not your ordinary neighborhood hang-out

Miles today: 5.6
Miles in 2010: 30.8

today was an interesting running day...

everything started out normal...woke up early, went to church, enjoyed lunch at the divine Lynchburg College cafeteria while meeting with the catering manager to plan our lovely wedding reception...followed by meeting a group whose name i will fail to mention here at the City Stadium for a 3:00pm run.

my good friend stacey and i drove together and met up with about 20 other runners to begin a tour of Lynchburg.

the run went something like this: started at city stadium, ran around the dog pound/humane society, down the train tracks, across fort ave. through 2 church parking lots, up and down the "W" streets parallel to Memorial Ave. (Warren, Westover, and Wilson) toward Lynchburg College, across Oakley Ave. and past one of the many barber shops of the Burg, past McDonald's and the Lynchburg Public Library, through E.C. Glass tennis courts and across campus, toward Langhorne and 5th, up Orchard Street (a big nasty hill) to Miller Park baseball fields and through Kenny's chicken drive-thru, across 12th, 13th, and 14th Streets and down Reed/Lancaster toward the Spring Hill Cemetery and finally to our destination: The Stadium Inn.

Now, for many of you who have been in Lynchburg all your lives, you may have never entered this fine establishment. To some, you've been warned it's not a place to visit...to others, it's just a neighborhood hangout.

To me, well...let's just say that their non-smoking section involves a port-a-john sized room with an a/c unit in a window built off the side of the building with just one table and two chairs and a temperature equal to the one outside, that their jukebox can kick it, and that their complimentary styrofoam bowls of Townhouse crackers give it a little character.

I thoroughly enjoyed my run today, and what's more, i enjoyed the company i kept while visiting the Stadium Inn.

It's true...they may be rough around the edges.

But grooving to Johnny Cash's, "I Walk the Line" and "One Piece at a Time" from the steady drone of the dusty jukebox, enjoying a drink with friends, and meeting folks like Johnny in his suspenders, bandana, and long, grizzly beard made the whole evening much more than just a day for a run.

it's kind of like visiting the Tea Room or the Cavalier...you just enjoy the place for what it is.

it wasn't ordinary...but it was delightful!