Waking up the next day was a little tough considering the festivities the night before, but we had a full day of activities ahead of us. Our first stop was Bodo’s Bagels, a local bagel chain that Matt swore to us had the best breakfast sandwiches in the area. Judging by the line of customers at the location we went to (and seeing the crowd outside the UVA campus location) it appeared that most of the people in Charlottesville agreed with him. There wasn’t anything flashy about the restaurant and line moved quickly. Bodo’s offers the usual bagel flavors and cream cheeses, as well as the typical bagel sandwiches. The menu also features lunch sandwiches at a reasonable price. I think the best way to describe the place is that it’s the blue collar Bruegger’s Bagel.
As much as I wanted to love the place, I was lukewarm about what I had. I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich on an everything, whole wheat bagel. I wasn’t blown away by it. Maybe it was because it was Sunday morning and busy, but the bagel itself wasn’t very toasted, and the kids in the kitchen left off the cheese. The bagel itself was actually pretty good and like I said earlier, the price was cheap. I’m more than willing to go back there and give the place a second try to really impress me, but I have to admit, I still prefer Bruegger’s Bagels.
After our breakfast, we had a few hours to kill before heading to watch the New England Patriots game. Since we were in Charlottesville, it wouldn’t have been a trip down there without at least a trip to the Monticello area. Our first stop however was at Carter Mountain Orchard, which is down the road from Monticello. The orchard was located high up on a hill overlooking downtown Charlottesville. The view was spectacular, and it was so serene being able to just sit back and enjoy the view. Since it was early November (which is past the prime season for apple picking) there wasn’t much of a crowd. But there were still pumpkins to be sold, hayrides, and it looked like there were actually still some apples that you could pick. For those of you who don’t know, when you pay the orchard for a bag and go into the orchard, you keep the apples you pick. You don’t give them the apples. Yes, Mel asked us this.
We didn’t end up taking any hayrides or picked any apples. But we did enjoy the hot apple cider for 50 cents and a delicious apple cider doughnut (which tasted almost like a apple pie strudel crossed with a churro crossed with an old fashioned doughnut).
After the orchard, we made our way to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. We arrived to the main visitor’s center and quickly came to the realization that we had spent so much time at the orchard, that we didn’t think we’d be able to squeeze in a trip to the actual house that TJ built for himself. The price to see the house (which required a separate bus ride up the hill) is $17, and we elected to save the actual house visit for another time. There was however, time to see the free museum exhibition, which consisted of an impressive gallery of antique items that Jefferson owned (such as his journals, pocket watches, dishes, etc). There were also interactive computers and movies about how TJ built the house and his general history from youth through the Revolutionary War to his death. Walking through the museum, both Mel and I regretted the decision to skip seeing the actual house, but it gives us an excuse to return.
We wrapped up at Monticello and headed back into town to Wild Wing Cafe. This chain restaurant is pretty similar to any sports wing bar like Buffalo Wild Wings or Quaker Steak, so there isn’t really much to tell other than it was uniquely connected to an old-school Amtrak terminal. I can say the wings there are very good however. The “Virginia Fireballs” were tasty and spicy enough to have a kick, but not make you wish you had a glass of milk next to you. That isn’t the case however with some of their other wings. Both Matt and I each tried a “China’s Chernobyl” wing, and were literally sweating bullets in our seats. To Mel’s credit, she ate an entire plate like it was a plate of cheese. So we challenged her to try the “Braveheart”, which is Wild Wing Cafe’s hottest wing. The waitress brought her one wing, amusingly garnished with lettuce and jalapeno peppers, and we (along with every table around us), watched Mel take it down. Mel being the spicy food lover she is left us disappointed initially, and gave no indication that the wing was at all the spicy wing it was talked up as. Then a minute later, it set in and she gave us the painful look on her face we were waiting for. Her exact words were “It’s not the heat, it’s the knives going into my tongue that hurts”. But she’s got more balls than I do; bravo, Mel.
Let’s just say the weekend didn’t end on a high note as the Patriots got their asses kicked by the Cleveland Browns. But that wasn’t enough to dampen what was a fantastic 48(9) hours of good times and I’ll be taking a trip back down there for sure before Matt’s time at UVA is up.
Here and There 