Our trip seems to be defined by late-night arrivals and getting to Charlottesville was no different. Determined to arrive on Sunday, we drove and drove and drove, hindered by a couple of thunderstorms and the fatigue from our packing and moving adventures. The last leg of the journey with scenic overlooks of the Blue Ridge Mountains was accomplished in the dark, and we got lost on the final approach amid mountains and lush greenery. But, we ARRIVED!
Our visit began with a late light supper with our son David at a place called Little-John's in an area known as The Corner on University Avenue. The area features pubs, a couple of UVA t-shirt and decal shops, and a couple of variety stores. The restaurant was funky in a college-town way, and we had an enjoyable meal, so glad to see David after our long ride. After we ate, we crossed the street, bordered by a low stone wall, to walk the UVA campus. Given that David's interest is architecture, he'd already familiarized himself with the buildings and their stories and shared the history with us. Walking up to The Rotunda amid a wide variety of trees and brick buildings with white columns, we seemed to be entering another world, one that had not succumbed to the vagaries of modern times. After the heat of the day, the walk was refreshing and tranquil, ending up back where we had begun, at The Corner. The spirit and intelligence of Thomas Jefferson pervades the campus, illustrating the legacy of his ideas in physical space.
The next day David gave us an extensive tour of the architecture building, Campbell Hall, which is one of the few structures with a more contemporary design. It consists of one of the older buildings and two ells that were added on, all with a conscious awareness of the inter-relation of the surrounding area and the building. Once again, as I had had years ago at the SMFA where David went to college, I was amazed by the industrial nature and size of much of the equipment. I guess the large-scale industrial machines--laser printers, table-length saws, wood-working areas, large exhaust tubes, plastic model-making machines to name a few--make more sense in an architecture school than they seemed to in an art school; nonetheless, their size, scope, and the skill required to handle them was impressive. Another area of interest was the exhibit of class projects done on location in a variety of areas focusing on sustainability and the attributes of the culture and the climate in creating buildings.
Along with Jefferson, Edgar Allan Poe features large the history of the school and in the t-shirt shops, their portraits imprinted and their words inscribed on shirts of many colors. Poe, it turns out, went to UVA for a while--one shirt labels him "A distinguished dropout"! Most likely the university wants to take credit for his being distinguished, for the cachet that his association brings to the school, but the phrase sends a mixed message: Was Poe distinguished because he went to UVA or was his fame enhanced by his becoming a dropout? Robert Frost and Bill Gates come to mind as other distinguished people for whom school was an impediment.
The next evening, we visited the Downtown, whose most notable feature is a car-free mall bordered on either side by restaurants and shops. We ate outside at a place called The Whisky Jar, featuring southern food: ham and biscuits, fried chicken, okra, and so on. Good food and good conversation made the evening as we sat in the warm summer night. One thing that interested us and that later became relevant to us traveling with our dog Oreo was that dogs were welcome during the meal on the patio. David explained that pets were more visible and welcome in Charlottesville, where it's customary for a waiter to automatically bring a bowl of water for the dog while getting drinks for the human guests.
Following dinner, we walked the length of the mall, looking at shops, admiring the enormous pots of semi-tropical flowers that graced the space, and ending up at two large, thick chalkboards(about 5 feet high, 6 or 7 feet long, and about 6 inches deep!) complete with colored chalk and erasers, for people to leave messages, drawings, or graffiti. I couldn't resist writing "Oreo was here!" on the board so that he could leave his mark in this dog-friendly place. The following night, we brought him with us and ate at a place called The Nook and watched the folks passing through this college town--visiting freshmen and women with their parents, hippies, boarders, locals, and the professorial crowd.
The Mall impressed us particularly because it was designed so thoughtfully with people and their pleasures in mind. We had known at least two other pedestrian malls--one in Salem, MA, the other in Providence, RI, that had had auspicious beginnings and then had failed dismally. When the mall in Salem was first constructed in the heart of the witch industry, it seemed it would only foster the tourism that the city is so famous for. However, over time, a number of the larger stores bailed out, more and more tacky tourist shops and carts appeared, and the area was not well-maintained. Debris was scattered about and fountains stopped working so that the area became less and less appealing. Thankfully, in the last couple of years, the area has spruced up a bit, anchored at one end by the Peabody Essex Museum and a tourist center, and at the other by new restaurants. Notably, though, the positive changes seem to have occurred in the perimeter of the mall, a street or two over, with the mall itself still floundering in the middle.
In Providence, where three parallel streets--Washington, Westminster, and Weybosset--form the center of downtown, the middle street was converted into a pedestrian mall to bring more people into the city. Operating on the notion of "create it and they will come," the plan relied on the existence of two major department stores--Peerless and Shephard's--to draw folks in. When those stores closed and other smaller ones could not sustain the economy, the city decided to open the street to cars once again. Fortunately, other forms of urban renewal have revitalized the city dramatically without relying on a walkway.
So why did those two northern pedestrian malls fall on hard times and the one in Charlottesville seems so vital? Climate surely is one factor, with Virginia offering a milder environment for strolling, browsing, and eating outside for a greater part of the year. What strikes me, though, is that the Mall in Virginia is a living space, a space where people can do things and interact, which the northern malls were more spaces to visit, to go into--the street life itself was missing.
We stayed in Charlottesville for three nights and wished that we had more time to explore other parts of the area, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the world beyond the university, but David will be there in school for three years, so we'll have opportunities to continue our exploration down the line.
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