Wine, Beer, Bavaria, and B-days

This upcoming Wednesday is my 29th birthday and this year I wanted to do something different to celebrate. As much as I love a good bar crawl - I just wasn't feeling it this year. So Jerry and I decided to celebrate by heading down to Charlottesville. Primary destinations: King Family Vineyard (where we got hitched) and then dinner at the Bavarian Chef in Madison because I've been craving German food ever since we got back in September.

On the way down, we decided to stop off at Prince Michel vineyard right on 29. We've driven past it half a million times but never stopped. It was super cute inside and for 5 bucks, you got to taste 15 (!!) wines. They were all pretty tasty...some more than others. Prince Michel also sold a ton of little gifts and knick knacks... all of which were very cute - thought I might find something for my work's holiday gift exchange but alas there wasn't much under $10 (silly gov't rules). We had a really nice time but we stayed there a little longer than we should have since we still had to head to King Family and then make our 6pm reservation at the restaurant.

So we sped off to King Family, getting there 15 minutes before they closed, eek. Luckily their tasting room was still hopping and they were more than willing to do a tasting for us. They only have 7 featured wines but they are all fantastic. I've never had a bad glass there. We purchased quite a few bottles, signed up for their wine club (thank you husband!), and then headed back to Madison for dinner. Next time we go, I hope we are able to spend more time there...maybe grab a baguette, some cheese and a bottle and just enjoy the beautiful view... really could spend all day there. It just brings back the best memories.

Afterward we made our reservation at the Bavarian Chef...another place we have passed a zillion times on 29 but never stopped at. It's an adorable log-cabin-y type place decked out with Christmas wreaths and lights. Inside it was super cozy and really reminded me of when we were in Bavaria. After having wine all day, we decided to order some German beers and a sausage appetizer. Both of our main courses were super delicious and luckily were big enough so that we could have leftovers tonight. I can't wait to go back there again as the food and ambiance were both incredible.

All in all, while it was low-key, it was a fantastic day just spending time together (thank you husband - you are amazing) and I couldn't ask for more. The best part is that I still have my actual birthday to look forward to where I'm going to dinner with the girls in DC. Can't beat that.