A month in Charlottesville, VA - with the RT

[drzep]

I spent last month in Charlolttesville, Virginia – home of the University of Virginia as well as some of the most beautiful land that I’ve seen in some time. Being at the foot of the Blue Ridge, I decided that I would bring the RT, leaving the car back in CT. My wife followed me down to help with luggage and the plan was to ship some stuff back at the end of the month and pack the rest on the RT for the return trip. Since my assignment was to spend an entire month at UVA Hospital, it seemed that four weeks was too long to stay in a hotel and too short to rent an apartment, so I figured that it would be best to sublet a room. After a little searching I found a house with a spare room in a quite neighborhood on the northern side of town. It had a great screened in porch and was only one block from the bus line for those rainy days.

 

This was the pad on Dairy Road, Charlottesville, VA:

 

Once Lorin and I arrived on Friday afternoon and the blood started to flow into my ass again after 9 hours on the bike, we got in the wife’s car to check out the town. The first stop was the hospital for an ID badge and a parking pass.

 

The hospital had an interesting layout, mostly because Thomas Jefferson decided that nothing was to be taller than the plum line of the Rotunda – one of UVa’s mostly stately structures.

 

The neo-classical architecture dominates the campus at UVa as well as many of the buildings in Charlottesville. This is Lorin sizing up the Rotunda’s pillars.

 

 

From campus we walked down to the downtown “Mall” area. This is a nice area with outdoor dining, arts and crafts, performers, and great industrial architecture integrated with residential style.

 

 

 

Our first dinner was procured from this crepe stand on Water Street. Great crepes if you ever go there!

 

The following morning we woke up to 75F and lots of sunshine. Our only objective for the next two days was to explore the outskirts of town and Blue Ridge Parkway. I had driven the BRP twice before when I was in college, but never with my wife and never on a scooter as comfy as the RT, so we were both excited to hit the rode. Lorin stuffed the camera in a pocket in the back of my jacket so she was free to snap anything that inspired her. We first headed south on the BRP from the I-64 interchange.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a couple hours we stopped, took off the riding garb and enjoyed some sunshine a hike to one of nicer overlooks of the day.

 

 

 

Back on the rode south we came across a beautiful farm that may at one time have been a tree farm.

 

 

 

Before heading back into town we sampled some of the local wines and drove around just south of town to check out some of the property. The farmhouses are spectacular. The rolling hills and well-kept properties with horse stables reminded me of the land around Lexington, Kentucky.

 

 

The following day was much of the same. Lorin wanted to see Shenandoah NP so we braved the crowds and made a loop North on Skyline drive and back to C’Ville. We didn’t take many pics that day but as expected the scenery was great.

 

On Monday my wife left to drive back to CT and I was stuck working my tail off at the hospital. Over the next few weeks I made a bunch of weekend trips. The first was to Chapel Hill, NC to visit my father. On the way back the RT developed some crazy brake jutter in the front end – the same crap that has happened 3 times already. The following Tuesday I called Hammersley BMW in Lynchburg and let me say that these guys were great! Clint in service ordered a new set of rotors and pads on my word alone, and squeezed me in the schedule the following Saturday morning. I found it to be a first class operation all around and wished that my local dealer had half of the trust and interest in the riders that these guys had. Anyways, they slapped on some new rotors and the bike was good to go.

 

On the way from Lynchburg back to C’Ville I took some roads that ran parallel to the BRP but were totally devoid of traffic. Some of the scenery was great and if you get a chance to hit RT150 around Lovingston, the Blue Ridge Pig has the best BBQ I’ve ever had in my life. I ended up going back three times before I left VA.

 

 

 

After another couple weeks of work it was time to head back to CT. I left at about 0800 on a Thursday and took Skyline drive to Front Royal. The rest of these picks are of that morning’s drive. It was a good one and one that I won’t soon forget. No cars, no darting wildlife, and patrol trucks to be found for 115 miles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take it easy and ride safe.

[Whip]

Thanks for the tour.

 

Whip

[Paul_Burkett]

Very nice report, that sounds like a great way to work through being away from home, good roads and weather can make for good times.