A Visit to Colonial Williamsburg

This past week I traveled to Willliamsburg, Virginia to meet my aunt for some quality time and a little birthday celebration. 

The first stop on our trip was the Blue Talon Bistro, where they serve, what they call - Serious Comfort Food. I started with a delicious Kir Royal cocktail. A very tasty refreshment after the long train trip I had just taken from DC to Williamsburg. Judged as a great way to get over the stinky* train ride.

As an appetizer I had their field green salad, which was a combination of fresh field greens from a local farm with an aged sherry/Parmesan vinaigrette.  The sherry/Parmesan dressing had to be the best salad dressing I have ever had and while the field mix was definitely healthy, I think the dressing undid that health benefits.  Judged as an amazingly simple and delicious salad.

For my aunt's appetizer she had the escargots, which smelled wonderful and strong; there was enough garlic in that dish to keep the worst vampire away (I have read too much Twilight). My aunt judged this as a top ranking dish of escargot.

For dinner I had the scallops with asparagus and the forbidden rice.  Great, forbidden rice - this MUST mean it's soaked in a butter and cream sauce right!  Well, no, it's an Indonesian black rice that is high in fiber and healthy for you; check it out.  The scallops were perfectly seared with a wonderful caramelization.  However, the rice, while forbidden was chewy and hard and the asparagus was a little over cooked. My aunt had the crab cake, that she judged as "nothing special, it had too much filler."

I really like the ambiance of the Blue Talon, especially the TV at the bar, which shows only cooking shows and food based movies, the staff is very nice, and the decor is homey. I have eaten here before and had a wonderful nicoise salad; therefore, I do not want to judge the Blue Talon harshly, but I will say that on the night I went it was judged as not as delicious as I had hoped.

Now for a departure from my normal food judging to spa judging.  The next day my aunt and I went to the The Spa of Colonial Williamsburg (ignore the couple in this picture, I admit it's rather odd and I would judge the place as creepy based on this image).  After a few jokes about the 17th century or "burned at the stake" treatment we finally headed in and realized, like everything else at Colonial Williamsburg, it was beautiful.  I especially love the perfect combination of modern/colonial decor and the amazing shade of light blue that is used as an accent color. While at the spa we both had a massage and facial. Afterward, both of us walked away feeling healthy and rejuvenated. Judged as a relaxing, beautiful, and welcoming spa.  I can't wait to go back.

To wrap up the trip we headed over to the Williamsburg Farmers Market in Merchant Square.  During the market nearby farmers set up along Merchant Square to sell produce, cheese, milk, eggs, and flowers.  Among the stands were musical performances and a live cooking demonstration from one of the local restaurants. I bought some beautiful, tasty strawberries for my train ride back home.  Judge as one of the top ten reasons I would love to live in Williamsburg.

*Item has been judged.