After a LONG drive through rush hour traffic, I spent the night in Richmond with my sister.

The Hilton Garden Inn, in the heart of downtown Richmond, is located in the old Miller & Rhodes building, but you can’t tell it was ever a department store. Also we were up on the top floor with an interesting urban view!

Saturday morning, we met Justin and Emma for brunch at the Strawberry Street Café. The food was amazing and the breakfast buffet was set up inside an antique, claw foot bathtub. Afterwards, the weather was nice so I took the top off and headed down to Williamsburg.

Once we arrived, we decided to combine my nephew’s driver’s ed training with a tour of the Williamsburg Wine Trail. Two birds, one stone! Our first stop was the Saude Creek Winery.

Our wonderful driver (nephew Mark) enjoyed a couple of sandwiches from the Scotch Pig while Cyndi and I tried each of the wines.

Our Sommelier Ben did an outstanding job of introducing each wine and gave us barbecue to try with the red wine and chocolate to try with the exceptional Chambourcin. The wines were exceptional so I bought a bottle of Squire’s Blend and we loaded up so Mark could drive us to the next winery.

The next stop was the New Kent Winery. Mark and Dad dropped us off to head to the neighboring golf shop. There was a line to get to the bar for a tasting, so they rounded up those of us in line and took us down to the basement Barrel Room for a private tasting. While I didn’t like their wine as much as Saude Creek, they had a couple of good white wines and a really, really sweet dessert wine. Afterwards, we bought some cheese and crackers and another glass and headed down out to sit in the sun on the patio.

The next stop was supposed to be the Williamsburg winery. Sadly, it closed at 4 and we didn’t get there until almost 5. We turned around and headed to the outlet mall to pop into Aunt Victoria’s cupcake shop. First, however, we enjoyed some fine dining in the food court and purchased a few jewels at the Brighton shop. Finally, we made our way to Sweet Baby Cakes.

Unfortunately, Aunt Victoria had been called away, but we still enjoyed a Maple Bacon Cupcake, a Carrot Cake Cupcake, and a brownie.

Finally we headed to the Five Star. Mark challenged me to a dame of pool, so I spanked him. Dad thought he could teach me a lesson, so I creamed him as well. When everyone else got tired of losing we called it a night and headed to bed.

The next day, I lured Mark into cleaning my car with some cold, hard cash. But the weather was nice so we all headed out and pitched in.

Once the car was spotless (and Mark did a hell of a job), it was time to hit the highway. I waved goodbye, cranked up the tunes, and made the sunshiny drive back to Alexandria.