After the gym I came home and asked Blake if he wanted to do something. Being a nasty day out we didn’t really know what to do but figured we would get hiking stuff loaded in the car along with a change of clothes in case we got soaked from the rain. I sent a text to Blake’s mom to see if she would like to join us. About 20 minutes later we picked her up and started our journey.
We decided while driving up towards the Charlottesville area to make our 4th attempt to go across the James River via Hatton’s Ferry.
If you are unfamiliar with Hatton’s Ferry, it is the last Poled Ferry in operation in the United States.
https://www.visitcharlottesville.org/directory/the-hatton-ferry/
I checked out the Facebook page and it said that the water was too low this morning but being that we didn’t arrive until 2 and it had been raining all day we figured it was worth the shot. Well…..attempt 4 was unsuccessful. The captains were not there when we arrived. We looked around the area, took in the river. Taylor dipped her feet in as well. We saw a lot of people tubing in the river as well.
Taylor loved playing in the river and kept asking to go back but we wanted to attempt other things since the ferry was closed.
Next up was an attempt at the LOTUS Light of Truth Universal Shrine. This is something Blake found on Google Maps a few years ago and from the pictures seems absolutely beautiful. We also love to learn new things and wanted to see what it is all about. Well another strike…..once we arrived, we saw a sign that said it was temporarily closed. We saw someone walking up and they let us know that it has been closed since the pandemic began but they do still have programs that we could sign up for and we would be let past the gate after signing up. This is something we will look into one day.
Blake’s moms brought her book called Virginia Historical Markers and found that we were right near the Geographical Center of Virginia. Unfortunately the actual center of Virginia is located on private property but we did find the historical marker (sort of a strike).
I identified a couple of flowers near the historical marker using the PictureThis app.
Our next stop I made sure to call ahead to ensure their hours. I didn’t want to take anymore chances this time. We couldn’t go to the mountains without stopping by a winery. We chose Hardware Hills Vineyard. This is one we passed on our way to Hatton’s Ferry. This is also one we have never been to before.
The winery offers flights, glasses and bottles. We chose to do 2 flights so we could sample more of their wines. Each flight contained 4 wines and cost $17. A lot pricier than other wineries and it didn’t include a glass but it was okay. Their wines were all pretty tasty.
While we were doing our tasting, Taylor was doing what she loves to do and was running around in the rain. She was soaked by the time we were done and was loving every minute of it.
I did find some really neat wine facts at the Vineyard
We were going to stop at a restaurant for dinner but decided to swing by Arbys for a quick meal to get Taylor in bed at a decent hour.
Our day didn’t go as planned but we didn’t really have anything planned to begin with so we just went with the flow of the day and it was a great day!
Nic of Time - Travel 