<<<The friends I visit in Cville are tremendous cooks so we almost never eat out>>>

Darn those friends :-)

No, I'm only taking the House Tour.

Not that I'm adverse to walking up a narrow winding staircase. (I walked up those in the tower at Notre Dame in Paris - just like Quasimodo! - well, maybe with slightly less of a limp.) But I really couldn't make the earliest "Behinds the Scene" tour and I wanted to spend the entire afternoon for the gardens and plantation tours, so the second was out as well.

I hope the weather cools a bit for you. I just looked at weather.com and it's predicting 90 degree plus heat for me the first couple of days, at least.

I wish I could remember the name of the steakhouse. I think it might have been Aberdeen Barn.

>>it's predicting 90 degree plus heat for me the first couple of days, at least.<<

That thought occurred to me when you mentioned the possibility of walking to Monticello. The road there isn't made to accommodate walkers (or wasn't my last visit) but it is walkable. Up hill going there, obviously.

I loved the gardens and the garden tour.

One of my favorite Monitcello books I purchased there the first time I visited: Visitors to Monitcello. (http://www.amazon.com/Visitors-Monti.../dp/0813912326)

It's edited by Merrill Peterson, a penultimate Jefferson scholar and long time history professor at UVa. I'm kind of a Jefferson geek.

Hope you have a great trip and I'll be looking for your trip report!

obxgirl, this is to what I was referring:

www.monticello.org/parkway/trail.html

I figure that whatever goes up must come down. If it's too hot when I'm there, I can always descend instead of ascend.

exiledp, I have been to M. since that path was built and did not know it was there. Thanks for something new. I'll bet it's an especially beautiful walk in the fall. Again, hope you have a wonderful trip!

We just returned from a weekend in Charlottesville. We went for the Harry Connick Jr. show and, yes, it was very good. We roasted in the heat but it was worth it to see him.

It was the first time I had seen a show at the Pavillion and I'll definitely look for other concerts to attend. It's just so nice to wander through the downtown mall after the show. We stopped at Enoteca for glasses of wine. If you are at all interested in wine, this is a must do. They also offer small plates which look fabulous.

I can also recommend Duner's which is just past the Boar's Head Inn on Rt. 250. It's a funky little place. Very casual but with an interesting menu and very good food.
http://www.dunersrestaurant.com/

DH and I stayed at the Boar's Head which was fine but I think I'll go back to Keswick before I stay there again. If you play tennis, though, Boar's Head is the place. Their tennis facility is amazing.

The menu at Duner's looks great!

Let us know where you end up, sf7307. We'd love to read a trip report. I hope both you and exiled princess have great trips.

Oh, I forgot to mention one of the highlights of my trip. DH was playing golf and most of my favorite shops were closed so I ended up at the UVA art museum (not the aboriginal one). I enjoyed it very much. I love small art museums anyway and this one did not disappoint. It was a peaceful, cool (temp-wise) way to spend some time on a Sunday afternoon.

Story about Jefferson's garden
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/ga...general&src=me

Birdie - I'm wondering if you (or anyone else who went!) happened to get a photo of the Harry Connick Jr. concert. I was one of the string players, and sadly didn't get a single photo that night. :( I would love to have something to help keep the memory!

Exiled, not sure when you're going, and I haven't written a trip report, but wanted to tell you about a couple of places:

-Duner's, which is just west of town on Rt. 29, was very good (although the salad was overdressed for me). We were there on July 4th weekend and had no wait on a Saturday night.
-We also ate at Petit Pois on the pedestrian mall, and enjoyed the food and the ambiance (good people-watching if you sit outside).
-We had a great breakfast at Blue Moon Diner (excellent bacon, fruit, coffee, french toast and potatoes -- eggs and toast were "okay")
-and an an excellent pulled pork sandwich at Blue Mountain Brewery (both the bacon at Blue Moon and the pulled pork at Blue Mountain, come from Edward's of Surry, VA -- a well-known and sort of local purveyor).

No, ZeusHoney, I didn't I'm sorry. We were in the very last row. I wonder if you could find one online somewhere. You weren't one of the string players in the wine bar afterwards were you? You all did a lovely job in that horrible heat.

It sounds like you ate some great food, sf7307!

I returned on June 23. As I mentioned in my trip report, I didn't rent a vehicle; otherwise, I think I might have gone out to Mas as well.

As it was, I was quite happy in the places I chose for dining.

A couple of the people in the B&B (recent grads from UVa) and their parents went to Petite Pois the night before I met them and they said they enjoyed it. However, they liked a couple of other places better.

And I walked by the Blue Moon Diner (assume you mean the one on W. Main) several times. But, since I was staying in a B&B, I had no need for outside breakfast options.

Well, I hope this helps someone else on a future trip then :-)