Fourth of July weekend!

LP had 96 hours of leave, so we spent our holiday weekend in Charlottesville with him.

Thursday. We did the drive to Charlottesville. Mom and I went grocery shopping while Dad picked LP up at Fort Lee. We spent most of the night, hanging out on the patio and catching up. We also walked the downtown mall and ended up at Miller's, my favorite bar in Charlottesville. Dave Matthews was a bartender at Miller's and wrote many DMB songs on the third floor. The music and bar food are excellent and we sat outside, listening to wonderful jazz improv from John D'earth for an hour.


Friday. We went car shopping with Jamie. We also stopped at Sam's and the Fashion Square Mall. Jamie and I took advantage of the sale at Bath & Body Works and I ended up with three new lotions - Sensual Amber, Twilight Woods, and Secret Wonderland. We made our way to the pavilion for Fridays after 5. I was pleasantly surprised by the band, Down 'til Now. They are a local classic and modern rock cover band, who did covers by Kings of Leon, Led Zeppelin, Elvis, and ZZ Top. My favorite, however, was the guitarist's awesome cover of Jimi Hendrix's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner."


After the concert, we had dinner at McGrady's Irish Pub before heading to UVA's McCormick Observatory. The observatory is open on Friday Nights and houses a huge, old telescope (the 2rd largest in the world at the time it was built in 1885). It was focused on Saturn, so we spent the rest of the night star and planet-gazing.

Saturday. We drove to Scottsville to tube down the James River. The 4-mile trip took 4 hours, but we stopped on an island for lunch. I absolutely love tubing. There is no better way to spend the afternoon.


The only downfall? I'm so pale that I might as well be clear. So, despite coating myself in 50 spf sunscreen, I got burned. Ouch. Eric Northman might as well change me. I'm essentially a vampire already.


Sunday. We tried to go peach-picking at Carter Mountain Orchard, but the peaches weren't ripe yet. In an attempt to thwart my crushing disappointment, my parents bought me some peach ice cream. It worked.


After delicious dinner at a Mexican restaurant, we played some games as a family. I know this sounds cheesy, but I can't even remember the last time we had as much fun together. LP wanted to bowl and, although my competitive nature usually keeps me from participating, I promised to play, too. Going into the 10th frame, Mom was beating me by quite a bit, but LP convinced me that I would bowl three strikes. Sure enough, I did. My first (and probably last) turkey!


I was in complete and utter shock. We all screamed like we had won the lottery. A complete stranger shook my hand. I walked away with the come-from-behind victory. I chirped my mom the whole way home, so she probably won't be bowling with me again any time soon.

Monday. We drove to Short Pump to walk around the mall before dropping LP off at Fort Lee. We saw the PX and sat with him for a bit. It's always hard to leave him, but we're getting a little better at it every time. Virginia was plagued with thunderstorms, so we watched fireworks displays on TV.

The weekend seemed to fly by. It was wonderful to spend time in Charlottesville, but it was even better to spend time with my whole family. I suppose it doesn't matter where you are, as long as you're all together.

Tomorrow, I'm leaving with Jenn for the DMB Caravan in Chicago. Expect a relevant Man Meat Monday. ;)