to try a savory crepe, and I told her she would be mostly on her own since I was stuffed with gelato. We ordered the “Greene Eggs” crepe with eggs, feta, and veggies. I had a few bites and it was fantastic! Mom only had a few bites too, so we took the rest back to the hotel for me to have for breakfast yesterday morning 🙂 (We have a fridge and microwave in our hotel room.)
Yeah, I was full that night.
Moves for Saturday: walking and walking and walking. My feet were hurtin’ for sure. I need to whip ’em into shape just to walk around campus. Can someone give me a foot massage first though?
Sunday
Moves for Sunday: this Travel WOD-ish. I say “ish” because I did the whole thing, but I didn’t do the rounds and exercises immediately one after another. I would do a round, take a break, do some burpees, take a break…It was just something to get moving! Plus a little bit of walking to and fro.
Lunch yesterday was at a place called Fig Bistro and Bar.
My order: Blackened crab cake with a poached egg and cheddar grits
Mom’s order: Eggs in avocado
We shared half and half with each other, and it was decent. Our items sounded really delicious when we read them on the menu, but the actual taste and texture of everything was meh.
After chilling out in the hotel room and putting a tiny dent into my homework, I left to meet up with two of my favorite bloggers!
I may or may not have been fan-girling on the inside. We met at Kath’s soccer game to chat for a little bit, and it was lovely. These two ladies have been so inspirational to me in my blogging journey, and they are just as sweet and cool in person as they are on their blogs.
All of my oatmeal? Inspiration from Kath.
My motivation to cut down on exercise and recover from my ED? Inspiration from Clare.
Thanks so much for meeting with me, Kath and Clare!
Following the blogger meet-up, I drove back to the hotel to procrastinate for an hour or so and then actually do homework for a bit. Mom and I weren’t very hungry by 7:30, but we decided to just take the 20 minute walk to the Downtown Mall for dinner. Bizou looked pretty good, so we grabbed a table al fresco. We ordered the two specials of the evening and shared half and half again.
Mom’s: Panko-crusted trout with cauliflower au gratin and arugula salad
Mine: Crab cakes (that’s right— I had crab cakes twice yesterday) with cheesy polenta and arugula salad
{I smell like fish right now}
Everything was tasty, but these crab cakes weren’t the best either. Too salty and mayonnaise-y. I’m a picky crab cake eater. My favorite things were the salad and the cheesy polenta! Cheeeeeese.
As fun as eating out can be, I miss my oats, avocado toast, and Greek yogurt. I have had a perpetual food baby on this trip.
Travesty.
Wow, Charlottesville. I haven’t even gone to the admitted students’ day yet (it’s today), but we’re getting along pretty darn well. I can’t wait to see how I feel about UVA after Days on the Lawn today!
So tell me:
What was the best thing you ate this weekend?
Have you ever met bloggers in person?
What’s on your agenda this Monday?
