Welcome to C-Ville

I recently stumbled upon Kirei Nest, a gorgeous site by Nicole Ossola focusing on 'daily registry and gifting inspiration.' I especially love the site's feature called Locale Lovelies. Special guests from blog-land share lists of what they would include in a welcome basket for people new to their state. I was led to this interesting site through MartaWrites (one of my absolute favorite blogs), as Marta was just featured there with her picks for Idaho.

I was happy to see that the site also has TWO Virginia features (here and here). I loved both of the lists, but it got me thinking of things that I would include in a welcome basket for people just arriving in Charlottesville.

First, I'd have to include some delicious fruits from Carter Mountain Orchard (peaches or apples, depending on the season). Right now, I'd be including some deliciously sweet Gala apples to start the fall season off right.


(Image courtesy of Carter Mountain Orchard)

With Charlottesville's growing wine market (and a few beer microbreweries), I'd have to include an adult beverage or two. With a shout-out to old T.J. (Thomas Jefferson was not only the third president of the United States, but he also lived in Charlottesville and founded UVA), I'd throw in a bottle of wine from Jefferson Vineyards. For the beer lovers, I'd include a seasonal choice from Starr Hill.

I would insist on adding something to satisfy one's sweet tooth. From BreadWorks, I would add a nice loaf of bread, a few Blueberry Streusel muffins, or Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter cookies.


(Image courtesy of http://www.joythebaker.com/)

Other Charlottesvillians would probably kill me if I didn't include bagels from Bodo's. My preference is a Cinnamon-Raisin bagel, so I'd add a few of those as well.


(Image courtesy of Bodo's)

Since there is some major UVA pride in Charlottesville, I would include a UVA foam finger or Cavalier Jelly Bellies.


(Image courtesy of UVA Bookstore)

And a welcome basket would never be complete without an issue of albemarle magazine.

(Image courtesy of albemarle magazine)

What a long list! The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there are TONS of great things about Charlottesville. My list could go on forever.