UVA - Revisited

During the first weekend of June, we were lucky enough to be able to leave Reagan and Tommy with Grandma and Grandpa yet again and head off for some "kid-free" adventures! Jason was celebrating his 10 year reunion at The University of Virginia. We arrived in Charlottesville in the early afternoon on Friday and immediately settled into our hotel:

After that, we hopped in the car and headed to the Corner where we grabbed some lunch and then visited the Ragged Mountain Running Shop where Jason worked when he attended the University. We ate at a place called Take It Away and the sandwiches were ridiculously awesome:

They all this crack sauce and now I totally know why:)

Jason with the shop owner

As you can see in the picture above, it was raining cats and dogs, so we hung out in the running shop for quite some time! When it finally slowed down, we made a break for it and ran to the car. We drove back to the hotel to change and meet up with Cody and Lauren. They picked us up and we went to the Biltmore for drinks and to meet up with more UVA grads. 

We had signed up for Sangria on the Lawn, but due to the rain, they had moved the event to inside a gym. We were hesitant to go, but Jason's buddies convinced us to at least check it out. It was a total bust and we only stayed for one drink, but at least the rain had stopped!

After that fail, we decided to go get some dinner at the Bistro:

Jason's meal: Sausages with broccolini and potatoes

My food: portabella mushroom on a potato cake with a spinach salad and roasted tomato...YUM!

Following dinner, we headed to the Backyard Bar for more drinks and fun. We ran into Jason and Cody's friend, Marco:

The following day, we woke up and relaxed for a bit. I was scheduled to do yoga on the Lawn, but that was cancelled because of the wet grounds:( Instead, we ate a late breakfast and then drove to the campus to hear the President speak. Right before we went in, President Sullivan walked by, so I got a picture of her with Jason:

It was a wonderful speech followed by a great Q and A session and we really liked her. (Unfortunately, she was fired shortly after our visit!) After that, we wandered around the grounds and Jason enjoyed reminiscing about his days there:

This is one of the new buildings that wasn't there when Jason was a student. It's gorgeous!

We grabbed sandwiches at Littlejohn's and ate them outside in the sun. Then we met up with his buddies for a beer/wine tasting party in one of the many gardens of UVA:

After a great day, we went back to the hotel to change, and then grabbed a cab to Maury Hall, where Jason spent many days as a midshipman in the NROTC program. They were hosting a reception there and he got to show me around his old stomping grounds. 

After the ROTC reception, we wandered by Jason's old first year dorm and grabbed a fun shot:

Then it was time for dinner in an amazing tent outside one of the beautiful buildings on campus. It was a buffet with great food, plus dessert was a scoop of ice cream on top of a donut!

There was a swing band following the dinner, but we heard that there was a rockin 80s band nearby, so we wandered to the amphitheater to check it out. 

Cody, Ryan and Jason

One of the 80s band members...they were awesome!

We had a fabulous time dancing the night away and we grabbed more sandwiches at Littlejohn's on our way home. It was a great reunion and made better by the fact that I didn't worry about Reagan one bit during the entire weekend! (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!)