For a measly $10 and 25,000 United Airlines mileage points, I got a round trip ticket to Charlottesville, Virginia for summer school's long weekend in mid-July. My plan is to make the short drive through the Shenandoah Valley and spend two nights in Staunton at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel, right next door to Blackfriars Theater, home to the American Shakespeare Company. My program at UVa last June was centered around the ASC playhouse and this July I'll get to see Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives Of Windsor, and Titus Andronicus. I also plan to visit Thomas Jefferson's Monticello while in the area, which I haven't been to since I was a boy.
