ENGL3844 P2.Walkings
Prof. Derek Mueller (dmueller@vt.edu)
10/10/25
P for Parking Garage (South Main St.):
Figure 1. This is the view from a small parking garage in downtown Blacksburg. My roommate and I like to come here on our nightly walks. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
My roommate and I have a habit of going on night walks after a stressful week. On this particular night, we grabbed some DX (I got a burger and she got a chicken sandwich), and set off. We live on-campus in New Residence Hall East, so the journey wasn’t too burdensome. As we people-watched, we discussed our week, what exams we have coming up, personal drama, and more. This parking garage has been our usual spot since our freshman year, so we come here pretty regularly. Not a bad spot. (90)
G is for Going Out (Draper Rd.):
Figure 2. The Milk Parlor is a music bar in downtown Blacksburg. This is the best spot to see live bands and grab some chicken tenders after a long night. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
The Milk Parlor is one of my favorite spots to go out in Blacksburg. My friends and I frequent it pretty much every weekend since we all love live music. On this night, we had tried getting into The Burg (just to go somewhere new) but the cover charge was $40. That’s preposterous so we decided to come here instead. We happened to see a fantastic band that we never caught the name of. They covered “Song 2” which made me very excited because I’m a really big Blur fan. (90)
D for Ducks (Duck Pond):
Figure 3. Ducks seen swimming around in Virginia Tech’s duck pond. My roommate and I think that the two ducks in the center were romantically involved. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
This day was a relatively exhausting one. My roommate and I had just gotten out of our labs (I had chemistry and she had bio). We had decided to grab some Chickfila from Perry Place and eat at the duck pond picnic tables. While we were eating, we noticed some ducks surrounding the tables and decided to snap some photos. The two ducks in the center were very touchy with each other, signifying a clingy relationship. The weather was cool and it was nice to unwind outside after our labs. (90)
S for Skateboard (Skatepark):
Figure 4. This is me trying to remember how to ride a skateboard properly at Blacksburg’s skatepark. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
I don’t skateboard that often, but when I do, it’s always pretty fun. This was definitely the longest walk on the list; the skatepark is very far away from where I live. As you can infer based on the last entries, my roommate was here for this venture as well. She’s a much better skater than I am and will usually tease me for riding a longboard instead of a street board. She dropped in on the half-pipe a couple of times, and I just skated around aimlessly. Gotta practice. (90)
T for Trees (Academic Side):
Figure 5. This is a photo I took around Pamplin Hall. The slight coloring of the trees and the evening lighting deserved a picture. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
I cross this path on the academic side very frequently; most of my classes are in Hahn Hall North. This was a solo journey when I got out of my chemistry lab. I had just grabbed some pasta from Veloce in Perry Place, and was eager to get home quickly so that it wouldn’t get cold in my bookbag. As I was walking along, it was hard not to appreciate the signs that fall is upon us. I’ve always preferred winter, but there’s nothing quite like a good orange-leafed tree. (90)
F for Frost (Residence Halls):
Figure 6. This is some mild frost that I saw one morning when walking to the bus stop. This made me increasingly excited for winter. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
I looked at the weather app after waking up so I could dress accordingly for this walk, and noticed that it was slightly over 30 degrees. I was more shocked to see predictions for flurries throughout the morning. It was very chilly, but it made my walk to my chemistry lecture slightly more enjoyable. I ended up wearing some black jeans, a white hoodie, and a flannel jacket to keep warm. In my airpods, I was listening to the band Magdalena Bay since they usually wake me up a little. (90)
C for Croissant (Marcia’s Park):
Figure 7. These are some pastries that my roommate and I got after roaming around downtown. The left is creme brulee cheesecake, the middle is a creme brulee donut, and the right is a turkey and swiss croissant. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
This was a very leisurely walk with my roommate. We went to Coffeeholics to grab some snacks. Surprisingly, we didn’t get any drinks. Our main mission was to find a nice spot to eat, and after some searching, we found this small park called Marcia’s park. As the leaves crunched under our shoes, we settled on this platform above a small body of water. The pastries were beyond our expectations and I’d say my favorite was the creme brulee donut. It had a crisp, crackling top with a custard filling. (90)
M is for Market (Farmers Market):
Figure 8. This figure shows some mushrooms that I found at the Blacksburg Farmers Market. I was tempted to buy some but I don’t have a lot of money right now. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
My roommate and I decided to go to the Farmers Market on Saturday. We both got up around 12pm, walked to squires to get some coffees, and then headed downtown to the market. This little mushroom stand had to be my favorite. They had small grow kits, fresh mushrooms, and other cool products. Another stand we walked by had really good smelling candles but they were like 20 dollars so we passed. As we circled around the place, mounds of fresh produce and artisan goods continued to catch our attention. (90)
H is for Halloween (Centros):
Figure 9. This is my roommate, boyfriend, and friend waiting in line for Centros on Halloween night. We ended up staying for about 3 hours and we were all pretty tired the next day. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
On Halloween night, some friends and I decided to go out and dress up. This wasn’t a long walk since it was just downtown, but we were all kinda cold. I dressed up as Sukuna from Jujustu Kaisen. I was too lazy to invest in the actual outfit so I just used some temporary dye on my hair and got my roommate to do the face markings. We stayed at Centros Bar for about 3 hours and we saw somebody get kicked out too. It was a pretty eventful night. (90)
V is for View (Study Lounge):
Figure 10. This is the view from outside one of my dorm’s study lounges. I got some schoolwork done and was then greeted with this pretty view.
It was a pretty slow day, so I decided to catch up on some schoolwork (which has been a struggle this year for some reason). I walked down to my floor’s study hall so it was no big journey. I worked on chemistry notes and my chemistry lab worksheets. I was able to complete a couple hours worth of homework and then noticed how pretty the sky looked. I’m not sure why, but I feel like there’s a lot of good sunsets here. Gotta appreciate the simple things in life. (90)