This time a year ago, I was somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, fresh out of Brazil's Carnaval and en route to South Africa, to date my favorite country that I have visited. The idea that 365 entire days have passed since the beginning of our Semester at Sea voyage has left more than a few of my former shipmates morose, melancholy and even depressed. And why wouldn't it? Going from that to whatever college town you frequent, still squirming in the ice-cold grip of wintertime is tough, especially when you stop and dwell on it. Me? I'm in this place called Charlottesville.
It's sort of pretentious, and it thinks it's a city. The atrocious parking and traffic do well to make you think that, too. There are some grocery stores, dollar stores and one hopelessly overcrowded and delicious Chipotle, as well as a slew of other locally based restaurants and quasi-restaurants not worth mentioning because you know about all of them. Or do you?
I don't know about you, but when I matriculated here, one thing I heard rather often was that this was voted the best place in the country to live by some book. But I stopped trusting books after learning that not all of them were true stories. Actually, some are completely fibbed up! Anyhow, after three years here, I still wasn't so sure about what's so fantastic. The places you learn about by being a student at the "University" are heavily steeped in myth, legend and tradition (like any other college town); and most of the rest of it you can't get to unless you have a car and a whole lot of motivation. Sadly, that second part is what seems to be missing. Since working at a news radio station, I've been sent all over this surprisingly vast and diverse region to cover whose-its and what-nots and fatal car accidents. And honestly, this is a pretty nice place. But I can also very easily see how a college student can go his four full years and be completely oblivious to the fact.
So, Charlottesville's got a lot of restaurants. Moreover, it's got a lot of really mighty fine restaurants, like 5-star A+ double-king-gourmet style, and they're right under our noses! Sounds like a fine contributor to the region's mighty reputation. We, the student body, though, don't have the change nor the range (that means time, I wanted it to rhyme) to sniff out these little gems. We eat burritos and pizza and Gusburgers and meated bagels and submarine sandwiches, because they're cheap and accessible. We have tests, papers, sporting events, drinking and television to be dealing with, damn it! Something similar can be said for the area's internationally well-thought-of wineries and wine tastings and the like. Of course we love our alcohol, but our putrid watery American beer allows far more bang for the buck, and I mean that in every possible way. Plus, you don't have to be 21 to drink it. Oops, did I say that out loud? Yes, yes I did.
How about those spectacular mountain vistas? Travel as few as two or three miles out of town, and those mighty views are staring you down in all of their glory. There's a lake maybe 10 miles west on 250 that I used to visit during my mind-numbingly boring summer of ought-seven. The scene is absolutely impeccable. However, the lion's share of us are stuck here. Extracurriculars, curriculars, being a weekend warrior and just like that there's not the time nor mind to, well, take a look around.
Now, you've traveled all the way to the middle of Virginia from wherever you hail. All I want to remind you of is that there's a world outside of Grounds, aside from Wal-Mart, Teeter and the ABC. And if you can convince people (or even just one person) to accompany you beyond the Academical Village, you can find some pretty awesome stuff that's almost certainly more memorable than what you had been planning to do otherwise that day. Preachy? I hope not. If you weren't already considering venturing out of our bubble of higher education, I will not have convinced you. Granted: You're here for the good school. We go to quite a good school. But the good school looks so good in part because it's in a pretty nice place. Try to taste that pretty nice place if you've got a minute, and especially if you're going to be yanked out of the bubble in a few months. Good afternoon to you, and remember: The pun that you get by solving the Jumble is never worth it, but you should do it anyway.
Erik's column runs biweekly Thursdays. He can be reached at silk@cavalierdaily.com.
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