Farmville (4/3/2014)

I like to take US 460 on the way back home from an extended trip out in western Virginia and/or when I am not in a hurry.  Millage wise it is not much different, but hopefully it helps with the nerves.  I love some of the towns on this road:  Lynchburg, Bedford and Farmville.

While I figure that I need to stop by the D-day memorial (especially because that is also the date of my wedding anniversary), I always tend to gravitate to Farmville.  Mentioning Farmville to people always gets me two types of reactions.  I often get a yawn or a all telling look, and from people that have been there I usually get a smile.  I do think Farmville is an undiscovered little treasure.  It is a sleepy little town with a university; Longwood University is in our state system, and I remember well applying for a job as a biology teacher there, but obviously they did not think I was qualified.  Their loss.  I would have enjoyed living there.  I really like smaller towns like Farmville, Lynchburg, Danville and Pulaski.  I need to visit more small towns, I love the old buildings and the history that made these towns thrive in the past.

Farmville used to be a small industrial; my understanding is that is was one of the hubs of furniture making that we saw a lot of in this region of the country.  With furniture manufacturing moving to cheaper countries like China, these small towns did not fare well, but I think Farmville is on the up swing.  They have a thriving furniture and mattress market the High Bridge bicycle trail, and as I mentioned before the University.  This is the place in Virginia to go shopping for those items.  I know, we bought a rug there.

If I can help it I tend to stop in Farmville (see some of my past posts on Farmville here and here) for lunch at the Bakery.  My understanding is that the owner id from Belgium, and in addition to the best selection of Belgium beers, the place has a great lunch menu and Dutch coffee for sale.  But darn, I need to branch out and write about other places, this is the third post on that town (Mr./Mrs. Mayor, I expect the symbolic key to the city).

While I usually go for a walk (or a bike ride) in the direction of the High Bridge, I decided to go the other way today.  Below are tow pictures I took during my walk.  One of a set of murals and the other I took at the old train station.  Both are colorful and it was difficult to choose between them.

An yes, next time is the D-day memorial.

Farmville (9/29/2014)

After a weekend of traveling and cycling on the eastern shore, it was "on the road again" but now for work.  My job took to me Farmville, about an hour and a half southwest of Richmond.

I really think Farmville is a great little town, with Longwood University.  I applied for a job at Longwood two time, but obviously was rejected, and the only other thing I know about it is that one of the dorms burned down the year we moved to Virginia.  In addition to the University, Farmville is famous for it's (now mostly defunct) furniture manufacturing and the famous High Bridge Bike trail. The photo for today was taken on High Bridge on Monday night.

The bridge it self is an amazing 2400 feet (730 m) long and 125 feet (38 m) high.  It was constructed over the Appomattox River and flood plain in 1854, and it is a site of one of the civil war battles.  Currently, the rail line has been converted to a rails-to-trail site and it is wonderful biking in the area. My round trip from Farmville across the bridge and back was just a little over 10 miles and the trail is flat. I took the photo below using the HDR setting on my cell phone near the middle of the bridge.  For this occasion I obviously brought my mountain bike.  The trail is fine gravel and a normal bike with wider tires is needed.  My road bike with very narrow tired might have worked, but this was great.

Farmville has other attractions too.  I particularly like my lunch spot, "the Bakery", which has a European flair and great sandwiches.  I had a good visit.

Farmville (8/1/13)

Drove through downtown Farmville today.  Home to Longwood University.