...but definitely fail in planning ahead and getting adequate sleep.
After several weeks? months? of being in one state and not really going too far, I was desperate for a change of scenery. All semester I've been telling my cousin and my undergraduate advisor that I would come sit in on the class that the former is currently taking with the latter. I had Monday off. These stars all aligned and I took a day trip to Fredericksburg!
I stayed with Amanda and Mike in Bear, Delaware on Sunday night after a lovely Easter with my choir and my family. As I pulled off the highway into their neighborhood, I noticed ahead on the highway a sign for Route 301. The wheels were turning as I fell asleep in their guest room...
I woke up at dark o'clock and turned back on that highway. It's been years since I've taken 301 to get to Fredericksburg. Several cars and chicken trucks were heading north, but I did not see another car heading south with me until nearly sunrise, about an hour and a half after I left. Very peaceful drive along a rolling landscape.
Got to Mary Washington around 8:30AM and immediately picked up my cousin for a visit to Hyperion before following her to that class.Everything in Fredericksburg was blooming and gorgeous. I was so happy to have Hyperion in my hand and head to the geography department.
Class was good, and hanging out with my former professors was really great. I was so happy to have this change of scenery so heavy laden with dogwood flowers, cherry blossoms and wonderful people.
After class, I walked downtown to meet Jeremy, my stand partner from eight consecutive semesters of wind ensemble. We got more Hyperion (yay! and this excitement from the girl who doesn't drink coffee usually...) and sat in his office on the top floor of the museum overlooking a busy intersection downtown. It was basically awesome.
Beautiful, beautiful day. The weather cooperated, the drive wasn't terrible (even if it was ridiculous) and the change of scenery has me feeling refreshed and excited. A+
Showing posts with label NOVA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NOVA. Show all posts
09 September 2011
Right, so my last post was abrupt and lacking details...
After Hurricane Irene, I was at camp without power, phones and occasionally water for a week. During that time I spent a great deal of time with the international staff who hadn't yet gone home. They talked me into a roadtrip they'd been planning. My bosses gave me the time off, so here I am, now 1000 miles into a 2600 sojourn around Kentucky. Seriously, that's about the only state we're not going to pass through in the next week and a half. Maciej (Poland), Jozef (Slovakia), Jakub (Czech Republic), Michael (England), Timi (Hungary) and I are on a pretty excellent adventure.
Day one, Tuesday 6 September: Arlington, VA/Washington, DC. Due to torrential downpour and a late start, we didn't arrive to the area till mid afternoon, at which point the rain held off long enough to wander the National Mall and all of the good monuments and memorials around it. We saw the White House and the Capitol. I love DC and it was a joy to show my friends around. We stayed with my friend Becky and her sweet baby boy Arlo.
Day two, Wednesday 7 September: After a walk through Arlington National Cemetery and spending some time in a few of the Smithsonian Museums, we drove to Harrisonburg via Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. It was a pretty overcast day so we spend a lot of time driving through clouds and wondering what the views looked like. Late in the drive we broke through and enjoyed some lovely vistas and an incredible sunset. We arrived in Harrisonburg in time to have dinner with our friend, Gordo, who was hosting us for the night, and really just spent the night hanging out in his apartment with his roommates and Brendan, another camp friend.
The tree of the day would have been this incredible Post Oak found near the Eternal Flame in Arlington Cemetery, but it was taken out by Hurricane Irene. Thankfully Becky and I visited it earlier in the summer.
Day three, Thursday 8 September: Long drive from Harrisonburg to Knoxville, Tennessee, via the Blue Ridge Parkway and Roanoke. We were hesitant to take the Blue Ridge Parkway because it was once again overcast, but we took the chance and were thrilled by the views. It was a very peaceful, winding drive. We stopped in Salem, VA at Roanoke College and had a lovely peanut butter and jelly picnic lunch with our friend Sarah Gillette. Beautiful little campus and a very pleasant stop before several more hours of driving.
Tree of the day: the American Basswood we ate lunch under.
We arrived in Knoxville and promptly enjoyed some Waffle House for dinner. It was really awesome trying to explain a southern drawl to my friends and then having some really great examples for them to hear. It was a really great dinner, and our waitress had some ideas as to what to do in downtown Knoxville. We ended up walking all over down, finding it to be pretty empty but nice. It was a beautiful evening.
Day four, Friday 9 September (in progress): This morning we drove to Nashville and walked all over the place. We started at a Visitors Center and walked up 5th Avenue past some beautiful churches and historic buildings. We spent some time in the Tennessee State Museum, which was mostly interesting to me because the Civil War was explained with a slightly different perspective than I was raised learning in the northeast. We walked up to the Capitol Building and then adventured along Broadway, which is dotted with music shops and restaurants and pubs with music being played. The music changed every 20 feet. We came to our hotel to rest for a while and are now heading back out to enjoy the music scene here in Music City...
After Hurricane Irene, I was at camp without power, phones and occasionally water for a week. During that time I spent a great deal of time with the international staff who hadn't yet gone home. They talked me into a roadtrip they'd been planning. My bosses gave me the time off, so here I am, now 1000 miles into a 2600 sojourn around Kentucky. Seriously, that's about the only state we're not going to pass through in the next week and a half. Maciej (Poland), Jozef (Slovakia), Jakub (Czech Republic), Michael (England), Timi (Hungary) and I are on a pretty excellent adventure.
Day one, Tuesday 6 September: Arlington, VA/Washington, DC. Due to torrential downpour and a late start, we didn't arrive to the area till mid afternoon, at which point the rain held off long enough to wander the National Mall and all of the good monuments and memorials around it. We saw the White House and the Capitol. I love DC and it was a joy to show my friends around. We stayed with my friend Becky and her sweet baby boy Arlo.
Day two, Wednesday 7 September: After a walk through Arlington National Cemetery and spending some time in a few of the Smithsonian Museums, we drove to Harrisonburg via Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. It was a pretty overcast day so we spend a lot of time driving through clouds and wondering what the views looked like. Late in the drive we broke through and enjoyed some lovely vistas and an incredible sunset. We arrived in Harrisonburg in time to have dinner with our friend, Gordo, who was hosting us for the night, and really just spent the night hanging out in his apartment with his roommates and Brendan, another camp friend.
The tree of the day would have been this incredible Post Oak found near the Eternal Flame in Arlington Cemetery, but it was taken out by Hurricane Irene. Thankfully Becky and I visited it earlier in the summer.
Day three, Thursday 8 September: Long drive from Harrisonburg to Knoxville, Tennessee, via the Blue Ridge Parkway and Roanoke. We were hesitant to take the Blue Ridge Parkway because it was once again overcast, but we took the chance and were thrilled by the views. It was a very peaceful, winding drive. We stopped in Salem, VA at Roanoke College and had a lovely peanut butter and jelly picnic lunch with our friend Sarah Gillette. Beautiful little campus and a very pleasant stop before several more hours of driving.
Tree of the day: the American Basswood we ate lunch under.
We arrived in Knoxville and promptly enjoyed some Waffle House for dinner. It was really awesome trying to explain a southern drawl to my friends and then having some really great examples for them to hear. It was a really great dinner, and our waitress had some ideas as to what to do in downtown Knoxville. We ended up walking all over down, finding it to be pretty empty but nice. It was a beautiful evening.
Day four, Friday 9 September (in progress): This morning we drove to Nashville and walked all over the place. We started at a Visitors Center and walked up 5th Avenue past some beautiful churches and historic buildings. We spent some time in the Tennessee State Museum, which was mostly interesting to me because the Civil War was explained with a slightly different perspective than I was raised learning in the northeast. We walked up to the Capitol Building and then adventured along Broadway, which is dotted with music shops and restaurants and pubs with music being played. The music changed every 20 feet. We came to our hotel to rest for a while and are now heading back out to enjoy the music scene here in Music City...
05 June 2011
and back again
Long 24 hours or so, but definitely good.
Yesterday, Taylor and I went to the Herdon Fest to see my college roommate Brittany play. This was my first time seeing her play live, and sadly her band was not playing with her today, but she played beautifully and it was really fun to see her perform. Hopefully it won't be so long till the next time I get to see her play!
After getting dinner, I hit the road en route to Wilmington for a layover/Catherine retrieval before my Sunday church visit. This week: Cranbury, an old church in a little town.
We left Wilmington a few minutes later than I'd hoped but it resulted in witnessing something really cool: the Sullenberger plane was being transported very slowly, accompanied by a herd of police vehicles, down Route 130. It was kind of exciting to see that happy piece of history.
Cranbury is a really cute, tiny, historic town, founded well before the Revolutionary War. I was unfortunately in a hurry to get back to camp for something going on in the afternoon so didn't get to enjoy it as much as I could have, but the main street was dotted with old houses and cemeteries. Very pretty.
Yesterday, Taylor and I went to the Herdon Fest to see my college roommate Brittany play. This was my first time seeing her play live, and sadly her band was not playing with her today, but she played beautifully and it was really fun to see her perform. Hopefully it won't be so long till the next time I get to see her play!
After getting dinner, I hit the road en route to Wilmington for a layover/Catherine retrieval before my Sunday church visit. This week: Cranbury, an old church in a little town.
We left Wilmington a few minutes later than I'd hoped but it resulted in witnessing something really cool: the Sullenberger plane was being transported very slowly, accompanied by a herd of police vehicles, down Route 130. It was kind of exciting to see that happy piece of history.
Cranbury is a really cute, tiny, historic town, founded well before the Revolutionary War. I was unfortunately in a hurry to get back to camp for something going on in the afternoon so didn't get to enjoy it as much as I could have, but the main street was dotted with old houses and cemeteries. Very pretty.
03 June 2011
Farragut North, Dupont Circle, Mad Fox
Shortly after my last post, I was able to get in touch with my friend Emily, who just moved to D.C. following some time in West Africa with Peace Corps and some time back home in Illinois near St. Louis. She's doing an internship near Farragut North, which is a stop that I don't believe I've really been around before yesterday.
She was still working when I managed to get there from Vienna via bus, the orange line and the red line. I spent some quality time at Au Bon Pain sipping iced coffee (still can't handle hot coffee since Mexico after getting so miserably ill from the milk) and enjoying Nelson Mandela's autobiography. She eventually joined me and we sat under an umbrella outside, just catching up. This is the first time I've seen her since before she graduated from Mary Washington in 2009! We talked about the similarities and differences between our respective regions of work in Africa, about books, about beer, about work, about grad school... it was so so great to see my good friend again!
We wandered to Kramerbooks and Afterwords, an awesome book store/cafe/bar closer to Dupont Circle, where we browsed books for a good while before getting a beer: Flying Dog Coffee Stout, which was really strong but really good. It was a really beautiful day and we sat on the back porch with our newly purchased books and beers (I got John McPhee's Silk Parachutes, she got something about the French language) and just enjoyed everything.
I was having such a great time catching up with Emily that I lost track of time and was late getting back to Northern Virginia for dinner at Mad Fox Brewpub with Taylor, Alison and Scott, which was also wonderful and a half. That restaurant is mad good and it was more wonderful company.
All of the adventures seem to be catching up to me; I crashed early last night. Subsequently, I woke up early this morning (almost an hour ago). Today's adventure: Fredericksburg!
She was still working when I managed to get there from Vienna via bus, the orange line and the red line. I spent some quality time at Au Bon Pain sipping iced coffee (still can't handle hot coffee since Mexico after getting so miserably ill from the milk) and enjoying Nelson Mandela's autobiography. She eventually joined me and we sat under an umbrella outside, just catching up. This is the first time I've seen her since before she graduated from Mary Washington in 2009! We talked about the similarities and differences between our respective regions of work in Africa, about books, about beer, about work, about grad school... it was so so great to see my good friend again!
We wandered to Kramerbooks and Afterwords, an awesome book store/cafe/bar closer to Dupont Circle, where we browsed books for a good while before getting a beer: Flying Dog Coffee Stout, which was really strong but really good. It was a really beautiful day and we sat on the back porch with our newly purchased books and beers (I got John McPhee's Silk Parachutes, she got something about the French language) and just enjoyed everything.
I was having such a great time catching up with Emily that I lost track of time and was late getting back to Northern Virginia for dinner at Mad Fox Brewpub with Taylor, Alison and Scott, which was also wonderful and a half. That restaurant is mad good and it was more wonderful company.
All of the adventures seem to be catching up to me; I crashed early last night. Subsequently, I woke up early this morning (almost an hour ago). Today's adventure: Fredericksburg!
03 May 2011
02 March 2011
Urban hiking with Becky is the tree's knees!
Yesterday was a beautiful day on the verge of spring in the Washington, DC area. I took the Metro to Rosslyn to meet up with my awesome friend Becky for some urban hiking.
We started with a stroll to Roosevelt Island. I'd never been there before, but it was quite lovely despite the lack of leaves. I'll have to go back when it's green again. Tree of the day: bald cypress, which I was able to identify despite its lack of foliage by the knees in the dried up wetlands. I first saw this tree when driving through the Inner Banks of the Carolinas en route to a geography conference in Charleston during senior year of college. Because of that, I was surprised to see this tree so far north, but it turns out its native range is from the Delaware Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. So cool (or dorky, whatever, but I'm excited about it)!
After a loop of Roosevelt Island, we walked over the Key Bridge into Georgetown down a busy street. After a few blocks, we cut down a side street, which was surprisingly silent in comparison, crossing the C & O canal (which we have vowed to bike some of together sometime) and walking along the Potomac for a while.
The main attraction that our hike was based on was an India exhibit at the Kennedy Center that was supposed to be opening yesterday. We got there and found that aside from a few beautiful saris on display, the exhibit was still being set up and there was very little to see. However, I did learn that saris are six yards long (apparently quite a lot of which is just folded up to form pleats at the bottom-- Becky has experience in this department from her time in Peace Corps and her world traveling thereafter). We sat on the roof and enjoyed the sun for a while, ate lunch, and continued on our way.
We kept walking along the waterfront, passing behind the Lincoln Memorial and walking over the Arlington Bridge. We walked through the cemetery (while jogging is prohibited out of respect, apparently it's ok to just stroll through... it is kind of a strange feeling to have this sacred burial space being so open to the public as a park). I thought about our last living WWI vet's passing earlier this week. He'll be buried at Arlington with so many who have gone before him. It's amazing how history just rolls on. Becky showed me that on the back of one of the headstones toward the end of the cemetery was a plaque-- he was one of the men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. We would cross the street and walk near the Marine Corps Memorial next on our way back to her lovely home.
View Larger Map
Beautiful day, over 7.5 miles of excellent walking. Back at Becky's place, we spent some time looking through her gorgeous photos of India and hanging out with her husband Dana. So wonderful.
After a while I went on to meet a few college friends at 51st State for happy hour. I was exhausted but it's always great to see everyone. It was also funny to take the Metro to the same area I'd walked earlier. Beer of the day: 51st State's Amber Ale.
Good day, good company, good weather, good night's sleep.
We started with a stroll to Roosevelt Island. I'd never been there before, but it was quite lovely despite the lack of leaves. I'll have to go back when it's green again. Tree of the day: bald cypress, which I was able to identify despite its lack of foliage by the knees in the dried up wetlands. I first saw this tree when driving through the Inner Banks of the Carolinas en route to a geography conference in Charleston during senior year of college. Because of that, I was surprised to see this tree so far north, but it turns out its native range is from the Delaware Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. So cool (or dorky, whatever, but I'm excited about it)!
After a loop of Roosevelt Island, we walked over the Key Bridge into Georgetown down a busy street. After a few blocks, we cut down a side street, which was surprisingly silent in comparison, crossing the C & O canal (which we have vowed to bike some of together sometime) and walking along the Potomac for a while.
The main attraction that our hike was based on was an India exhibit at the Kennedy Center that was supposed to be opening yesterday. We got there and found that aside from a few beautiful saris on display, the exhibit was still being set up and there was very little to see. However, I did learn that saris are six yards long (apparently quite a lot of which is just folded up to form pleats at the bottom-- Becky has experience in this department from her time in Peace Corps and her world traveling thereafter). We sat on the roof and enjoyed the sun for a while, ate lunch, and continued on our way.
We kept walking along the waterfront, passing behind the Lincoln Memorial and walking over the Arlington Bridge. We walked through the cemetery (while jogging is prohibited out of respect, apparently it's ok to just stroll through... it is kind of a strange feeling to have this sacred burial space being so open to the public as a park). I thought about our last living WWI vet's passing earlier this week. He'll be buried at Arlington with so many who have gone before him. It's amazing how history just rolls on. Becky showed me that on the back of one of the headstones toward the end of the cemetery was a plaque-- he was one of the men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. We would cross the street and walk near the Marine Corps Memorial next on our way back to her lovely home.
View Larger Map
Beautiful day, over 7.5 miles of excellent walking. Back at Becky's place, we spent some time looking through her gorgeous photos of India and hanging out with her husband Dana. So wonderful.
After a while I went on to meet a few college friends at 51st State for happy hour. I was exhausted but it's always great to see everyone. It was also funny to take the Metro to the same area I'd walked earlier. Beer of the day: 51st State's Amber Ale.
Good day, good company, good weather, good night's sleep.
06 January 2011
cool as a cucumber
It's been a lovely week thus far in the D.C. Metro Area. I've been here since New Year's Day, and I've seen a few new places in Northern Virginia and been able to catch up with a lot of wonderful people.
On Sunday evening, Taylor and I met up with JT and Riley at Vintage 50, a brew pub in Leesburg. I'd never been that far west in northern VA before, but it was a lovely evening catching up. It was dark out, so I didn't have much of an impression of the area other than enjoying the restaurant and company and waffle fries. I did notice earlier in the day while running errands with Taylor that the landscape is a lot more rolling than I expected-- I spent much of the car ride with my eyes shut to quell the queasiness that subsequently ensued.
On Monday, I accompanied my good friend and source of the infamous toothbrush quote Becky back to Leesburg for some necessary shopping-- the whole reason I'm in Virginia in the first place this week is to attend a wedding this weekend, for which I didn't have a dress to wear. I was correct about the landscape, lovely and rolling, but it was nice to see slightly less development as we drove west of Fairfax County. We had a successful day and actually also ate at Vintage 50, meeting up with one of Becky's awesome college friends and her very cool son Charlie.
Tuesday involved me spending a lot of time in the library working on thesis while Taylor and everyone else I knew was at work. I accomplished quite a bit before meeting up with various cut-ups and cut-up associates in Arlington. I always like visiting Arlington because it tends to involve awesome people and I like being able to walk from place to place-- on this night it included Earl's (delicious) and Galaxy Hut (also delicious) (except for the Bourbon Stout-- beer of the day would probably be the IPA from Cricket Hill in NJ, which I always see more of in VA than in NJ).
I met up with my college roommate Brittany for dinner on Wednesday (joined by Taylor after he got off work), but spent the day at the mall and library in Springfield, which is another area that is surprisingly hilly. I guess I've only spent time in the flat parts of northern Virginia previously. Good thing I know how to drive my stick shift reliably.
So after spending the entire week thus far around northern Virginia, I finally made it into D.C. itself today, having another wonderful visit with the aforementioned awesome Becky. We volunteered at D.C. Central Kitchen this morning, cutting cucumbers and lettuce for hours to be put into salads and sent to various shelters and schools around the city. What an awesome program-- locally sourced food, training former criminals to be chefs, feeding many people in need. It was incredibly relaxing to just cut veggies all morning.
After finishing at the kitchen, Becky escorted me to purchase a SmartTrip-- her contribution to convincing me to move to the area. Whether or not I find work and move here any time soon, I will be sure to visit, especially now that I have my way cool SmarTrip card!
Tonight I head to Richmond to kick off wedding festivities!
On Sunday evening, Taylor and I met up with JT and Riley at Vintage 50, a brew pub in Leesburg. I'd never been that far west in northern VA before, but it was a lovely evening catching up. It was dark out, so I didn't have much of an impression of the area other than enjoying the restaurant and company and waffle fries. I did notice earlier in the day while running errands with Taylor that the landscape is a lot more rolling than I expected-- I spent much of the car ride with my eyes shut to quell the queasiness that subsequently ensued.
On Monday, I accompanied my good friend and source of the infamous toothbrush quote Becky back to Leesburg for some necessary shopping-- the whole reason I'm in Virginia in the first place this week is to attend a wedding this weekend, for which I didn't have a dress to wear. I was correct about the landscape, lovely and rolling, but it was nice to see slightly less development as we drove west of Fairfax County. We had a successful day and actually also ate at Vintage 50, meeting up with one of Becky's awesome college friends and her very cool son Charlie.
Tuesday involved me spending a lot of time in the library working on thesis while Taylor and everyone else I knew was at work. I accomplished quite a bit before meeting up with various cut-ups and cut-up associates in Arlington. I always like visiting Arlington because it tends to involve awesome people and I like being able to walk from place to place-- on this night it included Earl's (delicious) and Galaxy Hut (also delicious) (except for the Bourbon Stout-- beer of the day would probably be the IPA from Cricket Hill in NJ, which I always see more of in VA than in NJ).
I met up with my college roommate Brittany for dinner on Wednesday (joined by Taylor after he got off work), but spent the day at the mall and library in Springfield, which is another area that is surprisingly hilly. I guess I've only spent time in the flat parts of northern Virginia previously. Good thing I know how to drive my stick shift reliably.
So after spending the entire week thus far around northern Virginia, I finally made it into D.C. itself today, having another wonderful visit with the aforementioned awesome Becky. We volunteered at D.C. Central Kitchen this morning, cutting cucumbers and lettuce for hours to be put into salads and sent to various shelters and schools around the city. What an awesome program-- locally sourced food, training former criminals to be chefs, feeding many people in need. It was incredibly relaxing to just cut veggies all morning.
After finishing at the kitchen, Becky escorted me to purchase a SmartTrip-- her contribution to convincing me to move to the area. Whether or not I find work and move here any time soon, I will be sure to visit, especially now that I have my way cool SmarTrip card!
Tonight I head to Richmond to kick off wedding festivities!
17 November 2010
another whirlwind trip to VA
This past weekend I made my 8th trip to Virginia this year, this time to help celebrate the marriage of my awesome college roommate Brittany and her awesome husband Adam! Of course, I spent a few extra days before and after, visiting with other friends in the area as well.
First, I have to say, Northern Virginia continues to charm me. Well, the traffic is still not charming, nor is the overdevelopment, but I keep finding new things that I enjoy. First was Jammin Java in Vienna. I traveled down on Thursday night so that I could just wake up and get to work on some thesis things Friday morning. However, I beat the librarians to the local library, much to my chagrin. So I wandered down two blocks to Jammin Java, which is awesome for reasons including, but not limited to: good selection of teas (and all of the coffee type beverages that coffee drinkers would appreciate), they were playing my favorite Radiohead album when I walked in, they apparently had Dogfish Head on tap (it was 9.30 in the morning, I didn't find out what brew in particular), well priced, nice staff... sweet little music venue, I imagine. I also later found out that the owners are from Jersey. Of course it was awesome. I happily worked here for a few hours before hitting the library.
Also very charming in Northern VA: Mad Fox Brewing Company in Falls Church, where my dude and I met up with my beer buddy and his girlfriend. My full review is here. The short version: AWESOME.
However, beer of the day probably goes to the incredible Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout, acquired at The Big Hunt in D.C.
Not the tree of the trip: that awesome mulberry tree. Taylor and I had planned on going back with my tree measuring tape (I know I'm a dork) to figure out how old it is, but I forgot the tape. Argh.
The wedding was on Saturday in Fairfax at Historic St. Mary's chapel. What a lovely little church, and a really sweet wedding. I lived with Brittany from sophomore year onward and really enjoyed getting to know them both through those years. It was awesome to see them finally make it official! It was also pretty sweet to catch up with the rest of our sweet suite.
On Sunday morning, I went to Kitty's with Taylor for brunch and English soccer. Brunch was good, and I fulfilled a life goal to consume Guinness before noon (clearly the beer of the day, as a result). I don't think I have a drinking problem, but I was jealous when I received a text message from my beer buddy during the World Cup saying he was enjoying a game with a Guinness... at about 9 AM. We ended up heading into D.C. to hang out with Luke for a while before eventually meeting our friends Scott and Alison for an excellent dinner at Dishes of India. It was great to catch up with them over such a delicious meal.
On Monday, I headed back to Jersey, specifically my office on Livingston Campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway, which I took a rather inefficient route to reach, avoiding tolls and touring things aside from I-95. It was a productive afternoon and evening in the office after taking my sweet time getting there. Always tough to get back to work after such a great weekend, but that thesis is calling, and it is again right now...
23 September 2010
a brief but awesome interruption in Malawi stories and life in general
I woke up Tuesday morning believing that my day would consist of teaching two sections of Human Ecology, taking the train into the city to meet up with a few friends from college and possibly have dinner with another friend before heading back to my car at Rutgers and driving home to Toms River.
Shortly after the first section ended, I received a phone call from Taylor. He and Justin had driven up from Virginia late the night before and stayed with our friend Brendan in Ocean Grove. The three were going to see Pavement in Central Park and we were all going to meet up for a while first, as far as I knew. Except Taylor told me they were on the Turnpike, how do they get to my classroom?
Within half an hour they had successfully found parking and navigated the Rutgers bus system and were standing outside of my classroom door. At this point, I learn they have an extra ticket to the concert, so the plans changed to us all going into the city together from New Brunswick. Sweet! As much fun as it would have been to have them sit in on my second class, I sent them over to the grease trucks on College Ave for lunch while I taught. Afterward we met up and got on a train to NY Penn Station.
Once in the city, it should have been easy enough to get to Central Park and find this concert. I had never been to the Rumsey Playfield in the park before but we figured it all out. Someone had been "injured" further up the line from where we needed to go, so there were huge delays and we ended up having to switch trains. Brendan had insisted the concert was at 5.30 which sounded a little strange to me but we went with it. I didn't know better since I hadn't planned on going until it was too late to check the details myself. Doors were 5.30; they were still setting the stage. And we foolishly went in, rather than killing time elsewhere. At least it was good company and a totally gorgeous day.
The concert was great!
group shot waiting for the subway train
We got back to New Brunswick close to 1AM. Justin and Taylor both had work in the morning in Virginia, and Brendan still needed to get home. What am I responsible for on Wednesdays? Little to nothing (besides working on that thesis, of course). And so, after driving 60 miles to Rutgers, teaching, then spending the rest of the day in the city, I drove Justin's car first to drop off Brendan in Ocean Grove (about 40 miles), then to get Taylor and Justin back to VA while they caught a few hours of sleep. It was about 225 miles to Taylor's in Northern Virginia, and I drove all of it, arriving a little before 6AM. We decided it'd be cheaper for me to take a train from Washington, D.C. and Justin was rested enough, so he drove the last two hours to Richmond, practically straight to his office. I took the Metro to Union Station, Amtrak to Philadelphia 30th Street Station, SEPTA to Trenton, NJ Transit back to New Brunswick, Rutgers bus back to the campus where my car was, then drove home a very tired girl. Very tired, but feeling fulfilled by another excellent adventure.
Shortly after the first section ended, I received a phone call from Taylor. He and Justin had driven up from Virginia late the night before and stayed with our friend Brendan in Ocean Grove. The three were going to see Pavement in Central Park and we were all going to meet up for a while first, as far as I knew. Except Taylor told me they were on the Turnpike, how do they get to my classroom?
Within half an hour they had successfully found parking and navigated the Rutgers bus system and were standing outside of my classroom door. At this point, I learn they have an extra ticket to the concert, so the plans changed to us all going into the city together from New Brunswick. Sweet! As much fun as it would have been to have them sit in on my second class, I sent them over to the grease trucks on College Ave for lunch while I taught. Afterward we met up and got on a train to NY Penn Station.
Once in the city, it should have been easy enough to get to Central Park and find this concert. I had never been to the Rumsey Playfield in the park before but we figured it all out. Someone had been "injured" further up the line from where we needed to go, so there were huge delays and we ended up having to switch trains. Brendan had insisted the concert was at 5.30 which sounded a little strange to me but we went with it. I didn't know better since I hadn't planned on going until it was too late to check the details myself. Doors were 5.30; they were still setting the stage. And we foolishly went in, rather than killing time elsewhere. At least it was good company and a totally gorgeous day.
The concert was great!
group shot waiting for the subway train
We got back to New Brunswick close to 1AM. Justin and Taylor both had work in the morning in Virginia, and Brendan still needed to get home. What am I responsible for on Wednesdays? Little to nothing (besides working on that thesis, of course). And so, after driving 60 miles to Rutgers, teaching, then spending the rest of the day in the city, I drove Justin's car first to drop off Brendan in Ocean Grove (about 40 miles), then to get Taylor and Justin back to VA while they caught a few hours of sleep. It was about 225 miles to Taylor's in Northern Virginia, and I drove all of it, arriving a little before 6AM. We decided it'd be cheaper for me to take a train from Washington, D.C. and Justin was rested enough, so he drove the last two hours to Richmond, practically straight to his office. I took the Metro to Union Station, Amtrak to Philadelphia 30th Street Station, SEPTA to Trenton, NJ Transit back to New Brunswick, Rutgers bus back to the campus where my car was, then drove home a very tired girl. Very tired, but feeling fulfilled by another excellent adventure.
07 September 2010
This is the story of how we begin to remember.
The subject is a line from Paul Simon's "Under African Skies" which was admittedly stuck in my head as I was leaving on August 20th, at which point I used the lyric about walking the length of the days under African skies as my facebook status. Nerdy, I know, but appropriate. Over the next few weeks I'm planning on sharing some of my stories and journal entries on here, but in the meantime, here's what I accomplished in my visit to Virginia over the weekend:
- Still not on Eastern time, woke up and drove down to Paul's in Alexandria early Saturday. Stopped in to say hello and then met Taylor and Scott for lunch on King Street. Good to see them!
- Took a nap back at Paul's because I wasn't functioning. Woke up after a little over an hour and was functioning at a lower level than before, just in time to meet a few of his friends who were over for the football games. I bet I made an awesome impression. Sorry guys!
- Ended up heading into D.C. to meet a group of internationals I worked with over the summer and wandered around with them for a bit. There was an awesome sunset as we crossed the mall. Great to see everyone (Julia, Gyöngyi, Timi, David and Dave) before they continued traveling and heading home!
- Went back to Paul's and caught the end of the game. Stepped away to brush my teeth and continued my good impression on his friends by not saying goodbye, since the games all ended and they left before I returned. My bad.
- I went down several hours early to veg/ pretend to make lesson plans for Tuesday at Hyperion. I love love love that place. If there is one thing I really feel that Rutgers is missing, it's a good, local coffee shop like that. I actually ran into Ross and Matt as they were heading off to do groomsmen stuff, which was fun like old times. Actually, one of my favorite random memories of the end of senior year was running into the two of them there on a gorgeous day and just sitting for an hour since I had little else to do anyway. Oh, Hyperion. So lovely.
- I walked around town for a little while, seeing what's new and what's old, before heading over to the Presbyterian Church (which is definitely old). The wedding ceremony itself was hands down the shortest I've ever been at, but the pastor got all of the important things in there. It was downright impressive. And also beautiful. I just totally adore Jeremy and Adrienne together.
- The reception was at the Alumni Center and was a totally classy affair. It was great to catch up with music department friends despite the fact that my travels have left me a bit under the weather*.
- After, some of us went to the Kenmore Inn. How didn't I know where this was?! Pathetic. But there are a lot of major historic sites in Fredericksburg, so I guess it's fair to not know every single one of them. We hung out in the basement, which seems like a pretty cool place to go with people. I was still feeling the jetlag though so I went back to Alexandria for the night.
- I met up with my dear college roommate Brittany and walked all over Old Town Alexandria. For all the times I've visited Paul, I haven't really walked around that part of the city. Brittany and I walked from Braddock Road down to King Street and to the waterfront, where we happened upon the Torpedo Factory. This is a place I actually learned about in a geography class once! We checked out some of the art inside and continued along the waterfront. I love seeing this woman. I'm so glad we were able to coordinate!
- Then back to Fredericksburg for a quick run-in with my friend Noah and a few of his people. He had gotten back from England the night before after spending the summer there. He might have been the only person I saw over the weekend who looked more exhausted and crazy than I did. Sorry Noah...
- I spent the afternoon with my cousin Laura, who just started at Mary Washington. She grew up somewhat near Fredericksburg but hasn't really walked around town and figured it out for herself yet. However, she seems to be doing great at school and we had a lot of fun getting ice cream and checking out other shops and houses downtown. I am loving this excuse to get to know her better, and also to stop in Fredericksburg even though my friends have all graduated and moved on!
- In the evening, the plan was to meet Taylor, Alison and Scott for dinner, but the latter two were at a wedding, so really Taylor and I just people watched from benches on campus walk for a while before deciding we weren't hungry and traffic wasn't going to be that bad. I made the drive home in decent time despite some initial congestion (people returning from holiday weekend?) so that I could be well rested for my first day back in the classroom today.
20 April 2010
geography adventures
Adventures inherently involve geography-- that's kind of the point of this blog. However, I spent the last week in the Washington, D.C. metro area attending the American Association of Geographers annual meeting. I did quite a bit of couch surfing (thanks to Paul, Scott, Alison and Scott) and quite a lot more catching up with good people.
I drove down on Wednesday morning with a few friends from the Rutgers Geography department. We checked into the conference, which was up in lovely Adams Morgan in the city. We wandered around the National Mall a bit after registering.
The rest of the week was a mix of catching up with excellent people-- a bunch of my friends from college came into D.C. on Friday night to go out with another friend from college who was at the conference and me. I got to catch up with old professors as well, which is always awesome.
On Monday, I visited my dear alma mater, Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg. My friend Hilary had just gotten back to Virginia from Utah late the night before, and joined me to wander around campus and town. It's amazing how much changes in such a short time! Renovations everywhere, new developments across the highway from the original campus block, the geography department is in "diaspora" mode following the movement out of their home building into trailers, and their movement from those trailers upon them partially collapsing under all the snow this winter into other random offices and buildings. It was lovely to see town.
I had a really nice visit to my favorite commonwealth! It's always good to see old friends and enjoy the lovely region. I'll be returning twice more in the next month: once for the Muddy Buddy during the first weekend of May, and again a week and a half later to see two friends coming into Richmond from much further away than I'll be coming.
I drove down on Wednesday morning with a few friends from the Rutgers Geography department. We checked into the conference, which was up in lovely Adams Morgan in the city. We wandered around the National Mall a bit after registering.
The rest of the week was a mix of catching up with excellent people-- a bunch of my friends from college came into D.C. on Friday night to go out with another friend from college who was at the conference and me. I got to catch up with old professors as well, which is always awesome.
On Monday, I visited my dear alma mater, Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg. My friend Hilary had just gotten back to Virginia from Utah late the night before, and joined me to wander around campus and town. It's amazing how much changes in such a short time! Renovations everywhere, new developments across the highway from the original campus block, the geography department is in "diaspora" mode following the movement out of their home building into trailers, and their movement from those trailers upon them partially collapsing under all the snow this winter into other random offices and buildings. It was lovely to see town.
I had a really nice visit to my favorite commonwealth! It's always good to see old friends and enjoy the lovely region. I'll be returning twice more in the next month: once for the Muddy Buddy during the first weekend of May, and again a week and a half later to see two friends coming into Richmond from much further away than I'll be coming.
03 January 2010
failing to plan is planning to... have an excellent adventure!
I really don't do this every weekend, just last weekend, and this weekend... and some other times... everything turned out rather nicely considering I didn't really plan anything past arriving in Virginia around noon on New Year's Day...
I spent New Year's Eve with my older brother and his wife and some friends just outside of Philadelphia (a mile from where I went last week!). They're pretty fun, although they don't exactly encourage a good night's sleep... we watched the Jersey Shore "marathon" (3 episodes does not a marathon make, especially when I knew the Twilight Zone marathon was on...), which could be an entire post in here about how it's not actually about us here at the shore, just the crazies who come visit in the summer... arghrghhh.... but anyway. Lovely time in Willow Grove!
The good night of sleep would have been useful the next morning, when I drove to northern Virginia, but I made it safely to Alexandria where my friends Alison and Scott live. (Last time I saw them was their wedding weekend! Hooray!) We went down to Fredericksburg together to enjoy lunch at my favorite Chinese food place (where the waiter still remembers me and wanted to know where all of my music department friends were, and what I was doing there...) and eventually meet up with our friend JT, who is home for his short winter break from his grad program in Nottingham, England. We snacked at the new University Cafe because all the awesome places I love were closed on New Year's Day, but eventually Capitol Ale House opened, where we had dinner and a drink. Beer of the day: Terrapin's SunRay Wheat.
After a good visit, I spent the night at Scott and Alison's and headed into D.C. for the following day. None of my friends were awake/functioning when I first headed in, so I went to the Smithsonian African Art museum by myself and wandered around for hours, really taken by the current exhibit of Yinka Shonibare's work. He does a lot of interesting things with headless mannequins, Dutch wax printed cotton, and political statements of sorts. My favorite was called Scramble For Africa. It's a dozen of said headless mannequins (representing the mass beheadings of the French Revolution and/or various rulers not using their heads and brains) dressed in late Victorian clothing made from said Dutch wax print cotton, arguing around a table with a map of the African continent on it. It was pretty cool.
Also, I found a random weird tree near the Smithsonian Castle. The Wollemi Pine. It's considered a living fossil, and scientists thought it was extinct until the mid-90s! Tree of the trip. It was about 20 degrees with wind chill of single digits in D.C. due to gusts above 40mph, so it's not like a whole lot else was green and identifiable during this trip (though this tree had a little sign next to it, explaining its significance, truthfully).
Eventually, people woke up. I met with a few other former Mary Washington Geographers and associates, Taylor, Scott Z. and Tim. We went to the National Building Museum and went through two exhibits: one about the history of the parking garage, and one about the development of the city of Washington, D.C. It was pretty cool, but we were mostly baffled as to why such a small set of exhibits was in such a huuuuuge building-- turns out it's the former Pension Department, which we still question as to why it was located in such a huuuuuge building. Interesting, though mostly being utilized as an indoor park in the chilly weather. Kids everywhere playing with blocks and toys.
We took the Metro to the Court House stop and had an early dinner at a sweet place called Earl's. I am liking Northern Virginia more and more all the time. I had the Mona Lisa, which is eggplant with mushrooms, peppers, provalone and pesto mayo on fresh bread. So good. I metro'd back to my car and drove back to New Jersey, total mileage around 550 if you include Scott and Alison driving me to Fredericksburg and back from Alexandria... this entry could be subtitled "the 500 more". Good weekend!
I spent New Year's Eve with my older brother and his wife and some friends just outside of Philadelphia (a mile from where I went last week!). They're pretty fun, although they don't exactly encourage a good night's sleep... we watched the Jersey Shore "marathon" (3 episodes does not a marathon make, especially when I knew the Twilight Zone marathon was on...), which could be an entire post in here about how it's not actually about us here at the shore, just the crazies who come visit in the summer... arghrghhh.... but anyway. Lovely time in Willow Grove!
The good night of sleep would have been useful the next morning, when I drove to northern Virginia, but I made it safely to Alexandria where my friends Alison and Scott live. (Last time I saw them was their wedding weekend! Hooray!) We went down to Fredericksburg together to enjoy lunch at my favorite Chinese food place (where the waiter still remembers me and wanted to know where all of my music department friends were, and what I was doing there...) and eventually meet up with our friend JT, who is home for his short winter break from his grad program in Nottingham, England. We snacked at the new University Cafe because all the awesome places I love were closed on New Year's Day, but eventually Capitol Ale House opened, where we had dinner and a drink. Beer of the day: Terrapin's SunRay Wheat.
After a good visit, I spent the night at Scott and Alison's and headed into D.C. for the following day. None of my friends were awake/functioning when I first headed in, so I went to the Smithsonian African Art museum by myself and wandered around for hours, really taken by the current exhibit of Yinka Shonibare's work. He does a lot of interesting things with headless mannequins, Dutch wax printed cotton, and political statements of sorts. My favorite was called Scramble For Africa. It's a dozen of said headless mannequins (representing the mass beheadings of the French Revolution and/or various rulers not using their heads and brains) dressed in late Victorian clothing made from said Dutch wax print cotton, arguing around a table with a map of the African continent on it. It was pretty cool.
Also, I found a random weird tree near the Smithsonian Castle. The Wollemi Pine. It's considered a living fossil, and scientists thought it was extinct until the mid-90s! Tree of the trip. It was about 20 degrees with wind chill of single digits in D.C. due to gusts above 40mph, so it's not like a whole lot else was green and identifiable during this trip (though this tree had a little sign next to it, explaining its significance, truthfully).
Eventually, people woke up. I met with a few other former Mary Washington Geographers and associates, Taylor, Scott Z. and Tim. We went to the National Building Museum and went through two exhibits: one about the history of the parking garage, and one about the development of the city of Washington, D.C. It was pretty cool, but we were mostly baffled as to why such a small set of exhibits was in such a huuuuuge building-- turns out it's the former Pension Department, which we still question as to why it was located in such a huuuuuge building. Interesting, though mostly being utilized as an indoor park in the chilly weather. Kids everywhere playing with blocks and toys.
We took the Metro to the Court House stop and had an early dinner at a sweet place called Earl's. I am liking Northern Virginia more and more all the time. I had the Mona Lisa, which is eggplant with mushrooms, peppers, provalone and pesto mayo on fresh bread. So good. I metro'd back to my car and drove back to New Jersey, total mileage around 550 if you include Scott and Alison driving me to Fredericksburg and back from Alexandria... this entry could be subtitled "the 500 more". Good weekend!
30 December 2009
and I would drive 500 miles, and I would drive 500 more...
About a year ago, I made a whirlwind roadtrip to Williamsburg, Virginia and back, prompting my friend Paul to make a comment about how of course I'd travel 20 mph in my sleep, in response to me telling him I'd driven about 750 miles in 36 hours (see the subtitle of this blog!). The tradition continues.
From the time I got my driver's license, I have apparently been known as the girl who would drive a few hours to see someone for a little while. I didn't realize I'd been typecasted this way till this weekend, but apparently it's super true. Some of my earliest roadtrips were to meet up with some of my friends who I used to go to summer camp with (Dan, Greg, Sarah and Alice). The last time we all saw each other was New Year's Day 2004. Greg and I currently live closer than ever, and he recently challenged me to meet up with him before New Year's 2010. I accepted, and raised him one-- we get the band back together! (No, we didn't actually have a band, but that would have been awesome.) We tried our best, but the stars didn't quite align, mostly because Dan can't read a calendar, but we like him anyway and as a result, hung out with him.
I drove out to Abington, PA to meet Dan and Greg for lunch on the 26th. It was great to catch up! The weather was cold, rainy and overall miserable, and if the stereotype about me is that I drive a lot, the stereotype about Dan is that he's never dressed for the weather. That photo from 2004 is us pretending to be Mummers on Mummers Day. Please note, Dan is wearing a blanket that I often keep in my car, because on chilly New Year's Day, he did not have a sweatshirt or jacket. He met Greg and me for lunch and a beer and had a scarf, but no coat or umbrella, so we stayed at the restaurant for about 3 hours. Good visit!
Straight after that visit, I headed south to Fairfax, Virginia, to celebrate my college roommate Brittany's engagement to her longtime boyfriend Adam. Hooray! I ended up driving back to Toms River that night, total mileage for the day was just shy of 500 miles. The trip was planned poorly-- I expected to be meeting Dan on the 27th but he was flying out of Philly that day; I thought the party was in the afternoon on the 26th, so I didn't think it was totally ludicrous to drive back that night... ah well. I got home alive at 3.30AM. Poorly planned, but well enjoyed!
The next day, the rest of the stars aligned and I saw the rest of my old camp friends. I drove to the Rumson-Fairhaven area to pick up Sarah. This was a trip I made many times in high school-- Alice is from the same town. This, and me telling Sarah of the previous day's adventures, prompted her to inform me that yes, driving everyone and staying in touch with everyone is kind of my M.O. That's not the worst character trait ever, I think?
Sarah and I took NJ Transit from my apartment by Rutgers, and successfully got on the same train as Greg, who was coming from the Hamilton station. We met up with Alice when she got off work and headed down to the Village to a place called The Blind Tiger, where we enjoyed a few rounds. Small and loud, but good beer selection and great company!
Beers of the travels found here. Mostly wheat beers, which I really like!
Then I stayed still and caught up on sleep for a day.
Then was the annual Johnsonburg reunion. I did a little bit of volunteering this summer, and probably wouldn't have gone up, but I drove my friend Tim, who worked there the full summer and knew way more of the current summer staff than I do and also had an interview (same Timmy I visited in Minnesota). It was nice to spend some time with him since he has a short winter break. And I got to visit with a few other people who live at camp who I've missed. All in all, another good day.
Total mileage since Christmas: about 850. So not quite 500 miles plus 500 more, but definitely have not been sitting still. I'm heading out to my brother and sister-in-law's in Abington for New Year's and will be spending a couple of days in Virginia after that, so more travels on the way!
From the time I got my driver's license, I have apparently been known as the girl who would drive a few hours to see someone for a little while. I didn't realize I'd been typecasted this way till this weekend, but apparently it's super true. Some of my earliest roadtrips were to meet up with some of my friends who I used to go to summer camp with (Dan, Greg, Sarah and Alice). The last time we all saw each other was New Year's Day 2004. Greg and I currently live closer than ever, and he recently challenged me to meet up with him before New Year's 2010. I accepted, and raised him one-- we get the band back together! (No, we didn't actually have a band, but that would have been awesome.) We tried our best, but the stars didn't quite align, mostly because Dan can't read a calendar, but we like him anyway and as a result, hung out with him.
I drove out to Abington, PA to meet Dan and Greg for lunch on the 26th. It was great to catch up! The weather was cold, rainy and overall miserable, and if the stereotype about me is that I drive a lot, the stereotype about Dan is that he's never dressed for the weather. That photo from 2004 is us pretending to be Mummers on Mummers Day. Please note, Dan is wearing a blanket that I often keep in my car, because on chilly New Year's Day, he did not have a sweatshirt or jacket. He met Greg and me for lunch and a beer and had a scarf, but no coat or umbrella, so we stayed at the restaurant for about 3 hours. Good visit!
Straight after that visit, I headed south to Fairfax, Virginia, to celebrate my college roommate Brittany's engagement to her longtime boyfriend Adam. Hooray! I ended up driving back to Toms River that night, total mileage for the day was just shy of 500 miles. The trip was planned poorly-- I expected to be meeting Dan on the 27th but he was flying out of Philly that day; I thought the party was in the afternoon on the 26th, so I didn't think it was totally ludicrous to drive back that night... ah well. I got home alive at 3.30AM. Poorly planned, but well enjoyed!
The next day, the rest of the stars aligned and I saw the rest of my old camp friends. I drove to the Rumson-Fairhaven area to pick up Sarah. This was a trip I made many times in high school-- Alice is from the same town. This, and me telling Sarah of the previous day's adventures, prompted her to inform me that yes, driving everyone and staying in touch with everyone is kind of my M.O. That's not the worst character trait ever, I think?
Sarah and I took NJ Transit from my apartment by Rutgers, and successfully got on the same train as Greg, who was coming from the Hamilton station. We met up with Alice when she got off work and headed down to the Village to a place called The Blind Tiger, where we enjoyed a few rounds. Small and loud, but good beer selection and great company!
Beers of the travels found here. Mostly wheat beers, which I really like!
Then I stayed still and caught up on sleep for a day.
Then was the annual Johnsonburg reunion. I did a little bit of volunteering this summer, and probably wouldn't have gone up, but I drove my friend Tim, who worked there the full summer and knew way more of the current summer staff than I do and also had an interview (same Timmy I visited in Minnesota). It was nice to spend some time with him since he has a short winter break. And I got to visit with a few other people who live at camp who I've missed. All in all, another good day.
Total mileage since Christmas: about 850. So not quite 500 miles plus 500 more, but definitely have not been sitting still. I'm heading out to my brother and sister-in-law's in Abington for New Year's and will be spending a couple of days in Virginia after that, so more travels on the way!
02 October 2009
a more crystal clear image of NOVA
Live, from Northern Virginia!
I'm in Virginia for the weekend for a wedding (Alison and Scott, Mary Washington Geography 2007). They are lovely people and super wonderful together, and I couldn't be happier for them!
But it was also a great excuse to visit Virginia again. I love New Jersey. I love New Jersey a lot. But there will always be a special place in my heart for Virginia.
ANYWAY. My good friend Paul was kind enough to put me up for tonight here in Alexandria, VA. In fact, he took a half day so we could hang out in Washington this afternoon. We walked to the Metro from his apartment and didn't do much in D.C., just took a long walk around the mall and up to The George Washington University before taking the Metro back to NOVA to meet another friend of ours, Jill, in Crystal City for happy hour. Beer of the day: Backdraft Brown Ale. Really, really good. And Crystal City Sports Pub is really nice. Beautiful ADD inducing setup for games. Good food. And most importantly, decent selection of drafts.
ANYWAY. I've always had this rather negative perception of NOVA. In fact, I frequently say that if I end up in Washington after I graduate, I would live in Washington if at all possible rather than northern VA. The traffic is terrible. There's too many people. It's too expensive. Too suburby. I hated driving through northern Virginia to get to Mary Washington, and that was cutting through as quickly and quietly as possible. Well, shame on me. I'm always the one telling other people to avoid the interstate, and here I am, delightfully surprised by Paul's neighborhood.
He lives just a few minutes away from the interstate, between the really hoity toity area and the really opposite of that area. His digs are nice and his rent is reasonable for what he's got. There are food establishments within walking distance. Very awesomely, he is only a block away from the Metro, which means easy access to lots of other really wonderful places in the D.C. Metro area. I still view the overwhelming majority of NOVA to be really overwhelmingly crowded and expensive (weird, since I come from Jersey), but am happy to discover a more walkable, quiet area hiding in the midst of it all. Maybe I could handle something like this someday? But in the meantime, I'm grateful to my friend and his couch.
I'm in Virginia for the weekend for a wedding (Alison and Scott, Mary Washington Geography 2007). They are lovely people and super wonderful together, and I couldn't be happier for them!
But it was also a great excuse to visit Virginia again. I love New Jersey. I love New Jersey a lot. But there will always be a special place in my heart for Virginia.
ANYWAY. My good friend Paul was kind enough to put me up for tonight here in Alexandria, VA. In fact, he took a half day so we could hang out in Washington this afternoon. We walked to the Metro from his apartment and didn't do much in D.C., just took a long walk around the mall and up to The George Washington University before taking the Metro back to NOVA to meet another friend of ours, Jill, in Crystal City for happy hour. Beer of the day: Backdraft Brown Ale. Really, really good. And Crystal City Sports Pub is really nice. Beautiful ADD inducing setup for games. Good food. And most importantly, decent selection of drafts.
ANYWAY. I've always had this rather negative perception of NOVA. In fact, I frequently say that if I end up in Washington after I graduate, I would live in Washington if at all possible rather than northern VA. The traffic is terrible. There's too many people. It's too expensive. Too suburby. I hated driving through northern Virginia to get to Mary Washington, and that was cutting through as quickly and quietly as possible. Well, shame on me. I'm always the one telling other people to avoid the interstate, and here I am, delightfully surprised by Paul's neighborhood.
He lives just a few minutes away from the interstate, between the really hoity toity area and the really opposite of that area. His digs are nice and his rent is reasonable for what he's got. There are food establishments within walking distance. Very awesomely, he is only a block away from the Metro, which means easy access to lots of other really wonderful places in the D.C. Metro area. I still view the overwhelming majority of NOVA to be really overwhelmingly crowded and expensive (weird, since I come from Jersey), but am happy to discover a more walkable, quiet area hiding in the midst of it all. Maybe I could handle something like this someday? But in the meantime, I'm grateful to my friend and his couch.
28 December 2008
va va voom
For months I had been planning on going to Williamsburg on the 27 for my friends Alison and Scott's engagement party. They graduated a year before me, both geography majors at Mary Washington. After living there in Fredericksburg for four years, I still take for granted how large the Commonwealth of Virginia is, but figured a quick 375 miles to Williamsburg from home was not a big deal. However, the deal was sweetened when I found out that Junk Science would be playing the night of the 26. I had to be home today, so this trip ended up being a 750 miles in 36 hours whirlwind. I told this to my friend Paul, who responded, "Only Colleen Earp would go 20 miles per hour in her sleep." True story.
I left for Fredericksburg around 3PM Friday, arriving an hour before the band went on at The Loft at 9. Much to my dismay, this was actually the band's farewell show because the drummer is heading to Montana for a position with Americorps. (We are all happy for him, but the music will be missed!) While waiting for a college buddy of mine to meet me, I hung out at Hyperion, my favorite coffee shop maybe ever. Cute little historic building in a cute little historic city. It's not that I wanted to stay in college forever, but there are definitely things I miss about that town on the Rappahannock. Good show though, and I stayed at the house of one of the band members with a bunch of friends.
The next morning, after another stop at Hyperion (seriously, the iced coffee is cold brewed and just the best I've ever had), it was off to Williamsburg. The friend I met for the show the night before, Jonathan, was also a geography major with Alison, Scott and myself, and was also going to the party, so he drove us down there. I don't know why I had it in my head that once I was in Fredericksburg from NJ, Williamsburg wasn't much farther, but that's basically not true. It ended up being a long day and a fast turn around for me, but it was so good to see some old friends.
On the way home, I stopped in northern Virginia to see one of my old roommates, Brittany. I am overall not remotely a fan of the overdevelopment in Fairfax County, but I am a huge fan of Brittany so it was definitely worth the stop. It meant getting home at 3AM today, but it did make it an even 36 hours of touring the southern part of Megalopolis.
I left for Fredericksburg around 3PM Friday, arriving an hour before the band went on at The Loft at 9. Much to my dismay, this was actually the band's farewell show because the drummer is heading to Montana for a position with Americorps. (We are all happy for him, but the music will be missed!) While waiting for a college buddy of mine to meet me, I hung out at Hyperion, my favorite coffee shop maybe ever. Cute little historic building in a cute little historic city. It's not that I wanted to stay in college forever, but there are definitely things I miss about that town on the Rappahannock. Good show though, and I stayed at the house of one of the band members with a bunch of friends.
The next morning, after another stop at Hyperion (seriously, the iced coffee is cold brewed and just the best I've ever had), it was off to Williamsburg. The friend I met for the show the night before, Jonathan, was also a geography major with Alison, Scott and myself, and was also going to the party, so he drove us down there. I don't know why I had it in my head that once I was in Fredericksburg from NJ, Williamsburg wasn't much farther, but that's basically not true. It ended up being a long day and a fast turn around for me, but it was so good to see some old friends.
On the way home, I stopped in northern Virginia to see one of my old roommates, Brittany. I am overall not remotely a fan of the overdevelopment in Fairfax County, but I am a huge fan of Brittany so it was definitely worth the stop. It meant getting home at 3AM today, but it did make it an even 36 hours of touring the southern part of Megalopolis.
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