Active Pursuits in Charlottesville
If you can afford it, the best golfing is at the Arnold Palmer-redesigned links at the private Keswick Club, which guests of Keswick Hall at Monticello can pay to play. The University of Virginia's 18-hole Birdwood Golf Course (tel. 434/293-GOLF [4653]), adjacent to The Boar's Head, is one of the top 10 collegiate courses in the country. The 18-hole Meadow Creek Golf Course, 1400 Pen Park Rd. (tel. 434/977-0615; www.charlottesville.org), is a short but challenging municipal course. Call the courses to reserve tee times and get directions. Two fine courses -- Devils Knob and Stoney Creek -- are at Wintergreen Resort, about 43 miles away.
You can go rafting and canoeing on the James River at Scottsville, a quaint, 19th-century town 20 miles south of Charlottesville via Va. 20. The river can run swiftly here -- class I or II if it has rained recently, canoeing and tubing conditions if it hasn't. Contact James River Runners (tel. 434/286-2338; www.jamesriver.com), which has been rafting the rapids, taking adventurers on overnight canoe trips, and renting canoes and inner tubes since 1979.
Charlottesville is Virginia's prime venue for hot-air ballooning, with several companies sending their craft soaring over the foothills, depending on the direction of the wind. Bear Ballooning (tel. 800/932-0152 or 434/971-1757; www.2comefly.com) takes off from the Boar's Head. Others include Blue Ridge Balloon Company (tel. 434/589-6213; www.blueridgeballoon.com) and Monticello Country Ballooning (tel. 434/996-9008; www.virginiahotairballoon.com). Contact them well in advance of coming here.
On the Downtown Mall, the Charlottesville Ice Park (tel. 434/817-2400; www.icepark.com) offers an irregular schedule of ice-skating, skating lessons, and pickup hockey games.
