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tsgcharlottesvillevirginia · 4 years

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My Charlottesville // Winifred Wegmann of Pour la Maison

A Big Easy native, Winifred Wegmann, owner of the lovely shop Pour la Maison, has called Charlottesville home for 25 years now. Here she shares her favorite spots.

Your Charlottesville story: I came from New Orleans for graduate school eons ago and worked at the university for a couple of years. I then moved on to a new job in D.C., having declared Charlottesville to be a great place for families but not ideal for a single in her 20s. Lo and behold, 25 years ago my husband was offered a position at UVA and I was thrilled to move back with our two and five year old. They've moved on but love having grown up here. Being on the The Women’s Committee board putting on Martha's Market for seven years led me to working at Crème de la Crème, which went from being recruited to help at Christmas to managing the store for nine years. When they decided to close I took the leap and opened on my own. Customers have been so encouraging. It’s hard to believe it'll be five years next month!

Now for a list of favorites…

Favorite thing about the town. The size of Charlottesville is very appealing to me. It's large enough to fly under the radar if that's what one wants but I love running into people I know all the time. Being in "retail jail" most of the week is compensated by the friendliness of our customers, many of whom have become friends. As a university town we are fairly sophisticated with a rich arts scene and a variety of good restaurants. If only the university would build a performing arts center.

Season. Definitely summer as I grew up in New Orleans heat and humidity. I must add that we have spectacular springs in Virginia. Our months of blooming flowers are hard to beat.

Neighborhood. West of downtown, the Ivy area. Driving in the traffic on the east side of town makes me feel fortunate that I am where I am.

Spot for a drink. It used to be the Bistro at Boar's Head. I’m still in search of a replacement.

Go-to place for dinner. Duners, the same place we stumbled upon our first night here as a family, nearly 26 years ago. And Lampo when the wait is less than an hour.

Lunch. Ivy Provisions, Pico Wrap, or Foods of All Nations. As you can tell, I don't get out much nor venture far for lunch.

Special night out. Fleurie for the atmosphere, food, and service.

Comfort food. Fried Oysters at Duners.

Hang out. Tennis court at Boars Head Sports Club.

Late-night. Fry Springs Station for dinner after a UVA soccer game.The bar at C&O after a performance downtown.

International. Al Carbon Chicken for their Peruvian chicken, Doma or Maru for Korean, and Marco & Luca for dumplings.

Bakery. MarieBette and ever so grateful their baguettes can be found at Foods of All Nations if you don't wait until after work.

Coffee shop. Shenandoah Joe's for their slow drip decaf.

Events. Martha's Market is always a great time and a great cause. UVA Tennis and Women's Soccer games, First Fridays, the Virginia Film Festival, and Historic Garden Week.

Day trip. Visiting my daughter in Georgetown.

Road for a scenic drive. Route 20 North to Gordonsville where I can visit my owner friends at Annie Gould Gallery, Laurie Holladay, and Talini Home.

Place to take a dip. My husband would say unequivocally Blue Ridge Swim Club. If I can't see the bottom I prefer the ocean.

Spot to sit by a fire pit. My meadow.

Winery. White Hall Vineyards and Pippin Hill. I’m not a beer drinker which is unfortunate given the explosion of breweries

Art gallery. Les Yeux Du Monde.

Hair. Robbie at Avanti for the past 25 years!

Spa. Boars Head Spa

Clothes. Banana Republic in Barracks Road Shopping Center because they have petites!

Gear. LLBean

Food / Wine: I'm pretty picky so I shop for certain things at different places — Harris Teeter, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's; Foods of All Nations after work when I'm too tired to venture farther.

Music venue. Sons of Bill concerts, Starry Nights at Veritas

Visit Winifred at Pour la Maison in the Townside Shopping Center on Ivy Road to scoop up lovely tabletop and gifts from France, Italy, England, and beyond. Don’t forget to tell her The Scout Guide sent you! Pour la Maison | 2214 Ivy Road | 434.284.8706 | [email protected]

#mycharlottesville #thescoutguidecharlottesville #scouted #livelovelocal

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southeastasianists · 7 years

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VALENCIA, PHILIPPINES

Cata-al World War II Museum

A vast personal collection of World War II artifacts unearthed over many years by a father-son duo.

From the age of five, Felix Cata-al began looking for relics of World War II in the Valencia region of the Philippines, where he lived.

This area, surrounding the nearby Mount Talinis, was the site of the battle of the Visayas, which was fought by U.S. forces and Filipino guerrillas against the Japanese in 1945. Felix’s late father Porforio Cata-al was a part of the guerrilla movement, and after the war, started collecting war artifacts that were scattered around the region.

Felix inherited this passion for his town’s role in world history, and helped expand this personal collection, which is displayed at their home museum. Spent and unfired ammunition, grenades, unexploded bombs and mortars, rifles, pistols, knives, machine guns, personal items, equipment, bones, uniforms, helmets, teeth, field manuals, an American jeep, parts of Japanese fighter airplanes, and Nazi German artifacts—the museum has it all.

A history aficionado’s dream is to find Yamashita’s treasure, the alleged war loot stolen from across Southeast Asia by Japanese forces during World War II, and hidden in caves, tunnels and underground complexes, in the Mount Talinis region. As this region was one of the last holdouts of the Japanese military and much of the loot has never been found, many believe the treasure is still hidden in the area.

Felix runs the museum today and has researched every object he owns and loves to share facts about the history and use of every piece on display. He also has a wealth of war stories from locals and soldiers who fought during that time. Over the years of searching, he even discovered the remains of 26 Japanese soldiers, which he handed over to the Japanese government.

#Southeast Asia #Philippines #Valencia #WWII

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affairesasuivre · 4 years

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Devo Andare / Avida (Creme Organization, 1981)

AVIDA - An Italian band from the early 80s - The Avida project was ideated by Maurizio Dami (aka A.Robotnick) in 1981. The project featured : Stefano Fuochi (synts) Daniele Trambusti (drums and recording) and Stefania Talini (visuals). In the early 80s Florence was blooming with top level creativity throughout all fields ( theatre, fashion, design and music) . Avida’s music can be described as “cabaret -dance”; the lyric – extremely irrevent and genuinely “Florentine” in style – played a key role in it and that’s the reason why the project became popular almost exclusively at local level.

Avida perfectly fit in with a kind of underground music that was getting all the rage in Italy in those days: nonsense music (musica demenziale). The structures were intentionally primitive, often made on cheap electronics. Maurizio Dami’s vocals , inspired on early 60s Italian singers (to carry on and close the typical 20 years cycle of revivals), such as Edoardo Vianello, had an appealing mix of trash and humour. Avida was essentially a live band. Their performances were a mix of theatre and music, where visuals played a major role. Anyway, today some of that music still sounds interesting and not only due to its lyrics. “Il Grillo E La Formica - The cricket and the ant” is a cruel rock interpretation of a popular Tuscan rhyme, telling an awful story, some genuine piece of Tuscany Horror! “Vogli Uscire - I want to get out” is the most subtly ironic, in its crude electro-existential style – so hip in those days. “Vorrei Tanto - I would so much love” is probably the most emblematic track : witty nonsense lyric and pure minimal electro music. “Il Vento - ” is a popular Italian song from the 60s by Lucio Battisti, rendered with ice-cold despair by Maurizio. The only 7’ by Avida (published by Materiali Sonori in 1982) contains 2 tracks: “La bustina” and “A’fumme mariuà”, not included in this compilation. The reason why they were not included is that the rhyme and meaning of their lyric have a crucial significance that can only be fully appreciated by Italian listeners.

#devo andare #avida #creme organization #robotnick #synth pop #Italia #1981

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trendingnewsb · 7 years

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Wild Amazon faces destruction as Brazils farmers and loggers target national park

The Sierra Ricardo Franco park was meant to be a conservation area protecting rare wildlife

To understand why the Brazilian government is deliberately losing the battle against deforestation, you need only retrace the bootmarks of the Edwardian explorer Percy Fawcett along the Amazonian border with Bolivia.

During a failed attempt to cross a spectacular tabletop plateau here in 1906, the adventurer nearly died on the first of his many trips to South America. Back then, the area was so far from human habitation, the foliage so dense and the terrain so steep that Fawcett and his party came close to starvation.

He returned home with tales of a towering, inaccessible mesa teeming with wildlife and irrigated by secret waterfalls and crystalline rivers. By some accounts, this was one of the stories that inspired his friend Arthur Conan Doyle to write The Lost World about a fictional plateau jutting high above the jungle that served as a sanctuary for species long since extinct elsewhere.

In their wildest fantasies, however, neither Fawcett nor Conan Doyle are likely to have imagined the modern reality of that plateau, which can no longer be certain of protection from geography, the law or Brazils international commitments.

Today, orange dirt roads, cut into the forest by illegal loggers, lead you to the north-western flank of the elevated hilltop. Now called the Serra Ricardo Franco state park, this is nominally a conservation area set up with support from the World Bank. Instead of forest, however, you find swaths of land invaded by farmers, stripped of trees, and turned over to pasture for 240,000 cows. There are even private airfields inside the parks boundaries, which exist on maps only.

Far from being an isolated area where a wanderer might starve, this is now despite its dubious legal status one of the worlds great centres of food production. In recent months, it has also emerged as a symbol of the resurgent influence of a landowning class in Brazil who, even more than in the US under Donald Trump, are cashing in on the destruction of the wild.

Locals say a member of President Michel Temers cabinet chief of staff Eliseu Padilha owns ranches here on hillsides stripped of forest in a supposedly protected park. The municipal ombudsmen told the Observer the cattle raised here are then sold in contravention of pledges to prosecutors and international consumers to JBS, the worlds biggest meat-packing company, which is at the centre of a huge bribery scandal.

These allegations are denied by farmers but there is no doubt the government is easing controls as it opens up more land for ranches, dams, roads and soy fields to meet the growing appetite of China. Last year, Brazil reported an alarming 29% increase of deforestation, raising doubts that the country will be able to meet its global commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Rather than an aberration, this appears to mark a return to historical norms for a country that has been built on 500 years of land seizures that were later legalised by the politicians who benefited from them.

The concurrent erosion of legal authority and natural habitat can be seen in many Brazilian states: the newest soy frontiers of Maranho, Tocantins and Bahia; the hydropower heartland of Par and the wild west mining and logging regions of Rondnia and Acre. But it is in Mato Grosso that the political forces behind deforestation associated with corruption, violence, weak regulation and deliberate obfuscation of land ownership reveal themselves most clearly.

The 158,000-hectare Serra Ricardo Franco state park is supposed to be a conservation area, but farmers and loggers moved in to clear the land. Photograph: Phil Clarke Hill/Corbis via Getty Images

The 158,000-hectare Serra Ricardo Franco state park sits at the intersection of three great biomes; the Amazon rainforest, the Cerrado tropical savanna and the Pantanal wetlands. Its western neighbour, separated only by the narrow Rio Verde, is Bolivias dense Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, which covers an area five times larger. Together, they make up one of the worlds biggest and most biodiverse ecological reserves.

To the east are the light green plains of Mato Grosso a state bigger than the combined area of the UK and France which was named after the once thick bushland that has now mostly been cleared for soy fields and cattle ranches.

The plan to establish a park in this geologically and biologically important landscape was agreed amid the giddy optimism of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which was hailed as a breakthrough for international cooperation on the environment.

Ricardo Franco was one of nine conservation areas promised by the Mato Grosso government in return for a $205m loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The primary source of funds was the World Bank, which noted at the time that the money was to be used for vehicles, staff training and salaries, office construction and research. The envisaged Ricardo Franco park was supposed to cover 400,000 hectares.

The reality was very different. After several years of studies, the park that was eventually established in 1997 was less than half the expected size. At least 20,000 hectares of it had already been cleared by farmers who were supposed to be compensated and removed. This never happened. Nor could the Observer find evidence of fences ever being erected, or administrative centres built either in the park nor the nearest town of Vila Bela da Santssima Trindade.

The only signs and boundary markers are for fazendas (plantations). Although the park is supposed to be publicly owned and used only for ecotourism or scientific research, many areas could only be accessed after paying an entrance fee or requesting a key from the owner of the farm occupying the property.

Serro Ricardo Franco is in one of the worlds biggest and most diverse ecological reserves. But reality on the ground is different, putting many animals at risk, such as Yacare caiman and giant river otters. Photograph: Angelo Gandolfi/Getty Images/Nature Picture Library

A quarter of the land has been cleared over the past four decades, but there are still areas of immense natural beauty and biodiversity that have changed little since Fawcetts time. Over two half-days, the Observer spotted an armadillo, spider monkeys, capuchins, otters, fish leaping a waterfall, clouds of butterflies, and a hand-sized spider that was slowly succumbing to the sting of a giant vespa wasp. Local guides report sightings of panthers, pumas, anaconda, pink dolphins and six-metre long alligators.

Trails now lead up to the previously undisturbed heights, but they are rarely used. The 5km hiking route to the 248-metre high Jatoba waterfall was deserted, as were the sapphire waters of the Agua Azul canyon. It was not, however, well maintained. Rubbish and used toilet paper littered one area. Another clearing was scarred with the charred remains of a barbecue (likely to be prohibited as a fire hazard in a well-run conservation area). On the banks of the Rio Verde, fishing lines were tangled on the rocks despite signs declaring Strictly no fishing or hunting. But it is undoubtedly the 20,000 to 39,000 hectares of farmland (the size is disputed) that has had the biggest environmental impact.

What is happening in the park is very sad, said a local biologist, who asked for her name to be withheld because she fears repercussions. This area is very important. There are species here not found anywhere else. But its degrading year by year.

Ranchers inside the park disagree. Ademir Talini, the manager of the Fazenda de Serra, boasts of boosting production of soy and beef on what he claims is the third most fertile land in the world.

Our municipality has the biggest abattoir in Brazil, the best beef comes from here and farms here contribute greatly to GDP, he says. He then points toward the nearby border with Bolivia. Over there is the biggest conservation area in the world. So what difference does 39,000 hectares make?

He points out that many of the farms preceded the creation of the park a refrain echoed by other ranchers.

The state government created a virtual park to get money, said Donizete dos Reis Lima, who owns the farm next to the border. Nobody here is against the park. I want a future for my children. But lets have a decent park. If we go, who is going to pay us compensation.

About 240,000 cattle graze within the cleared forest in the park. This farm is owned by government chief of staff Eliseu Padilha. Photograph: Jonathan Watts for the Observer

The issue is not black and white. The burly farmer says he is the legal owner of the land, having arrived in the area long before it was a park. But he also recounts how he opened up the roads to the region as part of his work as a logger. The area he cleared was later regularised by the land agency (Incra).

Then, as now, this process often involved corruption and collusion with the authorities. Elsio Ferreira de Souza, a retired municipal employee, recalls the illegal origins of land clearances in the 1970s. It was done with the connivance of local politicians and only later legalised, he says.

Regiane Soares de Aguiar, the public prosecutor who has filed multiple lawsuits against the farmers, agrees. All of the land was cleared illegally, she says. Even the landowners that were there before the creation of the park would not have had permission to deforest the land. Satellite data shows the problem has since worsened, she said, as more farmers moved inside the park, bringing more cattle that needed more pasture.

This illegal activity has done spectacular damage to forest and water sources. According to the prosecutor, JBS should share the blame because the meat company has bought livestock from inside the park despite a pledge to public prosecutors, foreign buyers and environmental NGOs not to source cattle from illegally cleared land. To get around this, it briefly launders the animals at untainted farms outside the park before taking them to the slaughter.

In a statement to the Observer, JBS said it had blocked sales from farms inside the park after being requested to do so by the prosecutors office. The company said it used data from satellites, the environment agency, ministry of labour and other sources to monitor its 70,000 cattle suppliers. The results, it said, were independently audited.

Since 2013, more than 99.9% of direct suppliers located purchases of cattle in the Amazon region comply with the Public Commitment of Livestock and agreements signed with federal prosecutors, it noted.

But cattle laundering is rife. Regulation is a challenge at the best of times. Even when the authorities impose a penalty for forest clearances or other violations, very few fines are ever paid.

I penalise them, but they challenge me in the courts and justice is so slow, says Laerte Marques, from the State Secretariat for the Environment (Sema). It has been very difficult. There is pressure from all sides. On one side there is the public prosecutor, on the other are the farmers.

The landowners have launched a campaign for the park to be abolished. Prosecutors, however, have urged the conservation area be administered on a more formal footing. Last month, they appeared to have won a victory when the Mato Grosso government announced a two-year study to determine the status of the park and what should become of its farms. But there are fears this will simply shrink the boundaries and allow the farms to be excluded.

Powerful landowners are trying to use this opportunity to reduce the limits of the park, said Aguiar. That would only benefit those who cleared forest. But there is a lot of economic power behind them, she warned.

Near the entrance of the Paredon 1 Fazenda is an overgrown airstrip and a dirt road that cuts through the state park to fields of cattle grazing among tree stumps on an otherwise bare hillside overlooking the Bolivian forest. This is one of several farms in the park owned directly or indirectly by Eliseu Padilha, the chief of staff. Locals in Vila Bela say he is an intimidating presence. He is not the only one. Several of Brazils richest businessmen as well as local politicians own land inside the park.

The forces lined up against conservation have deep roots. The post-colonial history of Brazil is, to a large extent, the history of deforestation. Following the arrival of European ships, settlers carved out roads into the jungle in search of gold. Since then, massive fortunes have been made by the clearance of forest, initially for coffee and rubber plantations and more recently for cattle and soy. Landowners happily backed the 1964-85 military dictatorship, which ensured that campaigners for indigenous rights and agrarian reform did not get in the way of farm and ranch expansions. The return of democracy initially made little difference. The first president under the new constitution was Jos Sarney, an old-school coronel who ruled the northern state of Maranho as if it were his personal fiefdom. Deforestation surged to new peaks at the turn of the 21st century.

The first time the problem came close to being brought under control was during the initial Workers party administration of Luiz Incio Lula da Silva (2003-06). His environment minister at the time, Marina Silva, put in place tougher penalties and a monitoring system that used satellites in the sky and rangers on the ground to identify farmers who burned or cut down forests. This resulted in an impressive slowdown that lasted nearly a decade, winning kudos from the international community and putting Brazil in an influential position in global climate talks.

But the effectiveness of this system weakened under Lulas Workers party successor as president Dilma Rousseff, who was much closer to the ruralista lobby than her predecessor. She had little choice. Increased demand for soy and beef, particularly from China, had made agriculture the main driver for economic growth and a political force to be reckoned with.

With 200 seats, the bancada ruralista had become the most powerful caucus in Congress. To placate them, Rousseff approved a relaxation of the Forest Code, which was the main legal tool against tree felling. It was a disaster for the Amazon.

Before that change in 2012, deforestation rates had been creeping down. After it, rates increased by 75%, according to Paulo Barreto, a senior researcher at Imazon, an independent monitoring organisation. He said this put at risk the commitments Brazil had made in international climate talks to reduce annual clearance to 3,800 square kilometres per year by 2020. At one point, we were on the right path. But last year, 8,000 square kilometres were cleared, double the goal for 2020, he points out. Two-thirds of Brazils carbon emissions come from this source.

Meanwhile, beef and soy barons have strengthened their grip on power. After last years impeachment of Rousseff, her replacement, Michel Temer, appointed several ruralistas to his cabinet and moved to dismantle and dilute the institutions and laws that slowed forest clearance.

His pick as agriculture minister is Blairo Maggi, the owner of the countrys biggest soy producer, Amaggi Group, and a former governor of Mato Grosso, who supported moves to abolish the Ricardo Franco park. The justice minister, Osmar Serraglio, is at the forefront of the beef lobby, which was his main campaign donor, and a fierce opponent of indigenous land demarcation (the most effective method of forest protection).

Under his watch, the National Indian Foundation (Funai) has seen its finances and personnel gutted. The foundations president, Antnio Costa, was sacked earlier this year. In a parting speech, he described Serraglio as a dictator. He is the minister of one cause: agro-business, he warned.

The counterbalance ought to be the environment ministry, which is headed by Jos Sarney Filho, the son of the top landowner in Maranho state. Although his ideals are widely praised by conservationists, his ability to act has been neutered. Last year, the environment budget was cut by 51% (compared to a 31% reduction of the Environmental Protection Agency in the US under Trump).

In March, the ministers weak position was apparent when he issued a grovelling public apology to JBS after inspectors embargoed two meat-processing factories that were alleged to have bought tens of thousands of cattle from illegally deforested areas of the Amazon. Rather than assess the rights and wrongs of the case, the minister said the action was badly timed because it could hurt a major exporter that was already bogged down in scandal.

Almost every week, there is a new roll back of forest protections. Last Tuesday, the Senate approved a bill that slashed protected areas in the Amazon by 597,000 hectares (about four times the area of Greater London). The previous week, the lower house of Congress paved the way for the legalisation of land that had been illegally occupied by grileiro a move that is likely to encourage more seizures and forest clearance. Environmental licensing requirements for agriculture have been emasculated.

Temers unhealthily close ties to the agriculture lobby may yet, however, come to be his undoing.

Earlier this month, the attorney-general formally accused the president and his aides of accepting bribes and colluding with top executives from JBS to buy the silence of witnesses in a corruption scandal. Temer has denied all wrongdoing. The evidence was provided in a plea-bargain by the owners of the beef company, which is reportedly looking for a clean bill of legal health so that it can relocate its headquarters to the US. If so, its links to Padilha and the cattle raised inside Ricardo Franco and numerous other conservation areas also deserves more scrutiny, as does the process for deciding whether farms will be excluded from the soon-to-be regularised park.

Foreign adventurers and Brazilian bandeirantes helped to pave the way for this development, even if their intention was to escape fazendas and cities alike. As Fawcett said: Deep down inside me a tiny voice was calling. At first scarcely audible, it persisted until I could no longer ignore it. It was the voice of the wild places, and I knew that it was now part of me forever.

With each day that passes, that voice is becoming harder to hear.

The tatu-bola armadillo was last year reclassified as at risk of extinction. Photograph: belizar73/Getty Images/iStockphoto

World Cup mascot is now at risk as forests disappear

The tatu-bola armadillo, the mascot for the 2014 World Cup, is now a symbol for a very different phenomenon in Brazil: the growing impact of deforestation on biodiversity.

The small armoured mammal was chosen to represent the tournament because it rolls up into the shape of a football when threatened, but its ability to protect itself has been undermined by a loss of habitat that is also devastating thousands of other species.

Late last year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature raised the alarm by reclassifying the creature also known as the three-banded armadillo from vulnerable to at risk of extinction.

This has prompted the group that led the campaign for its selection as a mascot to launch a crowdfunding drive last month to raise $500,000 to save the animal.

Samuel Portela, co-ordinator of protected areas at the Caatinga Association, estimates the tatu-bola population has declined by 30% in the past decade due to deforestation and hunting.It is fundamental that steps be taken towards the conservation of this species and its habitat, because under the present conditions, the tatu-bola could be extinct in 50 years, he said.

The animal is mainly found in the northeastern Brazil in the caatinga (an indigenous term for white or desert forest) and cerrado tropical savannas. Even more than the Amazon, these two ecosystems have been diminished by the expansion of farmland.

Scientists warn that many other animals face similar or worse threats and the risks are rising along with the pace of land clearance in Brazil, the worlds most biodiverse nation. Last year, the government reported a 29% increase in deforestation the sharpest rise in more than a decade. Forest clearing in Brazil has already condemned at least 20 species of birds, 10 species of mammals and eight of amphibians to regional extinction. Scientists estimate this is just a fifth of those that will die out due to habitat loss. Among the most endangered are giant otters and bare-faced tamarins. A 2015 study predicted half of the 15,000 tree species in the Amazon could be lost if current rates of deforestation continue.

According to the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, the tatu-bola faces a particularly hard struggle to recover its population because of the animals low metabolic rate, small litter size, prolonged parental care and long gestation periods.

WILDLIFE OF THE LOST WORLD

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#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

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dakilanglaagan · 7 years

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Chillin’ at the ranch. Photo credit: Jumz Chino

Dear Mt. Talinis,

It was nice meeting you. Your trails are lovely and the green lushes that wrapped you are more than any signature designer can afford to create. Your waterfalls – Casaroro and Twin Falls – are assets that added to the beauty that you already have. The sulfuric river, which is immensely indispensable, reminded me how powerful nature can be. And of course, Lake Nailig, our humble abode for the night, reflected so much of how tragedy can generate something as splendid as refuge for lost and wandering souls. But more than anything else, I’d like to thank you for all the experiences, both plausible and tear-jerking, that you have allowed me to undergo.

Belle

For telling me that amidst all pressure, there will always be someone who’ll see all positivity and even have the nerve to retell stories of epic failed romances just to lift the despondent souls of everybody.

Bai Kido

For reminding me to stay cool and deal with all the struggles head on no matter how difficult, seemingly impossible, and tiresome the whole activity maybe.

Javy

For showing me that the mountains do not belong to the outdoor enthusiasts alone, but as well as, to those who are willing to withstand the test of nature and finish with flying colors the entire course.

Divine

For illustrating to me how to maintain grace under pressure and to do away with stereotyping.

Julius

For making me realize how to take things one step at a time and allow myself to pause and catch my breath that has been taken away by the exquisiteness set before me.

Vincent

For allowing me to reflect over the things around me and settle to myself unsolicited comments that paves unnecessary.

Jeff of “Bandana Stories” and “Illegal Laager”

For showing me people who never gets tired of understanding others and keeping the fire of adventure burning for everyone.

Dennis

For demonstrating how the absence of everything can engineer innovation and creativity – skills that are poignant for survival both in the wilderness and wherever my feet will bring me.

Jumz of www.jumzchino.wordpress.com

For bringing back my faith in humanity – that chivalry is not dead and that heroism is not limited to those who have sacrificed their lives for the sake of other people.

For showing me that love bears all things, hopes all things, and endures all things – no matter how antagonistic the conditions maybe.

Epifanio Watsinanggo

For proving to me that no matter how long the journey will take, someone somewhere will always be waiting with all anticipation in the end.

Badeth

For giving me a companion who understands my insanity and endures with all modesty the wrath of time just to make sure that I’ll never feel alone, lost, and left behind.

Janice

For allowing me to meet people who never conforms with the willful demand of society and follow their own trail even if it means leaving one’s comfort zone

Jet

But more than anything else, thank you for showing me that not all knights are in their shining armor; that some of them are on the trails, wearing worn-out trekking shoes that has stood the test of time, carrying liters of baggage including those of the tragic past, leading the way so to make sure that nobody gets left behind.

Chillin’ at the Ranch Photo credits: Jumz Chino

Mandatory Group Picture at the Valencia Casaroro Falls Jumpoff

Photo credits: Jumz Chino

I will forever treasure these people and moments in my heart; likewise, thank you for making me realize to treasure myself as well. I don’t need to hurry love because you have taught me the most important lesson: love comes when it has to and love leaves when it needs to. I have come and had fallen in love with you, but I must go because I was never meant to stay in one place. I am Dakilanglaagan.

Love,

Dakilanglaagan

Dear Mt. Talinis, It was nice meeting you. Your trails are lovely and the green lushes that wrapped you are more than any signature designer can afford to create.

#dakilanglaagan #reflection #travel #adventure #i fell in love at mt. talinis #major climb #mountains #mt. talinis #phmountains

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tsgcharlottesvillevirginia · 5 years

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Day Trip Guide // Exploring Gordonsville & Orange

This is the perfect time of year for a quick day trip and Gordonsville, Orange, and the surrounding areas just happen to be gems right in our backyard. If you haven’t visited before, or have just driven through, then it’s time to stop and stay awhile. We asked Beate Casati, of Cavallo Gallery in Gordonsville, for her recommendations in the area. You can definitely hit Gordonsville and Orange in one afternoon, but each are perfect for singular trips. Here, she recommends her favorite shops, great spots for a drink, a meal, place to stay if you’re so inclined and endless things to do.

SHOP

Annette LaVelle Antiques & Interiors | 101 S. Main St., Gordonville | 434-906-285 A collection of beautiful, fine European antiques.

Cavallo | 117 S. Main Street, Gordonsville | 540.832.3701 Fabulous custom framing with a huge selection of choices, art and artisanal gifts.

Laurie Holladay Interiors – 123 S Main St, Gordonsville | 540.832.0552 Expert Lamp Repair, lighting, fine gifts and home accessories

Talini | 100 South Main Street, Gordonsville | 434.989-9801 Contemporary fine Italian linens.

Annie Gould Gallery | 121 S Main St, Gordonsville | 540.832.6352 Original art from around the country.

Stokes of England | 117 South Main Street, Gordonsville | 540.832.7888 Gallery handmade, ornate, architectural ironwork, handmade in Keswick.

Objects on Main | 107 E Main St, Orange, | 540.360.4917 Unique gifts and eclectic decor for the modern home.

Market at Grelen Downtown | 112 E Main St, Orange | 540.308.7953 An offshoot of the Market at Grelen, a well curated gift shop, as well as Grelen ice cream and a wonderful selection of Virginia beer, cider and wine.

Melrose Antiques | 101 E Main St, Orange | 540.661.1004 A fine collection of 18th & 19th century furniture and Oriental rugs.

SIP

Honah Lee Vineyards | 13443 Honah Lee Farm Dr, Gordonsville | 540.406.1313 Wine tasting & tour. Beate says to make sure to ask Eric to take you to the top of the mountain for one of the area’s most amazing views!

Rochambeau Bar | 115 S Main St, Gordonsville | 540.832.0130 Enjoy drinks at this charming Gordonsville classic with a separate bar and restaurant.

Barboursville Vineyards | 17655 Winery Rd, Barboursville | 540.832.3824 Taste excellent award-winning wines in a stunning, historic setting. Don’t miss the tours of the Barboursville Ruins.

Horton Vineyards | 6399 Spotswood Trail, Gordonsville |540.832.7440 Explore underground stone cellars, visit the vaulted ceiling tasting room, and enjoy Horton’s highly rated wines. Their Petit Manseng just won the Governor’s Cup.

Stand up Coffee | 276 Berry Hill Road, Orange | 855.275.3131 Awesome coffee bar on the premises of Orange County Roasters roasting plant.

Forked on Main | 124 West Main Street, Orange | 540.308.7660 Step up to the bar at forked for great vino, local and far flung, and delicious speciality cocktails.

EAT

Barbeque Exchange | 102 Martinsburg Ave, Gordonsville | 540.832.0227 Famous all over the state & beyond for their amazing BBQ.

Romchambeau Restaurant | 115 S Main St, Gordonsville | 540.832.0130 Enjoy fine French cuisine with a new French chef. Ask to sit on the patio.

Prospect Hill Inn Restaurant | 2877 Poindexter Road, Louisa County | 540.967.0844 Elegant fine dining at this historic destination restaurant is perfect for celebrations, big and small. Reservations required.

Vintage Restaurant at Willow Grove | 14079 Plantation Way, Orange | 540.317.1206 Showcasing the best of local, all within a historic manor house. There’s a pub, main dining room and more intimate settings at the Chef’s Table, the Sun Room and The Hall.

Palladio at Barboursville Vineyards | 17655 Winery Rd, Barboursville | 540.832.7848 High-end Northern Italian prix fixe cuisine in a white-tablecloth setting, on the grounds of Governor Barbour’s historic estate and Barboursville Vineyard. Reservations strongly recommended for lunch and required for dinner.

STAY

Nathaniel Inn | 502 N Main St., Gordonsville | 434.218.2344 A lovingly restored inn, with all the modern amenities, in a 1700s house that was built by a well-known local brick mason. Located right in the heart of historic Main Street.

Mayhurst Inn | 12460 Mayhurst Lane, Orange | 540. 672.5597 This restored plantation home of 1859 turned inn has been restored with antebellum era decor and 21st century comforts.

Prospect Hill Inn | 2887 Poindexter Rd., Louisa | 540-967-0844 Step back in time at the oldest continually-operated, frame-house Virginia plantation. This unique inn boasts an authentic plantation complex essentially as it existed in 1732.

Willow Grove Inn & Spa | 14079 Plantation Way | 540.317.1206 A peaceful garden setting getaway, oozing Southern charm, nestled in Virginia Wine Country.

James Madison’s Historic Montpelier | 11350 Constitution Hwy, Orange | 540.672.2728 x450 Visit James Madison’s historic home and take a guided tour, stroll 8+ miles of public walking trails, visit the archaeology lab, and enjoy the award-winning food at the Exchange Café.

Market at Grelen | 15091 Yager Rd, Somerset | (540) 672-7268 When in season pick your own fruit, but the real superstar here are the five miles of trails. Choose from long to short hikes through the Grelen nursery, meadows and forest. The trails are free and open to the public.

SHAKESPEARE AT THE RUINS | Barboursville Vineyards | fourcp.com This special, limited performance is a collaboration between Four County Players and Barboursville Vineyards that occurs every summer, usually the month of July. They showcase multiple shows of a Shakespearean play (this summer’s performance was A Midsummer Night’s Dream) on-site in the beautiful Barboursville Vineyards, at the historic ruins of Governor James Barbour’s mansion, designed by Thomas Jefferson and destroyed by fire on Christmas Day, 1884. Buy tickets online early, as this is a beloved event going into its 14th season that sells out quickly.

Mill House Spa | At the Inn at Willow Grove – 14079 Plantation Way | 540.317.1206 Book a pamper session and escape to a 3,000-square-foot luxury oasis featuring three tranquil treatment rooms, a relaxation room and a state-of-the-art fitness facility. Spa guests also enjoy a beautiful, heated saltwater pool. It’s pure utopia in the heart of Wine Country.

De Esteticienne Salon & Spa | 202 Mayhugh Ave, Gordonsville | 540.832.3688 Enjoy luxury spa services in a true European fashion at this renowned day spa.

Oakland Heights Farm | 17110 James Madison Highway Gordonsville | 540-222-6576 Book a horseback riding session or head out the second Saturday of the month May through September for a true rodeo experience.

Meadows Farm Golf Course | 4300 Flat Run Rd. | Locust Grove, VA | 540.854.9890 Hit the links in gorgeous wine country. Designing by Bill Ward, Jr., the course has 27 holes, each one with a distinct character to offer a wide range of challenges and experiences. Maximum effort has been put into individualizing each hole so that the golfer will feel as if he/she has played 27 different courses rather than playing the same hole 27 times. Each hole has a story to tell.

Castle Hill Cider | 6065 Turkey Sag Road, Keswick | 434-296-0047 Stop by for a cider tasting and stay for a flight or glass or two while taking in the beautiful scenery and enjoying the historic property. Don’t miss out on the Thursday evening sunset series during the summer.

Wine Tasting We’re fortunate enough to be located in the Monticello American Viticultural Area, home to 35 member wineries. All of the wineries have been inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s vision of grape growing and winemaking. This area features five on the Monticello Wine Trail, each with unique offerings and lush vineyard views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. You can easily hop to all in a day, or settle in to one for a lovely afternoon. Honah Lee Vineyards | 13443 Honah Lee Farm Dr, Gordonsville | 540.406.1313 Horton Vineyards | 6399 Spotswood Trail, Gordonsville | 540.832.7440 Barboursville Vineyards | 17655 Winery Rd, Barboursville | 540.832.3824 Keswick Vineyards | 1575 Keswick Winery Drive, Keswick |(434) 244-3341 Reynard Florence Vineyard | 16109 Burnley Road,

Special Winery Events Wine Down Wednesday at Keswick & Honah Lee Wine & Tacos Saturdays at Keswick Vineyards Visit winery website for information on these ongoing events.

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