...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 Fredericksburg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fredericksburg. Show all posts
04 June 2011
incidentally coincidental
Yesterday was a day of great timing and great happiness!
The original purpose of visiting Fredericksburg was to see my cousin Laura, who's currently in summer session at Mary Washington. We met up after her morning class ended and walked downtown for lunch. While the consensus between Taylor, Laura and I was J. Brian's (quesadillas! burgers! a nice porch on which to sit on such a lovely day!), we changed our minds at the last minute as we walked past Old Towne Grill, a hidden gem on Caroline Street. I always forget it's there. They don't have much in the way of veggie options, but I really love their spinach salad. AND sitting two tables over was Dr. Stephen Hanna, the chair of Mary Washington geography! I was ecstatic when Taylor noticed this and subtly pointed it out. We didn't get to speak for long as he was leaving, but I enjoyed the coincidence that lead to me seeing my all-time favorite lab instructor (cartography).
We walked all over town after lunch, first down to Carl's, a frozen custard stand slightly outside of the immediate downtown area, then up the canal path to campus, then over to the new Eagle's Landing area on the other side of Route 1 (Mary Washington people totally know what I'm talking about, except who knew that it was called Eagle's Landing?). I don't feel like I've been gone long enough for there to be so many changes, but Laura was patient enough to give a tour and at least pretend to ignore my constant shock and amazement. Those places are nice. It's more like a hotel than a dorm. The apartment kitchens are lovely and there's a nice lobby area on her floor and there is a ROTUNDA. Why does a dorm need a rotunda? With glass windows all around it? And a fireplace with columns and a big ol' flat screen TV? It struck me as excessive, but definitely nice. I hope the students respect it. Laura seemed happy to be living there. I don't blame her.
Taylor and I parted ways with Laura and walked back down campus. He wanted to stop by the bookstore, which I didn't think was super necessary but didn't really mind. However, that little stop lined us up to be walking past Trinkle Hall at the exact moment my beloved undergrad advisor/general mentor, Dr. Melina Patterson, was walking out the front door and down the steps. And she said it was her laziness in taking the elevator that put her out the door at the exact moment too. So many coincidences. So awesome.
So we stopped to talk for a while on the lovely, lovely day, when off in the distance, Taylor spots a third Mary Washington Geography professor, Dr. Joe Nicholas. Joe offered to take us on a tour of the almost fully renovated Monroe Hall, where the Geography department was housed when we were there. Turns out it's not as near completion as it's scheduled to be; they're supposed to move in in three weeks, but there aren't floors and there's a lot else that's still woefully incomplete.
It's looking great though! The Geography department is quite different, with offices where there used to be our main classroom, and the old cartography lab split into two halves with a pollen lab where the work room used to be. It's going to be awesome. Also, there's a fourth floor where storage used to be! It's got nice skylights and you can see some of the original brickwork. I thought it was nice to kind of embrace the history of the building in that way.
After this we hit the road; we were meeting friends at the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art for Jazz in the Garden, a free thing that happens on Fridays in the summer. It got packed and became difficult to hear the music, so the group of us that assembled went out elsewhere for food and drinks. The second place we went to smelled like a dudes' locker room, so Taylor, Emily and her friend Alyssa peaced and went for a walk around the National Mall instead.
The Mall is pretty at night, and very peaceful. We walked up to the Washington Monument, through the WWII Memorial (which remains one of my favorites), up to Lincoln before parting ways to head home via Metro. Busy day, very wonderful.
The original purpose of visiting Fredericksburg was to see my cousin Laura, who's currently in summer session at Mary Washington. We met up after her morning class ended and walked downtown for lunch. While the consensus between Taylor, Laura and I was J. Brian's (quesadillas! burgers! a nice porch on which to sit on such a lovely day!), we changed our minds at the last minute as we walked past Old Towne Grill, a hidden gem on Caroline Street. I always forget it's there. They don't have much in the way of veggie options, but I really love their spinach salad. AND sitting two tables over was Dr. Stephen Hanna, the chair of Mary Washington geography! I was ecstatic when Taylor noticed this and subtly pointed it out. We didn't get to speak for long as he was leaving, but I enjoyed the coincidence that lead to me seeing my all-time favorite lab instructor (cartography).
We walked all over town after lunch, first down to Carl's, a frozen custard stand slightly outside of the immediate downtown area, then up the canal path to campus, then over to the new Eagle's Landing area on the other side of Route 1 (Mary Washington people totally know what I'm talking about, except who knew that it was called Eagle's Landing?). I don't feel like I've been gone long enough for there to be so many changes, but Laura was patient enough to give a tour and at least pretend to ignore my constant shock and amazement. Those places are nice. It's more like a hotel than a dorm. The apartment kitchens are lovely and there's a nice lobby area on her floor and there is a ROTUNDA. Why does a dorm need a rotunda? With glass windows all around it? And a fireplace with columns and a big ol' flat screen TV? It struck me as excessive, but definitely nice. I hope the students respect it. Laura seemed happy to be living there. I don't blame her.
Taylor and I parted ways with Laura and walked back down campus. He wanted to stop by the bookstore, which I didn't think was super necessary but didn't really mind. However, that little stop lined us up to be walking past Trinkle Hall at the exact moment my beloved undergrad advisor/general mentor, Dr. Melina Patterson, was walking out the front door and down the steps. And she said it was her laziness in taking the elevator that put her out the door at the exact moment too. So many coincidences. So awesome.
So we stopped to talk for a while on the lovely, lovely day, when off in the distance, Taylor spots a third Mary Washington Geography professor, Dr. Joe Nicholas. Joe offered to take us on a tour of the almost fully renovated Monroe Hall, where the Geography department was housed when we were there. Turns out it's not as near completion as it's scheduled to be; they're supposed to move in in three weeks, but there aren't floors and there's a lot else that's still woefully incomplete.
It's looking great though! The Geography department is quite different, with offices where there used to be our main classroom, and the old cartography lab split into two halves with a pollen lab where the work room used to be. It's going to be awesome. Also, there's a fourth floor where storage used to be! It's got nice skylights and you can see some of the original brickwork. I thought it was nice to kind of embrace the history of the building in that way.
After this we hit the road; we were meeting friends at the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art for Jazz in the Garden, a free thing that happens on Fridays in the summer. It got packed and became difficult to hear the music, so the group of us that assembled went out elsewhere for food and drinks. The second place we went to smelled like a dudes' locker room, so Taylor, Emily and her friend Alyssa peaced and went for a walk around the National Mall instead.
The Mall is pretty at night, and very peaceful. We walked up to the Washington Monument, through the WWII Memorial (which remains one of my favorites), up to Lincoln before parting ways to head home via Metro. Busy day, very wonderful.
15 February 2011
real (not-so) long distance
Hello from Hyperion! I love this place. I am having the best day ever in Fredericksburg, the town where I once decided that I should at least try to have the best day ever every day. About three years ago, during my final semester of college, I dropped Chinese 102, took History of Jazz pass/fail with some friends, and just generally enjoyed my life a lot more than the previous seven semesters in which I took 18 credits. I don't think I was ever super negative, but I've definitely been a much sunnier person since then.
Anyway! Why is today the best day ever? It really began last night when I went to see Josh Ritter in D.C.. Well, maybe a little earlier hanging out with Luke. He's cool, despite some of the funny things he says sometimes. But Josh put on an excellent show, as always. He's kind of a sunny, happy person, which is probably at least half of why I like him and his music so darn much.
I was also amused by a brief contemplation of space. Yeah, I'm a dorky geographer. Before heading to Virginia on Sunday afternoon, I stopped by the hospital at home to visit my pastor, who was in for a little re-hydration following a bout with the flu the previous week. We had a good conversation about the greater Presbyterian church and how it's functioning (or not). He believes the future may hold Presbyteries that are less geographically-restrained, since we have the technology to overcome such differences more effectively than in the past. This is true of many things-- I mean, my thesis is about how we've broken down geographic barriers and allowed plants to grow in places that aren't always convenient. This idea was also evident at Josh Ritter's show. A few weeks ago, he invited those attending his "Valentine's Day Brawl" shows this week to submit dedications to people they were going with. It was actually a pretty cute concept-- lots of people professing their love and crap, one dude even had Josh propose to his girlfriend for him. I was really touched by one message from a soldier in Afghanistan who sent a message to his brother who was in the crowd. It's amazing how we have these ways of being connected from so far away, kind of blurring the entire concept of distance. (And yes, if you're wondering, I am a totally awesome and super romantic girlfriend and Josh Ritter totally read my dedication.)
So, back to the best day ever. Today I went to Fredericksburg to visit with my beloved undergrad advisor, who I had lunch with at the awesome Soup and Taco. I had somehow never been there before despite my love of downtown Fredericksburg. It was really great to catch up with her and get some ideas about moving forward with the thesis and job hunt. After visiting with some other professors in the geography department and my old boss at the auditorium, I parked myself here in the coffee shop to do a little work until my good friend Jeremy gets off work. We'll get dinner somewhere downtown before I head north again. It's a lovely sunny day and I am totally delighted.
(This entry's title comes from this fun song by Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band.)
Anyway! Why is today the best day ever? It really began last night when I went to see Josh Ritter in D.C.. Well, maybe a little earlier hanging out with Luke. He's cool, despite some of the funny things he says sometimes. But Josh put on an excellent show, as always. He's kind of a sunny, happy person, which is probably at least half of why I like him and his music so darn much.
I was also amused by a brief contemplation of space. Yeah, I'm a dorky geographer. Before heading to Virginia on Sunday afternoon, I stopped by the hospital at home to visit my pastor, who was in for a little re-hydration following a bout with the flu the previous week. We had a good conversation about the greater Presbyterian church and how it's functioning (or not). He believes the future may hold Presbyteries that are less geographically-restrained, since we have the technology to overcome such differences more effectively than in the past. This is true of many things-- I mean, my thesis is about how we've broken down geographic barriers and allowed plants to grow in places that aren't always convenient. This idea was also evident at Josh Ritter's show. A few weeks ago, he invited those attending his "Valentine's Day Brawl" shows this week to submit dedications to people they were going with. It was actually a pretty cute concept-- lots of people professing their love and crap, one dude even had Josh propose to his girlfriend for him. I was really touched by one message from a soldier in Afghanistan who sent a message to his brother who was in the crowd. It's amazing how we have these ways of being connected from so far away, kind of blurring the entire concept of distance. (And yes, if you're wondering, I am a totally awesome and super romantic girlfriend and Josh Ritter totally read my dedication.)
So, back to the best day ever. Today I went to Fredericksburg to visit with my beloved undergrad advisor, who I had lunch with at the awesome Soup and Taco. I had somehow never been there before despite my love of downtown Fredericksburg. It was really great to catch up with her and get some ideas about moving forward with the thesis and job hunt. After visiting with some other professors in the geography department and my old boss at the auditorium, I parked myself here in the coffee shop to do a little work until my good friend Jeremy gets off work. We'll get dinner somewhere downtown before I head north again. It's a lovely sunny day and I am totally delighted.
(This entry's title comes from this fun song by Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band.)
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!
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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