Rt 29 No

detention pond
I received a request from China for pictures of Charlottesville so I biked north via the John Warner Parkway to our “Main Street”, the curiously named Seminole Trail. Why is it named that? No one seems to know.
Most likely it was a trick. Mad Men work, advertising to attract the gullible.
It is a remarkable area, this Seminole Trail, a land of many lakes and places to shop. The lake above was built in association with the newly constructed Arden Place. The name sounds so wonderful, Arden, garden, ardent, verdant…
Arden has some advertising literature which really nails the essence of this area…

Neither urban, nor rural.
 Rather, uptown vibrancy.
Arden Place is a luxury Charlottesville apartment community offering unparalleled levels of quality and service. Located off Route 29 No. in the center of the area’s best shopping, dining, and entertainment, you’ll find you have more time to spend on what is important to you.

bad mulching practice
Headed South on the Seminole Trail I encountered Wildlife. One wonders why these creatures would prefer a parking lot to the aquatic expanses of a detention pond?

mother of all mudpuddles
This is an informal detention pond on the west side of Route 29.

detention pond
This is a formal detention pond in the course of construction. At a later date nature band-aids will be added to its gently sloping sides.
Possibly geese seek out parking lots because they are upstream of these ponds, closer to the source (rainfall) and therefor comparably pristine?

pedestrian
In the course of my three mile ride along Rt 29 (from Arden Place to Barracks Road) I saw one pedestrian.

nassau street
Ended my ride in the East Belmont/Carlton section of Charlottesville.

(Please, if you can direct me toward a silviculture resource for dry ponds and extended detention dry basins do so. It seems that these pits offer new ground for growing fabulous specimen trees in an urban setting.)

Author: WmX

I stumbled off the track to success in 1968, started chasing shadows that summer. Since then, In addition to farm-laborer and newspaper photographer my occupational incarnations include dishwasher, janitor, retail photo clerk, plumber, HVAC repairman, auto mechanic, CAT scan technologist, computer worker and politico (whatever it takes to buy a camera.) I am on the road to understanding black and white photography.

3 thoughts on “Rt 29 No”

  1. Why did the chicken cross the road?
    Cuz the other chickens dared her to?
    To get to Arden Place?

  2. Thanks a lot for this. I’m thinking: Robert Adams in Charlottesville. One thing I’d like to know, though, is how many bike riders you met on your expedition?

  3. There are many different socio-economic slices that are being called Charlottesville. I started my ride to the east of the core of the City, at the foot of Monticello by the Rivanna River. Many bikes here. Biked northwest, the bikes thinned out. Once in the County of Albemarle the bikes disappeared. There must be a suburban curse on bikers in the County. Didn’t see another bike until my return to the City’s core. The County has built an “urban” constrictor doughnut around the City to house all the people they don’t want living in the horsey-set part of the County.
    I’d estimate 8 bicycles seen over 14 miles.
    Thanks for thinking of me and Robert Adams in the same month!

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