Things to Do if You’re Staying in BV for Spring Break
By Koby Parry
Not all of us can go back home or go too far for spring break, so for those of us who are staying in town, here are some things that you can do.
Day Trips
Not all of us can go on full-fledged vacations, but many of us have enough time to drive an hour or two away to spend the day in a new town:
- Roanoke — Roughly an hour away, and there’s mini golf, a driving range, international markets, and some authentic Mexican restaurants to start.
- Lynchburg — There’s a Sam’s Club, more international markets, and at Liberty University, they have an artificial snow hill where you can rent tubes, skis, snowboards, and gear.
- Washington, D.C. — Three hours away is one of the most historical places in the United States. There’s plenty of things to do if you’re willing to get out there.
- Natural Bridge — If you like easy hikes, Natural Bridge is a great choice. It’s roughly 40 minutes away by car, and there’s a few restaurants in the area you can also check out.
Lexington Runs
There are some fun stores and restaurants in the area, especially in Lexington. They can get a little pricey, but it’s something to do, and there are a lot of affordable options. Here is a list of my recommendations:
- Sushi Matsumoto — Japanese food and sushi
- Circus City — Antiques and random furniture
- Tommy’s Arcade — Arcade games
- Taps — Variety/fusion food
- Napa Thai — Southeast Asian food
- Thriftique — Antiques and other miscellaneous items
- Golden Garden — American Chinese food and other Asian foods, very affordable
- Just Games — Board games, card games, role playing games, and disc golf equipment
- Niko’s Grille — Greek food
- Walkabout — Outdoors and camping gear
- Cupcake Heaven — Cupcakes, flavors rotate weekly
- Foothill Mama’s BBQ — BBQ
- Duke’s Lexington Antique Center — Miscellaneous antiques and vintage items
- Hong Kong — All you can eat buffet, American Chinese food, very affordable
- Macado’s — American food, Thursday night wing night (wings are $0.30 each)
- Celtic Tides — Celtic clothing, souvenirs, and snacks
- Various Food Trucks — These are harder to pin down, but there’s two donut trucks and a taco truck that are all worth trying if you find them.
- Lanes Country Store — Random gag gifts, country style candy, jams, snacks, and ingredients
- Exploring Lexington — Lexington is a very historical town, and there’s way more things to find and do than what I have mentioned here. Go find some things.
Things to do Without a Car
The reason why a lot of us are staying in town is because we literally couldn’t leave if we wanted to, so here are some things you can walk to in town:
- Thursday Farmers Market — 3:00 PM-6:00 PM in town commons area (the grassy patch by the Buena Vista graffiti.)
- Survival Camping — Watch a YouTube video and test your survival skills in the woods right outside of your dorm.
- A Trip to Coiners — The local Amish store has lots of treats and odds and ends. The best part is they also have free samples of a lot of those treats.
- Airsoft Fights — There’s an airsoft store at the edge of main street that sells airsoft guns for $5. Yeah, they’re terrible, but it’s cheap, and it’s something to do. If you want to spend more you can, but if you don’t, the cheap option is there.
- Hiking — There are trails in basically every direction you go here, so get some friends and climb up a hill.
- Try the Local Restaurants — There’s less restaurants than Lexington, but there’s still a few good places to try like Five and Dime and The Beeve.
- Lift Weights — Now’s the perfect time to start on your fitness era of life. The gym has open weight times during spring break, but make sure you bring a friend so you don’t hurt yourself.
- The Junk Shop — On Friday and Saturday mornings, the junk shop opens and you can buy a bunch of things based on the weight of it. There’s street signs, sports equipment, and a whole bunch of vintage items. It’s next to the resale store on the edge of town.
- Clean Your House — We could probably all do with a little bit of spring cleaning.
- Remodeling — It might just be a me thing, but getting things for my room, and I love making the place I live in nicer. The resale store and the junk store are cheap ways to make your house feel a bit more like a home.
- Bonfires — Find some friends or make some new ones, and commit legal arson in your local burning hole.
- Dungeons and Dragons — I guarantee there’s a group still on campus that’d love to show you how to play if you’re interested.
I’m sure there’s plenty of other things to do if you’re creative enough, but this is just a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing. So get out there and do something already. The next break we get isn’t for another month or so, so make the most of this break while we have it!
Things to do If You’re Staying in BV for Spring Break was originally published in The Herald on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
