From Tuesday to Saturday, I will be at the 2009 DAMOP meeting at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. I have been to Charlottesville three times before, and based on that experience, I know these things:
- The White Spot is worth a visit if you're a fan of greasy spoon diners.
- Getting stuck in an elevator with half a rugby team kind of sucks.
- It's damnably difficult to find good bagels in the South.
- Getting stuck in an elevator on your way to bed after a wedding reception really sucks.
Yes, that's right, I have been stuck in an elevator in Charlottesville, VA not once, but twice. I'm hoping for a first-floor room this year.
Some of the regular DAMOP attendees I know are UVA alumni and/or faculty, so I should be able to find local guidance at the meeting, but it's always nice to have a plan in advance. So, if you know of any can't miss things to see or do in Charlottesville, preferably involving food and/or beer, leave me a comment.
- Log in to post comments
Go to the breweries - Starr Hill in Crozet, Blue Mountain in Afton.
What kind of food do you like? C'ville has quite a few restaurants, you know :)
Been to South Street Brewery?
1) stay out of elevators.
2) Take a ride into the mountains, up to skyline drive. (You might need to borrow a car first.)
Since I got my Ph.D. from UVa and am coming back for the DAMOP meeting, I can assure you that you can find some excellent bagels at "Bodo's Bagels," which opened it's spot on the Corner a few years back (there's also a location on Route 29). I intend on getting breakfast there a couple of times. I'm not sure what's changed in the time since I've been gone, but one of my favorite places to hang out was the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar on the Downtown Mall, which apart from some good teas also has/had a pretty interesting rotating selection of beers and ales. Concerning food, the Downtown Mall also has some good places (probably better than the options near the University), I enjoyed Bizou, Mono Loco, Zocalo, Himalayan Fusion, ...
Go see Monticello, if you haven't been there before. Also just walk around the Lawn and look at the Rotunda.
Half a rugby team (plus assorted people) fit inside an elevator? Just how big was this lift? Sounds like the sort of lift used on aircraft carriers to transfer planes between the hanger and flight decks.
Bodo's Bagels is very good. Although I was there for undergrad and grad, I left in 98 and too much has changed to suggest much else with confidence.
Re the White Spot - no one was surprised when it almost burned down in the 90's from a grease fire. The Gusburger Eat-off is an annual event, which my average-sized suitemate once won by downing 12 burgers in ~10 minutes. I personally preferred a Big Jim burger, but Big Jim passed, and I believe the place is gone.
See you next week...
If you're insulting Bodo's...well, them's fightin' words around here.
If you're insulting Bodo's...well, them's fightin' words around here.
I'm not. I never found the place.
I had promised to get Kate a bagel on the morning of my cousin's wedding in Charlottesville, and I spent twenty minutes driving around characterless strip malls without finding any place that had edible-looking bagels. I forget what alternative bread product I eventually settled on.
A further vote for Bodo's; the only retail establishment from which I paid cash money for an advertising-covered T-shirt.
Monticello is great a second and probably even third time.
The wineries are almost all outside C'ville itself - White Hall is maybe the closest and worthwhile - but if you want a medium-length drive, there are several good ones.
If you're looking for scenery, take the hike (easily doable with Steelykid*) up to humpback rock. Any local can direct you.
OK, sorry, returning to beer and food. The C&O - where I proposed to Jenny, although the formal upstairs room, scene of the act, is long since converted to informal - is great and historic. Continental Divide is a great hang-out dinner place. Tastings (very close by, both on the downtown pedestrian mall) is an *excellent* wine bar with a top-notch chef [happens to be a friend, but the rating is accurate]. The fine dining scene in C'ville rotates fairly fast, so local up-to-date advice will be better.
If you get a chance to check out either (i) the entrance hall to the Darden school, or (ii) the men's locker room at the main pool, do so and understand where all the alumni money has gone!
I guess I was into wine, not beer, when there. So I don't know where to drink beer - sorry. This place - http://www.beerrun.com/ - to which I have not yet been - looks promising, though.
Savour's on 29 north is a great place for lunch. Get the yam fries.
ditch the conference, steal a car, come to southwest virginia, still no bagels, but I've got an empty basketball court on top of my office.
You know, you just like...uhm...take the stairs...
West Main Street, the strip of road between the hospital and downtown has a bunch of good restaurants. The aformentioned Continental Divide (their sign doesn't include their name, it just says "eat here"), Maya (Southern style), and Horse and Hound (good beer list) are all good. I also like Feast in the West Main Market. 12th Steet Tap House would also be good for a larger group.
Remind me not to get on an elevator with you at the conference.
Bagels? Fuck bagels. We eat biscuits in The South, as is good and proper. Preferably with sausage gravy and grits.
Bagels? Fuck bagels. We eat biscuits in The South, as is good and proper. Preferably with sausage gravy and grits.
When Kate asks for bagels, it's my job to find her bagels.
Indubitably. However, the biscuits actually *are* good (and you think it's hard to find a bagel in the south, try finding a flaky biscuit and fried chicken in Albany!).
If you're flying to/from CHO, no worries. If flying to/from Dulles, though, beware the last 10 or so miles coming down Rt 29 into C'ville: one of the most notorious places I know for tickets. Thankfully the $4k tickets (no, I kid not) are only for in-state folks.
Go see Monticello, if you haven't been there before. Also just walk around the Lawn and look at the Rotunda.
You know, you just like...uhm...take the stairs.
principles Thank You