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AirTran Airways Crew Member Elizabeth Stevens explores the trendy side of the Newport News/Williamsburg area.

After spending close to three decades in Newport News/ Williamsburg, including her college years, Elizabeth Stevens is an everyday expert on the area. This hip 30-year-old knows that top-notch culture abounds here-if you know where to look for it.

For example, not all travelers think of a college as a popular attraction. Stevens knows better. Her alma mater, Christopher Newport University, hosts world-class concerts, plays and lectures at its Ferguson Center for the Arts (www.fergusoncenter.cnu.edu).

It was here that Stevens met Paul Rusesabagina, the man who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda, as well as the filmmakers behind the documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.

"CNU has really done a lot for Newport News," she says. "[It's] given the city a little more prestige."

For more cinema and concerts, Stevens heads to nearby Norfolk. The city's Ghent neighborhood is a great place to catch indie flicks, she says. For live music, she goes to The NorVa (www.thenorva.com), a live music venue that's hosted everyone from James Brown to Iron and Wine. "It's big enough for a nice crowd, but it's not overwhelming," she says. Last spring, Rolling Stone rated the 1,500-seat theater one of the five best rock music venues in America.

And how do local culture vultures kick back? With tapas and Southern cookin', of course. Stevens recommends small plates at Six Little Bar Bistro (www.littlebarbistro.com; 757-722-1466)- a "trendy and urban" eatery-in Hampton's Phoebus neighborhood. She also enjoys Norfolk's Voodoo Rouge (757-333-3068), which offers New Orleans-style fried catfish and "drinks with funny names."

From postcollegiate lectures to postconcert tapas, the Newport News/ Williamsburg area is bursting with enjoyable activities. And if you go out for a night of intellectual stimulation, keep an eye open-you just might see Stevens at the table next to you. -Wayne Dawkins

PERSONNEL PICKS

Name: Elizabeth Stevens

Position with AirTran Airways: Customer service agent

Home base: Hampton, VA

How long she's lived here: Nearly 30 years

Where to hang out like a local: At Newport News'City Center at Oyster Point (www.citycenteratoysterpoint.com), "I check out Red Star Tavern (757-596-0308) or go to MaggieMoo's Ice Cream & Treatery (757-599-3996)," she says. "The town center gives that little, old-town, boutique shopping vibe you wouldn't get in a mall."

Favorite way to kick back and relax:

Favorite way to kick back and relax: "Driving along the Colonial Parkway (www.nps.gov/colo/parkway.htm) in the Williamsburg-Yorktown-Jamestown Historic Triangle. It's very relaxing to drive with the windows down and a nice soundtrack playing. I'll shuffle my iPod or play some Sarah McLachlan. I often take visitors to give them a feel for the community."

Best theme park destination for grown-ups:

Busch Gardens (www.buschgardens.com) near Williamsburg. "The landscaping is magnificent," Stevens says. "Busch Gardens is the cleanest, most aesthetic theme park… even adults who aren't into theme parks like it."

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