Date: August 16, 2024
Welcome to VTS! Here’s how to leave. Holy Hill is a fantastic place to live and learn, and I hope all y’all incoming students are enjoying campus life. But it’s important to balance seminary life with touching grass, especially since we are so blessed with world-class offerings at our fingertips. Residential seminary is wonderful, but as they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder! Here’s my little guide to getting off campus, with friends or solo.
No matter your destination, transportation comes first. Even if you have a car, consider taking public transit. Enjoy looking out the window, luxuriating in your environmentalism, while a city employee chauffeurs you to your destination. All buses run by the City of Alexandria are free to ride, and you don’t need to show a card; just hop right on! The very convenient 102 bus line stops on Seminary Road by the mailroom and goes to the King Street Metro Station. It runs weekdays only, every 30 or 60 minutes depending on the time of day, so it’s worth planning your departure with a map app or the Dash Bus Trip Planner. The 31 and the 32 are also free, and both run to the King Street Metro on weekends; these take a walk to reach, so I recommend the 102 if the timing is right.
Once you reach the metro, the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia area) is your oyster! We live on the yellow and blue lines. Parking is free on weekends at most metro stations; check for parking price and availability ahead of time using this WMTA parking tracker.
If you’re flying to another destination, taking the metro is a cheap and easy way to avoid traffic. We have often taken the 102 to the King Street Metro, directly to DCA, bypassing frustrating airport jams. If you fly out of Dulles, remember to check out the metro’s silver line before booking a cab. Even the far-flung BWI has train service directly from the King Street Station!
If you do want to use a rideshare app, the easiest place to meet a driver is by the mailroom. If you need it, the technical street address for this area is 3823 Seminary Road, but placing a pin down usually works well.
Now that you know how to leave the seminary bubble, where should you go? There are way too many destinations for me to list here. I recommend keeping an ear out for restaurants and activities others have enjoyed and saving them in a map app; that way when you have the hankering to adventure, you have a list at your fingertips.
I will say, if you’re planning on staying local, Alexandria has a ton of overlooked historical options. Fort Ward Park, the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial, and the site of the first trans-Atlantic radio communication are all close to VTS, in addition to many other sites.
Welcome to VTS and the DMV! I’m so excited for your adventures to begin.
Ellie Singer
SGA Public Relations Officer