This past weekend, a series of events fell into place that allowed my wife and I to travel down to Virginia to visit our niece at university. We had been planning on going anyway, but flights to Virginia were expensive and all at really weird times, so it didn't look like it was going to work out.
Then our nieces dad reached out to let us know that he and his wife were heading down there and if we could find a way to Ohio, we were more than welcome to ride with them. We left after work on Thursday afternoon to head down to the Columbus, OH area, and then on Friday morning, we packed the car and made for Radford, Virginia.
That's actually not entirely true, we actually went right to Charlottesville, Virginia where the University of Virginia is because her softball team had a game there on Friday night, but after that we headed back to Radford.
The photo above was from our hotel room and while the hotel was amazing (more about that at the end of this post), I don't think the $10 extra we paid per night for a "mountain view" was really worth it. You can just see them in the background above.
Radford University was founded in 1910 as a public university in the state of Virginia. It began as "The State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Radford", but in 1924 the school was renamed "The State Teachers College at Radford". Obviously, the primary intent was to be a school for teachers. In 1943, the school merged with Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg (home of Virginia Tech). VPI remained the male campus of the school while Radford was the female campus.
In 1964 that merger was dissolved and by 1972 Radford became its own co-ed campus. It remained a college until 1979 when it grew big enough to earn the label university.
After getting back late from the softball game the night before, we slept in a bit, then we took a stroll around campus with our niece to see all the places that she visits on a regular basis. Our first stop of course was her dorm to meet up with her and see where she lives.
These dorms are much nicer than what I remember from college. They are almost like mini apartments with each set of roommates getting their own bathroom. No single bathroom per hall prison style accommodations for these kids!
The campus is small enough that it is very walk-able and it has a modern yet quaint feel about it that really makes you feel at home. I never actually went away for university, but I would like to think if I had, this is the sort of school that I might have attended.
I've been to universities before where everything is spread across a several mile space and I don't think that has the same charm as schools like this.
There is actually a fair amount of green space as well throughout the campus. I can imagine students all over this field on a warm day in the early fall or late spring. Throwing a frisbee or just sitting under a tree and reading.
The mascot for Radford is the Highlander, so many of the buildings and surrounding businesses have a very Scottish feel to them though I haven't been able to figure out what the actual connection is to Scotland. The campus itself is 211 acres with just shy of 4000 students living on campus.
Since we spent the morning walking around campus, I am going to include this post as a #wednesdaywalk post sponsored by @tattoodjay. We got to see the student union, the dining hall, the athletic center, and the psychology building where a lot of our nieces classes are.
It was a crisp morning for a walk with the temperature being somewhere in the 50 degree range. In fact, it was so chilly, we had a hard time believing it was supposed to reach over 80 degrees later in the day, but it did. I'd say our stroll took just about an hour before we decided to find a local place and grab some breakfast.
We ended up at a place on campus called BT's that our niece had actually never visited before. Apparently, the food in the dining hall is quite good if you can believe that and since she pays for the meal plan she usually eats there. The student union also has a Chick Fil A and there is a Wendy's in the dining hall too, so she has plenty of options.
Like I said, the highlander theme is prominent throughout the town as evidenced by this statue inside the restaurant.
Breakfast at BT's was pretty fantastic. I got the steak and egg omelette that you see in the first picture above. @mrsbozz got the Denver omelette that I didn't get a photo of, and my brother in law got the breakfast club sandwich that you see in the second photo. I actually don't remember what my sister in law ordered, I think she also got the Denver omelette, and our niece got a simple two egg breakfast.
The breakfast club was interesting, but it would have been way too much for me to eat. It's basically eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, cheese between pieces of french toast. Then some potatoes on the side. My brother in law said it was amazing!
I can attest that my steak and egg omelette was exceptional, and the biscuit was a no brainer being in the south. It was phenomenal.
After breakfast we headed back to our hotel that was right on the edge of campus. It's a Hilton Tapestry Collection hotel called "The Highlander" duh. Like the dork I am, I couldn't help but say "There can be only one" everytime someone said the word "Highlander".
The Highlander hotel was actually one of the nicer hotels we have stayed at since Covid, and I will definitely be staying there again. They have specials for parents of students and a pretty fantastic restaurant on the top floor that I will be writing about in a future post.
It's safe to say Radford has captured my heart and I can see why our niece chose to go there. I can't wait to get back and visit her again in the Spring.
My Sports Account - @bozz.sports
It's nice to walk around sometimes, and the places you went to were beautiful, especially the university. Also, the food you eat is yummy. Have a good trip to your next destination.
We did eat some really great food on this trip! Made all the walking necessary!
I hope I can experience eating there too..heheh, for now it's just my fantasy hahah
Maybe one day...
Hoping heheheh...thank you for sharing your experienced😇
the university is big and the mountain view at your hotel is beautiful. and just wow! 4,000 students live on Campus! that's so cool! and great to know that you are comfortable in the hotel you are staying at.
Thank you! This is actually a pretty small university. Many of the bigger ones have closer to 30,000 or more students on campus.
Wow 😳 thats pretty cool. Hope There is also a university like that in the Philippines. How I wish.
The dorms sound way nicer than I expected 😂 I wish my school had private bathrooms like that!
Yeah, I was really surprised at how great they were. My niece appreciates it too!
Damn, that breakfast club sandwich looks dangerous ...ly delicious haha
The campus looks nice, plenty of green space and nice trees for shade. I bet it will look even nicer in a few weeks when the leaves change a bit more.
Yeah, the color change has been a bit slow this season I think. Everything has been so dry. I think she picked a really good place to call home for the next four or so years.
What a nice trip and a great place to stay. I've never been to that part of Virginia, it sure is pretty though. Sounds like those dorm rooms have been upgraded to modern expectations. Who wants to share a bathroom after all?
The breakfast looked great, I would have gone with the omelet too, then again I love Denver omelets! I can see why you had to say there could be only one! How many times have I seen that movie and the series over the years? Probably too many! lol
Yeah, the series was really great too. This was not like any other college campus I have been on. It was pretty great. I'm a sucker for a good omelet. I am probably going to have a couple of them next week when I head to my conference up north.
Looks like a nice aul spot. Like a mini town in itself
Indeed!
I could not really see anything Scottish about it, apart from perhaps the mountain view in the distance lol!
So I asked gemini ... and it would appear the scenery has something to do with it .... and this is what gemini said ...
Radford University adopted "The Highlander" as the nickname and mascot for its athletic teams in the 1970s in celebration of the Scottish-Irish heritage of the Southwest Virginia region where the university is located.
Here are the key points about the choice:
Regional Heritage: The Blue Ridge Mountains area of Virginia, where Radford is situated, has a long history of settlement by Scottish and Scots-Irish immigrants, who were often known as "Highlanders."
Symbolism: The image of a Highlander is meant to embody characteristics like strength, courage, brawn, and pride, which are fitting for an athletic mascot.
Colours: In keeping with the Scottish theme, the university changed its original purple and grey school colours to a tartan plaid palette of red, white, blue, and green around the same time.
So, while the university itself is in Virginia, the mascot is a nod to the rugged landscape and the enduring culture and character brought to the region by the Scottish people.
Well there you go! Very cool! It's a pretty neat place and honestly, now that I am buying fan apparel for there, I am glad they moved away from purple and grey!
I found this post very interesting. About Radford University, what I knew is that Kiera Cass studied there, whose novels I like.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! They have had a few famous people walk their campus I think.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:u37t33dyaufvrqujwmvm54ln/post/3m3rqi75qck2h
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:u37t33dyaufvrqujwmvm54ln/post/3m3rqi75qck2h
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The best thing is that you didn't just visit the place, but you relived the experience with the spirit of a student. This type of visit leaves an unforgettable impression.
Yeah, a lot of the buildings were close since it was their fall break and many students were gone for the weekend, so it wasn't really bustling with activity, but it was still cool.
Beautiful campus! Yeah, not much of a mountain view, but for extra $10 I would not expect anything. Unless room upgrade is $100+ you usually don't get anything...
Yeah, we normally wouldn't have, but we figured it was our anniversary, so why not...
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I think the open area feel to a college campus is better than building after building. The ones that have a community feel to them give a better experience to the students in my opinion.
Oh omelets I just finished one I made myself. The breakfast club caught my eye though I can say I havent tried one yet surprisingly.
Not going to lie I thought of that reading your title, haha. We are both dorks this morning. A reveal, I actually bought a replica sword of it many years back.
No way, that is pretty cool about the sword. The first movie was on a couple of weeks ago and I found myself watching it again. It was so good. The breakfast club looked interesting, but I knew I would be regretting it later in the day if I had gotten it. This campus was pretty amazing.
I did too I think it was on TBS if my memory serves me right. I really got into the series and bought all the seasons on DVD and binge watched them all over an extended weekend
Yes, the series was really good.