Mom and Dad "enjoy" seeing the city of Charlottesville from above. (In Dad's defense, he didn't know I was taking a photo.)

Continuing in the series, "Last Day in Virginia Recap," I bring you wine and cider tastings, and a tour of Thomas Jefferson's place.

First we have a tour of Carter Mountain Orchard with my parents. We took them up to the top of the hill so they could get a fun view of the entire city. The place was mostly empty, which felt weird, because when we have visited before it was packed with people ready for apple picking. Next, we drove over to Jefferson Vineyards. This place is near Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. We tried a handful of wine, which were mostly dry. I can't say I was really a fan of any of them. But, my parents did buy a bottle of the sweetest variety to enjoy with cake during graduation.

Pretty place for a picnic.

After seeing the view, we did a wine tasting at Jefferson Vineyards, which is near Jefferson's Monticello.

Sigh. I am just not great at being in photos.

After graduation, Cole's parents and youngest sister traveled with us to a hard cider tasting at Albemarle Ciderworks. I had been wanting to try this place before we left. I give it two thumbs up. I am much more of a hard cider than wine fan. We were the only ones around for tasting on that rainy morning. Like our other tastings, we had to rank them from one to 10. I actually had some high numbers, which NEVER happens at wine tastings.

With Cole's parents, we did a a hard cider tasting at Albemarle Ciderworks.

Maggie had less fun at these 21-plus events.

Everyone has to rate their favorites from one to 10.

I favor hard cider over wine, hands down.

After cider, we tried some more local wine at King Family Vineyards. A friend used to work there on the weekends, and had great things to say, so we really needed to check it out. I was not disappointed. I put this place near the top of my wine tasting adventures. Their super sweet wine was delicious.

After hard cider, we tried King Family Vineyards. My friend worked there, and we heard great things. Figured we probably needed to give it a try before we left the state.

This fancy place also has polo events, but we weren't around for one of those.

The super sweet wine came in a skinny little bottle.

This vineyard has a beautiful view, even when it's foggy.

Bud and Michele say hi from the vineyard.

Monticello. A Charlottesville classic, we visited Monticello and toured the home and garden. This was my first visit in the spring, which meant it brimmed with flowers and green leaves.

It's not a tour of Charlottesville without going to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

Oh, hey.

Thankfully, the rain mostly stayed away and we got to enjoy a garden tour.

Our guide led us around the house, into the forest and through the garden.

I had never been in the spring, so it was fun to see this place all green.

Lots of varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs growing in the garden.

We joined tour groups up on top of Thomas Jefferson's little mountain.

Obviously you have to take your photo with Jefferson. Cole also did this on our first visit.

What a view.

I still have some photos to share form Virginia, so stick with me. I will get to cross-county travels and California soon!