Inside the first 50 years of the C&O, the restaurant that helped shape Charlottesville's dining scene
Albemarle school board adopts new boundaries policy post-Swiney P.9
UVA Foundation's Arlington Boulevard buying spree turns to demo P.13
James River batteaux serve up history with a (fire)side of dinner P.27
9,
Escape to the Forest of Arden, where Rosalind takes charge, Orlando carves love into trees, and Shakespeare lets comedy run wild with moments that remind us sometimes you have to lose yourself to find yourself.
Life, love, marriage, loss—and the moments in between. In Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, the people of Grover’s Corners remind us that the smallest details often carry the deepest meaning. A timeless American classic that asks: Do we ever realize life while we live it?
Hello, Charlottesville.
Thank you for reading C-VILLE Weekly.
My note to you this week cannot begin without one last shout-out to the Virginia Theatre Festival’s Newsies—a production so nice, I bought another pair of tickets for the following evening during intermission so I could see it twice. The music, the dancing, the talented and adorable kids from DMR Adventures stealing the show in the second half—if you missed it, you missed out.
The best things in life are a little bit like that: a play closes, a concert tour moves on, the World Cup crowns a champion and doesn’t capture our collective attention for another four years. So many things that are worthwhile come with an expiration date.
But not everything.
This week’s cover story (p.18) celebrates 50 years of the C&O, a restaurant that’s outlasted trends, generations, and just about every prediction about what the local dining scene would look like. What’s more, it’s been the backdrop for thousands of fleeting moments that didn’t last: first dates, anniversaries, job offers, breakups, birthday dinners, reunions, and ordinary Tuesday nights that became unforgettable. Some things come and go, but steak Chinois lasts forever.
Mike Moriarty is retired and lives in Charlottesville. His personal essay, “Taking Time,” appeared in CVILLE in June 2024. He has also been published in Arlington Magazine, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and SwimSwam. Read his work on page 18.
Kristie Smeltzer is a writer, writing coach, and teacher. Her fiction has been published by Scribes*MICRO* Fiction, MonkeyBicycle, and Atticus Review. Smeltzer earned her MFA in creative writing at the University of Central Florida. Read her work on page 27.
Hey, thanks! These generous benefactors of C-VILLE have supported our work through our (now tax-deductible!) Save the Free Word campaign. To contribute, follow the QR code.
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IN THIS ISSUE
Happy 50th C&O!
27 Tried it in C’ville: A Farm to Batteau dinner on the James.
County school board adopts w policy in wake of Swiney
No groceries at 501 Cherry Ave.? : UVA Foundation ants to tear down Arlington
CULTURE 23
Alan Opts Out’s main acter is permanently OOO
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JULY 26: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Benefiting the Charlottesville Free Clinic
Aug 19: Dominic Fike
SEPT 5: WNRN Presents: Charley Crockett
Age of the Ram Tour with Nat Myers
SEPTEMBER 8:
Sierra Ferrell
A WNRN 30th Anniversary show Support from The Brudi Brothers
SEPTEMBER 10:
WNRN Presents: Dark Star Orchestra
SEPTEMBER 22: Rainbow Kitten
SEPTEMBER 24:
Sam Barber with Josiah & the Bonnevilles and Wild Horses
October 4:
Whiskey Myers with Special Guests The Ransom Brothers
JULY 24
FRIDAYS
BOYS WITH CREEKBED CARTER HOGAN 07-31| THE BARONS WITH YSA 08-01| GARCIA'S BIRTHDAY BASH WITH SISTERS & BROTHERS/NIGHTFALL OF DIAMONDS
08-02| HELLO GOODBYE RECORDS PRESENTS PUNK & HARDCORE SUNDAY MATINEE FT. CODED, REMEMBRANCE, HANAHAKI, THE GET OFF
08-06| SUNNY SWEENEY
08-07| PETER ANTONIOU (MENTALIST)
08-08| SURFING FOR DAISY
08-11| CORDOVAS WITH GAVIN KATTES
08-14| BRISK - 90'S/00'S ALT ROCK TRIBUTE
08-15| MERAKI RECORD RELEASE WITH WORK WEAR 08-19| HAPPY LANDING WITH THE BAND SOLSTICE
08-27| ABBIE CALLAHAN
08-29| MARIANA BELL WITH HOUSTON ROSS AND JAY PUN
09-02| JOHNNY MULLENAX/BRONWYN
This year, everyone's invited.
We're expanding Best of C-VILLE with the launch of Bestival—a brand-new community celebration of everything that makes Charlottesville the best. Spend the afternoon exploring local businesses, enjoying food and entertainment, and celebrating this year's winners before we cap off the day with our annual invite-only Best of C-VILLE party.
Clear lines?
Albemarle school board adopts new professional boundary policy ahead of 2026-27 school year BY
CATIE RATLIFF
Stay awhile
NEWS SCHOOLS
TCONTINUED FROM PAGE 9
he Albemarle County School Board unanimously adopted a new professional boundaries policy at its July 16 meeting. The Board plans to update the policy and its language as needed, but some parents and community members are calling on the district to pursue an independent investigation into its protocols and handling of recent sexual abuse allegations.
Numerous policies on the Board’s agenda required attention before the start of the school year. The marathon meeting lasted more than five hours, during which the building’s AC system turned off for the night.
At the core of the meeting was the “professional boundaries and prevention of sexual misconduct and abuse” policy, prompted by the arrest of former ACPS staffer Michael Swiney on multiple counts, including indecent liberties with children and aggravated sexual battery. Swiney is set to appear in the Albemarle Circuit Court on August 3.
In addition to explicitly prohibiting sexual misconduct and abuse, the eightpage policy breaks down relevant definitions and details the district’s requirements for maintenance of professional boundaries, with clear consequences for violations.
Under the policy, one-on-one interactions with students will be heavily restricted and require a “legitimate education or health reason.” In person one-on-ones may only occur “in a space accessible and visible to other adults” in spaces “designated by the school administration as an appropriate area for adult/student meetings.”
The policy as adopted extends to electronic communication and bars teachers and staff from emailing an individual student without looping in either the student’s guardian or their direct supervisor. To minimize disruption, the board’s preliminary
plan is to shift all one-on-one electronic communication to ParentSquare, an app that allows families to view all messages to their children through the parent account.
Beyond the policy, the district also delineated and created guidelines for its counselors, mental health support staff, and social emotional learning coaches. Proposed changes to the organizational structure following Swiney’s arrest include a near total elimination of one-on-one interactions between SEL coaches and students, and rescoping and retitling of the role to “school support liaison.”
One significant point of debate for the Board was language and requirements for informing families of founded allegations of abuse, and the degree of latitude the policy should allow the Board based on its discussions with law enforcement.
“I’m having a hard time understanding a scenario where the police might be involved and the parents still not be informed,” said Board member Jim Dillenbeck. “I think we do need to drill down and be a little bit more specific, but I also think it would be helpful to consult with the police department [and] commonwealth’s attorney to find out what are the boundaries and … is there a way to inform parents in … a timely way that wouldn’t interfere with the investigation?”
Under the language as adopted, the school board must be notified in writing within 24 hours of suspensions, terminations, or founded allegations of abuse by an adult. “The School Board shall [then] determine whether the Superintendent will inform the families of the ACPS students who may have come in
“I support this policy generally, but agree that the policy is not the problem. I’m speaking tonight on the collective failure of central office leaders to prevent sexual misconduct,” HEIDI GILMAN BENNETT, OUTGOING ACPS FAMILY COUNCIL MEMBER
IN BRIEF
All the news you missed last week (in one sentence or less)
Smoking section Pollution from Canadian wildfires chokes Charlottesville July 17 and 18, with residents urged to wear particulate-filtering masks outdoors amid dire air quality. Thirst trap As dry conditions persist, local water authorities announce a drought watch, urging residents to throttle back on watering lawns and otherwise pursue voluntary conservation measures. Safer now? Days after the crime was reported, Charlottesville police announce the arrest of a suspect who allegedly raped someone at the Rivanna River unhoused encampment. Lingering freeze The USDA has designated Albemarle and 42 other Virginia counties as disaster areas after last spring’s late frost decimated local crops. Penny pitch County supervisors agree to put a proposed 1 cent sales tax to fund new school construction before voters this fall. Detention slip State Sen. Creigh Deeds and Dels. Katrina Callsen and Amy Laufer join calls from the community and Rep. John McGuire for an independent investigation into Albemarle County Public Schools’ handling of sexual misconduct allegations against multiple former employees. Power outage Running for re-election this year, Sen. Mark Warner (D) opposes any “retribution” against Trump admin lawlessness, pines for a kinder, gentler Republican party.
The Albemarle County School Board unanimously passed the proposed professional boundaries policy on July 16, fast-tracking it ahead of the 2026-27 school year.
contact with said adult, based on consultation with the Albemarle County Police Department and/or the Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney.”
A public hearing on the draft proposal preceded the board’s discussion. Before hearing from the public, board members adopted new public comment rules to clarify existing practices and allow speakers to “refer to individual Board members, Division leaders, or staff when discussing official actions, decisions, or matters with the Board’s authority.” (That’s a key change, given the near expulsion of several speakers from previous meetings for directing complaints at specific district leaders.)
“Every child in Albemarle County deserves to be protected, but after reading the policy I have one question: Why should parents trust that it will be enforced? The biggest flaw is the school division continues to investigate itself,” said Jimmy Belew, a concerned parent. “A policy is only as strong as the people who enforce it.”
“Policy is not the problem. We have good policies in Albemarle County,” said Daisy Rojas. “As a mother of four children that went to Albemarle County schools, I am hurt, furious, and scared.”
Other community members echoed the call for an investigation, and voiced specific issues with ACPS leadership. Among those named was Assistant Superintendent Patrick McLaughlin, who was placed on administrative leave on July 17 after allegations of sexual harassment against a female colleague came to light during the public hearing.
“I support this policy generally, but agree that the policy is not the problem. I’m speaking tonight on the collective failure of central office leaders to prevent sexual misconduct,” said Heidi Gilman Bennett, outgoing ACPS Family Council member.
At press time, Albemarle County Public Schools had not responded to C-VILLE’s request for comment on any potential independent investigations. The board’s next session is scheduled for August 13, one day after the first day of ACPS classes.
Blank space
Affordable housing project at 501 Cherry will move forward without grocery store BY SEAN TUBBS
When the Piedmont Housing Alliance begins construction of a 71-unit apartment complex in Fifeville later this year, it will do so without anyone in place to operate the desired community space required for the complex’s approval.
City Council voted in September 2023 to rezone 501 Cherry Ave. on the site of a former supermarket that will be demolished as part of the redevelopment. One of the conditions required that the “owner agrees to reserve a minimum of 5,000 square feet of commercial space at the Property for lease to a small grocery store that sells fresh produce.” For many years, an IGA supermarket was housed on the site.
The Fifeville Neighborhood Association took the lead in identifying a group that could operate the market. A group called the Charlottesville Food Co-Op formed in early 2025 and began the process of fundraising and figuring out logistics. PHA and Woodard Properties selected the co-op to be the operator in May 2025.
The city’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services approved a site plan in March 2025 that included 6,742 square feet for the store. The site plan also called for 11 dedicated parking spots.
Approval of a site plan is a necessary step to apply for secure low-income housing tax credits from the Virginia Housing Development Authority; PHA received 40 in the 2025 cycle for the project.
On July 20, the co-op issued a statement announcing it was no longer involved with the project after hiring Seven Roots Group to conduct a feasibility study of the site.
“Last month the Co-op determined that the current site plan, as designed, coupled
with the already thin profit margins in the grocery industry, does not provide a path for a financially viable, full-service grocery store focused on affordable food access,” reads the statement.
Purported design issues included a lack of parking, inadequate space for large semitrucks, and challenges with storing trash and recycling. According to the statement, the co-op sought adjustments to the design and were told that changes would cause a delay and put funding at risk.
“While disappointed by the outcome,” the statement continues, “the Food Co-op’s Steering Committee members have not dismissed the possibility of exploring other locations where a community-owned grocery
store might operate successfully and serve residents for generations to come.”
Sunshine Mathon, PHA’s executive director, said space was set aside in the site plan with guidance from potential operators to meet the community vision. Efforts will continue to find a tenant, building off existing fundraising efforts.
“We are encouraged by ongoing conversations with other grocery operators who have concluded that the site is, in fact, a viable opportunity, and we will continue working alongside the FNA to find the right fit for Fifeville,” Mathon says.
Mathon said the goal is to break ground this fall, with completion in the spring of 2028.
A feasibility study of 501 Cherry Ave. revealed there was no financially viable path for a full-service grocery store to be located at the site.
Good as gold
An evening celebrating the Best of C-VILLE winners and runners-up.
Good company, great food, flowing drinks, and just enough gilt to make the trophies feel at home.
INVITATIONS WILL BE SENT TO THIS YEAR’S HONOREES.
Saturday, August 29 (7-11pm)
INVITE ONLY (21+)
REAL ESTATE NEWS
Coming down
UVA Foundation files for demolition permit for office building on Arlington Boulevard
BY SEAN TUBBS
If people from 2016 Charlottesville time traveled to Ivy Road, they would probably be incredibly shocked that an entire city block has been replaced with a new generation of buildings built for the University of Virginia.
A similar sensation might be felt by one of us if we suddenly found ourselves on Arlington Boulevard 10 years or so from now. The University of Virginia’s real estate foundation has spent $20.5 million in the past five and a half years to purchase six properties on the southern side of the roadway.
In June, the UVA Foundation applied for a demolition permit to remove 1928 Arlington Blvd., a three-story commercial office building that has been unoccupied since January 2025.
“The properties were acquired because of their strategic adjacency to University property, particularly near North Grounds,” said Katie Murphy, the Foundation’s senior marketing coordinator and communications manager, in an email. “As with much of the Foundation’s real estate portfolio, this reflects our long-term planning for the University’s growth.”
Murphy said the Foundation will continue to serve as landlord for what she described as a “vibrant mixed-use property.” The land is zoned Node Mixed Use 10, which would allow for the tallest buildings in Charlottesville.
Some of the properties owned by the Foundation are in the pathway of an extension of Copeley Road to Millmont Street that is currently in the design phase. When completed, vehicles will be able to travel
directly through North Grounds from Ivy Road all the way to Barracks Road.
Other major real estate players have also claimed a stake in the future of the roadway. On March 17, Heirloom Development paid $19.725 million for Jefferson Apartments at 2401 Arlington Blvd., a complex first built in 1969.
The Foundation’s purchase pattern on Arlington Boulevard is similar to that on Ivy Road, where city properties were slowly acquired over time for amounts well over the property assessment even if uses had not been identified.
For instance, a subsidiary of the UVA Foundation paid $5.6 million in June 1998 for the former Cavalier Inn at the corner of Emmet Street and Ivy Road. At the time, the property was assessed at $3.16 million. The structure was demolished in 2018 to prepare infrastructure for buildings such as the School of Data Science, the Karsh Institute of Democracy, and the Virginia Guesthouse Hotel.
Properties owned by the UVA Foundation pay the city’s real property tax but those owned by the UVA Rector and Board of Visitors do not. The property where the Virginia Guesthouse currently stands was originally acquired by the Foundation and then transferred to UVA.
However, on April 6, UVA transferred about an acre back to a subsidiary of the Foundation. That means that not only will Charlottesville get paid the lodging tax on the hotel and conference center, but the Foundation will also pay real property tax. The assessment for 2026 is $50,551,500 taxable at 99 cents per $100 of assessed value.
The three-story building at 1928 Arlington Blvd. that’s slated to be demolished has been unoccupied since January 2025.
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Five decades after opening on East Water Street, the C&O continues to define Charlottesville dining
La cuisine since 1976
By Mike Moriarty
Photography by Tristan Williams
Chef Dean Maupin took over the C&O Restaurant in 2013.
Earlier this year, the C&O Restaurant posted on Instagram: “On March 22, 1976, Philip Stafford and Sandy McAdams opened the C&O Restaurant. Fifty years later, everyone in this town has a C&O story.”
The restaurant’s greatest story, though, belongs to the people who shaped it. It begins with the audacious determination to open a French country restaurant that could compete with the finest establishments in New York and Washington, D.C., and continues through generations of chefs, servers, sommeliers, and loyal patrons whose shared sense of purpose has secured the C&O a unique, beloved place in Charlottesville’s restaurant pantheon.
In the beginning was the word
By all accounts, Daedalus Bookshop was, in the words of C&O’s first employee, Kent Miller, “a huge part of the C&O story.” Sandy McAdams had come from New York City in 1974 and set up shop at Fourth and Market streets with his legendary “boxcar full of books,” and quickly attracted “creatives”—artists, writers, academics, people who’d visited or lived in (or maybe just read about) destinations far from Charlottesville, Virginia.
The bookstore also attracted Phil Stafford, a lawyer and recent UVA graduate, who encountered McAdams at Daedalus, and it didn’t take long for the two men to start kicking around ideas for opening a bar or restaurant.
Critically, Daedalus also attracted the attention of Claudine and Walker Cowen, a world-traveled French journalist and the director of UVA Press, respectively. The Cowens have been credited with persuading Stafford and McAdams to pursue their plans for a restaurant, but to make it a topflight French country establishment. Claudine mentored the early C&O team in everything from cooking (she delivered extensive training before and after the restaurant opened), to waitstaff protocol, and wine pairing. She and Walker also directed the C&O’s pioneers to visit high-end French restaurants in Washington, D.C., and New York, so they would learn not only what true French food tasted like, but how a true French restaurant looked, how it sounded, how the waitstaff should interact with the clientele.
If Claudine was a driving force behind the C&O’s cuisine and French flavor, the restaurant itself was a confluence of inputs, both local and distant. The boxy structure and basic white “Restaurant” sign with the Pepsi logo changed little from when railway workers would trudge over from the railyard across Water Street. Bricks from a West Main Street teardown were put to use in the interior. And the dark timber that envelops the bar (and seems to magically lower the stress level of all who enter) was reclaimed from an old Albemarle County barn. Altogether, the space echoes the rural French bistros of Claudine’s youth, the bars and speakeasies of McAdams’ Greenwich Village, and the rural authenticity of nearby Albemarle, where much of the produce on C&O’s plates sprung from the county’s rich, red clay soil.
The formal white dining room upstairs, meanwhile, reflected the quiet elegance that prevailed in those fine restaurants in Washington and New York. And the big industrial stove in the kitchen, where the magic would come together every night at the C&O, had served duty for an indeterminate time in the basement of the McGuffey School before it was discovered there by Miller; he had a studio at McGuffey, the historic school having been converted to an art center in 1975.
From literary aristocracy to the professional class
Several early members of the C&O’s staff say the entire team in those days—from the front desk and the kitchen, to waitstaff and the bartenders—embraced the culture of culinary excellence with a passion. Napa winemaker Spencer Graham (a waiter on opening night in 1976), says, “I think that people were inspired by Claudine and by what
really good cuisine could be.” Though they were young, just out of UVA, they absorbed the Francophile’s encouragement and training. “All of us,” Graham says, “were incredibly serious and interested in food and, some of us, wine.”
Graham and Miller, now a retired graphic designer in San Francisco, suggest that the C&O began as a place where creatives drawn to Daedalus could go to continue, and deepen, the conversations they’d started at the bookstore. Renowned author Ann Beattie, Miller says, would celebrate her latest book release with friends at the C&O. Future Pulitzer Prize-winner Peter Taylor legendarily suggested to New York Times critic Craig Claiborne that they go to the C&O—when it turned out that Michie Tavern, their first choice, was closed that night—resulting in a glowing review that brought the C&O nationwide attention. Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall opened just months after the restaurant, but in the late 1970s and into the 1980s, downtown remained patchy, at best. “It was ‘death valley,’” says Bill Curtis, then the chef at the Monticello Hotel’s restaurant and, since 1990, the owner of Tastings of Charlottesville, a block up Market Street from Daedalus. As the C&O established its footing in fine food, it expanded to fill the nighttime entertainment void. McAdams opened a night club adjacent to the restaurant that offered live music five nights a week, competing for music-lovers’ attention with the likes of Trax, The Mineshaft, and Miller’s. And the bar bistro, meanwhile, became a place where writer George Bradley, who waited tables in the late ’70s, says, “an anything goes atmosphere” prevailed. From sundown to the wee hours, the bar hosted boisterous crowds, planned meet-ups, and unexpected hookups.
Notwithstanding the establishment’s expansion into live music, and the late-night bar’s popularity, the C&O’s team didn’t lose sight of its central mission: top-flight cuisine, word of which had spread beyond Charlottesville’s literary aristocracy and permeated its professional class, from lawyers up the hill at Courthouse Square to UVA faculty. It confirmed what Graham sensed. “There was interest in ‘real food’ in the community,” he says, one that helped sustain the restaurant’s high-end offering.
The restaurant’s reputation attracted a steady flow of customers from UVA’s medical school and law school. Peter Scott, a wine importer, began working at the C&O while attending UVA, and, with Dave Simpson, he bought the restaurant in 1984. Scott said the town’s doctors and lawyers were big spenders. They reliably booked tables
upstairs and often ordered the finest wine from the increasingly deep and tastefully assembled cellar, which Scott managed before passing the corkscrew to Elaine Futhey, who with broad license from Simpson proceeded to curate the cellar to become the undisputed best in Charlottesville.
Growth & maturation
By the time the C&O celebrated 20 years in 1996, Charlottesville and surrounding Albemarle were showing unmistakable signs of change—change that brought competition for fine dining while driving even greater appreciation for excellent food and wine. The Downtown Mall was finding its identity as a destination for food, arts, and entertainment: Metropolitain, Bizou, and Hamiltons’ opened, as did the Omni hotel, an ice rink, and a new federal courthouse that all anchored the pedestrian mall’s west end.
In the surrounding county, the wine industry was taking root. The Monticello AVA was established in response to a petition in 1984; today, it comprises 40 area vineyards and wineries. And while the City of Charlottesville’s population has held relatively steady since the mid-1970s, Albemarle County’s tripled, from roughly 40,000 to about 120,000.
“Charlottesville in 1976 was a place where you went to school or retired to,” says Graham. “Now it’s a place you live.” And that means far more dining choices, as well as a much larger potential customer base of sophisticated diners. There was a time, Bradley says, when the prevailing American approach to dining was “too much food, too little quality, and a lot of melted cheese on top of it,” but now—at least at the C&O and a lot of other restaurants— the food scene has come up several notches.
Locally grown
The C&O Restaurant, and the people who now run it, contributed to and grew from that larger regional evolution. After working weekends in the kitchen of a long-gone Waynesboro restaurant, Dean Maupin refined his skills at the Boar’s Head, left there with Gerry Newman to open Albemarle Baking Company (then in York Place on the Mall), and while there he answered an ad in C-VILLE Weekly for a position at the C&O, five blocks away. After working for a year with Dean Simpson and head chef Thomas Bowles, Maupin scored a slot in the prestigious
Locally sourced, country French preparations like the pan-fried Smoke In Chimneys trout, caper brown butter, toasted almonds, and garden herbs exemplify the C&O’s culinary excellence.
Greenbrier Culinary Apprenticeship Program in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia—a three-year engagement that Maupin calls “eye opening.” At The Greenbrier, Maupin was surrounded by talented (and, mostly, more experienced) chefs, and he gained an even greater appreciation for the patience, skill, and technique required to prepare food at the highest level and for the most discerning palates. “I spent two months just making stocks—veal, chicken, lobster,” says Maupin, echoing C&O’s first chefs’ recollections of their training on that old McGuffey stove with Claudine Cowen.
One winter break from The Greenbrier program, Maupin did a months-long stint at legendary Michelin-starred Tra Vigne in Napa. While back home during another break, he worked alongside Tim Burgess and Vincent Durquenne at Metropolitain and helped Newman relocate ABC to its current home on West Main Street. After graduating from
The Greenbrier, Maupin took a position at Fossett’s at Keswick Hall, where he advanced to head chef.
In sum, while Charlottesville and Albemarle—the university, the community, and the wine industry—were evolving and maturing, a young local chef from one of Albemarle’s oldest families was developing into the chef/proprietor who long-time owner Dave Simpson knew he could trust with leadership of the restaurant when he sat down with Maupin in 2012 to discuss a C&O succession plan.
Pivot and growth
When Maupin took over the C&O in 2013, he vowed to remain true to the restaurant’s legacy, and its position as a dining destination. “My plan is not to change a thing,” he told C-VILLE shortly after the transition. The world, though, had other plans, most notably with the COVID pandemic, which briefly shuttered the restaurant. But Maupin says they pivoted, and within two weeks were preparing dishes for carryout and delivery. The pandemic relented—and after that recovery, Maupin and his team reopened with a renewed focus on the food, but without some of the elements that had helped define the C&O for decades.
Gone was “late night,” the first-floor bistro’s kitchen and bar service that offered food and drinks until the wee hours. Gone, as well, was dinner on Sunday and Monday nights. Gone was lunch service for business people and faculty members with a little extra time.
In some respects, change came in the form of opportunity. All those wineries that now dot the region’s landscape and influence the area’s culture? Many host weddings and other catered events. The C&O’s catering business, begun by Dave Simpson in the 1980s, is now flourishing, Maupin says, noting that his team includes a dozen or so part-time employees who focus almost exclusively on catered events, a line of business that enables the restaurant to deliver its offerings miles from East Water Street.
True to its identity
Fifty years later, the C&O’s core remains intact. The French country influence, initially encouraged and developed by Claudine Cowen, then carried forth by generations of line cooks and chefs, is clearly evident on a menu that includes duck confit, trout almondine, crème brûlée, and veal sweetbreads.
Present, as well, is the seasonality, the freshness of the food and the menu composition. Graham, the C&O’s chef in 1980, called seasonality “the key,” adding that “you develop a relationship with suppliers” that ensures a steady stream of the best the season offers. Maupin concurs, explaining that the restaurant has regular suppliers for menu mainstays like lamb, trout, and produce, but that it’s “always bought from people who knocked on the door … and it still happens that way.”
Maupin was quick to add, of course, that freshness is just the start of an item’s journey to the plate. Inspired as a teen by episodes of “Great Chefs” on PBS, Maupin says he now monitors social media to keep up with the latest ideas in the industry, ideas that he might tweak before they land on the C&O’s menu. “We try to elevate the food,” he says, before adding that every dish “has to be interesting, really well-executed with great ingredients.” And with a nod to the region’s sophistication, he says, “we’re really lucky with that, because the clientele that comes here are folks who are open to things being thoughtful and interesting.”
It’s the people
The C&O recalibrated and adopted the five-nights-a-week schedule of many other dining establishments, at least in part, Maupin suggested, to maintain a high-caliber dining experience while also enabling his people to “have a good quality of life,” an approach borne out by the experience now reflected on the staff: Amanda Burress and Sarah Knox, both mentored by Futhey before her retirement in 2012, have been with the C&O for 15 years. Slavisa Milanovic has delivered courteous, skillful table service to C&O patrons for more than 25 years. Michael Volpendesta has worked in the office for 20.
The team still works hard, Maupin says, and it “has always attracted interesting, loyal, caring people.” A big part of his role at the restaurant is to ensure his staff is “happy and has what they need.”
“I worked in other restaurants,” says former waiter Bradley, “but the C&O was the only place where I made lifelong friends.”
Mary Loose DeViney, who’s run Tuel Jewelers since the C&O opened, spoke to the restaurant’s consistency.
“You just know it’s going to be a great meal,” she says.
Mohammed Sawaie, a UVA professor of Arabic from 1980 until this past year, cited the specialness of a meal there, saying he remembered going to the C&O to celebrate with friends, and though he doesn’t remember exactly what they were celebrating, he remembers the appetizers (“they were heavenly”) and the wine (champagne, followed by Spanish Albariño).
Others comment on the bar’s coziness, the intimacy it engenders. Donna McAdams recalls an evening in the late 1970s. Originally from New Jersey, Donna had just gotten off duty as a nurse at the hospital and had gone to the C&O with a friend, a local. There, she met Sandy in the bar, and he asked her if she’d ever eaten upstairs. Not long after, he took her on their first date to that upstairs restaurant.
“There’s flavor at the C&O,” another regular told us, “in more than just the food.”
Maupin speaks with pride and reverence of the generations of chefs—and waitstaff, and sommeliers, and catering staff, and office staff—who took those first bold steps to create an outpost of white tablecloth dining at the scruffy, blue-collar east end of Water Street.
The C&O’s first generation, Maupin says, established “an identity, a focus on good food and wine and interesting people, and it has never really wavered from that.”
The kitchen continues to be a place of skill and camaraderie. A serendipitous change in dinner plans resulted in the April 1976 New York Times restaurant review that gained the C&O national attention.
From the scrapbook, an early article features some of the restaurant’s founding team.
THROUGH 8/2
FLOWER POWER
Virginia Sunflower Fest offers a golden opportunity to celebrate summer. Spend a day surrounded by vibrant blooms as you wander the fields in search of your own perfect bouquet. From picking flowers to snapping pics, the festival provides opportunities for exploration and reflection, with beautiful views and refreshing fare. Saturdays feature a hands-on program with a Painted Lady butterfly release in the sunflower field, adding conservation and education to all the fun in the sun. $15, 10am. Chiswell Farm & Winery, 430 Greenwood Rd., Greenwood. virginiasunflowerfest.com
CULTURE TO-DO LIST
Wednesday 7/22 music
Holly’s Open Mic Night. Mic check to all musicians, poets, and everyone in between. Free, 9pm. Holly’s Diner, 1221 E. Market St.
Mood Ring: Queer and Trans Open Mic Night. Share your original music. Mic, speakers, and keyboard provided, please bring your other instruments. Free, 7pm. Firefly, 1304 E. Market St. fireflycville.com
The Wavelength + Liz Barnes. Boogie-woogie Wednesday featuring special guest Barnes on keys. Free, 6:30pm. The Whiskey Jar, 227 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thewhiskeyjarcville.com
stage
As You Like It The noble Orlando wins a court wrestling match—and Rosalind’s heart—but before their love can take root, she’s banished from court. $40–75, 7:30pm. Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. americanshakespearecenter.com
words
Rare Book School Lecture: Indigenous Agency and Intervention in the Bibliographical Record. A look into incorporating Indigenous knowledge into library, archives, and museum practices with Mike Kelly, head of Archives & Special Collections at Amherst College. Free, 5:30pm. Harrison Auditorium of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, 170 McCormick Rd. rarebookschool.org etc.
Dürty Karaoke. Hump-day party. Free, 8:30pm. Dürty Nelly’s, 2200 Jefferson Park Ave. durty nellyscharlottesville.com
French and American Cinema: Origins & Echoes Series. Exploring the influence of French film on American cinema by pairing a landmark French work with an American contemporary counterpart. Featuring Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï. $11–13, 7pm. Violet Crown Charlottesville, 200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. charlottesville.violetcrown.com
Rapture Karaoke. Hosted by Thunder Music. Free, 9pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. rapturerestaurant.com
Teen Writers Club. Teens ages 14–18 are invited for an hour of writing, collaborative editing, and optional writing challenges in the company of other creative, writerly teens. Snacks provided. Free, 4pm. Central Library, 201 E. Market St. jmrl.org
Thursday 7/23
music
Anthony Semiao. An artist who grew up on ’80s metal and glam rock, but just cannot get enough of the acoustic guitar sound. Free, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwood farmandwinery.com
Berto Sales & Vincent Zorn. Lively flamenco rumba duo. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 201 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thebebedero.com
Charlie Davis Going Away Party. Oh geez, where’s he going? Come say bye. Free, 7pm. Dürty Nelly’s, 2200 Jefferson Park Ave. durtynellys charlottesville.com
Coey Redd. Nashville firebrand singer, songwriter, rapper, and producer pushing country forward by welding classic storytelling to pop-sized hooks. $19, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesoutherncville.com
Gary Hawthorne. Classic and modern rock covers. Free, 9:30pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. rapturerestaurant.com
Supernova: A Tribute to Oasis. Bringing the ’90s rock experience to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Free, 6:30pm. Pro Re Nata, 6135 Rockfish Gap Tpke., Crozet. prnbrewery.com
SATURDAY 7/25
SHORT AND SWEET
The program that launched the International Indie short Film Festival returns as the Indie short Film Series showcases a selection of brief cinematic works. Featuring seven to nine short films and a panel discussion with visiting filmmakers, the goal of the series remains unchanged: to provide a platform for independent auteurs to share their art and stories. Back by popular demand, the series will return to Charlottesville three times a year, following this initial event. Audience members can vote for their favorite film, with the highest vote-getter earning the Audience Choice Award. $20, 7pm. Light House Studio: Vinegar Hill Theatre, 220 W. Market St. filmfreeway.com
stage
CANCELED Frida... A Self Portrait. Acclaimed actor and playwright Vanessa Severo brings to life one of the world’s most iconic and enduring cultural figures in an unfailingly original and boldly theatrical experience. $15–40, 7:30pm. Ruth Caplin Theatre, 109 Culbreth Rd. virginiatheatrefestival.org
Our Town Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play is one of the most cherished works in American theater, not because of spectacle, but because of its simplicity. $15–40, 7:30am. Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. american shakespearecenter.com
Shakespeare at the Ruins: Much Ado About Nothing. This beloved, nationally-acclaimed collaboration between Barboursville Vineyards and Central Virginia’s longest-running community theater returns. $25, 7:30pm. Historic Barboursville Ruins, Mansion Rd., Barboursville. fourcp.org
classes
Mahjong with Mountain Mahj. A night of tiles and community building as those of all skill levels gather to play together. $65, 6pm. Virginia Wine Collective, 1585 Avon St. Ext. mountainmahjczt.com etc.
Paramount On Screen: National Theatre Live in HD—The Playboy of the Western World
Nicola Coughlan joins Éanna Hardwicke and Siobhán McSweeney in John Millington Synge’s riveting play of youth and self-discovery. $14–20, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
Trivia Night with Mike & Miranda. Go it alone, or bring a team of up to six players and let the good times roll. Free, 6:15pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com
Vineyard Puzzle Hunt. Like an escape room but at a winery. Crack codes and unravel riddles while sampling Charlottesville’s best wine, beer, and cider. Play when you want and go at your own pace. $15, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. puzzledbee.com
Friday 7/24 music
Acoustic Aubrey. Covers of classic R&B, jazz, acoustic rock, and more. Free, 5pm. DuCard Vineyards, 40 Gibson Hollow Ln., Etlan. ducardvineyards.com
Bob Bennetta Trio. Live jazz. Free, 6:30pm. Afghan Kabob House, 200 Market St. afghankabobhouse.com
Brent Hull Band. Mixing different types of music genres like rap, rock, blues, and country to create a fun and exciting sound. Free, 7pm. Pro Re Nata, 6135 Rockfish Gap Tpke., Crozet. prnbrewery.com
Chris Acker & The Growing Boys. Candid songs weaving wit and woes into a body of work that exposes the stale plight of the American songster to the honest, and sometimes hilarious, light of day. $25, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 S. First St.. thesoutherncville.com
Dirty Mother String Band. A powerhouse quartet of dynamic women musicians and artists, united by a love of bawdy blues, early jazz, and string band music. Free, 8pm. Dürty Nelly’s, 2200 Jefferson Park Ave. durtynellyscharlottesville.com
Fridays After Five: Indecision. Original and classic jams. With The Inclinators. Free, 5:30pm. Ting Pavilion, 700 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. tingpavilion.com
Gordon Sterling & The People. Soul, funk, blues, rock, and jam from Washington, D.C. Free, 10pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. rapture restaurant.com
Paxton Henderson Trio. Good tunes, good times. Free, 5:30pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com
Scuffletown. An acoustic, high-energy duo performs a unique blend of roots, jazz, world, bluegrass, and original music. Free, 6pm. Chisholm Vineyards at Adventure Farm, 1135 Clan Chisholm Ln., Earlysville. chisholmvineyards.com
The Gladstones. Old school rock ‘n’ roll of every variety. Free, 6pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com
The Inclinators. High-energy quartet delivers a danceable, soulful sound that blends the timeless spirit of the ’60s with a fresh, modern twist. $5, 7pm. The Batesville Market, 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville. batesvillemarket.com
dance
Off Campus Dance Party. Spinning the soundtrack and pop fan favorites—the kind of songs that belong at a Briar U hockey party. Plus, visuals from the series playing on screen all night. $27, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com
stage
As You Like It See listing for Wednesday, July 22. $40–75, 7:30pm. Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. americanshakespearecenter.com
CANCELED Frida... A Self Portrait The 2026 Virginia Theatre Festival continues. Featuring a post-show discussion with Karen E. Milbourne, J. Sanford Miller Family Director of The Fralin Museum of Art. $15–40, 7:30pm. Ruth Caplin Theatre, 109 Culbreth Rd. virginiatheatrefestival.org
Shakespeare at the Ruins: Much Ado About Nothing See listing for Thursday, July 23. $25, 7:30pm. Historic Barboursville Ruins, Mansion Rd., Barboursville. fourcp.org
words
CreativeMornings Charlottesville. Monthly morning lecture series for the creative community features Eileen French offering ‘The Magic in Inspiration’ on Competencia (Competition). Free, 8:30am. McGuffey Art Center, 201 Second St NW. creativemornings.com
Monticello Moments—Anniversaries and Relics: Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence in 1825. A special talk about Jefferson’s account of writing the Declaration and what happened to the writing desk that he used. Free with admission, 1pm. Monticello, 1050 Monticello Loop. monticello.org classes
Needle Felted Sheep. Make a cute and fuzzy little sheep using a specialized notched needle to sculpt dyed wool. Beginners, returning, and intermediate students welcome. Ages 14+. $40, 3:30pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappy elephant.com etc.
Fun Fridays. Teens ages 11–18 are invited to experience something new and fun. This week: handsewn dinosaurs. Registration required. Free, 2pm. Central Library, 201 E. Market St. jmrl.org
Paramount On Screen: Do the Right Thing Written, directed by, and starring Spike Lee, this powerful, visual feast combines humor and drama with memorable characters while tracing the course of a single day. $11, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net Vineyard Puzzle Hunt. See listing for Thursday, July 23. $15, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarmandwinery.com
Saturday 7/25
music
Billy Thompson. Roots-reverent music steeped in blues, Americana, and rock. Free, 8pm. Dürty Nelly’s, 2200 Jefferson Park Ave. durtynellys charlottesville.com
Christmas In July Concert with Tropical Attitudes. Jimmy Buffet-style tropical rock and country music. Free, noon. DuCard Vineyards, 40 Gibson Hollow Ln., Etlan. ducardvineyards.com
C’ville Blues Revue. Bluesy jazzy tunes featuring a lineup of area favorites. Free, 5pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com
Eli Cook Band. Blues-infused roots-rock tunes. Free, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarmandwinery.com
Her Checkered Past. Anne O’Brien and Frank Bechter perform live music to warm your heart by the hearth. Free, 2:30pm. Albemarle CiderWorks, 2545 Rural Ridge Ln., North Garden. albemarle ciderworks.com
Pancho. Solo country guitar stylings. Free, 2:30pm. Fallen Tree Vineyard and Farm, 4593 Clark Rd., Crozet. fallentreevineyard.com
RISE UP!: A Hamilton Tribute Sing-Along Experience. Broadway meets the party in this highenergy live concert celebration inspired by the hit Broadway musical. $29, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesoutherncville.com
Rivanna Roots: DJ Williams Band. Acclaimed guitarist brings his funky, soulful band to the river. With Humble. $17–20, 6:30pm. Rivanna River Company, 1520 E. High St. frontporchcville.org
Stargazer. Songs to make you sing and dance. Free, 9:30pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. rapturerestaurant.com
The Pollocks. Original rock. $10, 7pm. The Batesville Market, 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville. batesville market.com
What’s Our Age Again? The ultimate emo vs. pop punk night with Richmond’s Best Cover Band/Party Band. $10, 7pm. Pro Re Nata, 6135 Rockfish Gap Tnpk., Crozet. prnbrewery.com dance
Hot In Herre: 2000s Dance Party. The biggest 2000s/Y2K party in the country brings your favorite hits and guilty pleasures from the first decade of the millennium. Ages 18+. $23, 9pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com stage
As You Like It. See listing for Wednesday, July 22. $40–75, 7:30pm. Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. americanshakespearecenter.com
CANCELED Frida... A Self Portrait. See listing for Thursday, July 23. $15–40, 2pm and 7:30pm. Ruth Caplin Theatre, 109 Culbreth Rd. virginiatheatre festival.org
Our Town See listing for Thursday, July 23. $40–75, 2pm. Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. americanshakespearecenter.com
Shakespeare at the Ruins: Much Ado About Nothing. See listing for Thursday, July 23. $25, 7:30pm. Historic Barboursville Ruins, Mansion Rd., Barboursville. fourcp.org
words
New Dominion Storytime. Readings from recent storybooks and the classics kids know and love. Rain or shine. All ages welcome. Free, 11am. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. newdominionbookshop.com
classes
Mending Workshop: Repairing Holes. Learn skills for mending holes in clothes with visible or invisible mending techniques. Ages 15+. $20, 10am. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappy elephant.com
Punch Needle 101. Learn how to use a punch needle and make a cool craft in a hoop. Ages 14+. $35, 3pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappy elephant.com etc.
Charlottesville City Market. Explore fresh produce, local foods, and handmade goods from 100+ local vendors. Free, 9am. Charlottesville City Market, 100 Water St. E. charlottesville.gov
CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
Beachy keen
PAGES CULTURE
Local book club dives into Alan Opts Out BY
SARAH LAWSON
In the opening pages of Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum, readers meet the titular character as he prepares for a big pitch—perhaps his biggest yet—to try to land a multimillion-dollar advertising contract with the U.S. Dairy Council. Alan is a successful man, but he and his family recently moved to a private seaside community in Connecticut, so the stakes are higher now. On top of that, his wife feels an uncontrollable need for a new backyard swimming pool—and the social clout that comes with it. Likewise, Alan really wants to nail this pitch and secure the contract for the money, yes, but also for his ego. He has a plan all worked out but—spoiler—things don’t go according to plan. Instead, Alan has an encounter that leaves his entire worldview in question.
It’s an interesting premise for a novel: A wealthy ad exec becomes disillusioned with consumerism and attempts to create a new life for himself and his family by opting out of mainstream culture and developing a conscience. A different novel may have taken this as a jumping-off point for an exploration of class and capitalism, patriarchal privilege, and nontraditional ways to create fulfillment and community. While Maum’s novel hints at these questions, it is ultimately more focused on farce than nuance.
Sure, Alan stops going to work as he begins to question the ethics of advertising. He stops wearing shoes. He starts living in his backyard, washing his hair in a neighbor’s bird bath. Most people in his gated community—including his family—find his new behaviors a bit odd but ultimately charming and even captivating in their feral masculinity. Alan’s so-called opting-out is only possible due to structural privilege that he—tellingly—does not actually cede.
As writer Johanna Hedva reflects in How to Tell When We Will Die, “Getting lost is not something that exists for those who benefit from the patriarchy. It’s impossible to be without your home when one is either the king of his land or has by divine right conquered and settled the land of his neighbor. In other words, getting lost is impossible because everything already belongs to you.”
Indeed, none of Alan’s actions actually distance him from, much less allow him to opt out of, the structures of upper class, white, straight, cis male privilege under global capitalism. He is the co-owner of the ad agency where he continues to pull a salary, forcing his assistant to drive to him for project approvals since he refuses to go to work or use a computer or phone. He reconnects with his daughters by asking his wife to go to the store to buy ingredients to make s’mores. He rekindles his marriage by help-
ing his wife throw an over-thetop party to validate her social climbing. Alan has not opted out; he has simply outsourced his opting in to others.
At one point in the novel, Maum invokes the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, writing, “For a while during COVID … they’d been truly grateful. … The downscaling forced by the pandemic had the potential to be transformative for humans and the earth that they’d been trashing, but that potential shriveled. … Alan hadn’t looked back. Nobody had.”
This reflection comes at a moment early in Alan’s crisis of conscience, when he is exploring what makes his life meaningful, how his actions impact others, and the shape his life could take if it weren’t defined by selling and buying things. It’s a moment that feels like a possible turning point in the book, where Alan could have really and truly opted out. He ponders working less, maybe even putting his kids in public school. But Alan settles for quirkiness instead, even going so far as to befriend a rescued lobster that he keeps as a pet in the backyard playhouse that he makes his home away from home.
Amidst all of this, Alan’s wife is working to raise her own social standing as well as that of her daughters and of Alan—all of which takes a lot of shopping and, hopefully, that new pool. She is unrelenting in her desire
for more. She is also in the running to join a prestigious social club and must plan an unforgettable party in order to prove her worth to the other women.
Vivian’s shopping lists and Amazon deliveries are hilariously over the top at first, but the gag begins to lose its punch as she continues to amass more and more stuff in the lead-up to the big event.
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland provides the theme for the party as well as a corresponding structure and denouement to the novel as a whole. Once the party wraps up, the plot crashlands with not one but two deus ex machinas, creating a disorienting ending that feels a bit like a dream. Except, imagine you have gone through the looking glass and the lesson you carry back with you is that, as Maum writes, “The answer was always money. Money was the remedy.” It turns out money can buy love … or at least a new pool. And poolside or beachside is perhaps the perfect place to enjoy this novel’s light escapism and contemporary sense of humor. However, while humor can be a portal to exploring uncomfortable ideas, creating opportunities for transformation that might otherwise not be accessible, the humor in Alan Opts Out often feels like so many of Vivian’s purchases: Purely decorative—a trompe-l’oeil door that offers delight but leads nowhere.
Flann’s Book Club at Bluebird & Co. in Crozet will discuss Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum on July 22.
CULTURE TO-DO LIST
Saturday 7/25
Indie Short Film Series. Showing a selection of short films in the return of the popular program that launched the International Indie Short Film Festival. Filmmakers will speak on a panel immediately following the screening. $20, 7pm. Light House Studio: Vinegar Hill Theatre, 220 W. Market St. lighthousestudio.org
At The Barclay at Charlottesville, Independent Living lets you focus on the moments that matter while we take care of the details. Gather with friends over restaurant-style dining, treat yourself to the salon, or unwind poolside. However you spend it, every day is yours to make memorable. And with Assisted Living and Memory Care on-site, you can enjoy peace of mind should your needs ever change. Call (434) 218-4670 today to schedule your tour and discover how you can save thousands when you move in by July 31st.
WEDNESDAY 7/22
REEL TO REEL
Exploring the cross-cultural influence of one film industry on another, French and American Cinema: Origins & Echoes Series celebrates the enduring relationship between the two nations through artistic expression. Presented in partnership with the Alliance Française de Charlottesville, the program brings together a landmark work of French filmmaking with an American contemporary counterpart, tracing lines of inspiration, homage, and reinvention across time and culture. Up first: Le Samouraï, Jean-Pierre Melville’s story of precision, solitude, and moral code, screens a week ahead of Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Jim Jarmusch’s meditative tale of a lone hitman in a modern American landscape. $11–13, 7pm. Violet Crown Charlottesville, 200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. charlottesville. violetcrown.com
Met Live in HD: The Merry Widow Renée Fleming lights up the Met stage as Hanna Glawari, the fabulously wealthy widow of the title in Lehár’s beloved operetta, set in Paris and seen in a glittering production. $13–19, 1pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
Paramount On Screen: Down by the Riverside. Showing how an unconventional campaign by iconic American folk singer Pete Seeger to save a beloved American waterway prompted a green revolution. $18, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
Rhythm & Roots Series: Storytime & Bead Craft. A joyful series for children ages 2–8 and their caregivers. This month: reading Gaia Cornwall’s Jabari Jumps, songs rooted in African American musical tradition, and craft a Brave Heart Necklace. Free, 10am. Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 233 Fourth St. NW. jeffschoolheritagecenter.org
Vineyard Puzzle Hunt. See listing for Thursday, July 23. $15, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. puzzledbee.com
Sunday 7/26
music
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. Six-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and his band. $50–150, 7pm. Ting Pavilion, 700 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. tingpavilion.com
John Kelly and Gary Green. Singer-songwriter guitarist is joined by a harmonica wizard. Free, 2pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com
John Sweet. Self-taught musician plays his own fingerstyle guitar arrangements of popular music spanning several genres and decades. Free, 2pm. DuCard Vineyards, 40 Gibson Hollow Ln., Etlan. ducardvineyards.com
Michael Elswick Gathering. A Sunday session featuring jazz, blues, Latin, swing, ballads, and of course, Cambodian surf rock. Free, 1pm. Chisholm Vineyards at Adventure Farm, 1135 Clan Chisholm Ln., Earlysville. chisholmvineyards.com
Vincent Zorn. Rumba flamenco. Free, noon. Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards, 5022 Plank Rd., North Garden. pippinhillfarm.com
stage
CANCELED Frida... A Self Portrait See listing for Thursday, July 23. $15–40, 2pm. Ruth Caplin Theatre, 109 Culbreth Rd. virginiatheatrefestival.org
Our Town See listing for Thursday, July 23. $40–75, 2pm. Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. americanshakespearecenter.com
The Modest Puppetry Festival IV: A New Hope. Charlottesville’s only puppetry festival for adults is back and more modest than ever. See eight short shows, plus a creature visit during intermission. $15, 6:30pm. Visible Records, 1740 Broadway St. visible-records.com
classes
Flower Embroidery. Focusing on different types of floral embroidery stitches. Beginner and intermediate friendly. Ages 13+. $25, 2:30pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com
Needle Felted Owls. Make a soft little owl figure using a specialized notched needle to sculpt dyed wool. Ages 12+. $35, 11:30am. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com
Needle Felted Succulent Series: Sedum Adolphi. Needle felt a sedum adolphi succulent, variations of which include Shooting Stars, Firestorm, and Gold Dust. Beginners and intermediate students welcome. Ages 12+. $35, 2pm. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com
Paint + Sip: Lovers Cove. Paint the supplied design in a step-by-step format. No experience necessary, all materials included. $44, noon. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. blueridgebrushes.com
Slow Stitch Techniques and Stitches: Cloth Weaving and Couching. Introduces new techniques to expand your slow stitching practice or use in other hand-sewing projects. Open to all with a basic knowledge of hand sewing. Ages 16+. $20, 11am. The Scrappy Elephant, 1745 Allied St. scrappyelephant.com etc.
Music Bingo with Tag Team Entertainment. Listen to your favorite music, match the songs to the titles on your music bingo cards, and win great prizes. Free, 2pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarmandwinery.com
Paramount On Screen: The Lego Batman Movie In the irreverent spirit of fun that made The Lego Movie a worldwide phenomenon, the selfdescribed leading man of that ensemble—Lego Batman (Will Arnett)—stars in his own big-screen adventure. $9–11, 4:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
Paramount On Screen: The Lego Batman Movie (Sensory-Friendly). Sensory-friendly screening provides a positive viewing experience that is welcoming to all individuals, with special accommodations such as lower sound levels and house lights remaining on at a low level. $9–11, 1:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
Vineyard Puzzle Hunt. See listing for Thursday, July 23. $15, 5pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. puzzledbee.com
Monday 7/27
music
Ramona Martinez. Local favorite serenades with her signature mix of country western and mariachi. Free, 5:30pm. The Fitzroy, 120 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. thefitzroycville.com
words
VDM Storytime. A magical storytime adventure where the pages come alive and imagination knows no bounds. Free with museum admission, 10:30am. Virginia Discovery Museum, 524 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. vadm.org
etc.
Grown-Up Game Night. Play board games and make new friends. Bring your own game, or play one of the library’s. Featuring a tutorial for a different game every month. Ages 18+. Free, 6:30pm. Northside Library, 705 W. Rio Rd. jmrl.org
Tuesday 7/28
music
Tuesday Open Jam with Jeff Massanari & Friends. Bring your instrument and join other area musicians to jam with the core players. Free, 6:30pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. rapturerestaurant.com etc.
Beer & Board Games. A casual evening of friendly competition. Free, 6:30pm. The Batesville Market, 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville. batesvillemarket.com
Geeks Who Drink Trivia. Good trivia, good times. Teams of two to six people compete to win prizes like gift certificates and pint glasses, plus bragging rights. Free, 7pm. Firefly, 1304 E. Market St. fireflycville.com
Teen Space Tuesdays. Teens ages 11–18 are invited to the Teen Space to discover a new craft or activity. This week: dinosaur origami. Free, 1pm. Central Library, 201 E. Market St. jmrl.org
TRIED IT IN C'VILLE CULTURE
Relaxation with side dishes of history and culture
When summer heat intensifies, many of us are drawn to the water, especially the James River. While hundreds of years ago the James served as a busy shipping route, these days it can be a place of leisure and adventure.—Kristie Smeltzer
What:
James River Batteau Co.’s Farm to Batteau dinner.
Why:
A chef-prepared meal on the James—amazing!
How it went:
The river washed away the worries of the week.
After a delightful drive through the hills to Scottsville—and one missed turn—I arrived at a private stretch of shore beside the James for a Farm to Batteau event. Several tented areas overlooking the river (and a set of portable restrooms nearby) signaled I was at the right place. Lush green soybean fields surrounded me.
At the tented area, I met Will Smith and Will Cash, who own and operate the James River Batteau Co. Their passion for sharing the history of the boatmen and batteaux of the James is evident and contagious—they built their own batteaux, y’all!
Team Wills oriented me to the space and agenda—the first part of the evening was casual, allowing us to settle in at our own pace, followed by dinner on the boats. While guests relaxed riverside, Two Fire Table’s Chef Sarah Rennie and a helper cooked over an open-grill fire on one of the batteaux. Delicious aromas wafted up to the seating areas arranged higher on the bank overlooking the river. I claimed a spot to watch dragonflies flit about the foliage as the river drifted slowly by. Gazing into the water, I saw a rainbow reflection and realized the passing rains had created an added spectacle for the evening.
Folks trickled in and met the Wills, who enthusiastically answered questions. Guests meandered amongst several displays, including massive hogshead barrels (like those used to transport tobacco historically), and a series of signs. The exhibit is full of stories of those who worked and lived on the river when it was at its peak as an essential commercial shipping route. Boatmen included enslaved men as well as free Black and white men. Their labor was arduous and dangerous, but the profession offered opportunity for some.
Next, we boarded the batteaux, moored at river’s edge. I expected to be roughing it more in terms of seating, but the batteaux have generous bench seats with cushions. Smith assumed his place, guitar in hand, as our bard for the evening at the bow of one of the batteaux. Cash set the tone by sharing a few quotes from boatmen about ending their workdays moored beside the river. The
boatmen’s words about the delicious food and joyful music they made after long days of toil hung in the air as Rennie passed us platters of hoecakes with honey butter.
Smith played and sang as we shared food at tables on the two batteaux, and good conversation flowed like the river as we became acquainted. Platter after platter of delicious courses delighted our palates. A standout was the “simple” green bean salad that
blended Southern American cuisine, made with locally sourced ingredients, and a little Mediterranean influence with the addition of pancetta. A hummingbird darted in and out of nearby trees, and fish occasionally jumped in the river. After a luxuriously relaxed and sumptuous meal, we returned to shore and the firepits for slices of peach and tomato pies as the flames danced.
Team Wills has several Farm to Batteau events throughout the summer in addition to other dining and cruise offerings. The Farm to Batteau experience, which lasts about twoand-a-half hours and costs $200 per person, is also available for private gatherings.
James River Batteau Co. jamesrivertour.com
Guests dine and relax in a historical setting at the James River Batteau Co. Farm to Batteau dinners.
THE WINE DOWN
WHAT’S DELISH AT LOCAL WINERIES?
53RD WINERY AND VINEYARD
A note from Winegrower and Owner, Dave Drillock
Our Wine of the month is the release of our 2025 Quintessential Rose! This dry, Provence style rose has aromas of wild strawberries, raspberries and melon with a hint of pink grapefruit at the finish. It was awarded a gold medal at the recent American Wine Society Wine Competition along with our Gentile Press Rose.
We invite you to visit our serene, meadow-like location in rural Louisa County. We pride ourselves on being genuine and approachable, eager to share our passion for wine without any scripted lines or memorized facts, just a warm and welcome atmosphere.
We are a Winery that just wants to be a Winery! And…… Thank You for Voting! We’re thrilled to share that we won Best Winery, Best Winemaker, and Best Wine Selection in the Best of Lake Anna Readers’ Choice Awards!
Upcoming Events
July 25th: Live Music: Matt Johnson 1-4pm
For more details, please check our website at www.53rdwinery. com or call us at 540-894-1536.
Open 7 days a week, 11 am – 5 pm Sat/Sun. 12-6 pm 13372 Shannon Hill Rd Louisa, VA 23093 (540) 894-5474 • 53rdwinery.com
DUCARD VINEYARDS
2025 Shena ndoah
A crisp, light, and vibrant Vidal Blanc, Chardonnay, Viognier blend offering classic notes of florals and melon on the nose with hints of tropical fruit in the background. This is an off-dry wine that pairs perfectly with slightly spicy foods. This wine along with the Black Bear celebrates the treasure that is our National Park that borders the DuCard lawns.
We are open 7 days a week throughout the month of July with live music every weekend. Visit our website and our social media pages for the most up to date listings of our upcoming live music and events!
Saturdays & Sundays- Live music every Saturday and Sunday through the month! Come to DuCard for the afternoon with
family and friends and enjoy a variety of live music (no cover). Bring a picnic or select some local fare from our lite noshing menu to pair with our awardwinning wine for a fun afternoon in our amazing mountain setting. July 25th – Christmas in July with music by Tropical Attitudes DuCard Vineyards is hosting a summer celebration for Christmas in July! What is Christmas in July, you ask? It’s a Christmas celebration held during the summer season. According to legend, Christmas in July was first celebrated at a summer camp in 1933. Fun ensued! Now it’s time to celebrate with live music by Tropical Attitudes. Their Jimmy Buffet style tropical rock and country music will be sure to get your toes tappin’! We’ll have Christmas-themed tropical surprises and a visit from Santa with the goal of getting the everyone in the “Christmas spirit”. So, deck out in your Hawaiian shirt and join the fun with a bottle of your favorite DuCard wine! No cover. Reservations are recomm ended.
40 Gibson Hollow Ln Etlan, VA 22719 (540) 923-4206 www.ducardvineyards.com
EARLY MOUNTAIN VINEYARDS
At Early Mountain, our world class wines are featured in a restaurant grounded in the same sense of place. Reserve your table for indoor or outdoor seating and enjoy our latest releases alongside an à la carte menu or seasonal wine-paired prix fixe.
The Meadow is open for the season! We’re offering a casual picnic-style menu, paired with wines by the bottle, glass, or flight. No reservation needed, weather dependent.
Tasting Room Hours
Thursday–Monday: 11:00 AM–5:30 PM
Fridays: 11:00 AM–8:00PM
Closed Tuesday and Wednesday
Upcoming Events & Experiences
Wine & Cheese Pairing Experience
August 2, 2026 | 2:00–4:00 PM Join Early Mountain Sommelier
Peggy Kearns Dean and Maggie Bradshaw of Truckle Cheesemongers for an interactive afternoon exploring the art of pairing wine and cheese. Taste five Early Mountain wines alongside artisanal cheeses while discovering the flavors and techniques behind exceptional pairings. Perfect for every level of wine lover.
Friday Dinner Hours & Chef’s Table
Fridays | 5:30–8:00 PM
Enjoy dinner hours every Friday! Later evenings invite you to enjoy seasonal dishes on the patio or in the Tasting Room as the sun sets. The Chef’s Table experience offers an intimate, seven-course menu paired with select wines.
Seats are limited.
Scan to plan your visit.
6109 Wolftown-Hood Rd, Madison, VA 22727 (540) 948-9005
www.earlymountain.com
EASTWOOD FARM AND WINERY
Blueberry Season
Enjoy delicious blueberry specials in the tasting room all summer including our seasonal Blueberry Wheat Ale, Blueberry Cider, Blueberry Lemonade Wine Slushies as well as new menu items highlighting this favorite fruit including our popular Blueberry Flatbread, Baked Brie, & more! Celebrate the season with a glass of award-winning Rosé and oysters every Friday night! Salty Bottom Blue will be here every Friday night serving their delicious raw and grilled oysters, which pair beautifully with a glass of our gold medal Sparkling Blanc de Blancs or 2025 Rosé.
Eastwood has a large indoor airconditioned space and all music will be indoors this month unless the weather dictates otherwise.
Upcoming at the Winery:
Virginia Oyster & Wine Celebration | Every Friday
Enjoy our Virginia Oyster & Wine Celebration every Friday night this Spring! The oysters are prepared by Salty Bottom Blue. Enjoy them in a relaxed, fun atmosphere with live music from 5-8pm on the stage in our tasting room.
Porch Nights | Every Thursday (NEW!)
There’s something about a porch at golden hour that makes the world slow down in the best possible way. At Eastwood Farm and Winery, we’re leaning into that feeling all season long with Porch Nights — our weekly Thursday gathering
featuring outdoor live music and an easygoing atmosphere. Grab a seat on our covered veranda or at one of our many picnic tables, relax with the sparkly lights overhead, fireflies in the fields, and a glass of porch-sipping wine in hand - join us for your new favorite Thursday tradition. Bring the family, the dog, a few friends, or just yourself. No reservations, no cover — just good music, good company, and spring evenings done right.
Wine Slushies are Back! Cheers to the beautiful weather with a refreshing wine slushie:)
Music Bingo | Sunday, July 26th; August 9th and 30th; September 20th| 2-4PM (open 12-5PM)
Everyone loves singing along with their favorite songs and who doesn’t love a competitive game of Bingo? Music Bingo brings together the best of both worlds for a high energy game that is fun for everyone. Simply listen to the music, match the songs to the titles on your music bingo cards, and win great prizes!
Paint & Sip | Sunday, July 26th and August 30th from 12-2PM (open 12-5PM)
Grab a glass of wine (or your favorite drink!) and let your creativity flow in our relaxed and fun Paint & Sip classes. Whether you’re an experienced artist or a first-time painter, the talented instructors of Blue Ridge Brushes will walk you
through the painting process as you create your own masterpiece.
Ticketed Event - Reserve Your Spot On Our Website
Sangria Sunday and Maker’s Market| Sunday, August 23rd 12-5PM
Join us for our house-made Sangria (one day only) with a pop up featuring Erica Cavanaugh from Honeysuckle Creek Farm and her fresh take on Sangria cocktails, as well as a local maker’s market where you are sure to find some creative treasures.
Live Music: Paxton Henderson 1-4PM
Rosé and Bubbles Showcase| Sunday, August 30th 12-2:30PM (at the Tent and Terraces) (General Admission $40)
Join us for an afternoon celebrating the wines of summer with rosé, sparkling wine, food trucks and beautiful views. This ticketed tasting event showcases wines from six Virginia wineries—all crafting their wines at the Virginia Wine Collective, Eastwood’s new collaborative production facility and tasting room in downtown Charlottesville—for an unforgettable afternoon of sipping and discovery.
Ticketed Event - Reserve Your Spot On Website
Oktoberfest (every Saturday and Sunday September 5 - October 31)
Every Saturday and Sunday this Fall, Eastwood is bringing you all the
cozy, festive vibes with a lineup of flavor, fun, and celebration featuring delicious food truck specials, raffles, live music and traditional Oktoberfest beer. And the fun doesn’t stop after the weekend. You can enjoy a special Oktoberfest menu in the tasting room every day of the week featuring Germaninspired delights, including our Flammkuchen, Bacon Maple Pecan Brie and loaded potato soup seven days a week. Check out our website for full food truck and tasting room menus.
Chamber Music Festival|
September 16th at 7:30 (doors open at 6:00 PM for food and beverage purchases)
Presented in partnership with Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival. As evening settles over the winery, this concert offers an inviting journey through the sound world of American composers. With light fare and beverages available for purchase beforehand beginning at 6:00pm, the experience combines conviviality and contemplation— beautiful music unfolding in a cozy space designed for listening and lingering. Ticketed Event - Reserve Your Spot On Website Musicians: Raphael Bell, Jennifer Frautschi, Judith Gordon, Simone Porter, Raman Ramakrishnan, Dov Scheindlin, Tim Summers MUSIC AT EASTWOOD!
Join us for the popular Porch Nights every Thursday with live music on the veranda and Eastwood After Dark on Saturdays featuring upbeat, danceable music from 5-8pm (in addition to our more mellow Saturday afternoon music program). Eastwood also hosts a range of live performances by talented local and regional musicians every Friday night and Sunday afternoons. See the Winery Calendar on our website for details.
Every Thursday (open 12-8PM): Porch Nights Live Music on the Veranda 5-8PM
Every Friday (open 12-8 PM): Live Music and Virginia Oyster & Wine Celebration, every Friday 5-8PM
Every Saturday (open 12-8 PM): Live Music 12:30-3:30PM + Eastwood After Dark with Live Music 5-8PM
Every Sunday (open 12-5 PM): Live Music or Music Bingo (See the Winery Calendar on our website for details.)
Also Open Monday through Wednesday 12-5 PM and Thursday 12-8PM
What about the kids?
Kids can share in the experience with their own juice tasting flights and cheese boards!
We look forward to welcoming you to our tasting room, seven days a week. Join us for award-winning wines, beer, and cider, as well as a delicious lunch/dinner menu. Escape to Virginia Wine Country, only five miles from Downtown Charlottesville. Open year-round, seven days a week.
Pet friendly and large groups are welcome. Ample indoor and outdoor seating.
Rt 20 near the intersection with Avon Extended (5 mi from Downtown Mall) Charlottesville, VA 22902 (434) 264-6727
www.eastwoodfarmandwinery.com
HARDWARE HILLS VINEYARD
2024 Harvest Rosé
Newly released vintage alert! This beautiful wine crafted from Chambourcin grapes radiates the color of pink hibiscus and vineyard sunsets. It bursts with airy fresh flavors of strawberry, nectarine, citrus, and melon. Brisk and acidic with a pleasant crunchy green flavor and a hint of cranberry on the finish. Perfect chilled for a summer afternoon sip!
Have you checked out our Social Media yet? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We promise a few laughs!
July 24, 5:30 p.m.- Live Music with the Jefferson Speedboat. Growing in popularity, this talented group bring the songs you love to hear and a few gems you may have forgotten! Join us on the patio for Friday Night vibes by the vines.
July 25, 6:30 p.m.- Summer Tropical Dinner with progressive seating. Mix and mingle your way through four chefcurated courses! You’ll enjoy the company of a new person at each course, but we will get you back
with your date for dessert! A fun way to meet, sip, and savor in our new event space! Get your tickets at www.hardwarehills.com/events
July 31, 5:30 p.m.- LIVE MUSIC with Chris Yung of the Inclinators Band! We are lucky enough to have this very talented musician join us at the Hills for Friday Vibes in the Vines! Come sip and sing with us... he is so worth it!
Hours- New Saturday Summer hours! Open late all summer until 8 p.m.
5199 W River Rd, Scottsville, VA 434.286.4710 • www.hardwarehills.com
KESWICK VINEYARDS
July at Keswick Vineyards!
July is one of the most beautiful, but hot, times of year at Keswick Vineyards. The vines are growing strong, the views are lush and green, and there’s no better time to settle in with a glass of wine and enjoy everything the season has to offer.
Live Music Every Saturday | 12–4 PM
Spend your Saturdays enjoying great wine, live local music, and beautiful vineyard views.
Wine Down Wednesday | Every Wednesday | 5:30–8:30 PM
Unwind midweek with live music, great food, and your favorite Keswick wines.
Enjoy handcrafted bites perfectly paired with your favorite wines. Last food orders taken 30 minutes before closing.
Virginia’s Most Rewarding Wine Club—Now Even Better!
Our wine club is now fully
customizable while still offering all the benefits you love: exclusive events, incredible savings, and first access to new releases. There’s something special about May in the vineyard, and we’d love to share it with you. Come sip, savor, and make the most of the season with us!
Hours:
Open 7 Days a Week
Sunday–Tuesday & Thursday | 10 AM–5 PM
Wednesday | 10 AM–8:30 PM Friday–Saturday | 10 AM–6 PM Food, flights, and open bottle service end 30 minutes prior to closing daily
We’re thrilled to present our 2024 Petit Verdot — a bold red that thrives in Virginia’s unique climate and soils. This exceptional vintage received special treatment: over a year of French oak barrel aging followed by additional bottle rest to marry the flavors. On the nose and
palate, it opens with concentrated dark stewed fruits — black cherry and plum — that segue into an earthy, savory midpalate. Gentle waves of toasted French oak lend soft vanilla and a whisper of baking spice, while fine-grained tannins and a lingering blackpepper finish give structure and length. Rich and complex now, this Petit Verdot will continue to develop gracefully over the next decade.
Friday Sundowner’s Free Music Series - every Friday from 5:308:30pm, May through October. Friday night we love to create a family friendly atmosphere, supporting local up and coming musicians from all over Virginia, offering a full food menu, and our award winning wines while enjoying the beautiful sunset over our western facing vines and music from our talented artists.
Sundays Blues and Jazz-1:004:00pm every Sunday, May through October, featuring the best local Jazz and blues musicians, the perfect way finish the weekend relaxing on our patio with wine and great company.
The schedule for the month of July:
7/24-5:30-8:30pm- Jacob Paul Allen
7/26-1:00-4:00pm- Bruce Middle 7/31- 5:30-8:30pm- Matt Tyrrell
594 Merrie Mill Farm Keswick, VA 22947 (434) 365-3006 www.merriemillfarm.com
PRINCE MICHEL VINEYARDS
June is the perfect time to slow down, soak up the sunshine, and enjoy the fresh flavors of the season—and Prince Michel Vineyard & Winery is the perfect place to do just that. Nestled in the heart of Virginia Wine Country and proudly woman-owned, Prince Michel combines rich winemaking tradition with a warm, welcoming atmosphere that invites you to relax, reconnect, and savor every sip. This month, we’re featuring our Rapidan River Semi-Sweet Rosé, a light-bodied, beautifully balanced wine that captures the essence of summer. Crisp and refreshing, it opens with aromas of fresh strawberry, watermelon, and rose petal, finishing with a soft lingering note of red berries. Its clean, fruitforward character makes it an easy favorite for warm afternoons, outdoor gatherings, and casual celebrations.
Perfect for warm-weather entertaining, Rapidan River Semi-
Sweet Rosé pairs beautifully with the flavors of summer. Enjoy it alongside picnic favorites such as chicken salad croissants, fresh fruit and cheese boards, grilled seafood, garden salads, and light pasta dishes. Its subtle sweetness and bright berry character also make it an excellent match for watermelon, strawberries, prosciutto, and soft cheeses. From casual weeknight suppers to weekend gatherings, this rosé is a refreshing companion for the season’s best moments.
Beyond the bottle, Prince Michel offers more than just exceptional wine. From guided tastings and scenic vineyard views to delicious dining options and craft beer at Tap 29 Brew Pub, every visit is designed to create memorable experiences. Celebrate summer all June long with Rapidan River Semi-Sweet Rosé, our Wine of the Month. Club members save 20%, and nonmembers save 15%, throughout June.
Upcoming Events & Weekly Specials
Live Music every Friday–Sunday (lineup available on our website)
Trivia every Monday, 6:00–7:30 p.m. Tuesday Beer & Wings Specials
Happy Hour every Thursday, 3:00–5:00 p.m.
Open 7 days a week starting at 11:00 a.m.
154 Winery Lane, Leon, VA 22725 (540) 547-3707 www.princemichel.com
A Woman-Owned Business
VIRGINIA WINE COLLECTIVE
Expanded Hours, Wine, Beer and Pizza
Join us at Eastwood Farm and Winery’s new production facility and downtown bar and lounge featuring a pizza shop menu, beer on tap, and winemaker wine flights. The Collective is now open every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5-10PM with revamped loft and shuffleboard.
Upcoming at the Collective: Winemaker Pop-Ups | Select Fridays 6-8PM (Open 5-10PM)
Enjoy free samples and tour the facility with some of our independent winemakers on Fridays! Check out events on our website: (https:// eastwoodfarmandwinery.com/ virginia-wine-collective/) and Facebook page as we will be adding more dates.
July 31st: Josh Cataldo - Cataldo’s Perfezione
August 7th: Chris TropeanoPresent Company
August 14th: Julie Linker - Delve Wines
August 29th: Josh CataldoCataldo’s Perfezione
Winemaker Karaoke | Every Other Wednesday, July 22, August 5 & 19, September 2nd, 16th & 30th from 7-9PM (karaoke is only upstairs; downstairs bar and dining room still open as usual 5-10PM)
Join us up in the loft at the Collective every other Wednesday evening. No cover required.
Paint & Sip | Thursdays July 30th (6-8PM) (Open 5-10PM)
Grab a glass of wine (or your favorite drink!) and let your creativity flow in this relaxed and fun class. Whether you’re an experienced artist or a first-time painter, the talented instructors of Blue Ridge Brushes will walk you through the painting process as you create your own masterpiece. Ticketed EventsReserve Your Spot On the Virginia Wine Collective Facebook Page or the Eastwood Website.
Mahjong with Mountain Mahj: Open Play | Thursday, July 23rd 6-8:30PM (open 5-10PM)
Details to be announced On the Virginia Wine Collective
Facebook Page and the Eastwood Website or contact gabrielle@ eastwoodfarmandwinery.com
Harvest Viewing Days at the Collective (Wednesday-Friday 5-10PM). Viewing opportunities start sometime in late August (as soon as the grapes start rolling in!). We are bringing harvest to downtown Charlottesville and are located on Avon Street at the 4-way stop for Wegmans! In addition to the glass viewing area upstairs, we will be roping off a small area on the production floor so that you can walk out to view the action. Anytime is a great time to visit the Collective this Summer and Fall. Email Gabrielle@ eastwoodfarmandwinery.com if you have questions.
Production Tours and Guided Tastings
We look forward to welcoming guests to the Virginia Wine Collective for tours and guided tastings. Please email our Wine Collective Coordinator, Gabrielle Thomas, if you would like to schedule a tour or guided tasting. She may be reached at gabrielle@ eastwoodfarmandwinery.com
Large Party Reservations
Interested in making a large party reservation for your group? Reach out to mary@eastwoodfarmandwinery. com to book.
About the Collective Eastwood designed the Virginia Wine Collective to include nine winemaker suites and an incubator alongside the main production area. The suites provide a space where independent winemakers can anchor a license and make their wines. The Collective has been designed to reduce the costs associated with independent winemaking, and thereby support further innovation and talent in the Monticello AVA.
Over 21 Policy
You must be over 21 to visit the bar, lounge and dining room at the Collective.
Current Winery Hours Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays 5-10PM
1585 Avon Street Extended Charlottesville, VA 22902 (434) 264-6727
17. According to Autoweek, 1978’s “first American-made front-wheel-drive econobox”
20. Crushing defeats
21. Diminutive Italian suffix
22. California wine, for shor t
23. Reuben ingredient
25. Pig ’s place
26. Apt to meddle
27. +, on a battery
28. “Swan Lake” wear
31. Super Bowl of 2007
33. 1970s-’80s TV planet
34. Kitchen fixture
36. Apartments
40. “Either you do it ___ will”
41. Notes that appear here and nowhere else in the solved grid
43. Little kid
44. Sleep aid brand
46. ___ speak (as it were)
47. ___ Lanka
48. “The ___” (Diana Ross musical)
50. Mezcal bottle addition
52. Labor Day day, for short
53. MGM mascot
56. Solar wind par ticle
58. Lovers’ secret meeting
60. “Walk-___ welcome”
61. Fiscal yr par t
62. “This Is How You Lose Her” author Diaz
64. Home of the Blues
69. “Lemon Tree” singer Lopez
70. Electric resistance measures
71. Horse’s pace
72. “This is ___ happening!”
73. Gritty film genre
74. Little imp
DOWN
1. Kind of pass or treatment
2. Nocturnal raptor
3. Words from the cautious
4. “We are,” in Argentina
5. Closed off
6. Cooking vessels
7. “Lemme think ...”
8. Like a perfect game in baseball
9. Antidepressant, for short
10. Nail polish brand
11. Muppet rat
12. Three, to Trudeau
13. Bono who didn’t lead U2
18. Boot from office
19. Dark form of quar tz
23. Silverware drawer piece
24. Fret
25. Setting time?
26. Diarist Anais
29. PC por t type
30. Muscle twinges
32. Drag along
35. High-fat, low-carb diet
Barcelona bulls
Job duration
Actor Mahershala
On the pro side
Possess
Baked pasta dish
Range components, briefly
Shopping memos
Opening lines 55. “Do Ya” country singer K.T. 57. “Citizen Kane” director Welles
59. Questlove’s band, with “The” 61. Go cold turkey 62. “Purple Haze” rocker Hendrix 63. “Back in the ___”
Sean ___ Lennon
66. Conductance measure, once (and reverse of one of 70-Across) 67. Pooh’s friend
68. “Addams Family” cousin
ANSWERS 7/15/26 Worry free 37. Words from the next?
#5
#6
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY FOR FUN
By Rob Brezsny
Leo
(July 23-Aug. 22): Oak trees produce far more acorns than could ever grow into trees. Squirrels bury thousands and forget many of them, preparing the way for the next generation of forest. The trees succeed through strategic overproduction. I invite you to adopt their method, Leo. In the coming weeks, overproduce. Make more than you can track. Release more than you can manage. You don’t need to be perfect, just abundant. P.S.: This expansive capacity is yours to explore with delight and confidence, I guarantee it.
Virgo
(Aug. 22-Sept. 22): In the 19th century, Virgo naturalist Alexander von Humboldt helped launch the modern science of ecology. While exploring South America, he came to a revolutionary conclusion that’s obvious to us now: Nature isn’t a collection of separate objects but an intricate web of relationships. Mountains shape the weather. The plants and pollinators rely on each other. Underground mycelial networks perform many services for the trees. I propose that you channel your inner Humboldt, Virgo. Shift your focus away from isolated problems and instead observe the larger systems. Solutions may be elusive when you’re bound to a narrow view but strikingly clear when you perceive the wider pattern. If you’d like to take bold action, rely on the spacious perspective.
Libra
(Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The coming months will be a favorable time to triple your devotion to the art of rowdy fun. I urge you to attend more revels and celebrations than usual, and always be ready to energize social functions with infusions of festive wit and gleeful conviviality. You will also have extra power to inject buoyant amusements into your intimate liaisons. Therefore, dear Libra, I designate you to be the Party Maestro of the Zodiac. I hope you will carry out your role with maximum exuberance, ingenuity, and joy.
Scorpio
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21): What if I told you that your most personal and potent dream can come true—but only through months of persistence, disciplined sacrifice, and stretches of bewildering but fascinating uncertainty? Would you reorder your priorities to chase it with every ounce of creativity you have? Or would you set it aside in favor of a safer and easier possibility? Between now and the end of October, I predict the moment will arrive to choose one path or the other.
Sagittarius
(Nov. 22-Dec. 21): On some occasions, you just don’t have the power to act with impeccable integrity and do the totally right thing. Doing the partially right thing may, however, be a
(June 21-July 22): Neuroscientists have found that remembering the past and imagining the future rely on many of the same brain networks. That overlap helps explain why vivid visualization may influence our emotions and behavior. When we repeatedly simulate alarming scenarios about what could conceivably happen, our brains treat them much like memories. This makes us prone to spotting “threats” in places that may be relatively safe. The good news is that the coming months will be an excellent time to retrain this habit, Cancerian. More than ever, your imagination can be a precision instrument you use to recalibrate yourself away from fear and toward possibility. Fantasize about wonderful possibilities with the same intensity that in the past you have dwelled on scary speculations.
useful and compassionate option. I bet this will soon be helpful advice for you. Blunt truth: There are moments when the “perfect” ethical, emotional, or practical choice simply isn’t available: The timing is off, resources are thin, or someone else’s limits block the ideal outcome. In those situations, waiting around for the flawless solution is a kind of paralysis that keeps you stuck in guilt or indecision. Instead, you can aim for the best available good.
Capricorn
(Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In botany and gardening, there is a practice called “companion planting.” Certain plants thrive when grown near each other because they share nutrients, repel or distract pests, or improve soil and microclimate. Here’s an example: Indigenous peoples of the Americas planted the “three sisters” together: Corn gave beans a living trellis, beans added nitrogen to the soil, and squash shaded the ground to hold moisture and deter weeds. This principle may be useful for you to contemplate now, Capricorn. The people, tools, and influences you place near one another will influence your productivity and well-being. By blending complementary energies, your efforts will flourish without strain.
Aquarius
(Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Author Alain de Botton observed that “the person we marry is always far more remarkable, frightening, and complex than we quite realized when we first declared our love.” Rather than feeling alarmed by this revelation, I invite you to find it thrilling as you apply it to your best allies. The fact that they contain mysteries you haven’t yet plumbed means the rela-
tionships aren’t likely to grow stale. There are undiscovered depths in those you may think you know completely. My advice: Approach even your most familiar intimacies as ongoing discoveries.
Pisces
(Feb. 19-March 20): Do you ever fear or distrust your own desires? Are you suspicious of achieving “too much” success? Do you ever feel starved for hope, but belittle yourself for wanting it? Do you go emotionally blank in the face of possibilities that should thrill you? If so, the coming weeks could bring healing and a breakthrough. You will have a chance to perform a rare kind of exorcism—not of garish demons or foolish ghosts, but of the quiet defeatism and lack of faith that dull your brilliance. Seize this moment, dear Pisces! Purge the automatic doubts that the world has trained you to mistake for wisdom.
Aries
(March 21-April 19): Authentic love songs are rare. Much of contemporary music leans toward infatuation, sex, heartbreak, and fury, while few artists seem interested in singing unabashedly about unique expressions of tenderness and enduring devotion. In the months ahead, Aries, your inner life will be gloriously out of step with that trend. Your heart is poised to wake up in sometimes surprising ways. Even if you’re not a trained vocalist, you may feel regular urges to express your passion and adoration in song. If I could give you a gift, it might be a curated playlist packed with the most radiant love songs
of the last 60 years, so you’d have a soundtrack worthy of the lush emotions that I suspect will bloom in you.
Taurus
(April 20-May 20): Nobel Prize-winning Taurus physicist Richard Feynman kept a notebook titled “Things I Don’t Know About.” When he came across a question he couldn’t answer, he added it to the collection. I recommend a similar discipline for you now, Taurus, but with a twist. Keep a log of “Beautiful Mysteries I Don’t Really Need to Solve.” Rejoice that not every paradox and puzzle needs resolution. Savor the fun fact that some riddles enrich your life precisely because they remain open-ended. Hooray for not knowing! My theory is that some of your finest qualities will flourish in the presence of productive uncertainty.
Gemini
(May 21-June 21): In the early days of radio broadcasting, engineers sometimes spoke of “tuning the receiver.” Even when a station was transmitting clearly, a listener might hear static until their radio dial was adjusted to exactly the right frequency. The message was present and clear; the challenge was homing in on it. There’s a similar phenomenon going on in your life, Gemini. Useful information, fun inspiration, and interesting possibilities may be circulating in your vicinity. But you will need to adjust your attention so you can actually receive it. To bring the signals into focus, listen differently. Or pose alternate questions. Or pay attention to sources you don’t usually notice.
Expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text message horoscopes: RealAstrology.com, (877) 873-4888
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE
Pursuant to Virginia Code § 15.2-1800(B), notice is hereby given that the Council of the City of Charlottesville, Virginia (“City Council”), will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, August 3, 2026, at its Business Meeting, beginning at 6:30 p.m., in the City Hall Council Chamber, 605 East Main Street, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902, to hear public comment on a request from City of Promise Inc., for the City of Charlottesville, Virginia (“City”), to approve a Lease Agreement for use of a City-owned Property and Building or Structure located at 708 Page Street, and for use of a portion of a City-owned property located at 210 8th Street NW, Charlottesville, Virginia.
Any person may appear at the Public Hearing to present their views regarding the above matter. Individuals with disabilities, who require assistance or special arrangements to participate in the Public Meeting, may call (434) 987-1267, or submit a request via email to ada@charlottesville.gov. The City requests forty-eight (48) hours’ notice, so that proper arrangements may be made. Copies of all Public Hearing related documentation/materials are available online (at least five (5) days before the Business Meeting) at www.charlottesville.gov/agenda, and in the Clerk of City Council’s Office.
RESTAURANT WEEK 2026
$45 FOOD / $30 WINE PAIRING
FIRST
SWEET CRAB SALAD
Tomato & Peach Gazpacho, Potato Panko, Fennel Pollen, and Osmin Basil 2023 PETIT MANSENG
E NTRÉE
NEW FRONTIER BISON FLANK STEAK
Blistered Tomato, Gold Bar Squash, Potato Confit, and Chimich urri 2022 NOVUM
DESSER T
BUTTERMILK PANNA COTTA
Blueberry Compote, Lemon Shortbread, and Mint
NV BRUT SPARKLING
WORLD-CLASS WINERY AND RESTAURANT
THURSDAY, SATURDAY–MONDAY | 11:00 AM – 5:30 PM
FRIDAY | 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
P.S. WRITING Strong starts
Every great story starts somewhere. This spring, WriterHouse and C-VILLE Weekly challenged local writers to prove that sometimes one page is all you need. As part of WriterHouse’s WriteNow! campaign, the First Page contest invited authors to submit only the opening page of an original work, leaving bestselling novelist and UVA professor Bruce Holsinger to decide which beginnings demanded a second page.
Winner Runner-up
Accumulation
By John M. Faust
Daddy, like the pharaohs, had a materialistic understanding of the afterlife. He’d say the moment we die, we wake up in a big room reunited with everything we ever used up, lost, threw away, outgrew, or otherwise came to part with during our time on Earth. The for-instance he liked best, the one that really brought out the poet in him, involved a certain orange three-speed with a black-andwhite banana seat and squeeze brakes on the handlebars. With a faraway look in his eye, Daddy would tell us it was there waiting for him by the foot of the bed on his ninth birthday, “in that chalky blue time just before the dawn.” He said he didn’t even know the bike was orange till the sun came up and colored everything in for him, this being a thing he waited for like it was part of the gift, not leaving his bed, not switching on the light, not so much as poking a toe out to touch the spokes. He adored that thing until it really wouldn’t do, him getting to the age where people expected him to drive a car, among other milestones of adulthood. “I’ll ride her again, Teddy,” he’d say to me. “You mark my words.” I did have questions. I didn’t ask them directly because when Daddy said “mark my words,” it meant “I have spoken” and “end of discussion.” After that, only Mama could talk, and it was not often she tested the privilege.
John M. Faust is a retired litigator who lives and writes in Charlottesville. He is the October 1984 Kinderhook (New York) Elks Lodge “Teenager of the Month.”
By
Marian Bayker
I pin the little plastic wings to my chest, as if I were the one who took the airplane down the tarmac, angled into the sky, rode turbulent airstreams up through the clouds, brought it back down again to this place that is not my home. The pouch around my neck, the one that says UNACCOMPANIED MINOR, hangs like a medal against my chest. A flight attendant crouches in front of me. She smiles red lipstick and white teeth and I can see the shape of her breasts under her blouse and it is a good shape and she takes my hand and suddenly I am somebody. Somebody important. Like President George W. Bush, or Macaulay Culkin. “Welcome to the Twin Cities,” my flight attendant says, and I start to say “I bet you say that to all the boys,” or “Which twin is the better city?,” but in the end I don’t say anything because sometimes silence carries the weight of maturity more forcefully than words. Hand in hand, we exit the plane. “Alex!” someone calls, and there they are, my mom’s friend Helga and her daughter Helene. Identical white blond hair in short, fashionable curls. Identical noses, perfect and peaked. Helga takes me into her arms and I tolerate this as best I can. Helene stands back but I see her eyes flit briefly across my face. Her eyes are blue, like mine. Deep blue, like the clearest lake water.
Marian Thomas Bayker is a trans writer, baker, and mother living in Central Virginia. In the fall, she will begin an MFA in creative writing at Hollins University. Her work has appeared in new words {press}, Mala Leche, and Husk Zine. Bayker is a longtime fan of WriterHouse classes.
“Creates an intriguing and believable scene through the eyes of an observant boy I’m already rooting for by the end of the first page.”
The judge Best-selling author Bruce Holsinger knows what it takes to produce rock-solid fiction. The writer, professor, and Guggenheim fellow penned Culpability, the 116th selection of Oprah’s Book Club. His novel The Gifted School earned a Book of the Month Club selection and won the Colorado Book Award, and The Displacements was named the inaugural title in the United Nations Read for Action Book Club. Holsinger’s essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times and Vanity Fair, and he’s been profiled on NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” “Here & Now,” and “Marketplace.”
gear get
Says Holsinger: “A beautifully rendered first page, with a killer opening sentence and paragraph that create a character whose life story I want to read in full.”
