Note: Hey BANners— This is a special issue today, and not part of the regular publications. My wife Marcella and I run a small tour company called Science Getaways, and we’re announcing a new trip we’re hosting. If this is not something you’re into, no worries; delete this email, and know that this is a very rare thing for me to do on the newsletter. If it does sound intriguing, why then, read on…

Science Getaways is a boutique tour company that has been combining travel, science, and the joy of discovery since 2012. Founded by my wife Marcella Setter and me, Science Getaways events are modeled on our vision of a perfect vacation, incorporating fun field trips, lots of science of all types, and the chance to meet cool people with similar interests in a small group setting. Previous getaways have included Wyoming for the 2017 total solar eclipse, several dude ranches in Colorado, wine tasting in California, volcano-exploring in Oregon, and (twice!) visiting the Big Island of Hawai’i.

We’re please to announce a new Science Getaways event — the Wine and Stars Getaway, from November 6-9, 2026 in Charlottesville, Virginia!

Registration is now open (see below for details).

This getaway will be 4 days of wine tasting, stargazing, lecture-listening and cave exploring. Every day we'll visit a winery or two, hear talks by scientists and science writers, consume fabulous food, and enjoy even better company. This will be an extended weekend that you'll remember for a long time. 

You may not know this, but Virginia wine is having a heyday and winning major awards worldwide. If you want the details, read this article by wine author Richard Leahy and this article in the Daily Progress, the local Charlottesville paper. There are many varietals grown here, and we’ve been happily sampling quite a few wines over the past few weeks in the Monticello AVA (or American Viticulture Area, a fancy term for the wine growing region in central Virginia), searching for the ones that we think will provide the best group experience. Early November brings peak autumn color in central Virginia, so we’re hoping for a good show from the leaves, too.

We'll be visiting 6-7 wineries in total on this getaway, including:

Pippin Hill Vineyards - a gorgeous winery with a wide selection of award-winning wines

Afton Mountain Vineyards - a beautiful vineyard with truly lovely views of the mountains

Grace Estate Winery - a smaller winemaker using natural fermentation and old world methods of making delicious wine

Hark Vineyards - a fantastic, relatively new winery, full of youthful spirit, with bold and innovative wines

Oakencroft Farm and Winery – a winemaker dedicated to sustainable and green agriculture (we’ll have a private tasting and catered lunch here with a view of their pond and beautiful grounds)

One of our trips will be a guided tour of Luray Caverns, a spectacular cave system in the Shenandoah Valley. We'll have private stargazing sessions at UVA’s McCormick Observatory to use the historic 26-inch telescope built in 1885, and at Fan Mountain Observatory with its 40-inch telescope (observing will be weather permitting). We’ll also visit an apple orchard (they have fantastic apple cider donuts!), have an authentic Southern lunch at historic Michie Tavern, and you’ll have the option to take an easy hike back down the mountain after lunch.

Science talks by professional lecturers are a part of what makes a Science Getaway such a special and stimulating vacation. We'll have several talks by local UVA astronomers and by me (including at least one new one developed specificially for this getaway), with a special talk by my friends Kelly and Zach Weinersmith about their award-winning book A City on Mars. Remember to bring your copy to get it signed. I’ll be happy to sign copies of my books as well.

Those of you who have been on previous getaways know that at least half the fun of these trips is seeing old friends and making new ones among the group. These trips are designed to be cozy, fun, and stress-free. The group size is limited to about 30 to make it easy to get to know everyone. It’s no exaggeration to say that many folks who have attended have made friends for life.

To register, simply email [email protected] with the names of the people in your group and how many rooms you'll want. After we get your email, we'll be back in touch to confirm that you are registered and give you a link to book your hotel stay, with our reduced group rate, at the Omni Charlottesville. At that point you'll be asked to pay the registration fee, either via Venmo, personal check, or whatever else we can work out. Sorry, but we can't take credit card payments. 

Here are the few restrictions that apply; these are very important so please read them carefully:

• All participants must be 21 years old by November 6, 2026

• You must book your hotel stay using the group code we will provide — no third party booking sites or rewards points may be used for the hotel stay

• You must plan to stay at the Omni for 5 nights, beginning Nov 5, 2026

• If you want to extend your stay beyond 5 nights, the Omni will offer our discounted group rate from November 3-12.

The Science Getaways events begin the morning of November 6, 2026, so you'll need to plan to arrive at the Omni Hotel Charlottesville, VA on Thursday, November 5, 2026.

Registration Fee:

The registration fee is $2,000 per person. This fee will cover almost all your expenses for the 4 days of the getaway. If you don't drink wine, we can remove the cost of wine tastings from your registration fee — just let us know.

What the registration fee includes:

• All lunches and dinners for 4 days, Nov 6-9. A gourmet boxed lunch or hot lunch will be served each day. Dinners will include 2 restaurant meals and 2 catered dinners, one at the McCormick Observatory and a farewell private meal at the Omni Hotel on Monday night.

• All transportation for the 4 days of group activities — we will be traveling as a group by chartered luxury mini-coach to all our destinations.

• All wine tastings

• Admission to Luray Caverns 

• All science talks and observatory visits

The expenses you will pay for yourself:

• Transportation to and from the Omni Hotel Charlottesville, arriving Thursday, Nov 5 and departing Tuesday, Nov 10. If you fly into the Charlottesville Airport (CHO), you can use a ride app for $20-$30 to the Omni. If you fly into Richmond, VA (RIC) or Dulles Int'l (IAD) you can rent a car or take the Virginia Breeze bus from Dulles or Richmond to Charlottesville. It's about a 90 minute drive from Richmond and 2 hours from Dulles. 

• Your hotel stay - our special group rate means you will pay $1535 for your 5 night hotel stay in either a King or 2 Queens room — this is a great rate for fall peak season. The Omni is at the end of Charlottesville's historic downtown pedestrian mall with lots of shops and restaurants, so you won't really need a car once you're at the hotel. If you do rent a car, covered parking is free for guests at the Omni.

• Breakfast — because some people don't eat breakfast or just want something very small, we have not arranged for breakfast to be provided by the hotel. There is a very nice breakfast restaurant in the hotel, or you can walk right out of the hotel onto the downtown mall and find lots of great coffee and food options. 

• Any alcohol you wish to purchase outside of the wine tastings. Alcohol will not be included in any catered meal, but you are welcome to start a tab for yourself at restaurants.

If you have any mobility impairments, please let us know. Unfortunately, a couple of the places we're going to visit, including the observatories, aren't really wheelchair friendly, but we will work with you on making any accommodations we possibly can.

Just to wrap up, we really enjoy hosting these events and getting to spend such a great time with other science enthusiasts. I’d love to get to know some BANners in person over some good food and wine in November!

You can email me at [email protected] (though replies can take a while), and all my social media outlets are gathered together at about.me. Also, if you don’t already, please subscribe to this newsletter! And feel free to tell a friend or nine, too. Thanks!