On Sunday, we drove from Virginia Beach to Albany (and what a fun drive THAT was), and bombing up the Eastern Shore, I had a chance to catch the Tavis Smiley show on the local NPR station. One of the guests was all-but-officially-Senate-elect Mark Warner, the former Virginia governor who is absolutely pantsing his predecessor, former governor Jim Gilmore.
Listening to the interview, I realized that I'd seen a few dozen "Warner 2008" signs and banners, and probably 15 "Sportsmen for Mark Warner" blaze-orange, gun-emblazoned signs . . . but not a single "Gilmore for Senate" sign. Not one.
The Eastern Shore isn't exactly known as a hotbed of liberalism, so I have to wonder what this means for the ultimate result, and what the over/under for Warner's victory margin will be.
Showing posts with label Travels Around Virginia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travels Around Virginia. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Travels Through Virginia III:
- The drive from VA Beach to Charlottesville is nearly always pleasant, and today was no exception. For some curious reason, there was a five-mile backup at the tunnel, so we bombed around 664. I love that last stretch of the drive, the last ten or so miles before Charlottesville, when the hills open up just enough to roll all around you.
- I previously commented on the unbelievable number of pancake houses in Williamsburg. Turns out I failed to notice one salient factor: they all close at 2 or 2:30 p.m. This is a problem if you're looking for a late lunch at 2:15.
- Several Corner haunts are in my near future. I'm thinking of hitting Little John's Deli (one of my favorite delis, anywhere) out of sheer principle, I'm meeting a giant of the VA political blogosphere for 32-oz. margaritas over at Baja Bean, and there are other possibilities besides.
- It's going to be a great few days.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Travels Through Virginia 2:
- It's a lot of fun for me to see peculiarly German-heavy menus in restaurants over here. Take the Capital Ale House, for example. Want a curry wurst? You've got it. A true "Bavarian" pretzel? Yours -- and you can even get it stuffed with a wurst. Scan down the menu, find a dish involving your favorite German sausage, then cheek the beer list and pair it off with the right beer. It's actually pretty cool.
- Cally's in Harrisonburg is another "oh so German it kind of hurts aua" restaurant. The beer menu has a fairly nice selection, which I enjoyed sampling over lunch on Wednesday. The Koelsch I had no use for whatsoever, but then again, I already know that I hate Koelsch. The Downtown Amber was adequate, but not great, but the Munich Lager (very malty), Belgian White and Smokin' Scottish, in increasing order of preference, were fantastic. Very good stuff, particularly the last.
- Now for a (hopefully epic) gripe: It's all well and good to have an AM radio station devoted to giving drivers traffic updates on the major thoroughfares in Hampton Roads, but can someone please find a way to boost the signal strength? It doesn't do much good to have the station if you can always locate the nearest tower simply by passing a tractor-trailer and seeing whether the signal fades even more; even at it's best, the signal is about 85% static.
Not only that, but could someone at VDOT get eyes on all of the major choke points? On Thursday, at around 2 pm, we were bombing through Hampton on the way back to Virginia Beach. I had the useless AM update on, and listened to it four times through. There were updates for 64W, 264 in both directions, 58W, and 664N. Note the omissions: 64E and 664S.
So we head on towards the tunnel, thinking we'll be ok, when we round a bend and ... come to a dead stop at LaSalle Avenue, a bit over 5 miles out from the tunnel. I mean a dead STOP. It took an hour to get to the next exit, so that we could get off, turn around, and try 664.
664 was moving nicely, until we get bout 4.5 miles out from the tunnel, when we slam down to a near-stop. It was stop-and-go for a while, but unlike the corresponding route on 64, there was an element of 'go.' Still don't know the cause of this one; the stoppage at the 64 tunnel was a broken-down vehicle inside the tube that somehow managed to block both lanes (good going, dude).
Nor were we in the clear once we crossed the James River. We looped around to the end of 64, and hopped back on that route headed west through Suffolk and Chesapeake. The high-rise drawbridge over the southern branch of the Elizabeth River in Chesapeake? Breakdown on the bridge, left lane blocked.
Got past that one, only to spot the mobile traffic alert signs posted at the side of the interstate, advertising an accident 64W at Indian River Road. Our exit. Three left lanes blocked. Fantastic. So we got off onto the secondary roads, since we were close enough by now that I could do so with confidence. It took some time from there, of course, what with a few dozen traffic lights to negotiate and all, and God only knows how many thousands of extra "holiday weekend" travelers.
There was a light note, finally. It wasn't the pissed-off hungry baby in the backseat who, much to my surprise, had been confined to her carseat for four hours plus by this point (and all for a two-hour drive -- go figure); we did manage to get her fed, fortunately, and she calmed down. It was the flock of Canada geese that brought traffic across all three lanes of Greenbrier Parkway South to a dead standstill when they decided to take a casual stroll across the road. At least I was the lead car in my lane for that one, so I got to see and appreciate and laugh at what was going on; I may not have been so jolly about it were I four cars back wondering what the #$%^ was going on now.
The byline for the last leg of our drive: what should have been 21 miles turned into 3h20m. I didn't think to check the odometer to get a glance at the mileage of the actual route, but I know it was at least double when all was said and done -- not that that helps much.
So please, VDOT, get a better transmitter, and get some accurate traffic information out there in a timely fashion. It may not have changed much, but if I'd have known how screwed I was in both directions, I'd have gotten off and hung out somewhere for a while, ridden it out (hey, I've done it on 95 before).
- Cally's in Harrisonburg is another "oh so German it kind of hurts aua" restaurant. The beer menu has a fairly nice selection, which I enjoyed sampling over lunch on Wednesday. The Koelsch I had no use for whatsoever, but then again, I already know that I hate Koelsch. The Downtown Amber was adequate, but not great, but the Munich Lager (very malty), Belgian White and Smokin' Scottish, in increasing order of preference, were fantastic. Very good stuff, particularly the last.
- Now for a (hopefully epic) gripe: It's all well and good to have an AM radio station devoted to giving drivers traffic updates on the major thoroughfares in Hampton Roads, but can someone please find a way to boost the signal strength? It doesn't do much good to have the station if you can always locate the nearest tower simply by passing a tractor-trailer and seeing whether the signal fades even more; even at it's best, the signal is about 85% static.
Not only that, but could someone at VDOT get eyes on all of the major choke points? On Thursday, at around 2 pm, we were bombing through Hampton on the way back to Virginia Beach. I had the useless AM update on, and listened to it four times through. There were updates for 64W, 264 in both directions, 58W, and 664N. Note the omissions: 64E and 664S.
So we head on towards the tunnel, thinking we'll be ok, when we round a bend and ... come to a dead stop at LaSalle Avenue, a bit over 5 miles out from the tunnel. I mean a dead STOP. It took an hour to get to the next exit, so that we could get off, turn around, and try 664.
664 was moving nicely, until we get bout 4.5 miles out from the tunnel, when we slam down to a near-stop. It was stop-and-go for a while, but unlike the corresponding route on 64, there was an element of 'go.' Still don't know the cause of this one; the stoppage at the 64 tunnel was a broken-down vehicle inside the tube that somehow managed to block both lanes (good going, dude).
Nor were we in the clear once we crossed the James River. We looped around to the end of 64, and hopped back on that route headed west through Suffolk and Chesapeake. The high-rise drawbridge over the southern branch of the Elizabeth River in Chesapeake? Breakdown on the bridge, left lane blocked.
Got past that one, only to spot the mobile traffic alert signs posted at the side of the interstate, advertising an accident 64W at Indian River Road. Our exit. Three left lanes blocked. Fantastic. So we got off onto the secondary roads, since we were close enough by now that I could do so with confidence. It took some time from there, of course, what with a few dozen traffic lights to negotiate and all, and God only knows how many thousands of extra "holiday weekend" travelers.
There was a light note, finally. It wasn't the pissed-off hungry baby in the backseat who, much to my surprise, had been confined to her carseat for four hours plus by this point (and all for a two-hour drive -- go figure); we did manage to get her fed, fortunately, and she calmed down. It was the flock of Canada geese that brought traffic across all three lanes of Greenbrier Parkway South to a dead standstill when they decided to take a casual stroll across the road. At least I was the lead car in my lane for that one, so I got to see and appreciate and laugh at what was going on; I may not have been so jolly about it were I four cars back wondering what the #$%^ was going on now.
The byline for the last leg of our drive: what should have been 21 miles turned into 3h20m. I didn't think to check the odometer to get a glance at the mileage of the actual route, but I know it was at least double when all was said and done -- not that that helps much.
So please, VDOT, get a better transmitter, and get some accurate traffic information out there in a timely fashion. It may not have changed much, but if I'd have known how screwed I was in both directions, I'd have gotten off and hung out somewhere for a while, ridden it out (hey, I've done it on 95 before).
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Travels Through Virginia:
In the past two weeks, I've put almost 1000 miles on my car, and will have topped that by the time I get back home later today. Not bad for never leaving the state, eh? I've also seen some interesting things that I'd never seen or thought about before.
- I saw a truly funny personalized license plate yesterday in Harrisonburg: GOT MKAY. I turned back to the car to get the camera (seriously), but GOT MKAY had things to do, it seems, and had pulled out of the space by the time I was back. While I realize that this is probably a Mary Kay advertisement on the front and back of their vehicle, I prefer to think of it as reading "GOT MMMMMKAY?", preferably said with a Mr. Mackey-style intonation.
- Harrisonburg is a metropolitan area. Who would have known? I didn't, that's for sure, and was somewhat taken aback to hear it. It's also a much prettier town than I remember, heart of downtown excepted, and is undergoing quite the construction boom.
- Speaking of construction booms, Richmond is a lot longer than I remember. Short Pump now extends a couple of miles up 250 further than it did the last time I was here. Literally, a couple of miles of new development along 250 have sprung up in the less-than eighteen months between my visits to Richmond. Quite impressive, though I wonder if the long-term investment will be worth it, once some necessary infrastructural changes work their way into the system. Time will tell.
- Despite the change, once you finally do kick that one foot out of Richmond metro heading west on 250, there is nothing, and I mean nothing around you. Quite serene.
- Pound for pound, I'll rank Richmond's downtown business/government area as among the most difficult to navigate. I won't call it the worst, by any means, but pound for pound, it's up there.
- The county bird of Greensville County, if there is such a thing, should be the mosquito.
- I should get back to places like Natural Bridge and Luray Caverns. It's been quite a while.
- It's still strange for me to drive west on I-64 past 118B. I always smile when I hit that particular clearing between the halves of the interstate around 120-121. If you've made that drive more than a couple of times, you know exactly what patch of road I mean.
- No fog on Afton Mountain. Yay!
- Finally, what the hell is with pancake houses in Williamsburg? Do they breed? I'm not asking entirely facetiously, either. We hopped off of 64 onto 60 on the way up to Richmond the other day, mostly because I wanted to grab a slice at Dino's Pizzeria (best in the state), only to find out that they're closed Mondays. D'oh.
We decided that, rather than immediately getting back on the interstate, we'd stick on 60 and take the scenic route. About 1/4 mile into Williamsburg, I started gradually becoming aware of an inordinate number of pancake houses along the sides of the highway; by about 1/2 mile into the city I was flummoxed by their sheer numbers. All I could see after a while were pancake houses, whether claiming colonial origin or claiming lineage from an "Aunt" of some sort. I think that the most I saw were three consecutive, but there must have been two dozen in a 2.5-mile stretch, including a lone IHOP among all of its local competitors. Can anyone help me out here? What the hell is with pancake houses in Williamsburg?
- I saw a truly funny personalized license plate yesterday in Harrisonburg: GOT MKAY. I turned back to the car to get the camera (seriously), but GOT MKAY had things to do, it seems, and had pulled out of the space by the time I was back. While I realize that this is probably a Mary Kay advertisement on the front and back of their vehicle, I prefer to think of it as reading "GOT MMMMMKAY?", preferably said with a Mr. Mackey-style intonation.
- Harrisonburg is a metropolitan area. Who would have known? I didn't, that's for sure, and was somewhat taken aback to hear it. It's also a much prettier town than I remember, heart of downtown excepted, and is undergoing quite the construction boom.
- Speaking of construction booms, Richmond is a lot longer than I remember. Short Pump now extends a couple of miles up 250 further than it did the last time I was here. Literally, a couple of miles of new development along 250 have sprung up in the less-than eighteen months between my visits to Richmond. Quite impressive, though I wonder if the long-term investment will be worth it, once some necessary infrastructural changes work their way into the system. Time will tell.
- Despite the change, once you finally do kick that one foot out of Richmond metro heading west on 250, there is nothing, and I mean nothing around you. Quite serene.
- Pound for pound, I'll rank Richmond's downtown business/government area as among the most difficult to navigate. I won't call it the worst, by any means, but pound for pound, it's up there.
- The county bird of Greensville County, if there is such a thing, should be the mosquito.
- I should get back to places like Natural Bridge and Luray Caverns. It's been quite a while.
- It's still strange for me to drive west on I-64 past 118B. I always smile when I hit that particular clearing between the halves of the interstate around 120-121. If you've made that drive more than a couple of times, you know exactly what patch of road I mean.
- No fog on Afton Mountain. Yay!
- Finally, what the hell is with pancake houses in Williamsburg? Do they breed? I'm not asking entirely facetiously, either. We hopped off of 64 onto 60 on the way up to Richmond the other day, mostly because I wanted to grab a slice at Dino's Pizzeria (best in the state), only to find out that they're closed Mondays. D'oh.
We decided that, rather than immediately getting back on the interstate, we'd stick on 60 and take the scenic route. About 1/4 mile into Williamsburg, I started gradually becoming aware of an inordinate number of pancake houses along the sides of the highway; by about 1/2 mile into the city I was flummoxed by their sheer numbers. All I could see after a while were pancake houses, whether claiming colonial origin or claiming lineage from an "Aunt" of some sort. I think that the most I saw were three consecutive, but there must have been two dozen in a 2.5-mile stretch, including a lone IHOP among all of its local competitors. Can anyone help me out here? What the hell is with pancake houses in Williamsburg?
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