Cascades

 Since we've moved here everyone has been telling us that we just have to hike up to the Cascades. It's this beautiful 2 mile hike that meanders along a creek and leads you up to a 66 foot waterfall. Word on the street is that it's amazing to go when it's a little colder out because the falls freeze. So, we decided to go.

We kicked off the weekend by going out in downtown Blacksburg with Jessica, who works at the clinic, and her boyfriend Shawn. Apparently the thing to do for the undergrads is to take their friends to TOTS (Top of The Stairs) and get a rail. A rail consists of every type of low ball alcohol mixed together with grenadine. Basically, it was disgusting. We're past the point where we feel obligated to drink so we actually wound up dumping it out. Oops. I don't think they minded though. They know how terrible it is.      

                           

                                                    Ready to hit the town!

                    

                                                      Fun with friends. 

We decided to hike the Cascades on Sunday and headed out midmorning. It's about a 30 minute drive to the beginning of the trail. The trail has two different start points: one that is a little more steep and quick, and one that winds along the creek and is a little longer and more scenic. We wanted to check out the sights so we decided to take the longer more scenic route. Poor mistake! Since it has been so cold the stone path was completely iced over. We were slipping and sliding (me more than Jason) for the first mile or so before we were able to cross over to the other path. The lower path really was beautiful, but we were so worried that we would slip and fall in that we couldn't enjoy our surroundings. The steeper path was on higher ground and was more travelled so we didn't have to fight the ice. It was just a little bit muddy.

We finally got to the top of the path and worked our way down the wooden steps to the base of the waterfall. Everyone was right. The waterfall was magnificent!! The bottom was frozen enough so that we could walk out on the pool below it and get right up next to it. We're used to walking and fishing on frozen lakes up north, but this was a bit different. We weren't standing on still water. The waterfall was crashing down just a few yards away and you could see the open rushing water just down the stream. Jason got way closer than I did and got soaked from the spray. His foot also fell through the ice a couple of times which royally freaked me out. We took a couple of pictures and started our way down which was much easier than our trek up. 

This was my favorite hike to date. I just love waterfalls and streams. We decided that if we ever had any visitors (hint, hint) this is the hike we'd take them on. We definitely want to go back in warmer weather and take the scenic path the entire way up. 

Virginia is for...frozen falls. 

Charlottesville

The Saturday after our Jason Aldean concert, Jason and I explored Charlottesville, VA for a few hours. It is the cutest city ever! 

We woke up and grabbed breakfast at a diner who's name escapes me just a couple of miles down from our hotel. Ok, I have a weird confession to make. Jason and I grade every restaurant two different ways. First, just our general feeling on the restaurant. Is the food decent, service good, etc. Second, we think about what Robert Irvine would think. Don't know who Robert Irvine is? He's the guy who used to be in the British Royal Navy and now hosts Restaurant Impossible. We absolutely love the show mainly for him. It is hilarious to see him try the food and absolutely hate everything. Anyway, I digress. So our general grade was about a B. It was your average home hometown diner. Little, decently priced, OK food. I had the chocolate chip pancakes and Jason had a waffle and they were good but nothing to really write home about. At that point I would have eaten anything that contained carbs to curb my hangover. Our RI grade was probably a D. The decor was lackluster, the service was ok, but the manager was a bleeeep. She was cordial enough to the guests, but J and I saw her yelling a server on two different occasion. In front the server's costumers! Ah! If you've ever worked in the service industry, you KNOW that this is a major no-no. It makes everyone feel awkward.

After our breakfast we decided that since we didn't want to pay $25 each to tour Thomas Jefferson's mansion we would just walk around the pedestrian mall that Charlottesville is so proud of. We were so glad we chose this! It was the coolest place. The mall is the longest one in the U.S. and has tons of fun little shops, cafes, restaurants, etc. I only wished we would've gone down there for breakfast. One of our first stops was at a little shop that had tons of funny llittle knick-knacks. Of course, I just loved it and kept saying "oh my gosh, babe, look at this! look at this!" This is why Jason calls me a "trinketeer".  We bought a couple of little things, a magnet for my friend Elizabeth, and a birthday present for his BFF Eric. I can't say what we got in case he reads this, but I will say that it provided J and I lots of entertainment and giggles on our drive back to B-burg later in the day. 

                                 

                               

                                               at the pedestrian mall

     

We didn't do much other than walk around and check out the fun shops while we were there, but we determined that we really loved the character Charlottesville had.

Oh, and we got some cupcakes too. Yum.

Virginia is for...trinket-eering!

Night Train

Well, Jason said he wanted to write this one, but since he hasn't been able to get around to it, I'm taking over. 

A couple of weeks ago we decided to do a spur of the moment trip to Charlottesville, VA and see....Jason Aldean!! Whoop whoop! Florida Georgia Line opened for him and the concert was just amazzzingg!!

We left Blacksburg right after clinic at about 1:30 p.m. so that we could get to our hotel, grab some dinner and a couple of drinks before we went to the concert which started around 7:00 p.m. The streets were absolutely packed when we pulled into Charlottesville! Apparently everybody and their brother wanted to see Aldean. We arrived at our hotel, changed, relaxed for a few minutes, and called a cab to deliver us to the concert. As we were waiting down in the lobby we happened to run into a couple originally from upstate New York, Sarah and Caleb, who were also planning on going to the concert. Jason struck up a conversation with them and we decided to split a cab to "The Corner" which is a conglomeration of college and townie bars near where the concert was being held. 

We waited a good 45 minutes until a cab finally pulled up. And then these punks darted out in front of us and STOLE IT!! AHH! I was pretty sure Caleb was going to punch someone out. Sarah talked him off the edge and another cab showed up about 5 minutes later. Someone tried to steal that one too, but we were a bit more assertive this time around. 

The bar that we decided to try was called Trinity and had an Irish flare. We ordered some food and a couple drinks and got to know our cab mates a little bit more while we hung out. We all decided to exchange numbers so we could meet up after the concert to split a ride home. They headed out to the concert early because they wanted to see the opener for FGL, Tyler Parr...Farr? I don't know. I think he sings "Redneck Crazy" which is a terrible song and fittingly drives me nuts. Obviously, I had no burning desire to see him and either did Jason, so we went up the street to another fun little place that served local and craft brews. 

We finally made it to the concert around 7:30 and rocked out with FGL as they sang "Cruise", "Get Your Shine On", and "Stay" (which is originally a Black Stone Cherry song btw. Jason didn't believe me when I told him it was a remake.)

everyone getting their shine on! it was so cool to see thousands of lights around the stadium

SInce we bought our tickets so late, we had seats up in the nosebleeds which actually turned out to be kind of cool. We could see backstage and I love watching the artists get all pumped up and ready to go onstage. We were sitting by a middle-aged couple who were very nice. The guy loved Jason and I. He was a factory worker at Budweiser and laughed when I apologized for drinking Coors Light.

There was a brief wait after FGL and then finally Aldean came out! Wow, he just totally rocked it. He has such a wide array of songs and he was a great performer. A couple of our favorites are "Night Train", "Dirt Road Anthem", and "Big Green Tractor". I felt pretty old when he said he was gonna "bring out a couple of his older songs" and proceeded to play "Amarillo Sky" which is one of my all time faves. The rest of the younger audience didn't seem as excited as I was. Oh well. :)

When we were done with the concert we walked back to The Corner and met up with Caleb and Sarah again. We were all in agreement that the concert was awesome. After a couple more drinks we caught a cab and headed back to the hotel. We made promises to keep in touch and told them we would let them know if we were ever up in Fairfax (their current city). Of course we haven't talked to them since. 

All in all, this Friday night was one of our best ones yet.

Virginia is for....love of all things Jason Williams (p.s. Jason Aldean's real last name is Williams. My J is pretty proud to name share.)