Labor Day and It Takes Swannanoan

The Friday before Labor Day, we drove over to Charlottesville. Dan worked from his firm's office and the kids and I hung out with my mom.

 "The Warrior of All Faces" by Afton.

That night Dan and I got to go on a date! I had it all planned out - a bakery stop for cupcakes and then mini-golf at Putt Putt. After I picked Dan up, we headed to the bakery, only to find that it's no longer there. So we headed to Putt Putt and it started to rain. We took a detour to Dairy Queen for blizzards and after we ate, the rain had died down enough that we decided to go golfing. It was a close match, but I fell apart in the second half and Dan soared to victory.

Saturday we went with my parents up to Afton Mountain to see Swannanoa - a home built by some rich Richmonders 100 years ago. The wife called it Swannanoa because she liked swans. They didn't have any children and after they died they left it to his sister, who was a nun, to become a convent, but the church didn't want it and it was abandoned for a long time which is a major shame because you can tell it was stunning once upon a time. Then some weird hippie group called something about the natural heart lived there for a few years and still has meetings where you can buy healing crystals. Anyway, it still had some really neat features. Now it's open occasionally for people to tour. So that's what we did.

The dining room ceiling was pretty cool.

 This room was their Indian room or something. I loved the mosaic fireplace. The chandelier looked like a big incense burner.

 This stained glass window was huge. See the woman standing below it? It was made by Tiffany's. I'm surprised it's lasted all these years.

 Close up.

 Kids on the main staircase. I feel like they should be reenacting the scene from Sound of Music when they're singing "So, do, la, fa, me do ray..." Anyone?

 The house was full of so much beautiful detail. It really was a shame to see how it's gotten run down!

 The water tower that looked like it was from Tangled.

 A bridge on the grounds.

On the way back we stopped at Crozet Pizza, which I'd been wanting to go to for a long time. It was delicious and a fun place. We randomly saw a family from our ward there, too. We said goodbye and headed back home. It was a fun weekend!