it’s official

it’s official

As you all know, I had promised a surprise Blue Lollipop Road announcement/next project about a month ago. It was bit delayed because of a few good unplanned opportunities, and now we are ready.

BLUE LOLLIPOP ROAD ADVENTURES IS BORN!

After 16 years of my own adventure travels (50 states, several countries, delectable foods, interesting people, and thousands of miles and stories), it’s time to pass on the laundry list of resources and information I have, to all of you out there: I put together a plan that includes anything from a small local quick outing to a far off extensive journey, add a fantastic food and drink element, and there you have the perfect storm for fun, meeting like minded people, and getting out of your everyday grind.

Sounds pretty great right? I use my buckets of experience and do the “dirty” work. (Planning and figuring out all details.) You show up and have a blast. It’s so easy!

The 1st ever BLR Adventure happened yesterday. A group of incredibly fun and diverse people dove in to be my “test” case. (Thanks again guys!) We had a most fantastic 9 hours of road tripping, exploring, food and drink. No one from the group knew each other. (You know I love to watch worlds collide!) I laughed so hard my stomach hurt, heard “I haven’t had this much fun in forever!”, “When is the next one?!” and ended the day with a big fat smile on my face. As I drove home last night, I had a euphoric feeling, just as I had hoped I would. Nothing makes me happier than exploring outside of the regularly scheduled program, and encouraging other people to hop on the train to share that time. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

I truly believe that an adventure a day keeps the doctor away. That simply means doing anything that makes you feel alive and excited.

Yesterday, we were all very much alive and excited. A road trip to Virginia’s Wine Country with our first stop at Veritas Winery. We toasted to the launch of BLR Adventures:

…ordered a cheese plate snack:

… and had a glass of each of our favorite vino outside while enjoying the sunshine:

Here’s some of the happy crew:

After Veritas, we drove to our next winery reservation, but we had lounged at Veritas in the sun for so long we were too late. That ended up being perfect because the next portion of the adventure I had planned was to go to Mas Tapas in the Belmont Neighborhood in Charlotesville. There is always a wait at Mas. This place is slam-packed jam-packed every second it’s open and they don’t take reservations. We managed to score a table in no time because of our early arrival. Before we sat we met and chatted with a sweet and interesting couple. (Transplants from New Jersey to Charlottesville.) They were on a “date” for their 21st wedding anniversary, so cute. Talking to strangers fit in with the theme of our day.

The food was so delicious, I didn’t even have time to take any photos before our table was empty!

Clean plates = happy people.

Some of what we ordered:
*Pequeno Plato de Queso – sliced, aged raw-milk Manchego, local apples, on a slice of hearth-baked bread
*Queso cocido con alcachofa – warm artichoke and goat cheese spread w/ brick-oven bread
*CocaMAS – wood-fired flatbread w/ smoked tomatoes, Caromont Farm’s Chevre, Manchego, Basil on hand-crafted dough
*Carne asada – marinated hanging tenderloin -grilled rare w/ smoked tomato alioli
*Chuletillas de cordero – tender, young lamb chops w/ grilled flatbread and a mint-mojo sauce

Drooling yet? So, so delish.

Cafe’ con leche to end an amazing meal:

We are big fans of Mas, especially these funny tees the chefs were wearing:

The first BLR Adventure was a wild success!

I will announce yet another surprise this coming week. The big kahuna is the complete overhaul of this site. We will launch in the next few weeks. Thrilled isn’t a big enough word for how I’m feeling about a new full-on website to go with the next big phase of Blue Lollipop Road. The new site will have complete information on BLR Adventures and other projects we are working on so stay tuned.

To my test crew from yesterday~

Thank you for your support and participation! I can’t wait for our next one.

Here’s to exploring, eating, drinking and being merry!