I was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, and I believe this might be the first time I’ve been back since my parents moved away when I was three. There are a number of photos in my mom’s collection that stand in as memories, but other than those, I have very few of my own. One photo that I’ve seen a lot is of me on the Lawn in front of the Rotunda at UVA, the University of Virginia. Of course we had to replicate it.
A tour of the campus, and some of the town, too, after the jump.
We walked along Main Street after breakfasting at Blue Moon. Not much to see except some store fronts. I’ve seen several restaurants in gas stations around here — come to think of it, not just here. Is there a trend story brewing?
Famous French restaurant in Charlottesville, L’Etoile:
We arrived at UVA and headed for the Rotunda.
Greg performed his number from “Central Park: The Musical.”
We’ll be sure to have a choreographer look at these photos before we begin stage production.
The back side of the rotunda —
— look out onto what’s called the Academical Village:
Yes, if it looks familiar, you’re onto something. Thomas Jefferson — self taught in architecture — designed the University, the Lawn and the Rotunda in the Palladian style.
All along the lawn are residences where faculty and senior undergraduates live.
A few other sights on campus:
Along the back side of the Lawn is where Edgar Allan Poe stayed when he attended UVA for a semester in 1826:
It’s under renovations.
Back near the Rotunda:
We went on a tour inside. Here are a few snaps:
This statue was saved from a fire that destroyed the original Rotunda in 1895.
The Rotunda was rebuilt with a design from Stanford White in 1888, but then renovations in the 1980s brought back TJ’s original design.
Renovations are starting again this year.
We took the free trolley back toward our end of town, and walked along the pedestrian mall back to our hotel. We stopped at a drug store counter (really!) for a soda and a snack — and I’ll post about that separately. But here’s a look at our walk home:
So far, we’re quite enchanted with Charlottesville!
