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IFWTWA's “September in Virginia” Itinerary (Subject to change)
September 23, 2009 arrival and September 28, 2009 departure
Your Conference and Media Trip Committee has been working with representatives from Richmond, and Charlottesville, Virginia to create a wonderful media experience for you. We are very excited about this trip. It offers something for everyone. Food writers, travel writers, culinary travel writers, wine writers, students of architecture and art, formal garden design, preservationists, Poe and period lovers will find specific slants and titillating offerings on this fascinating trip. Sign up early, as there are limited rooms available.
Overview:
It is suggested that you fly into the major Richmond, VA airport for the most flight options and better rates (air is not included). The combined trip is five nights and best if you do both of them. Please arrive on September the 23rd by 2 p.m. if possible. Transportation from Richmond airport to Charlottesville will be provided on September 23rd.
Pre-Trip Charlottesville, VA September 23 to 25th
(arrive by 2pm on Sept. 23 – move to Richmond on the 25th)
Our hosts in Charlottesville include the Charlottesville Convention and Visitor's Bureau. They have put together this tour rich with history with the following highlights:
You'll visit the Rotunda and gardens of the University of Virginia, Founded by President Jefferson; the Rotunda is modeled after the Roman Pantheon, completed in 1826 the year Jefferson died, it is flanked on either side by pavilions. The pavilions are each architectural representations of a classical design meant to serve as study models.
The group will also tour Jefferson's Monticello plantation and wander the sensational gardens, orchards and his famed vineyard, as well as sample Jefferson reds including Cabernet Franc and several Bordeaux –style blends.
You'll enjoy lunch at 200-year-old Michie Tavern and sample more wine at the Kluge Winery and Estate while listening to the story of this winery as it moves to establish Kluge Estate Wines as a recognized “Cru Classe.” Tour the home of James Monroe on his 535 acre working farm and the beautiful Ash Lawn an example of Early American and Victorian architecture.
We will split up and enjoy one of the two fabulous dinner options: Executive Chef Dean Maupin of the luxurious Clifton House, a Relais & Châteaux member, will welcome you or Chef Craig Hartman of the Keswick Hall at Monticello, an elegant country house, will be your culinary guide.
MAIN TRIP – RICHMOND REGION, VA
The Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau is delighted to welcome IFWTWA members to the Historic Richmond Region, where four centuries of history and modern-day culture come together with unprecedented accessibility. Here, history lives on through magnificent architecture, monument-lined cobblestone streets, and world-class museums – for an experience that's anything but textbook. In the Richmond Region, history sits comfortably next to world-class shopping and dining, and an arts and entertainment scene comparable to major metropolitan cities. Since its inception, the Historic Richmond Region has mirrored America's culinary trends, exhibiting extraordinarily great taste from down-home Southern barbecue to uptown haute cuisine.
Friday, September 25
Transportation from Charlottesville will be arranged.
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11:00 AM | Arrive in Richmond, and check into the lovely Jefferson Hotel. The Jefferson is a truly magnificent hotel and one of Virginia's two Five-Star, Five-Diamond properties – an elegant representation of classic Southern charm. (Fun fact: It has been rumored that the grand staircase in the Jefferson's lobby was the inspiration for the famous Atlanta staircase in Gone with the Wind.)
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12:00 PM | “Unhappy Hour Cask of Amontillado” tasting at the Poe Museum in honor of the Poe Bicentennial. Richmond was Poe's hometown and where he first gained a national literary reputation, so it's only fitting that Poe Bicentennial events be focused in Richmond. Guests will enjoy lunch in the Poe Museum garden (designed to incorporate Poe's writing), an Amontillado tasting, a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum, and a performance of one of Poe's works. The Poe Museum is housed in Richmond's “Old Stone House,” the oldest standing structure in Richmond.
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2:00 PM | Harvest Tea and Tour at Virginia House. The afternoon will begin with a stroll through the fall gardens. Then participants will learn how to harvest herbs and include them in home-made tea while enjoying tea and scones on the terrace overlooking the James River. Participants will even have a chance to sample herb-infused treats and develop their own tea blend. Virginia House was constructed from the materials of a sixteenth century English manor house. Although Virginia House was a blend of three romantic English Tudor designs, it was for its time a thoroughly modern home complete with seven full baths, central heat, modern kitchen, and commodious closets.
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4:30 PM | Return to Jefferson Hotel. A hospitality suite will be available for guests to unwind, grab a drink or snack, or socialize.
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5:30 PM | Reception at The Jefferson Hotel's new restaurant Lemaire. Guests will hear from Chef Walter Bundy will speak about his “farm to table” philosophy, using regional produce and herbs.
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7:00 PM | Chef's Table Dinner at the Doubletree Hotel.
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Saturday, September 26
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8:00 AM | Breakfast at Perly's, a classic downtown Richmond favorite.
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9:00 AM | Richmond Driving Tour. Guests will receive a comprehensive Richmond tour from a native Richmonder who knows all the stories and all the hidden secrets. Stops will include St. John's Church, where Patrick Henry gave his famous “give me liberty or give me death speech” and Hollywood Cemetery, where President Monroe and President Tyler are both buried. Hollywood Cemetery is also home to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. This beautiful cemetery overlooks the rumbling James River. The tour will also include a stop at the Virginia Capitol. Designed by Thomas Jefferson, a wonderful, architectural blend of new and old, the Capitol carries on themes originally presented by Thomas Jefferson and also caters to a 21st-century visitor's expectation of what the Commonwealth's Capitol should be. It houses America's oldest legislative assembly and the only statue of George Washington that Washington himself posed for. The nearby Executive Mansion is the oldest continuously occupied governor's home (since 1813) in the country.
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12:00 PM | Lunch at Buz and Ned's, a favorite local BBQ spot. Guests will hear from the owner Buz, who will tell the Buz and Ned's story which includes his “slaying of Bobby Flay” on BBQ TV.
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1:30 PM | Special Collections Tour at the Library of Virginia. Guests will see original Edgar Allan Poe works as well as other special pieces of American History. We don't want to give away any surprises, but keep in mind that many a Founding Father passed through Richmond…
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2:30 PM | Guests will have three options to choose from:
Option 1: Segway Tour of downtown Richmond. Explore Richmond standing up on the self-balancing Segway personal transporter. Highlights on the tour include The John Marshall House, the Valentine Richmond History Center, The Museum of the Confederacy and the White House of the Confederacy, Monumental Church, Capitol Square, Historic Shockoe Slip, the Canal Walk, Triple Railroad Crossing, Newport's Cross and the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar which explores the war through three interwoven perspectives: Union, Confederate and African American.
Option 2: Shopping in Carytown with wine tasting at Can Can Brasserie. Carytown is Richmond's nine-block “Mile of Style.” Independent boutiques and restaurants abound.
Option 3: Tour of Maymont House, gardens and wildlife. Imagine a place, in the middle of a bustling city, where you can walk in the shoes of the Rockefellers and Vanderbilt's, stroll through authentic Japanese and Italian gardens and come face-to-face with a black bear. History, habitat and horticulture converge at Maymont, the 100-acre Victorian country estate of James Henry and Sallie May Dooley, to create an experience that is truly unique. Maymont House, a remarkably complete expression of Gilded Age luxury and opulence, also illustrates the dynamic interplay between server and served, working class and upper class and black and white through a compelling exhibition in its restored belowstairs rooms – the culmination of a decade-long research project that was completed in 2005. Among historic house museums, the Maymont Mansion is rare in that 90% of the home's furnishings are authentic pieces owned by the Dooleys and displayed during their lifetime. Maymont is also home to many native Virginia animals including mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians and fish. Hundreds of animals, representing more than 100 species, reside within Maymont's grounds—at the Children's Farm, in the Wildlife Exhibits and in the Nature Center. Lastly, take a stroll through Maymont's spectacular Italian Garden, Japanese Garden and Arboretum featuring exquisite stonework, statuary, gazebos, fountains and, of course, beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees.
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4:30 PM | Return to Jefferson Hotel. Hospitality Suite open.
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6:30 PM | Experience an interactive and delicious culinary adventure at Mise En Place, Richmond's premier cooking school and culinary team building company, located in historic Shockoe Slip. At Mise En Place, they make sure all of the ingredients are “in its place” to create the perfect recipe.
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Sunday, September 27
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8:00 AM | Depart the Jefferson for Hanover Tavern.
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9:00 AM | Tour of Hanover Tavern, Jail, Courthouse and Barksdale Theater. Did you know that Patrick Henry was a bartender? See where this founding father served drinks. Hanover Tavern has served as an inn, stagecoach stop, post office and dinner theater. Now it has new life after a 15-year restoration and preservation project by the Hanover Tavern Foundation, which has worked to make this historic structure's future worthy of its past.
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11:00 AM | Brunch at Michelle's at Hanover Tavern. Located inside Hanover Tavern, Michelle's offers new southern cuisine focusing on local and regional ingredients.
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1:30 PM | Tour of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to include an overview of the expansion that the museum is currently undergoing. The VMFA houses a remarkable permanent collection of more than twenty thousand works of art from almost every major world culture, including the largest collection of Russian Imperial Fabergé Easter Eggs outside of Russia. The expansion will put the VMFA among the top-ten comprehensive art museums in the U.S. and will include a new fine-dining option that overlooks a sculpture garden.
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3:15 PM | Wine tasting at New Kent Winery. New Kent winery, which opened in 2008, is not your average winery. It serves as the anchor of a new residential development that includes amenities such as a Rees Jones championship golf course, shops and boutiques, polo grounds, walking paths and luxury home sites in its Viniterra section. The winery is built from materials reclaimed from Richmond Region buildings and structures well over a century old. The white Norton is to die for.
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5:15 PM | Return to Jefferson Hotel. Hospitality Suite open.
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7:00 PM | Dinner at Julep's. “New Southern Cuisine” is this restaurant's claim to fame. Located in Historic Shockoe Bottom, Julep's occupies the oldest commercial building in the city of Richmond (1817).
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Monday, September 28
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| Guests return home. Transportation to Richmond International Airport will be provided.
Registration form
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