Hi! I’m Chelsea Francis, and I’ve known Ms. Abbey Sargent for over 5 years now. I met Abbey when we first came to live in Lynchburg, VA in the whirlwind that is moving to college. Abbey, some of the greatest people we’ve ever met, and myself were shipwrecked two miles from campus at some hotels our college had recently remodeled into dorms. It sounds like a horrible set up to type it all out, but it wasn’t. It was honestly one of the best things that could have happened to me. You know what happens when you’re sort of exiled? You become friends with those around you who are in a similar situation. I wouldn’t change my Lynchburg Inn friendships for anything in the whole world.
But enough about that, and the nostalgia I feel for the Lynchburg Inn.
Lynchburg! Lynchburg, Virginia is either the worst place in the world or the best place in the world depending on whom you ask about it. I belong to the second camp of human beings, though I didn’t always.
Lynchburg, VA is nestled right under the Blue Ridge Mountains and because of it’s geological layout and location you can see some mountains from just about anywhere you are. It reminds me of my Carolina home, which is really close to where Noah’s Summer Land was.
Lynchburg, through and through, is a college town. There are six sizeable colleges that I can count within Lynchburg city proper or just outside of it. With that being said there is a never-ending supply of college students circulating through the city, and sometimes they choose to stick around past their graduation date. Lynchburg is undoubtedly a launchpad for other places for most of the people who end up here. But this doesn’t make it any less great.
My husband and I live in downtown Lynchburg, and it’s my favorite. The architecture is very much a hodgepodge of decades, but some new businesses have begun renovating some of the cool old buildings and the city is sprucing up the landscaping downtown. It’s coming along quite nicely. More than anything though, it just feels like home.
Some of Lynchburg’s quirks include the fact that we have a wonderful minor league baseball team that feeds to the Atlanta Braves, quite a few food trucks, a community market, and enough hills to make my calves hurt just talking about them. In the summertime we have a lake that just about everybody and his or her brother shows up to on the weekends. We even have an amazing flower farm! In the wintertime if it snows everything shuts down except for the Domino’s pizza in downtown and the White Hart, most everyone’s favorite coffee shop if they have a favorite. Lynchburg has a wonderful parks and rec department and all kinds of trails, parks and picnic areas that you can use for free. Which is awesome! Lynchburg is also historically rich. There are a ton of markers signifying Civil War era battles and landmarks. A couple of famous people are even from here Ann Spencer (a beat poet and gardener), Keenan Thompson (comedian and best friends with Kel on Nickelodeon), and Connie Britton(Friday Night Lights, Nashville).
That’s about the extent of my Lynchburg knowledge. I’m glad Abbey asked me to write about this wonderful place & I’m glad you read it! Thanks!
(abbey now!)
i cannot even tell you how much i love lynchburg! and something that Chelsea didnt tell you is that half of these images are shot on film! she and her husband tucker own a business called Timber Hitch and you can check it out here! its one of lynchburgs latest gems! thanks so much Chels for this fun run around one of Virginia's finest!