A Trip to Hokie Country

A sane person would never agree to a last minute road trip to the middle of nowhere right before said person was supposed to embark on an expensive trip to London. As you may have already determined, I am no sane person.

In an inebriated state of Halloween madness, my friend Christine asked me if I wanted to visit her brother with her in Blacksburg, Virginia the next week. I couldn’t think of a reason why not, so I said “Sure.” A sane person would also have researched the weather and found out it would be far below freezing, but that’s not me.

I had to switch around a few prior commitments, but by Wednesday afternoon, I had packed my limited amount of winter clothing (I’m still a Charleston girl at heart) and hit the road for a 7 hour journey to Hokie country.

The weather was rainy the entire drive up, so I didn’t get to see the maroon and orange leaves the Blacksburg area is known for. We met up with Calvin around 11:30 at a bar called Riverwell for a few beers before calling it a night.

I’ve stayed at dirty college boys’ houses, but this one took the cake. Christine and I told ourselves it was just like being on Fear Factor. I did my best to sleep in preparation for the next day’s game against Georgia Tech.

We woke up late, just like I used to in college. Calvin took us to a classy lunch at the West End Dining Hall, which was surprisingly good. It made Craig Dining Hall (at College of Charleston) look like a soup kitchen, although it didn’t take much.

Later in the day, we bundled up for an afternoon of tailgating before the 7 p.m. game. I was ready to hunker down in front of the tv at a warm bar, but Christine tracked us down some tickets so we could go to the game.

The stadium was completely packed with maroon-colored Hokie fans. It’s like all of Blacksburg showed up for the game. I only stayed through halftime (did I mention it was cold?) but the Hokies went on to defeat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, much to the dismay of Christine’s boyfriend, a GT alum.

What I loved about Virginia Tech was the sense of family. Blacksburg is isolated from pretty much everywhere, so you bond with those around you. I was a freshman in college when the VT shooting happened, but it still feels fresh in my memory. The Hokies have moved on, but will never forget.