a quick report on the weekend

[winterbadger]

For those who are curious.

My love came back from yet another of her many trips around the land last Friday and collapsed into a sleep of the exhausted. After she'd gotten a barely recuperative amount of rest, we loaded up the car and took off for a weekend in the country.

We stayed for two nights (and two memorable dinners and breakfasts) at L'Auberge Provencale, out to the west of town in Virginia wine country. We had a simply lovely time there, and I would highly recommend the place to folks interested in a quiet, romantic get-away with stunningly good food. We actually spent a good deal of time napping, as we'd both gotten a bit exhausted lately, but we did do a little driving around the countryside and visited the Linden Vineyards, which are quite lovely. We missed the tour, but we did sample some of their fine vintages and brought a couple of bottles home for later enjoyment. We tried hard to find anywhere we actually would want to eat in Front Royal, but it looks in retrospect as if we would have had much more luck in Winchester. (I *had* scoped out several places beforehand, but they ended up being a bit further away than we felt like driving in the evening.) We also had a mammoth series of Carcassonne: The Castle bouts, thanks to Chris and Melissa, who had loaned us their copy. I triumphed, but only by winning the last game by one point. If it had been just a little later in the year, and if we'd had a little more time, I think we might have branched out into some canoeing or kayaking, or maybe even a horseback ride, but as it was, I think we had just a perfect weekend--relaxed, quiet, and full of good meals. :-)

Nora introduced me to Avenue Q on the way home. It is an absolute hoot! I don't even think it would be fair to try to describe it, but imagine Sesame Street written by disgruntled, bitter 20-somethings. Numbers like "What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?", "The Internet Is For Porn ", "There Is Life Outside Your Apartment", and "I Wish I Could Go Back to College"are wonderful; and how many musicals have a song devoted to "Schadenfreude"?

Comments

[vikingcat.livejournal.com]

"Schadenfreude? What's that, some kind of Nazi word?"
"Ja, it's German. It means 'happiness at the misfortune of others.'"
"Wow! That *is* German!"

I think my favorite Ave. Q line of all is Kate Monster (who reminds me greatly of Nora) answering a query about what she's doing that night with "I'm grading term papers--but it's kindergarten, so they're very short."

Sounds like a very pleasant time indeed. And at this rate I have a feeling that the days of my defensively snobbish wargamer's disdain for Euro games are probably numbered.

[winterbadger]

"I'm grading term papers--but it's kindergarten, so they're very short."

:-) That seems to be one of Dr. B's favourite lines as well.

And at this rate I have a feeling that the days of my defensively snobbish wargamer's disdain for Euro games are probably numbered.

Yeah, if they made a travel version of Carc Castle, you would definitely be playing it on your next trip. :-) One of the (many) things I love about Nora is that she can maintain a healthy separation between her fondness for someone and her total determination to devastate and destroy them utterly in competition. She endeared herself to my gaming friends right away by the sweet and loving way that she assured me she was taking me down when several of us were playing Ticket to Ride.

[plutosonium.livejournal.com]

If it's still there, The Village Idiot in Front Royal serves excellent casual food. It's on the end of town nearest Shenandoah. I went there a couple of years ago and had french onion soup, and a ham/cheese/granny smith apple/horseradish sandwich that knocked my socks off.

[winterbadger]

That was one of the only places that looked as if it might be viable; thanks for the recommendation. Next time we'll know it's worth trying.