<p>blueiguana–thanks for the link to the restaurants 
. There are soooo many to choose from-wow! Good thing we are going to leave early enough on Sunday to have breakfast there as well as lunch and dinner–wouldn’t want to miss a meal-LOL. And it looks like the Virginia weather is finally going to start cooperating this weekend-keeping our fingers crossed.</p>
<p>Maybe…it just snowed here after being 50-some degrees and sunny yesterday though.</p>
<p>Supposed to be nice this weekend though. :)</p>
<p>Wow, it certainly is sleet/snow/rain mix tonight. Yuck! Well Frid/Sat/Sun improves considerably with sun and much warmer 64/60/72. It has definitely been an unpredictable season as far a weather is concerned.</p>
<p>Beachmom - I hope you get some winners from the restaurant list. You’ll have to give us your reviews when you get back! Wishing you safe travels and a wonderful trip!</p>
<p>89: I have a shot of the Lawn looking down towards Cabel after one of the mega snowstorms that came through 09-10 winter. The sun was just setting so there’s oranges, yellow, a bit of pink, and blue, all reflecting off the snow. By far one of my favorite pictures.</p>
<p>As for Cville weather, VA weather is notoriously wild in the sense that we very rarely have a consistent weather pattern over more than a couple of days, and the spring is especially up and down. Cville has even more variability due to its location due east of a major mountain range and located in a valley of sorts. The weather is generally perfect with seasons (all four occur) but the actual days can be a roller coaster. I remember one year it iced, then was 60, then snowed. The summers can bring some pretty nasty thunderstorms as well. I think Fall is one of the few peaceful seasons</p>
<p>I also went to Lighting of the Lawn (early December) multiple times in a tshirt… You just have to go with the flow.</p>
<p>Hazel, my second J-term we went on a field trip half-way through the course and everyone was in t-shirts, some of the guys even wore shorts with a pullover. When we were presenting our “final” it was snowing 6". Silly Cville weather</p>
<p>Shoe…it’s really not nice to say things like that. Now I’m coveting that picture, which I know is wrong (but I still am). I’m a big fan of UVa architecture in general and have a nice collection of pictures from our visits, but some things (like a fresh snowfall) you’re either there or you aren’t. DH got tired of the standard issue prints in his office so we’ve had several matted and framed for him. He gets many complements, however I think it’s more for originality, lol. I’m hoping at some later date as an alumni looking back my son will appreciate them as part of his history.</p>
<p>We do have crazy weather, for sure! We also got the sleet up here last night in Northern VA 
thankful for the nice forecast coming up. </p>
<p>DD and I ate at The Downtown Grille (dinner) and The Virginian (lunch) when we were down for a tour last spring. DD has been to several other restaurants, too, as my husband has taken her down for numerous Dave Matthews concerts-LOL! Definitely going to pull some new ones off the list :)</p>
<p>Just want to plug Hamilton’s on the Downtown Mall. Eating outside on a beautiful day with great food and service – can’t be beat. Haven’t been there in a few years but it used to be the regular lunch spot for a girls trip to C’ville. As a student back in the dark ages, we rarely went to the Downtown Mall except to get yard-beers at Miller’s or see a movie. But now I prefer it to the Corner for strolling to eat and shop.</p>
<p>Blue: hah. And yes, I’ve found original pictures are much, much better than boring ole typical ones :)</p>
<p>Beach: tthhaattt’s why it was so loud last night. I woke up in the middle of the night and swore it was sleeting.</p>
<p>Well, my feet have sufficiently recovered from our fantastic visit to Charlottesville this past weekend. Spring (or summer??) seems to have finally arrived and we had great weather. From the restaurant recommendations we decided to try the HORSE AND HOUND-when I saw someone mention shrimp and grits I knew that place was for me Our meal–and my bloody mary–was great and we would definitely eat there again. The rest of the day was spent on grounds, making sure our youngest D saw everything before she and my husband headed back to NoVa for school/work on Monday. </p>
<p>Admitted D and I checked in to the Hilton Garden Inn–very nice but a loooong 3.9miles away. Before dinner she and I headed back to grounds for the Ghost Tour. We really liked this and recommend it for others heading in for DOTL. It’s a fairly short tour (50 min) that basically keeps you on the lawn (saves your feet for DOTL the next day!). It’s mostly a tour that gives you some interesting trivia about the early days of the college and is really enjoyable. For dinner she and I met a fourth year at the MELLOW MUSHROOM where we had a great white pizza. Bonus–saw an off campus apartment :)</p>
<p>After a great DOTL experience we headed over to the next restaurant we pulled from the list-TAKE IT AWAY. Yum! I especially liked it b/c it reminded me of my favorite sandwich place in my hometown (Va. Beach) called Taste Unlimited. Anyplace with Virginia ham is high on my list :)</p>
<p>Thanks again for pointing me in the direction of the restaurant thread–it was so helpful :)</p>