UVA/Charlottesvile, VA Weekend
 

Planning a brief weekend trip to Charlottesville for a UVA soccer match against my Nittany Lions later this month and interested in any recs for places to see/eat/drink. Staying at the Courtyard by the medical center (on rewards points) and driving down early Saturday AM (to avoid the hassle of NoVA Friday night traffic and an extra night's stay) - what's on a "must-see" list for a couple of recent college grads? I'd love to hit up a local brewery or two, and a winery tour isn't out of the question. Nothing too upscale but I've been out of college long enough to not really have a desire to hit up anymore college dive bars. :-P I figure we'll probably get into C-ville by 9am-ish (leaving from Fairfax County) and would have roughly 10 hours to kill until the game in the evening. On Sunday, if the weather's right, I'd like to make our drive back along Skyline Drive, so if there's anything else we should check out before we leave town (or along the way back to FFX), I'll consider that as well - trying to get back into town by dinnertime, though. Thanks in advance!

Oh, I saw this post yesterday and hoped you'd get better responses than mine. I work in C-ville but don't live here so my "going out" experience is limited.

I recommend picking up a copy of "The Hook" or "C-Ville" when you arrive in town. These are free papers and will have a list of restaurants and events in them.

For local breweries check out Starr Hill, which is also a music venue.
Saturday Tastings: 12pm - 5pm
Tours (half-hour): 1pm and 3pm

Starr Hill Brewery
5391 Three Notched Rd
Crozet, VA 22932
http://www.starrhill.com/

If you are interested in wineries, you can just google that and pick one close to other things you are doing, there are plenty close by. Here's a website of local places: http://www.monticellowinetrail.com/
I have been to Barboursville vineyards and it was a very nice tasting experience. I expect all the others mentioned on the website are lovely, too.

Are you skipping Monticello and Ash Lawn? Those are the typical tourist places to spend a day.

You may wish to simply walk along the downtown mall. Unfortunately, it is currently hideous because they are re-bricking it but you can find all manner of great coffee shops and restaurants there. You can walk there from your hotel (probably a 15 min. walk) or catch a bus or trolley.

The gravity lounge occasionally has an afternoon (like 3 pm) music performance: http://www.gravity-lounge.com/

I'll add my list of places I like to eat or that come highly recommended:
Downtown Mall:
Christian's Pizza - lots of gourmet pizzas by the slice or pie
Revolutionary Soup - Homemade soups and sandwiches.
Eppie's - Soups, salads and home-style foods, including a daily special
Marco and Lucas - A very popular dumpling place (There are literally three menu items: dumplings, hot buns, and noodles).

Near Downtown Mall:
Bang! - Asian tapas
The Flat - Take away crepes


Around Town:
Maharaja - Indian food
Thai 99 - Thai food
Continental Divide - tex-mex
Mas - traditional spanish tapas

If you head out to Starr Hill you could also go to Crozet Pizza which is in Crozet, the next town over.

Your hotel is very near the Main Street Market, which has a good restaurant (Orzo) and several neat shops, especially if you're into gourmet foods (cheeses, chocolates, etc.) L'Etoile is another nice restaurant nearby. It's a shame Starr Hill has moved west toward Crozet; they used to be right by there as well, and I don't think they have a music venue since the move. But if you want to make the trek west for beer, you could check out wines at King Family vineyards out that way as well. They have a very cozy tasting room and beautiful view from the foot of the mountains. South Street Brewery is still in downtown Charlottesville, within easy walking distance of the downtown pedestrian mall and its restaurants, shops, and galleries. (And yes, its rebricking project.)

You should definitely take a look at the Rotunda and the adjacent Lawn areas of UVA's campus (designed by Thomas Jefferson, but surely you knew that?), which will be between your hotel and the soccer stadium. And do check out the websites for Cville and the Hook, both to see if there are any performances you'd like to catch locally and to find out if there will be a concert at the John Paul Jones Arena, which could put a lot of traffic in the vicinity of the soccer stadium.

I went to UVA, but it's been a few years.

You may want to check out South Street Brewery--it's just off the downtown mall; roughly a mile from your hotel. For dinner I like Mono Loco nearby.

You'll probably want to explore the UVA corner since you're so close. If anyone happens to be in need of a new pair of running shoes I strongly urge you stop by Ragged Mountain Running Shop. Great store.

While it's not very "grown-up" you're just a block or two away from Mellow Mushroom, a pizza joint with lots of good beer on tap. Mood for a greasy burger--maybe with an egg on top--stop by the White Spot; a small diner with a single counter on the UVA corner. It's an institution. If you want to grab a sandwich before the game I'd drop by "Take it Away"; it's on Elliewood Avenue just off the corner. Littlejohn's deli (also on the corner) is open all night if you happen to get hungry later. Michael's Bistro (also on the corner) has good brews on tap as well and isn't a bad place to grab a bite to eat. Mostly an older grad school and older crowd.

I'd second many of schegal's recommendations---I remember Continental Divide, Christian's Pizza, and Marco and Lucas fondly.

OK...you caught my interest. I went to PSU for grad school and played soccer as an undergrad at W&M - I'd love an opportunity to root for PSU against UVA, but I can't find any details of this game!!

Hi all, and thanks for the recs! TravelingMom - the game's listed on PSU's spring schedule at http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-...011409aaa.html, although they don't have a start time listed yet.

Check our site - we do hybrid wine/brewery tours and winery tours. Pick you up and take you to four of them, feed you, take care of all tasting fees, and bring you back sassy and happy. www.arcadyvineyard.com

Best,

Erika