W&L’s Student Activities Treats Students to Local Adventures Reimbursable experiences include the Virginia Safari Park, Natural Bridge, Hull's Drive-in, and coffee and a pastry at Season's Yield Farm.

By Erica Turman
April 21, 2021

Washington and Lee University’s Student Activities is providing activity reimbursement to students for various excursions in the Rockbridge area. Reimbursable experiences include the Virginia Safari Park, Natural Bridge, Hull’s Drive-in and coffee and a pastry at Season’s Yield Farm. Students can participate as a group or individually, then turn in their receipts to Kelsey Goodwin, director of Student Activities, for full reimbursement.

“Many of our students have enjoyed taking advantage of these various opportunities around the Lexington area this spring, and we look forward to offering them throughout the rest of this academic year and into the fall,” Goodwin said.

The Virginia Safari Park, a 180-acre drive-through zoo located in Natural Bridge, is home to over 1,000 exotic animals from six continents. Students can drive or take a hayride along three miles of road in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Animals of all sizes, shapes and colors come up to the car for a tasty bucket of feed.

Natural Bridge State Park offers more than six miles of trails, including the stunning Cedar Creek Trail, which leads guests beneath the massive limestone bridge, past the Monacan Indian Village and Salt Peter Cave to Lace Falls. The walking trails are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Students can also enjoy Hull’s Drive-In, a 319-space drive-in theatre. Hull’s is one of only seven drive-in theatres still operating in Virginia, and it is one of only two nonprofit drive-in theaters in the United States.

Seasons Yield Farm is a family-owned farm that offers freshly baked, wild-leavened sourdough bread and pastries every other week throughout the year.

“I can’t encourage our students enough to take full advantage of all the experiences located within a few minutes’ drive,” Goodwin said. “You don’t have to wander too far off campus to find a surplus of unique experiences, and I am so pleased we can offer many of these adventures at no cost to the students.”

For more information and to suggest other activities and venues, students are encouraged to reach out to Goodwin directly at kgoodwin@wlu.edu.