“The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go”
Downtown take I
Downtown take II!
Matt and I biked all around town this afternoon and they we did QUITE a bit of walking! I figured we covered about 10 miles on bike and 5-6 miles on foot – yeehaw!
You can guess who helped me out with the walking bit 
Totally chill. Totally fun. Classic Friday night livin’ it up in Cville!
We started our First Friday adventure with the 2.2 mile walk downtown, and to the Public Radio Station for a reception and some chatting
The had a wonderful spread of cheeses and crackers from Feast!
I ate my weight in cheese (just a snapshot of all the beautiful cheeses I tried)
Also snack on the veg!
And had a small glass of vino and just LOOOOOVE those whole wheat Caars crackers!!
Our next stop was Second Street Gallery, which had a nice collection of photographs and interesting artwork
We stopped into Artifacts, but it was closed!!
So we went to Market Street Wine Shop to taste some flavors. Mmm reds.
Lastly we move on to the Garage, a neat space-turned-studio. It’s just an open garage downtown!
We chilled
And nibbled
And played
And ate some amazing Jam According to Daniel! His jam jars each contain a POUND of local fruit and are the best I’ve had – on par with my favorite Great Harvest Mountain Berry!
A taste of Pollock’s wine
Lots of folks were out and about tonight!
When the crawl was over at 7, we ventured into a used bookstore
And settled at Horse + Hound Gastropub for dinner (with one addition – friend Sam)
I wasn’t too hungry, so I just had a green salad to munch
And helped Matt with his fish + chips + vinegar (vinegar)
We also shared a SCHLAFLY beer!!!!!!!!!!! A Stout! Sadly I don’t remember which kind of stout this was, but being a Schlafly, it was good! My first non-pumpkin one. [Note this was an 8 ounce glass – our server split the beer for us! How nice.]
We ended our fabulous First Friday with a walk to The Corner where we got a huuuuuge tub of Peanut Butter froyo (Matt and I filled up our Arches card!) with gooey brownie!
And played a game of UNO.
Faith won.
{ 69 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks like a fabulous evening! Enjoy the weekend!!
Sounds like the perfect evening!
This looks like an amazing day! I love UNO. Peanut butter fro yo! Mmm.
A pound of LOCAL fruit in each jar of jam? That sounds like a lot–I’m impressed! 
Fun night. But I love the finisher, pb froyo and brownie batter OH MY. Doesn’t get any better then that.
Cville is too cool for school! I want a pound of that Feast! cheese
I’ll make it out to one of those First Fridays one of these days! =)
I am excited about the return of the City Market!!
Are you going tomorrow?!
All of that food (aka cheese and crackers!) looks amazing. What a fun night! I so wish we had spent time walking tonight, instead of we were cooped up all evening!
Ohh I love that jam! Last time I was in C’ville I got a few to bring back to Charlotte. I’m 80% sure that I’m making another weekend trip to C’ville the weekend of the 15th of this month!! I’ll have to stock up!! I need to check out that bookstore too!! Love it
What a nice relaxing Friday night. Each time I’ve read about that gooey brownie I am so tempted by it! Looks delish! It looks like you live in such a cozy little area. I am so jealous! I live in a small city, so we don’t have any cozy looking places like you have.
Love nights like this with good friends
That garage-studio is seriously AWESOME!
I love Uno and froyo and nights on the town–what a great night in my eyes!
oh i loved uno! i haven’t played it in so long!! sounds like a fun night!
Looks like a fantastic Friday evening, and ending the night with UNO, what could be better. UNO is one of my all time favorite card games
I really want to visit Charlottesville specifically to try that gooey brownie
Ahhhh your town has so many cool things! I feel like we never see you go to the same place twice
That little garage place is so cool! I am jealous. I live in Los Angeles, which apparently has some cool stuff too 
But I love the quaintness of C-Ville!
Lucky you! Beautiful artwork and food
Fun photo story- I like the very first photo the best, its that time of day when you are sort of winding down for the day and winding up for the evening. Lovely!
If it was the Schlafly Irish Double Stout I can just second that it is awesome. I know you said you weren’t sure what it was but you should see if you can find one and check it out because it is really good
That brownie topping is quite the ending to a fun night! Walking and biking beat the gym any day!
mmmm. cheese and crackers, jam and bread, fish and chips, wine and beer, peanut butter and chocolate….that’s a lot of awesome combinations!
I’ve never had just greens on their own. I always fill it with veggies. Meh.
I’ll take the beer though
What a lovely way to spend a Friday! I want that! That bookstore though – the hours say until 6 – but they were open at 7 when you went?
It looks like you had some fabulous time. I love how both you and Faith are walking so much. I enjoy walking, but lately, I have not been walking as much. You gals have definitely inspired me to start walking more again. Have a lovely weekend!
you had me the whole way through until you mentioned the PB froyo. now it’s all i can think about. i. must. have. some.
that sounds like such a lovely time! I love how active you were by walking all around. I did a huge walking tour of my city today. I’m wiped!
Kath, I just wanted to thank you for always showing us Cville’s beauty. It’s so lovely for me to re-see the place I spent such a happy year
I love “Downtown”– being a former urban planner, I have heard it over the years. What a fabulous night!
Schlafly’s Coffee Stout is one of my favs. Hope to have some when I visit my sister and BIL next week in St. Louis. Nothing like coffee and beer to make a great pint.
Looks like y’all have a super fun evening!
What a nice day! Once I graduate college I will actually have chill days like this!! YAY!
I love UNO!
Friends, wine, cheese, froyo…looks like a perfect night
Those wheat crackers are the BEST. I make baked brie in a pastry crust and serve it with those crackers and some preserves (any fruit will work), and it’s probably my favorite “meal” – delish!
the Garage looks like such a cool place to hang out!!! I love the brick on the INSIDE! fun!!!
This just sounds like the PERFECT day! I just moved to a new area not all that long ago and one of the things on my to-do list is to check out the art galleries around. I could use a dose of some good ol’ culture right about now.
Uno sure does bring back memories! I use to play all the time but havent played in years. What a fun night!
How lovely!
Your pictures make me a little envious! Downtown Montreal is congested with cars,buses, people, more cars, honking and all that loud annoying downtown stuff!
Looks like a great Friday night!
Isn’t first friday the BEST?!
Those first fridays look like such a blast
I love how you’re getting out and enjoying the city!!! It’s such a great way to enjoy your evenings, get together with friends, try new foods, AND get in some good exercise. What a neat garage studio! And I used to play Uno all the time when I was little… such a fun game.
what an awesome day
LOVE the Caars crackers too! They taste like a not-too-sweet graham cracker. Only better. So delicious.
What a fun day!
Whole wheat Carrs are like cookies – delish! What a perfect evening. I need to pull out Uno – haven’t played in ages!
Love crawl parties as such! Only wished we were located within walking distance to everything!
ditto!
All that cheese looks delicious!!
I love that first picture of downtown – so atmospheric.
Also UNO is my favorite game. I get really competitive.
That garage studio is so neat! And they serve delicious local jam? Score!
i love garage spaces that have been altered. it’s been forever since i’ve played UNO!
The pictures in this post are BEAUTIFUL! You would make a great advocate for the Cville tourist association (if there is such a thing). I want to visit!
Cute shoes! Can you share the name/brand? They look super comfy!
Champion by Payless
Wow…that looks like a fun fun fun (and delicious) Friday! Jealous!
What a fun Friday evening!
I think it’s time for you to come visit St. Louis and the Schafly brewery
There’s a good chance it was Schlafly’s Oatmeal Stout. No wonder you liked it!
I met Mrs. Archer this past winter and when she shared what she did and where — I had to ask if she knew about you and GH! She said definitely loves having a GH in Cville!
That really sounds like the perfect evening to me.
PB FroYo? . . . UVA is it!
. . . I can’t wait to visit Charlottesville!
Oh how fun!
With all the walking you do, what shoes do you wear that look nice for gallery crawls, but still are comfortable to cover the miles you walk every day?
They’re Champion brand from Payless. My feet hurt a little, but they were fine for 5 miles
What fun!
Those shoes are adorable.
My goodness, I could go for some of those fish and chips right now! Looks like a great evening!
Looks like it could have been either their coffee stout or oatmeal stout! Both are fantastic. I might go to their brewery here in st. louis for dinner tonight!
Ahhh what a perfect evening out! All of your posts on downtown C-ville makes me want to visit so badly!! It seriously looks like such a neat town… y’all are so lucky!
Sounds like such a fun night. Charlottesville is so cute! I will be passing through later in the month on a cross country road trip and will definitely use your blog to guide us to great food, wine and art.
I want the “Always Buying Books” sign in my house. For one thing I’m always, always buying books, and it’s too cute.
Man, that first picture is just stunning. I love the warmth and feel of a perfect light capture, it makes everything looks a lot prettier.
Looks like a fantastic day!