Village Rider sign on Main Street. (Emma Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

We’ve seen Charlotte Area Transit System’s Village Rider buses pass by on Main Street countless times, but realized we had no idea where the North Meck Village Rider actually went. So this week, we ventured a bit farther out of the area, riding almost the entire loop of the No. 97 Village Rider, and making a stop at the North County Regional Library on the way.

We stood in the heat outside Town Hall, waiting next to a bus stop sign and wondering when the bus would get there. Every time we heard a loud car going past, we looked up, hoping it was the bus, but it never was. The way the bus schedule works, we knew that it had to come between certain times, but not exactly when. So we stood there speculating about what we’d do if the bus didn’t come, and what passing drivers must think we were doing.

And then it came. We got on, and paid less than we were expecting.  The fare is 85 cents for students in grades K-12, $1.75 for adults and free for children under 5. (We didn’t have quite the right change, so we just dropped quarters in until we had enough. We’d recommend bringing a selection of loose change.) We got our seats and settled back to see where the bus would take us.

The best part about the ride was sitting in the air conditioning and watching the scenery pass by. People-watching was also quite interesting, as they got on and off. Since we were on the inbound bus (southbound on N.C. 115 toward Charlotte), we went through Cornelius first, passing the Food Lion. The bus continued onto Catawba Avenue, across I-77, by the Palace Theatre, then passed through Birkdale Village. Then we headed east on N.C. 73 to the North County Regional Library. We decided to go straight to the library instead, and maybe stop off at Birkdale on the way back, when the bus was on that side of the road.

The library, as seen from the bus stop.

Getting off at the library was a bit scary, since we had to pull the cord to get the bus to stop, and we worried about pulling it too early or too late. When we finally got off, we set out armed only with the bus map and schedule, but no real idea of which bus we had to get on to get back home. We were there for the adventure.

Once we arrived at the library, we were eager to go look at books. We were amazed at the selection. We actually managed to find books we’d never heard of. (Which is somewhat difficult to do – we like books!) Once we had picked out all of our books and spent some time reading, it was time to board the bus–or wait another hour until the next one came.

After a short wait, we were back on board. Then we noticed the bus wasn’t traveling back toward Davidson, but farther out toward downtown Huntersville! We later discovered we were supposed board at a stop across Sam Furr Road. So, we decided to stay on the bus (air conditioning!) and see where it took us.

During our ride, we noticed lots of places we could have gotten off, if we had more time, such as Red Mango Frozen Yogurt in Huntersville. We also passed through places we hadn’t expected the bus would take us, like a residential area in Huntersville. We kept riding all the way to the end of the line, where we hoped the bus would turn around, and head back up to Davidson. Instead, we found that it turned into an entirely different bus, the 99, which was continuing on toward Northlake Mall.

Luckily, the bus driver was happy to point us to the correct bus, and gave us transfers (slips of paper representing an already paid fare) so we didn’t have to pay twice to switch buses. When we finally arrived home, we were tired but ready to read our new books and plan for our next adventure. We decided the day was not about the destination, but the journey.

Paulina Campbell is a rising senior at Woodlawn School. Emma Boraks is a rising freshman at North Mecklenburg High School. They’re spending part of their summers scoping out alternatives to TV-watching and Web-surfing. Have ideas or want to reach them? Leave a comment below, or email editor@davidsonnews.net. See previous columns in the “Summer Scoop” category.

RELATED LINKS

CATS Website- ridetransit.org

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library website- cmlibrary.org