Normally when you think of Charlottesville, you think UVA, tradition, old money, and the genteel way of life. Or, there’s C’ville, a hip, sophisticated, Southern college town with good restaurants, shopping, music, art and a rockin’ city market. What you don’t think of is having to grin and bear it and camp out in your hotel room with a seven-year-old.

Last Thursday, Charlottesville experienced a microburst, a shotgun blast of energy similar to a tornado that knocked out power to most of the town and surrounding area. Hundreds of trees, mostly large pines and sycamores, were uprooted or broken, knocking down power lines and damaging homes, cars, and commercial buildings. Luckily, no serious injuries were reported.

When we arrived at our hotel Friday afternoon, the hotel and most of the town was still without power. We were there to attend the wedding of Andrea Illmensee and Mike Hasenfus on Saturday. Andy is the daughter of our oldest friends, Tom and Judy Illmensee. Did I mention that the temperature was in the mid-90s? I’d like to thank the staff at the University Holiday Inn for making the best of a difficult situation. In addition to everything else they had to contend with, the Broadey family, an extended African-American family celebrating their 44th annual reunion was staying at the hotel, and there were a number of special events that had to be canceled or rescheduled. After some initial misgivings, the Heir Apparent decided it was pretty cool going to the bathroom by candlelight and having Grandma Anne read to him using a flashlight. The Broadeys took it all in stride, and I had a chance to meet a really interesting and friendly group of people. The wedding went off without a hitch, and Andy was a beautiful bride.

Prior to the wedding Saturday evening, we spent most of the day at the City Market and the open-air Downtown Mall where we had an excellent lunch of soft-shell crab salad with chickpea fritter at Petit Pois. Because of the heat and the pending wedding reception at a local winery, we elected to go with unsweetened Southern Champagne to drink (that’s iced-tea for you uninformed) and chocolate bread pudding with homemade vanilla ice cream for desert. So, ok, we did taste a few wines at the City Market.

Sunday, we returned the Little Prince to his home in Aspen Hills, MD, via Rte 29. Monday, we did our power shopping at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, ate lunch at Preet Palace in Centreville, my favorite Indian restaurant, and spent a grueling four and a half hours fighting the insane traffic on I-81. All-in-all, it was a pretty good road trip, but we are VERY glad to be back home.

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ANNOUNCEMENT

Today, July 1, Anne and I celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary. To say that the last 15 months have been difficult gives a vast, new meaning to the word understatement. We lost our only child. Seven months later, Anne lost her job. A week later, we lost our dog of fourteen years. Last month, Anne’s wonderful mother, Betty, passed away. As hard as things have been for me to deal with, they have been twice as hard on Anne. I’d like to thank her for her strength, support and unfailing love these past 41 years. She is my dear and darlin’ one.