Charlottesville Trip - Art Everywhere

This weekend the wife and I loaded up the dog and took off for Charlottesville. On the way into town we passed the normal art in the median. This year it's a sculpture called Conversation.

The Charlottesville city council sponsors the ArtInPlace nonprofit, which runs a competition annually for outdoor sculpture. This year there are about ten outdoor displays. Occassionally one of the pieces is so popular that it becomes part of a permanent display like "A Bad Case of Mondays" whish is an invisible person (blue coat) with papers falling from the briefcase running up the hill on one of the bypass entranceways.

The non-profit is also sponsoring other art events and displays. An interesting one is for artistic bike racks. So far they have 2 bike rack installations.

We arrived downtown at about 6:30, just missing the opening band for Fridays After Five.

By the time The Groove Train took the stage, the place was full of people chatting with friends, playing in the grass, and enjoying the wonderful spring day. To encourage residents to come enjoy the festivities, admissions are free. Drink tickets are $5 apiece, which along with several sponsors, goes to pay the bands and beer, with the remaining profits being returned to numerous non-profits that help staff the events.

Charlottesville of organic and healthy eating establishments started poping up all around town several years ago, so now it isn't hard to find something almost any place you go. This sign was on one of the food tents at FridaysAfterFive. Across the street were kettle corn and hot donuts, so there was something for everyone.

Saturday we awoke from our friends new house out in Crozet, VA - looking out the window at a spectacular view of the blue ridge mountains.

We headed back into town to do some shopping (and by shopping I mean browsing). Gail took me to one of her favorite organic markets Feast. I had to get a picture of the place next door called The Organic Butcher. There seems to be some irony in that. The prices were amazing. About 75% of what I've seen here, and yet it was on main street, where rents aren't that cheap. In this establishment, several storefronts are all within a single building, which probably helps spread out some costs.

We then took off for the downtown mall. The rest of the day was spent ducking into retail, antique, art galleries. Eyeing a few empty buildings, and checking out the renovations on what is going to become Charlottesville's newest hotel right on the downtown mall.

This is the renovated Paramount Theatre that hosts stage productions throughout the fall, winter and spring.

The walking mall is full of outdoor restaurant seating, street performers, artwork, shopping tables, and a few sculptural water fountains. There are plans underway to start a multi million dollar renovation to the 30 year old mall.

Short Trips from Fredericksburg - Charlottesville

Jeff has a great idea over at the fburg real estate blog. So I'm stealing it for a post. http://fredericksburgrealestateblog.com/

Short Trip ideas so as not to break the bank on gas or airline fees.

Charlottesville VA
1 to 1.5 hours South West of Fredericksburg
http://www.charlottesville.org/

Charlottesville is a very historic town. The home of Thomas Jefferson, who also founded the University of Virginia. The city now is home to some 50k residents plus a sizeable student population. Back in the 70's and 80's, to revitalize downtown, they closed several blocks of main street to traffic, bricked over the street, planted trees, and created a downtown mall. Today it's just one center of activities, and always lively (except maybe Sunday mornings).

How to get there is part of your adventure. I suggest going west on RT 3, the south on RT 20, when you get to the traffic circle at Gordonsville you have no less than 3 choices. Go west on 33 to 29 south (passing Barboursville and Horton vineyards), or go 231 south to 64 through horse country (passing Keswick vineyard), or take the bigger road 15 south to 64 east to cville.

If you aren't big on 2 lane roads, you can either take 3 west to 29 south or go south on 95 to 64 west.

Things I suggest doing
- take off Friday early and hit the free downtown concert Fridays After Five
- wake up early on Sat to enjoy the farmers market, go early
- visit Monticello or Montpelier
- for children, go to the discovery museum on the downtown mall (bricked over treed walking mall)
- on a warm summer day, get your bathing suit on and try tubing on the James River (http://www.jamesriver.com/ or http://www.reelingandrafting.com/ )
- for adults, check out a wine tour

Suggestions on vineyards
(North)
Stone mountain vineyards (tiny country road, well worth it for the view)
Horton vineyards
Barboursville (Shakespeare in the ruins is fun)
(west)
Veritas
Oakencroft
Afton
White Hall
(south)
Jefferson
Kluge
There are many many more, so be sure to check both the Charlottesville website and google

While in town, be sure to experience cville dining. I suggest Mas for Spanish tapas, Blue Light for seafood and pasta, Bang for Asian, South Street Brewery for good food and delicious in house microbrews. Sal's pizza and atomic burrito are always good and quick. I haven't tried Ten, but I hear its THE place for sushi.

This town has a lot of art and music. You can catch a show at the restored Paramount Theatre (get tickets well in advance) or check for concerts either at the downtown amphitheater (Charlottesville Pavilion) or at John Paul Jones arena on UVA's campus. If you go in the fall the school hosts the Virginia film festival with shows all over town. Almost all of the places downtown and on 'the corner' have live music one night a week. Even atomic burrito which has all of probably 5 tables has a DJ or band. Art galleries are spread throughout the city, and have various hours. Stop at any grocery store on the way into town and pick up either C'Ville Weekly or The Hook for a good listing of happenings.

Of course if you have teens thinking of college, be sure to get a tour of the UVA campus. Look for the signature Jefferson walls, and the optical illusion of the lawn. Go to 'the corner' (around 1500 University Ave for your GPS) for a view of college life, get a UVA cap at the bookstore, or a Gus burger at the white spot restaurant.

Whew, I started this thinking of a weekend, but I think you could easily turn it into a week. If you stay, check out the many b&b's. Silver Thatch Inn is a popular place, if you have the time to venture up the blue ridge parkway, you might think of staying at Graves Mountain Inn.

Keep your eyes open for celebs, but if you see one please act like a local and don't act crazy. They are all very normal people. Its funny to look down the bar and realize who you might be having drinks with. They much prefer to talk about the special on the menu as the last thing you saw them in.

C'ville Concerts Announced

I try to keep this blog on topic with Fredericksburg news, but I'm putting this here to show that what a college town almost exactly double the size of Fredericksburg can accomplish. I see hints that we're getting to this level of interest in community events and public space.

The Charlottesville Pavilion (http://www.charlottesvillepavilion.com/) - an outdoor amphitheater that anchors their downtown main street area - just announced their summer concerts. For anyone interested, it's a short 1.5 hour or less drive to a unique experience of music, camaraderie, shopping and socializing. The free shows are funded through sponsorships and drink sales, with profits returned to the nonprofit organizations that help staff the events.

Paid Shows:
Two of a Kind 4/13
Feist 4/26
Switchfoot 4/27
Gary Allan 5/8
Emmylou Harris 6/23
Gladys Knight 6/28
Live From The Hook 7/26
Willie Nelson 7/29
Crosby, Stills and Nash 7/31
B.B. King 8/6

Free Concerts through July 4th:
Friday April, 18 Sons of Bill with Justin Jones opening!
Friday April, 25 Kings of Belmont & 6 Day Bender A very special co-bill!
Friday May, 02 Eli Cook
Friday May, 09 Trees on Fire & NeedToBreathe A very special co-bill!
Friday May, 16 Abbey Road with special guest In Technicolor opening the show
Friday May, 23 The Groove Train with Tim Be Told opening!
Friday May, 30 The Lee Boys
Friday June, 06 The original Charlottesville AllStars
Friday June, 13 Inner Rhythm with Heather Maxwell
Friday June, 27 Peyton Tochterman & High Society
Friday July, 04 The Chickenhead Blues Band

Parking & Traffic, Charlottesville's Recent Developments

Just to our South and West, Charlottesville is tackling two big issues that hit pretty close to home. The city is trying to come up with traffic by-pass alternatives that mostly involve Albemarle County (which isn't always receptive to the proposals, and have their own development plans). They are also trying to address downtown parking issues.

Some of the best quotes I've seen from a city counselor is from Charlottesville's Ms. Edwards on thinking outside the traditional when the traditional doesn't make sense (from The Hook):

While the Councilors agreed to send a letter to the consultant, Lewis Grimm of PBS&J, urging a “return to the drawing board,” the two freshmen on Council saw what one of them, Holly Edwards, termed a “window of opportunity to start looking at and thinking about alternative forms of transportation.”
Edwards proposed getting “creative” and “radical” about extracting people from their cars. “Instead of leveraging a few dollars for roads,” said Edwards, “[we should be] leveraging dollars for alternative transportation.”
“I couldn't agree more with the comments expressed by Ms. Edwards,” said Mayor Norris. “The next major investment in our region should not be another huge swath of very expensive asphalt. Let’s use this as an opportunity to leverage the kind of investment that Ms. Edwards describes and figure out how to get people off the highway.”

The Hook also ran a front page story this week on parking in the city of Charlottesville. Author Dave McNair writes that the city and UVA have a combined 11 garages, with more in works by both the college and private developers. The two primary garages serving downtown are referenced, and noted that their architecture was designed such that they appear to be buildings in the landscape. I would have to say that our own Sophia St. garage is much the same in this sense. The article also talks about drivers reluctance to use garages (C'ville starts charging when you enter, unlike Fredericksburg where the first 2 hours are free), and unrealistic expectations related to on street parking. Unlike Fredericksburg, Charlottesville does not have any parking on their closed main street pedestrian mall. Rather, they are bounded by 2 garages and a slew of lots both public and private.

The article includes the following quote from author/parking guru David Shoup:

As Yale economist and parking issue guru Donald Shoup points out in his book, The High Cost of Free Parking, studies show that driving around looking for free or low-cost curb spots accounts for about 30 percent of the traffic congestion in downtown areas. Indeed, virtually all day long, drivers on the Mall are doing what Stroh calls the "the two-hour shuffle."
..."Drivers often compare parking at the curb to parking in a garage and decide that the price of garage parking is too high," Shoup wrote in a New York Times op-ed piece last year. "But the truth is that the price of curb parking is too low. Underpriced curb spaces are like rent-controlled apartments: hard to find, and-- once you do-- crazy to give up. This increases the time costs (and
therefore the congestion and pollution costs) of cruising."

Sound familiar (except autochalk helps with the 2-hour shuffle)? I would encourage anyone interested in parking to read the full article. It includes a lot of history, cultural stigmas, and future designs that range from radical all the way to classic that would fit into any historic neighborhood.
Now, how can we convince Kalahari that the right answer to lots of pavement is a single parking garage? Or could a developer make a descent return on investment by building a deck or two downtown? I wonder if we could find a private developer to build the deck for the new court building instead of using city bonds? Actually, I'm pretty certain some of these thoughts are also being considered by our city employees - but I toss them out here for comment.