[Inspired by my
annual Virginia pilgrimage with the boys, this year’s series will focus on
AmericanStudying interesting places in the Commonwealth. Leading up to a
special weekend post on my presentation at the Historical Writers
of America conference in Williamsburg!]
Briefly
AmericanStudying three childhood favorite spots—mine and now my boys!
1)
Chris
Greene Lake Park: Located in Albemarle County, which surrounds my hometown
of Charlottesville, Chris Greene was the go-to lake beach of my childhood (I
have vivid memories of both the minnows nibbling on my youthful toes and of the
taste of the hot dogs at the concession stand). The lake was first developed in
the mid-20th century as
a potential county reservoir but ended up a site for recreational swimming
and boating, fishing, hiking, and more, an interesting reflection of how our
public natural spaces evolve and shift in their identities and roles. This
AmericanStudier is also very interested in who Chris Greene was, especially
given the complexity of
public names in Charlottesville and the South, but so far my researches
have been stumped—any help would be much appreciated!
2)
Mint
Springs Valley Park: A bit deeper into Albemarle County, near the small
town of Crozet, is the much more secluded and scenic Mint Springs. This one
felt to a young AmericanStudier like a day trip, and my strongest memories are
of renting a canoe and exploring the lake that extends well beyond the park’s
small beach (although I also remember climbing high up into the playground’s
undoubtedly not-to-code metal rocket ship). Per this excellent
blog post, the park apparently also features a number of impressive hiking
trails, reinforcing (as that blogger also notes) how fully a trip to Mint
Springs takes you away from modern life (even in a small town like Crozet).
Charlottesville’s not exactly the big city either, of course, but nonetheless the
difference between Cville and Mint Springs is striking, reflecting just how
quickly and fully much of Virginia shifts back to a rural landscape that hasn’t
changed much over the years. I didn’t really appreciate that side of the state
while I lived there, but as a resident of the far more congested greater Boston
area, I certainly do now.
3)
Sherando Lake
Recreation Area: Yet on the spectrum of settled to natural, urban to rural,
in Virginia, Mint Springs isn’t all the way toward those latter ends—that designation
is reserved for protected areas like Shenandoah
National Park and the George
Washington & Jefferson National Forests. Nestled in those forests,
close to the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is my favorite Virginia spot
for swimming, Sherando Lake. I’ve taken both my sons and my fiancée to Sherando
in recent years, and each time have felt exactly the same as I did on my
childhood visits—in awe of the (it seems to me) untouched and unchanged natural
beauty, and of the chance to spend a few hours within such a sacred space. Shenandoah National Park is full of such
spaces, of course, but there’s something extra special about a relatively
unknown place like Sherando, and about the chance to find there what John
Muir called “the clearest way into the Universe.”
Special
conference recap this weekend,
Ben
PS. What do you
think? Interesting places (in any state) you’d highlight?
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