A Weekend in Charlottesville

Visiting Charlottesville sometime soon? Check out our curated weekend itinerary!

For more Charlottesville recommendations, check out our Instagram page @uva_summer!

Good morning! It’s your first day visiting Charlottesville and you're getting an early start around 9 AM. Bodo's Bagels is an absolute Charlottesville staple. It is a tradition that before you graduate from UVA, you have to be the number one ticket when they open at 5 am! But you have a long day ahead of you and so much to see here, so let’s take it slow. At Bodo’s, you can get whatever you like on many different types of bagels. A favorite is the deli egg, which is basically like a mini omelette, on an everything bagel!

The sun is shining, and after eating a hearty breakfast, you walk to UVA’s Rotunda. The Rotunda is located on the Lawn, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can go inside the Rotunda to see the Dome Room, the pinnacle of Jefferson’s architecture, as well as other historical rooms and features. Free historical tours led by student members of the University Guide Service are typically offered at 10, 11 and 2 every day!

Your tour may end at the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, located between the Lawn and the Corner. The Memorial seeks to formally acknowledge and remember the names, lives and experiences of the African American enslaved laborers who worked to build and sustain the University. Its circular design represents the “Ring Shout,” a dance performed by African Americans to celebrate spiritual liberation as well as a broken shackle. Etched into the walls are documented names of enslaved peoples; this list continues to grow as more names and stories are uncovered. The memorial began as a student effort in 2010 and was finished earlier this year. A place for reflection and remembrance, the memorial welcomes visitors and acts as a landmark displaying UVA’s troubled history, while also its capacity for change and growth.

After exploring UVA’s grounds, you may want to get out and about. Vineyards are a great place to spend a weekend afternoon in Charlottesville. Once you are of drinking age you can take your parents to Pippin or King Family Vineyards and spend an afternoon sipping on delicious wine with a beautiful view of the mountains. Sometimes King Family Vineyards will even have polo matches to watch or pop up restaurants with amazing cuisine. Many students will also celebrate their 21st birthdays at one of the local vineyards. 

After a walking tour in the morning and afternoon in the sun, it’s time for dinner! As we’ve mentioned in some of our previous posts, Lampo is the ultimate “my parents are in town” spot. They have a variety of delicious pizzas and appetizers, but the catch is that they don’t take reservations, so sometimes the wait can get pretty long. However, this summer they announced their plans to open an additional takeout location, so there’s no excuse for it to not make your itinerary!

Before you head back home or to wherever you’re staying for the night, you should catch a Charlottesville sunset. Whether you make your way a little outside of town to visit Humpback Rock and hike to get a spectacular mountain view or you stay a little more local to watch from the top of Culbreth parking garage, you won’t want to miss it.

Whether the Weather

Hey y'all,

UVa has one of the most beautiful campuses out there, and as is the case for every claim of excellence we make here at the University, there is a ranking out there to confirm it 

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/ekkf45i/university-of-virginia-charlottesville-va/.

Recently, however, the Charlottesville spring I so look forward to has involved more white on the ground than white flowers on the trees. As my lab TA said, "If I've never seen snow in Poland this late in March, I shouldn't be seeing it in Virginia this late." Don't get me wrong, the snow is absolutely beautiful and doesn't really get in the way of anything. Grounds basically turns into Narnia, minus most of the power struggle and mind games, every time it snows. But, there is a time and a place for winter wonderlands, and it is not late March in the arguably southern state of Virginia. After the initial frenzy of snowball fights, sledding, and snowmen, the time just comes for some warm weather.

Let it be known that March 30th, UVa crossed over into that warm weather and man it felt good to thaw out. At least 1/4 of my legs were exposed to warm sunshine that day, and I could not stop smiling. What a lot of students don't realize coming into the University, is that there is so much to do off grounds as well as on grounds. The area surrounding UVa, as well as UVa itself obviously, is actually breathtaking. So where do UVa students decide to escape to on the first sunny day of spring? A vineyard of course! Now, vineyard doesn't just mean wine, it means absolutely amazing views of the mountains and sky, adorable puppies and children running around, really good cheese, horses, sunshine, and, yeah, wine for the 21 year olds. 

That's the great thing about Uva, there are so many adventures to be had and so many unique experiences and traditions built into the UVa culture. We are a University of extremely talented and motivated students, diverse in background and thought, but the one thing we all have in common is a love of our school and all the adventures it has to offer. UVa is more than a school, it's a community and a place that you fall in love with over and over again. There isn't one moment where we realize this is the school for us, we are reminded time and time again. No matter where we go after our four years at the University, we cherish our time in this gorgeous area with such amazing people, no matter the weather.

Happy admissions, 

Emi