Skip to main content

Our adventure downtown, courtesy of CTS

My two and a half year old daughter and I went for a quick two hour trip today. I had to go back to the office to get some things I had left behind. Later on tonight I am going to try my hand at creating some odd music for my secret podcast, and I needed the microphone cable.

So, we left the house, went to the office, went to McGuffey Park, and stopped in for a quick snack and beverage at Court Square Tavern. The total trip was about two and a half hours, and my wife is grateful that I was able to give her and the baby some rest.

The most excellent thing about this adventure was that we were able to do the whole thing on the bus. We left our house, and within five minutes were sitting on the number 4-B to downtown. Ten minutes later, I'm walking up the very steep hill on High Street to the park, where we played in the sand for about forty minutes. The park still looks pretty good, but the hill leading up to the slide appears to be eroding a little bit.

Then we walked to Court Square, I picked up my things, and then off we went for some pretzels at the tavern. My daughter sat on a phone book while we were at the bar. Only one other customer was in there. He's child-less and was asking me all of these questions which got increasingly strange. At 5:43, we left and headed down to the transit center. I am very much looking forward to the new notice board they will have there which will alert you to upcoming buses. Today, I asked the trolley driver if we had missed the last bus to Fry's Spring, and he was nice enough to call the dispatcher to see. Thankfully, we were in time, and we were dropped off at the end of our road again.

The system may not be the world's best, but it works for those of us who live on one of the bus lines. That's an awful lot of people. When I ride the bus, I feel like I'm in a city. The town seems a lot bigger, and more interesting. I'm on the same roads I'd be on if I were driving, but yet, I get to look at all of the details. I get to think about what this place could look like, what it might look like, how it might grow. 4B currently rides through the major growth corridors: Water Street to West Main, through the expanding UVa medical complex, past the South Lawn Project, down JPA. The area is transforming pretty rapidly, as there are major new buildings planned for that whole stretch. In my job I'm relatively up on what's happening, but it always catches me by surprise to see the progress of the South Lawn Project. Someone should be filming dystopian science fiction movies on the unfinished site.

I'd like to do that. I would like to raise $2500 to purchase a starter video production suite, so I could mess around with things like that. Who's up for this idea?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Urrrgh, I wish they'd restore the line to my neighborhood (Greenbriar). Even if they just ran it up to CHS.

How about a grant for the video set-up?
Sean Tubbs said…
There is funding in next year's budget for service to CHS, possibly via Park Street. Do you know why they canceled the service?
Anonymous said…
Not enough ridership is what I heard. It was canceled before we ever moved here.
Sean Tubbs said…
I'll let you know if I see anything about the restoration of that service. I don't know what the best way to ask for new service would be.

I've only been riding the bus for the past year or so. It really does make a difference in the way I think about the size and scale of Charlottesville. It's nice to go without a car when you can.

Popular posts from this blog

The Fire at Court Square Tavern

My tavern is closed indefinitely tonight, after a fire that broke out early this morning. I had just dropped off my daughter at day care, and heard a bulletin on 1400 AM , one of our two sports-talk stations. I didn't even know they did local news, but at least on this occasion, they did. All I heard was "evacuation at Court Square" and I immediately thought I should drive over there. The big building at 500 Court Square was still standing, so that gave me a bit of hope. People were moving around Market Street, and seemed happy. Or at least, not burned. Then I turned up 5th Street, and saw one of the front windows, covered with a tarp, and a huge pile of debris on the sidewalk. Oh crap, I thought. I've worked at the Tavern since August of 2004, and have gone through many ups and downs while there. I started as a server, and became a manager and began bartending that December. It was the first place I was able to work since my separation from my first wife. Working the

One hundred and eleven days left

Today I finally returned to Smith Aquatic and Fitness Center after an over three year absence. The immediate reason to go today is an inability to shower at my house. My house is old and the pipe that takes used water, as well as the solids in that used water, has collapsed. It needs to be replaced. Nothing lasts forever, but many of those items are components. Components can be swapped out as they wear down, but the logistics of replacement can be trying or tedious. I've been trying to figure this out. Somehow, I've been ignoring my body and its physical health. I signed up for the Ten Miler but ran three times before getting out of the habit. Work consumes me and I am working on that. My life needs more components.  As I got out of my car, a kid about 150 feet away by the entrance immediately laughed. I was wearing an athletic shirt way too small for me, and my lower belly was exposed. I could feel it. I felt fat. I didn't feel gross. I didn't have any shame about thi

Running as sense-making

It's going to be a stressful day. I got up at 7:00 AM to start work and I could sit here in front of my computer for the next 10 days and still not get it all done. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but I'm prone to that awful habit when I'm under stress. I'm under stress at the moment as I try to balance work, my other work, and my need to run six miles or so every other day. In 14 minutes my feet will hit the street and I'll be off. No phone. No e-mail. Just me and my feet. I'm even going to skip the iPod today so I can hear the birds, and so I can concentrate on my surroundings. I don't know where I'm going to go. I know I'll leave the condo and will turn left up Commonwealth Drive. From there? I don't know for sure, but I can guarantee you the day will become a lot less stressful.