Charlottesville

We spent New Year’s Eve at a winery in Charlottesville, Virginia celebrating my cousin’s wedding.

Charlottesville (a.k.a. “C-ville”) is where Thomas Jefferson built his famed home, Monticello, which we were able to visit the day we got into town.

It’s also home to an extensive network of studios and galleries, known as the Monticello Artisan Trail and a historic downtown pedestrian mall with stores, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and a skating rink.

You could walk right out on to the mall from the lush atrium of the Omni Hotel Charlottesville, where we stayed.

Washington D.C.

We flew in and out of DC. With our limited time there, we were able to catch a few museums, some of the monuments, and the still-decorated National Christmas Tree, as well as finding some good food and even doing a little crafting.

And we were able to walk to almost all of that from our DC hotel, Embassy Suites by Hilton Washington DC Convention Center.

There’s more to come about what we saw, where we ate, and where we stayed. In the meantime, I’ve been posting photos on Instagram tagged #dccville.

—

We received media rates for our stays at the Omni Hotel Charlottesville and Embassy Suites by Hilton Washington DC Convention Center. We also received assistance and Monticello passes from Visit Charlottesville and Destination DC.