Archive for January, 2011

Lafayette Inn

By From http://fredericksblogger.blogspot.com/ • Jan 29th, 2011 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

January is our anniversary month, and for the past few years, we’ve been taking romantic getaways to historic inns to celebrate. This year, we targeted the Lafayette Inn in beautiful downtown Stanardsville, Virginia. We’d seen it on a brief stop in the town not that long ago, and when friends stayed there overnight and gave it pretty good reviews, we thought we’d give it a try. We went with realistic expectations, and had a lovely visit.

We’ve been to a lot of Virginia inns, many of them quite upscale. Oh, not of the Inn at Little Washington caliber, since that’s way out of our budget. But many places with the pricey antiques and the trillion thread count linens and the spa bathrooms and the his-and-her robes. The Lafayette Inn isn’t quite like that. It’s an old building, owned by a lovely couple trying to provide a quality experience without breaking the bank. So it’s a bit quirky. Some of the antiques are pricey, and some look like Sears circa 1963. No robes, nothing-too-special linens, the room was chilly, the fan in the small bathroom squealed, and the hot water ran out mid-shower. But the hosts were friendly and enthusiastic, they brought us a split of champagne and some gourmet chocolates as a welcome gift, and the gas fireplace worked like a charm. My husband and I have been married for 33 years. We enjoy spending these little getaways together. We’re not overly sensitive to things like noisy plumbing or rumbling street traffic or creaky floorboards. Just give me a room with charm and a working fireplace and a bottle of wine and a good book, and I’ll be happy all day.

There’s nothing much in the town of Stanardsville. We visited a couple of nearby wineries (more about that later), meandered through the Noon Whistle Pottery, and took the 5-minute walking tour of the town. But that’s all we really needed. We enjoyed dinner in the restaurant of the inn, where the innkeepers do most of the cooking, serving up mostly Southern comfort foods with a slightly gourmet touch. We ate till our buttons popped (enormous portions of tender pot roast and braised pork shank), and then were able to just hoist ourselves upstairs to bed.

Our room, the “Jefferson”:

The lovely dining room:

Full breakfast in the morning. More diner than gourmet, but filling:

Here’s an example of one of the more quirky pieces:

View of not much from the 2nd floor balcony:

The Noon Whistle Pottery:

Another local business:

Stanardsville streetscape:



Lafayette Inn

By From http://fredericksblogger.blogspot.com/ • Jan 29th, 2011 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

January is our anniversary month, and for the past few years, we’ve been taking romantic getaways to historic inns to celebrate. This year, we targeted the Lafayette Inn in beautiful downtown Stanardsville, Virginia. We’d seen it on a brief stop in…



Cool real estate video of the week: Pushy Real Estate Agent

By From http://fredericksburgrealestateblog.com • Jan 29th, 2011 • Category: Blog Entries.Local, RealEstate.Local

Cool real estate video of the week: In the old days, real estate agents were considered very pushy, like some other sales professions. But, it is my opinion that the agents who are thriving in today’s market are those that realize that their business has to be focused on relationship building, not pushy sales techniques. […]



Were Virginia Beers Slighted?

By From http://www.musingsoverapint.com/ • Jan 29th, 2011 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

Over at the Houston Press Beer blog, Katharine Shilcutt posted a map of the United States showing a beer for each state. When I saw the headline, I wondered which of Virginia’s award-winning breweries she would select to represent the Commonwealth. Sta…



Low-Point Lunch Ideas, Part 2

By From http://www.pointsinmylife.com/ • Jan 29th, 2011 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

For those of you who would like to lose weight, prefer your lunch having more substance than just an apple, but aren’t sure of what to eat so that you won’t go over your points, here are some great low-point lunch ideas (with their total points) that w…



Is Facebook making us sad?

By From http://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Jan 29th, 2011 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

A study at Stanford suggests that encountering all our happy friends and their perfect lives on Facebook is making us feel like crap, when we realize our lives don’t measure up.
I can believe that on some intuitive level. If you are trying to start a f…



I am not a number. OK, I am. And the number is 34

By From http://www.odonnellweb.com • Jan 28th, 2011 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

Pretty much my entire homeschooling reading list is in this post. These lists are often link bait. This one may be too, but the author at least took the time to poke around each site, which is more than most of them do. # O’DonnellWeb: Not everything Chris O’Donnell (no relation) posts up here has […]



The Matrix in 5 Seconds – Friday Funny

By From http://www.musingsoverapint.com/ • Jan 28th, 2011 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

Enjoy.

[ Original content posted at http://www.musingsoverapint.com ]



Beautiful Tom Sagun Built Colonial

By From http://fredericksburgrealestateblog.com • Jan 28th, 2011 • Category: Blog Entries.Local, RealEstate.Local


Williamsburg AleWerks Coffeehouse Stout

By From http://www.musingsoverapint.com/ • Jan 28th, 2011 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

We recently took the time for a little more research for our upcoming Winter beer tasting. After all, it’s only fair to our guests that we have fresh thoughts in mind on the beers we’ll serve. (The sacrifices we make are incredible.)

Coffeehouse Stout…