event review: lake anne jazz festival;

This jazz festival event is apparently annual at Lake Anne out in Reston, VA, though this is the first time I’ve gone. We went as part of our awesome labor day weekend, the same one that brought you posts on Reese’s peanut butter bars, and MD Renaissance Festival.  It was a crazy weekend packed full of everything: breweries, a wine tasting, the jazz festival, an escape room, dinner at a hot pot restaurant, the renaissance fair, and a ton of board games!  The reason we even went out to Lake Anne was because I had heard of a chocolate and wine shop (Chesapeake Chocolates) that only has tastings occasionally, and I’ve been dying to try it out!  It wasn’t exactly as expected but it was still a fun adventure.  They specialize in Virginia wines, and in that small shop feel, they will be happy to tell you more about the wines as needed.

I apologize for the blurry picture of the wines at the wine shop but it was pretty packed in the tiny shop and I didn’t want to bother people. The winery was attached to the chocolate shop though they were in separate small rooms. I bought some of the dud chocolates they sell for cheaper than the gourmet ones, since they don’t look nice! All the same flavors of dark chocolatey goodness at less of the price.  They were rich and creamy and extremely chocolatey in the best way possible.  I finished them before the weekend was out, with a little help from my sister!  I didn’t even share with T.

Our next stop on this escapade was the Lake Anne Brewery, just next door to Chesapeake Chocolates. Lake Anne Brewery is an interesting place and like all the other shops we visited, the word quaint comes to mind. We got a sampler to split among the six of us, which after taking the gang to mad fox brewery (read an earlier review of Mad Fox) earlier in the day and the wine tasting, that was the right amount. For a tasting it seemed like a lot of beer and we enjoyed the sampling including a sour.  I’m not a huge fan of sours but my sister is.  The beers were good, again, nothing particularly to write home about, but a good solid selection.

Of course, I can’t get away without mentioning the music!  It was a nice day out and the music was nice.  While we were there, at least 2-3 different groups performed, and while we liked some more than others, they were all quite festive!  The Lake Anne Jazz Festival is definitely a fun, and off the beaten path little gem, but nothing extraordinary.  A solid 2.5 out of 5 chips (read: stars).  I’ll keep my eye out for it next year, but it hasn’t immediately been added to my “annual” list the way the Bloomsburg Fair (upcoming post), and MD renaissance festival have been!

Lake Anne (Annual Jazz Festival)
Lake Anne Plaza Website
11404 Washington Plaza W
Reston, VA 20190

Related posts:

Lords and Ladies, Welcome to Ye Old Maryland Renaissance Festival winery review: cooper’s hawk winery; brunch review: caboose brewery co.  happy hour review: mad fox brewery; pecan pie truffles;