Quickly made this video of our adventures in the snow today … I hope that you enjoy it!

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This was the first time that we let Phoenix off lead in the park, and he loved it. He is such a winter weather dog and now he is asleep on the rug!

The area around Charlottesville is historically known for its wine, but that is changing because beer is becoming the new table beverage, just as it was for Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson served beer and cider with his meals and he brewed his own in the basement of Monticello. Today, there are plenty of stops to make in the area, if you want to explore the local beer scene (for an example of the type of trip you can make, see this WashPost article). They are even creating a brewey trail (think vineyard trail, but with beer).

Here are a few of the breweries and brew-pubs in the area … all of which I would love to visit: Read more »

This last Sunday, I added up the attendance at the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford and noticed that we had experienced a large increase in attendance, as compared to last January. So, can it be because of the failing economy that we are having more people come through the door? Well, according to statistics from the US, it seems that the economy is helping to boost people’s use of museums and libraries. Read more »

The other night we went to the Capital Ale House in Innsbrook. We had only ever been to their Downtown Richmond location (as of a few months ago, they have four locations – three in Richmond and one in Fredericksburg). The Innsbrook location has 77 beers on tap (compared to 46 Downtown and 80 in Midlothian), plus the 2 cask ales and the over 200 bottled beers they carry at all of their locales. In short, all of the Capital Ale Houses are great locations to have a beer and all of them have cellars and fridges full of great pints!

So, what did we have the other night? Read more »