Championing the makers, artists, and wanderers in all of us.
After BlogHer in L.A. but before driving back to Phoenix, I fueled up with brunch at Trois Familia in Silver Lake. I loved how the purple Le Creuset coffee mug they brought me looked against the coral wall I was sitting across from.
I wonder if they chose the colors for their brightly painted walls based on what would make good backgrounds for food photos. What do you think?
I didn’t expect to be pressing flowers during this winter’s trip to Virginia, so I didn’t pack anything for that. But I ended up with a few rose petals from my cousin’s wedding I wanted to preserve.
I’d been wondering if a cardboard coffee sleeve could work as an on-the-go flower press, so I grabbed one from the hotel. Since the inside had ridges, I tore it at the seam and basically turned it inside out, sandwiching the petals between flat sides. It may not have been necessary, but I slipped another sleeve over the top just to help everything stay put. Then I clipped it all together with a hair clip.
It actually worked pretty well! I imagine you could also use binder clips or wedge the sleeve under something heavy in your suitcase to keep it flat. Another way to repurpose coffee sleeves for crafting!
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Even though it was our first time in central Virginia, something felt familiar about the wooded hills we were driving through.
“Why does this landscape remind me of a painting in an American history book?”
Oh. Right. Because it’s exactly the kind of landscape that would have been a backdrop to the colonial-period events we learn about in school. The same kind of tree-lined ridges probably rolled right through the Jamestown Settlement, the Lost Colony of Roanoke, and other landmarks memorialized in art, legend, and the bold print in history texts.
Our destination was Charlottesville, a charming small town near the Blue Ridge mountains in the heart of Virginia’s wine country and just a couple hours south of Washington DC.
Here are some sights to check out while you’re there, as well as places to refuel.
Three U.S. presidents made their homes in the region, and all three properties are open to the public with daily house tours.
While there is a cafe at Monticello, we opted instead for lunch at the nearby Michie Tavern, a historic site itself with a museum, shops, servers in 18th century garb, and a killer buffet. (Seriously. You’ll be hearing more about that, as well.)
Intertwined with these sites is wine country. Thomas Jefferson was instrumental in bringing wine grape cultivation to the U.S., so the historic roots of the area’s vineyards run deep. You’ll probably pass several en route to visit the presidential residences.
The historic downtown street has been replaced by a brick walkway with trees, benches, restaurant seating, and sometimes vendor booths and buskers. On either side are lots of places to shop, eat and drink, an ice skating rink, a movie theater, and an outdoor concert venue.
The wide walkways allow plenty of room for community events, like First Night Virginia, a performing-arts-centered celebration on New Year’s Eve.
You can see a short film on Vimeo about the history of downtown Charlottesville and the pedestrian mall.
We spent most of our time in the downtown area.
The UVA is just over a mile from downtown, so a little of that college town vibe still seeps over.
There’s a free trolley that runs between the Downtown Mall and UVA with stops at the Amtrak and Greyhound Bus Stations.
Thomas Jefferson himself founded the university and (probably) designed its famed rotunda, a UNESCO world heritage site – along with the rest of the Academical Village and Monticello. The rotunda is currently undergoing renovations and is due to reopen this summer.
Next to the campus is a series of craftsman-style former student resident buildings that have been converted into the Oakhurst Inn and cafe, where we got breakfast on the way out of town. We called about 10 minutes ahead, and they had my insanely good breakfast sandwich and coffee ready for us to pick up when we got there.
The Monticello Artisan Trail winds through this entire area. Formerly known as the Monticello Wine Trail, it includes wineries, breweries, farms, artisan studios, and galleries.
I’d love to go back and spend more time in the area.
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Revolutionary War painting by Henry Alexander Ogden (c. 1897). Public domain.
Thank you to Visit Charlottesville for assisting us with this trip. We were guests of Monticello and Michie Tavern when visiting each site. We received media rates for our stay at the Omni Hotel Charlottesville and a complimentary bottle of Prince Michel wine.
If you’re still looking for gift inspiration, here are some ideas.
All of these items are things I actually own, use, and love:
1. Designhype Metro San Francisco Cuff – Yes, there’s an actual metro map on the bracelet! Mine is for San Francisco, but Designhype also makes these for Paris, NYC, and other cities.
2. Moleskine Journal – For travel journaling, lately I’ve been starting with a blank Moleskine, writing about the day, and using washi tape to attach ticket stubs (like the transit pass from our Re:Make trip) or folded programs or whatever I happen to collect. The cahiers 3.5″ x 5.5″ size comes in a 3-pack and is really convenient for carrying with you. I throw one in a quart-size ziploc with my ultra fine tip Sharpies and washi tape and take it along, in case I want to journal on the plane or while we sit at a cafe. Some brick-and-mortar options: I’ve seen these at Changing Hands Bookstore and Target, but you can find various sizes of Moleskine journals lots of places.
3. Sakura 18-Piece Koi Assorted Water Colors Field Sketch Set with Brush – Super portable watercolor set with a brush that holds water inside of it (so you don’t have to fiddle with a separate cup) and folds up. Since Jennifer Mack introduced this to me at Craft Camp, the link above is her Amazon affiliate link.
4. Bodum Travel Press Coffee Maker – Basically, it’s a shatterproof French press you can drink out of. This is especially great for camping, but you could also use it to upgrade from the hotel coffeemaker. I’ve had mine for awhile, so I didn’t see this exact design – I linked to one that’s similar. I just saw these at Cost Plus World Market.
5. GoToob Travel Bottle – Humangear travel bottles are made to keep from leaking, and mine has been fine when altitude changes have made a mess out of cheaper bottles. They have this neat little ring you can twist to designate the contents (sunscreen, soap, etc.), but they’re also food safe, in case you want to fill a small one with sri racha or a bigger one with pancake batter. I’ve spotted these at my local REI and Target. I think they may have been a little cheaper at Target, but REI had a much bigger selection.
6. REI Flash 18 Pack – Very comfortable day pack with a streamlined silhouette. It’s great to throw stuff in for a day at a convention or on a hike. In the photo, Phillip is wearing it while admiring the view from Mt. Lemmon. Since this is REI brand, they’re most likely only available in REI’s stores and site.
What travel gifts do you love to use or have on your wishlist?
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P.S. This DIY spice mix is also easy to make, and there are more ideas in our last-minute Christmas guide.
Not a sponsored post.
Fountain Hills is a planned community northeast of Phoenix that was created in the late 1960s by the guy who designed Disneyland and the guy who developed the city of Lake Havasu.
When you decide to plop a town into the middle of the desert, what do you make its centerpiece? The World’s Tallest Fountain! Of course.
Although, if you think that’s absurd, remember that the developer’s other project at the time was a much more remote planned Arizona community with the actual historic London Bridge – transported across the Atlantic by boat and reassembled brick by brick – as its centerpiece. After that, a desert fountain kinda seems like child’s play.
The Fountain Hills fountain is no longer the world’s tallest, but it still shoots a stream of water into the air hourly that can go from 300 to 560 feet high, which is actually slightly taller than the Washington Monument. At its base is a concrete expressionist water lily sculpture.
The whole thing is situated in the middle of an artificial lake (called, unsurprisingly, Fountain Lake) with a sprawling park wrapping around it. (Guess what the park is called. Yep, Fountain Park. You win.) There are shaded picnic tables, public art, and a playground. Even though there always seem to be people around during the day, it’s big enough to feel a bit empty most of the time.
The last time we were in Fountain Hills, we hadn’t planned on going there.
It was the weekend before Phillip started back to school. We decided it was a good day to throw a picnic lunch together and head east to Saguaro Lake. However, we didn’t make it past the ranger checking for passes at the entrance.
Not sure how both Phillip and I missed the memo that you need a Tonto Pass even if you’re not going boating or camping (details below, so you can be more prepared than we were). Since you can’t buy the pass on site, we started thinking about other options.
Fountain Hills was only about 20 minutes away, and I knew that, unlike at the super crowded Saguaro Lake, there would be plenty of space and plenty of free parking. So instead of turning back the way we came, we took a right and rolled into Fountain Hills just before 2pm.
We made a quick stop at a coffee shop overlooking Fountain Park. (Guess what the coffee shop was called. Fountain View? Nope. Mountain View.)
From the back patio of Mountain View Coffee Co., we could see the fountain start up. There was a path directly into the park and an open picnic table near the colorful mural wall. We started in on our lunch and watched a stream of water surge towards the sky then collapse down into the lake with just a hint of a rainbow forming in its mist.
Thank you to Alison King, who schooled me on Midcentury Modernism in Phoenix and Concrete Expressionism. Her site is Modern Phoenix, and you should totally check it out.
