Memorial Day at Walnut Creek Park

With every trail, creek, lake, river, nook, and cranny of the state swarming with people on an absolutely gorgeous Memorial Day, Allison and I headed to Walnut Creek Park in hopes of finding just a small hint of privacy.  Located about 10 miles south of Charlottesville, this park has long been one of our favorite go-to's for  picnics, leisurely strolls, and an occasional canoe outing.  The park is centered around a large lake, only half of which is pictured above, that can be used for kayaking, canoeing, and fishing.  There is even a small beach area, located around the bend to the right of the picture, and a designated swimming area.  It would have been nice to jump in the water on this very warm day, but, of course, the beach was overtaken with highly energetic, screaming children.  The park also offers miles of hiking/biking trails that circle the lake and a full disk golf course.  Although the park was more crowded than I had ever seen it, it is large enough that we were able to take to the woods and find a little peace and quiet.

After walking around the lake on one of the many trails, we were able to find a decent place to set up our hammocks that we had packed with us.  It was nice and relaxing to sit in our hammocks with a view of the lake while reading our books and enjoying a cold beverage.  It was a little warm but an occasional breeze kept us cool enough to be comfortable.  Unfortunately, we make the crucial mistake of forgetting bug spray and had a constant battle with flies, bees, ants, and a few chiggers.  Aside from the bugs, everything was great, and I don't think we will make that mistake again.  After a couple hours of tree swinging, we packed up and decided to move the party to Alli's deck.

Earlier in the day we made a run to Anderson's in preparation for a grilled feast and picked up a half pound of fresh NC shrimp, a pound of tilapia fillets, a watermelon, a few lemons, a bunch of fresh peaches, a squash, and a zucchini.  After warming the charcoal, we started with an appetizer of shrimp kabobs rubbed with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.  We then had watermelon three way- sliced cold, grilled, and in a watermelon-mint salad that Alli created.  Our main course consisted of grilled tilapia marinated in a lemon vinaigrette with parsley and grilled vegetables, again, rubbed with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  I think we coat about 90 percent of the stuff we cook with those three simple things, and it turns out great every time.  Everything was tasty as usual, but the shrimp stood out hands down as the best thing we ate.  They were so sweet it was almost like eating candy.  To wash everything down we busted out some white sangria that we had prepared earlier in the day consisting of pinot grigio, Absolute peach, ginger ale, and chopped pieces of peach.  We made quite a large batch, so we invited over some of our good friends to grill with us and help us out with the sangria.  In the end, we spent most of the day enjoying the outdoors and got to do a lot of grilling with friends- what more could we ask for out of a Memorial Day?  Of course, we took special time on this day, as we do everyday, to think about all of the past and current members of our armed forces and to appreciate the sacrifices that they make so that we can enjoy these freedoms!