Plenty of wineries in the fingerlakes region (about an hour south of syracuse)

(12-26-2012 12:02 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  










Others Receiving Votes: Atlanta Braves, Olympic Centennial Park, Georgia Aquarium, Rocky Mountain Pizza Company

I was in the 8th grade last time I went to the Varsity in Atlanta, and I was thoroughly unimpressed.

The best parts of Atlanta are 1) the 1996 Olympic Games (the actual games, not the venues), 2) the 1996 and 1999 Atlanta Braves (the actual teams - both were a ton of fun to watch when they lost to my Yankees), and 3) leaving Atlanta.

*The Coke museum is in the receiving votes category.

Since 1) there appears to be no entries for the French here and 2) I live near Gay Paris, I will give a few for the UVA French Army...

Places to visit/eateries:
1. The Charlottesville Downtown Mall (not really walking distance to Scott Stadium by the way if you are thinking of doing it on football game day)
2. The UVA Corner across from the Rotunda (there's a Mellow Mushroom and some other long time sandwich places that are pretty reliable...plenty of beer)
3. Shops at Stonefield - about 5 minutes north of UVA off Rt. 29
4. For a good breakfast, go to Villa Diner off Emmett Street...it's where the locals go..get there early as the wait may have you outside (especially on game day)
5. Barracks Road Shopping Center is walking distance to both JPJ Arena and a little farther walk to Scott Stadium...they have a lot of good places to eat like (chains) Chipotle, Brixx, etc.
6. Albeit a growing BBQ chain, I recommend Moe's BBQ with 2 locations (1 near downtown mall, 1 on edge of UVA campus near baseball stadium)...also, Stick's Kabob Shop with 2 locations (1 near downtown mall and 1 at Pantop's) is a local treasure

Lots of history:
1. Massah Jeffuhsun's Monticello of course
2. James Madison's Montpelier about 30-45 minutes away in Orange County (NE of Charlottesville)
3. UVA's Rotunda and the Lawn
4. Lexington is about 1 hour drive from Charlottesville, Woodrow Wilson Museum 30 minutes away in Staunton, heck to be honest you can go just about anywhere in the state of Virginia and find tons of historical interests

Lots of breweries/wineries:
1. 5 good breweries just inside the city and within 5 minutes of UVA
2. Breweries and wineries up in the mountains of Nelson County (just south 30 minutes from UVA)... http://nelson151.com/
3. Wineries up in Barboursville (not far from Montpelier) such as Barboursville Vineyard

Negatives:
1. UVA has never embraced the RV scene so parking for RV's is a pain in the buttocks...I don't think they open a very small RV space until a few hours before game time and they push you to leave soon after...no overnight parking fields like you'll find so welcoming in Blacksburg
2. Parking in general sucks for football...you can still park for free at the JPJ (old University Hall) lot which is about a mile walk to Scott Stadium though right across the street from baseball and JPJ...a lot of visiting team fans assemble here...they used to leave U-Hall open for tailgating fans to walk in to use the restrooms which was convenient, but U-Hall was demolished (finally!) a couple of weeks ago so not sure what will happen with that now
3. There may be a few but the local hotels aren't very good about driving shuttles to/from Scott Stadium either...like is commonplace in places like Knoxville on game day
4. Generally speaking, while Charlottesville has its charm, it is a very compact small city...once you get on foot this can be a positive, but finding places to park is always a challenge

Alternatives:
1. You can park at one of the downtown mall parking garages and ride one of the shuttle buses to/from Scott Stadium (for a fee of course...nothing is free around here)
2. Surrounding Albemarle County has plenty of stuff and the other counties are loaded with tucked away breweries, wineries, great food joints all within 30 minute radius...not an abundance of golf in the area, but there are some good courses
3. The Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive are accessible off I-64, about 15-20 minutes west of Charlottesville...BRP is free access, Skyline Drive which goes through the G Wash National Forest is a fee of around 15 bucks or so
4. Downtown Mall does a Fridays at Five weekly thing through mid-Autumn if memory serves correct if coming in for an early season FB weekend (music, food, beer, stuff for kids)
5. Speaking of the Downtown Mall, Friday nights can bring out some of Charlottesville's...well...let's say, more interesting citizens. At any minute you expect Robert Smith and The Cure to crank up a goth music festival. :>) Dave Matthews and his guys got their start in those parts, btw.

Now that I feel like I've done my Chamber of Commerce duties here, feel free to reply with any questions or shoot me a PM. I welcome the real Frenchies to strike down everything I've said and give their own inputs. I've lived near TJ's Gay Paris for almost 30 years so I know a thing or two - both good and bad. Obviously, I believe there's a lot more good than bad to stay here that long. Welcome to France!

FSU / Tallahassee

I’m a native, so it’s hard for me to say this or that is some fantastic thing to do since I’ve done most of it a dozen times since I was a kid.

1 Doak Campbell stadium and the surrounding complex - visit the statues of Bobby Bowden and Chief Osceola right outside the stadium. The stadium itself is or was the largest continuous brick structure in the world. The Bobby Bowden stained glass windows is also one of the biggest located on the West side of the stadium. Outside of Doak Campbell stadium between Dick Howser Stadium is the famous sod cemetary where FSU takes home a piece of turf from the opponents field in big games FSU was the dog in.

2 College town / Railroad square - if you stroll down Gaines St. near Doak Campbell stadium you will find a vibrant, modern community complete with many restaurant choices, hipster stores, coffee shops and breweries. Railroad square is off Railroad ave. - off Gaines St. As a kid I remember this place being contractor sales warehouses, but now the artsy fartsy community has turned into something....weird. The best time to experience Railroad square is the first Friday of every month as they have open house, sales and freebies. If you don’t get it on “first Friday’s” then you will miss the freak show.

3 Cascade Park / Proof Brewery - not far from Railroad square is Cascade Park. It’s a very nice, new, renovated park with a play area, splash area for the family, amphitheater, Korean War memorial and lake. This is a good thing to do if you like to walk around and save money. You will also find “the Edison” in Cascade Park. It’s an old brick building that once housed a utilities station, but now houses different dining options. If you are in a drinking mood after your brisk walk around Cascade Park, try Tallahassee’s most popular local brewery Proof brewery on the opposite side of S.Monroe St. as Cascade Park.

4 Old Capitol museum - if you like history, then this place shall provide it as you walk through the old Florida Capitol building and see artifacts that once belonged to past governors and presidents.

5 Mission San Louis - another historical place of interest that I feel is a bit underrated. It’s easy to get in and out of, admission is not much. Tour the site that once housed the 2nd largest Spanish mission 400 years ago with a museum with artifacts, rebuilt Spanish style church, school, fort, houses and a rebuilt Apalachee Indian meeting house that is impressively huge. If I remember correctly, every Saturday they have a musket during demonstration at 12:00 noon. The blacksmith shop was of particular interest to me. During your visit you will find historians dressed in tradition garb telling you about the way it was back then.

6 Wakulla Springs - Outside of Tally about 30 minutes south you will find the world famous Wakulla Springs where they filmed several movies like the Creature from the Black Lagoon and Tarzan. Take guided boat tours up the river and bring your swim panties, it has a large swim and dive area.

7 The Coastal Highway 98 - if you want a relaxing drive with beautiful scenery then start your adventure in St. Marks (30 minutes South of Tally) and travel west a long highway 98 to Apalachicola. On the drive you will find places to explore, seafood restaurants, public beaches and fishing charters.

Sigh

Can't go to a game in the Dome but the fishing is awesome this Fall.

https://www.syracuse.com/orangefootball/...ssion=true

(10-15-2020 09:06 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  Sigh

Can't go to a game in the Dome but the fishing is awesome this Fall.

https://www.syracuse.com/orangefootball/...ssion=true

Ive done more fishing this year than I have in maybe the last 20 years.