<p>Hi! I'm a junior and am still looking at different colleges. I've really liked what I've heard about Davidson, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me about the town of Davidson? Do students interact much with the town? How are the outdoors opportunities? Thanks!</p>
<p>Its a quaint little college town. The outdoor opportunities are awesome. There is a huge intramural sports program, many running and hiking trails, and also a small lake campus like five minutes away for water sports.</p>
<p>I don’t do a lot of outdoors oriented stuff, but i can think of a lot you can do outdoors here. There’s davidson outdoors which takes all kinds of trips… some breaks there are camping/kayaking etc trips, there is the lake campus mentioned above which has a bit of property on lake Norman, there are the cross country trails… Students to a degree interact with the town, but my experience as a freshman has been that most people spend the great majority of their time on campus. A good bit of people go over to Summit coffee for, obviously, some coffee, and most people go to eat somewhere like Banzai or fuel pizza or at one of the nearby exits. Haha… the most frequented off campus place is definitely cookout though, a few exits down the interstate…</p>
<p>Thank you! It sounds like a nice place.<br>
How is the weather? I’ve heard it does not snow much, but what about rain? Coming from a really sunny place, some rain would definitely be a plus.</p>
<p>It snows only 1-5 times per year here, but it rains a LOT. Definitely a good idea to invest in a pair of rainboots before coming to Davidson. Last year, I kept meaning to get some, but never got around to it, managing to ruin at least two nice pairs of shoes along the way. </p>
<p>In Davidson, weather-wise, you get a bit of everything. We have warm sunny days, beautiful blue skies, and gentle breezes off the lake. And then, especially in the fall, we have lots and lots of rain. In the early fall and mid-spring, it’s pleasantly warm; between the two, it ranges from 50s to single digits (generally about 36 to 45 degrees, in the winter, though). </p>
<p>The town of Davidson. It’s a very different place from what it was when I first visited in 2007 (jeez, has it really been that long?). A mile from campus, there is a new shopping center, right off the interstate, with a Harris Teeter, Donato’s pizza (yum!), Monkee’s stylish boutique (pricey, but CUTE clothes), PostNet (for all your shipping needs), Davidson Chocolate Factory, and other stores. Also right off the interstate we have an Exon, a Subway, a Homewood Suites (inexpensive, but less so than the Carnegie Guest House on campus), Sabi Asian cuisine, a pediatrician dentist, and a gym.</p>
<p>On Main Street, which is what most people think of when they think of the town of Davidson, there’s the town library, the town post office, the Davidson Village Inn, Summit Coffee, TOAST (breakfast/brunch), the Soda Shop (very retro), CVS (they take CatCard–student declining-balance card!!), the town bookstore, 'Cats on Main (souvenirs and other Davidson gear), Summit (coffee, bakery, very popular hangout/homework place, especially among English majors), Village store, Ben & Jerry’s, Raeford’s Barbershop, and the new Stowe Building, which has a really awesome hair salon, Cocoon (just got a really nice haircut and color there hehe).<br>
Off Main, near campus, there’s Bonzai (Thai - they take Catcard too) and Bucci’s Ristorante (Italian…authentic, too - the owner’s from Sicily, I think)
Up the street a little further, there’s the town hall with the police station, Fuel Pizza, Restaurant X, Campania Cafe, Carolina Cones (ice cream!), and lots of other neat shops.</p>
<p>Davidson students have a really great relationship with the town of Davidson. You’ve probably already heard of the Freshmen Cake Race, but they have a race at the beginning of the year for you, just after Orientation, where the town-people make cakes and goodies for all the racers. The community attends all the sporting events (especially basketball). Lots of service projects are also with the community, especially over at the nearby Ada Jenkins (tutoring, childcare, and other welfare assistance for the impoverished), and young parents in the area always need college babysitters.</p>
<p>Wow, thank you! That gave me a pretty complete picture, I feel! It sounds like a great place for college…small enough to have college-town character, and big enough/close enough to the bigger city conveniences.</p>