Fardowners Restaurant in Crozet

Do you know what a "fardowner" is?  I didn't, until we visited the so-named restaurant in Crozet a while back.  You can find out by visiting their website at http://www.fardowners.com/, and you can check out their list of upcoming music performers--there are two this weekend.  Right about now, the tasting flight of four locally brewed beers for $5.00 looks pretty irresistible!

This picture is from the Fardowners web site--check it out to see more fun times and great performers.

Crozet Arts & Crafts Festival

As we wend our ways through September, approaching the last day of summer, it isn't too early to start planning our visit(s) to the fall edition of the Crozet Arts & Crafts Festival.  The Festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 8-9 this year at Claudius Crozet Park, and is a not-to-be-missed event!  It's the best place ever to start (or finish) your Christmas shopping.  It also provides a great opportunity to taste a wide range of Virginia wines, all under the same roof.  We love the live music and the great food, too--explore their website for the entertainment schedule and the wineries who will be there, as well as lots of other great info.  Visions of kettle corn and funnel cakes dance in my head!

Micah's Coffee OMG!

Okay, best new find in Waynesboro, for me anyway.  "Micah's Coffee" at 1000 Broad Street, has got to be the most wonderful product and the friendliest service in the smallest space ever!  It's easy to miss if you're in a hurry because of its relatively small stature (see photo), but I won't ever pass it by again.  (Find Micah's in the parking lot next to Ace Hardware, right across from the shopping center with Peebles in it.)  Our Stone Soup friends steered us to Micah's when we asked what coffee they use, because the coffee there is always extraordinary.  Stone Soup always buys whichever particular coffee is featured in the week they buy, so we followed suit and brought home a pound of "Mrs. Heatley's" beans.  Even before tasting the coffee this morning, I could smell how wonderful it was going to be.  So, thank you Micah's Coffee and your wonderful staff--we'll see you again soon!

A Visit to Stone Soup

Our friends at Stone Soup Books in Waynesboro have planned a plethora of not-to-be-missed events for the next few weeks, so take note!  Check their site at http://www.stonesoupbooks.net/ to see the schedule.  Local author, "Jack" Scruby will be signing her new book at a luncheon on Saturday, September 24, then on Tuesday, September 27, their Chef Laura will be showcasing "tastings" from the "King Arthur's Wholegrain Baking" cookbook.  I love King Arthur flours and other products, I love baking, and I love tasting, so I expect I should be there!  We had a yummy lunch at Stone Soup today, and here's a picture I took, featuring their coffee station and some of the current display of artwork.

Still Here!

My apologies to my blog and anyone who might happen upon it, for the complete lack of entries over the past few weeks.  I haven't forgotten Whistle Stops, but I do have a new job and a new schedule, and busy weekends at the moment.  Rest assured that there are plenty of fun things going on in our area at this time of year, so use the links on the right side of this page to connect to some of the best places or to read about interesting happenings in Crozet, Waynesboro, and the Rockfish Valley. 

Crozet Pizza Prizewinner

On my first night of a distance-ed graduate school course several years ago, all of us were asked to introduce ourselves and give our geographical location, since the class was composed of students from all over the continental U.S. as well as several international students.  When I mentioned Crozet, VA, a student in Minnesota exclaimed "Crozet?  I had the best pizza in the world once at Crozet Pizza!"  Look out world, Crozet Pizza has just won the Food Network award for "Best Slice in Virginia," for its white mushroom pizza (see the Crozet Gazette article for more info).  Way to go Crozet Pizza!  We'll be over again soon...

August Wine

White Hall Vineyards is celebrating August by featuring their 2009 Pinot Gris as wine of the month.  See their newsletter to find out about the process that makes this particular wine special, and to see the special pricing on it for August, which is almost over, folks.  I also noted that their 2009 Petit Verdot and Viognier took home silver medals from the Virginia State Fair, and cannot imagine how any other Viognier beat out the one from White Hall.  I know from experience (repeated, I must say) that it is a delightful wine. 

This lovely photo is from the web site for Monticello Country Ballooning.  Visit their site for lots of interesting ideas for fun things to do!