For the second time, Katie and I went over the mountain to Charlottesville, and we had a blast. I picked her up at her place, and we went over. I had Big Mavica and the Lappy in tow.
We went to the Downtown Mall, parked on the top level of the Market Street garage, and walked from the parking garage to the Charlottesville Ice Park and back. On the way, we stopped in at Five Guys for a restroom break and a soda (and where they don’t validate parking!), and at this little coffee shop near the Ice Park end for a steamer. Then going back, we stopped over at the free speech wall and photographed the messages, and added some of our own. The free speech wall is so fun, both to read and to contribute to. It’s also so Charlottesville, as in it’s something that is just so fitting for Charlottesville.
And we got lots of photos, too.
Katie took a moment to pose for a long-exposure photo on some planters.
A drawing marked as being “to you”, “from me”.
A message urging people to boycott Cha-Cha’s, a business near the center of the Downtown Mall. I added the message “Why?” in pink chalk. I wonder what the person has against Cha-Cha’s…
“Blackout makeout”? Okaaaaaaaay…
“City Council: Is there room for buses in our new bus station? I only see room for two lanes of traffic on Water Street.” Does anyone know any more about this issue?
Okay, we just thought this was neat-looking.
And of course, I got a photo of Katie doodling on the wall. It was quite cold on this particular evening, and so Katie’s got her other arm tucked way back into her sleeve.
And then after we finished downtown, we went to IHOP for dinner. I took the Lappy in with us, and we reviewed our take from the evening. We both agreed that it turned out really well. I’m also pleased to have the Lappy. Today proved it was a wise investment, as I’m now able to move my Web studio to just about anywhere with a wireless connection, plus now I can review my photos in high-resolution on the go.
I still can’t get over that the Five Guys people don’t validate parking. When they said that, I suggested to Katie, in a way that made sure that they could hear it, “Why don’t we go somewhere else that does validate parking?” Who knows. Then meanwhile, Five Guys had signage regarding the peanuts they have in their restaurant that warns patrons not to take the peanuts or shells out of the restaurant. And I quote: “Due to the possibility of severe allergic reaction in some neighborhood children, please DO NOT take peanuts or peanut shells outside of Five Guys. The emphasis shown is theirs (see for yourself). I’d think that if that’s what you’re trying to prevent, then they’ve got it backwards. They should warn people coming in that peanuts are prevalent, rather than warning patrons not to take the peanuts out. After all, in the outside world where the “neighborhood children” can be found, people also drive cars that spew exhaust, and people likely also smoke cigarettes. By Five Guys’ logic, we should only run our cars indoors as well. I don’t even want to know how they’d apply their logic to people smoking cigarettes. I should note, though, that their restaurants are smoke-free. So, yeah, I found that one to be quite odd. Peanut allergies are no laughing matter, I will agree, but that sign is just ridiculous.
And as is usually the case with my trips with Katie, the Sable ratted Katie out for not buckling up. It detected her presence in the passenger seat, and when it detected that she was not wearing her seat belt when the car was in motion, it set off its seat belt alarm. I just turned and gave a friendly little reminder to buckle up, and Katie did so, but not without complaining about the little alarm. Meanwhile, I love it. I love the fact that the car lets me know when my passengers have not buckled up (I’m a big stickler for seat belts), and it’s also fun to watch Katie’s reaction to the seat belt alarm.