dear old state

This post is woefully late, but, as they say, better late than never!

Warning: This post is chock-full of photos, mostly so my dearest Emily can see this place that gives Andrew and me so much joy. Enjoy!

Andrew and I spent the weekend at Penn State for Columbus Day weekend. As our alma mater, Penn State has so many happy memories for us, so it’s always high on our list of places to visit. (It doesn’t hurt that it’s only four hours away and lodging is FREE with our good friend, Adam, who teaches there.)

We left that Saturday morning with plans to get breakfast at a diner about an hour into the drive. Andrew was less than thrilled we left before 9 a.m.

I was all decked out in my Penn State gear for the drive!

We stopped outside of Bradford, PA, at the Derrick City Diner:

I ordered a veggie omelet, but could hardly stomach the ‘cheese’ on it… I’m not normally that picky, but something about it just ruined it for me. ‘Processed Cheese Food’ (a.k.a. American cheese) is not cheese, people!

Note the piece of cinnamon swirl bread behind my plate…it was grilled and topped with a gooey cinnamon roll icing-like sauce. YUM. Andrew and I polished that off easily.

We hopped back in the car and continued our drive to State College and arrived by 1:00 p.m. After dumping our bags at Adam’s place, the three of us headed to campus for lunch.

But first–a pit-stop at Rita’s Water Ice (sadly not there when we were students) on our way to…Baby’s! (I took a few bites of a kid’s chocolate before pitching it so as not to ruin my appetite!)

This was, perhaps, my favorite place to eat off-campus while we were students here. It’s a 50’s-themed diner that features all the typical greasy-spoon meals you’d expect and waitresses in saddle shoes. The chicken ‘wimpy’ basket (two slider-sized burgers) is the only thing I’ve ever ordered. And peanut butter milkshakes.

(Adam split the milkshake with me. This wouldn’t be the last item Adam and I share–we have similar taste!)

Our first stop on College Ave. is always The Family Clothesline, our favorite clothing and accessories store. We stock up on new t-shirts and sweatshirts each time we go. You’d think we’d have enough by now, but no. We can never get enough.

It’s always mobbed, and this weekend was no exception. Turns out it was Parents’ Weekend, which was both good and bad: with 3x the amount of people, everything was packed, but seeing all the parents in their PSU-gear (I’m sure a good number are alums themselves) is so heartwarming.

We walked along College Ave a bit before grabbing coffees and finding a spot to sit on campus.

View of campus from College Avenue:

View looking away from campus down Allen Street from College Ave:

Views of campus near the Alumni Center:

The obelisk on campus that marks the center of the state of Pennsylvania:

A side view of Old Main:

Carnegie Hall, where the College of Communications is housed:

View from the Patee-Paterno Library:

Inside the library:

Adam wanted to check out a classroom in which he’ll be teaching this spring, so we tagged along. It is in Thomas Building, which features the largest classroom on campus–seating for 726! I had a class here–History of Landscape Architecture–my first semester freshman year. Talk about overwhelmed! See the placard on the wall in the photo below, it’s not hard to find which room it is:

Inside 100 Thomas:

The campus certainly has changed since Andrew and I were there more than ten years ago (!!!). Below is some new materials science building or something, which used to be an open field:

Despite all the new buildings popping up all over, the campus has done a nice job preserving and enhancing ‘green spaces’ throughout. There are gardens with seating, trees for shade and places to play everywhere you look.

Where I lived sophomore year, Mifflin Hall:

Simmons Hall, below, is an honors college dorm and where Andrew lived for three years before moving off campus senior year. I moved onto a girls’ floor for my junior and senior year.

South Halls, which are currently getting a bit of a face-lift, and where I lived freshman year are pictured below. Almost all the freshman live on the other side of campus in East Halls, but I was one of the ‘lucky’ few to avoid the ghetto. I say lucky because East dorms are definitely the worst of all (no wonder–it’s where the freshman live), but it also creates a sense of community. To orient yourself a bit, South Halls (Simmons is included in that) are just off College Ave, while North and East Halls are about a 10-minute walk up campus closer to the stadium, and West Halls (nicest, by far) are near the Lion Shrine and the other end of College Ave.

We ended up getting ice cream cones from the Creamery (one of Penn State’s claims to fame is its Food Science Department and ice cream) before heading back to Adam’s place to re-group and rest before going out to watch the football game.

That night ended up being a bit of a debacle. Remember how I said it was Parents’ Weekend? Yeah. Well. Penn State has just shy of 9,000 first-year freshman at the University Park campus. Let’s be conservative and say only 10% of those students have 1 or 2 parents visiting (perhaps not even that many students have parents coming, but the extra will just account for the families who DID come, and who also brought along grandma, grandpa and younger siblings.) So, all of a sudden, you have an extra 1 or 2 THOUSAND or more people roaming around campus, all wanting to go somewhere fun to watch the game. So yeah. The restaurants were packed. After failing to find seating at three different places and driving back and forth from one end of State College to another, it was half-time in the game and Andrew was NOT HAPPY. (To his credit–he told me the ONE THING he wanted to do this weekend was go somewhere fun to watch the game. I felt terrible.) Our last-ditch effort was at Hi-Way Pizza, a State College stand-by, and the waitress took pity on us and seated us in just a few minutes. I find telling people in positions of power your sob story can only help your situation.

I’d wanted nachos since I started thinking about the game, and Adam said he’d help me eat them. I don’t think I’d had nachos in 10 YEARS! Adam is such a good sport. We’re always sharing hawaiian pizzas and things since Andrew doesn’t like anything that I do.

The next morning, we were up bright and early to get into the Waffle Shop before the line formed. I snapped this photo at about 8:15 Sunday morning:

The Waffle Shop is THE place to go for breakfast at Penn State. There are three locations, one on College Ave., and the other two are just a couple minutes from campus. They’re all a madhouse with lines out the door from about 9 to 11 (or later) each Saturday and Sunday morning. We knew if we didn’t get there early, Andrew would throw a fit about having to wait in line. We were seated immediately, and within 15 minutes the line began inside.

I’ve always ordered the chocolate chip pancakes:

Adam discovered the grilled blueberry muffin on a previous trip and I had to try it. OMG. It’s heavenly.

And here’s the line when we left, which is NOTHING compared to how long it WILL get:

After our breakfast, we went back to Adam’s apartment, where I baked him a batch of muffins as a ‘thank-you’ for hosting us.

I even brought my own apron–the Andrew apron–that Adam gave me a while ago. He tends to do funny things with photos of Andrew…there are two blankets and mug as well!

Adam helped a bit, too!

Once the muffins were finished, we said our goodbyes and headed off to do some more campus-walking ourselves. We were blessed with a beautiful weekend, especially as we’d prepared for rain.

Our first stop was the HUB, which is the student union building. Many fond memories here–meeting up with friends, grabbing lunch at Panda Express or a wheat bagel with peanut butter and honey for breakfast.

The giant aquarium downstairs is a well known meeting place for many students, and Andrew and I were no different. We met up there many times a week on our way to or from classes. We always take a picture there.

More views of campus:

Old Main from College Ave:

Here’s Rec Hall, on the west side of campus, where my ROTC flight-mates and I would gather twice a week at 5:50 a.m. for PT.

Rec Hall is next to the Lion Shrine, where countless students, friends and family gather to take photos. One day we may have a family photo there.

Here’s looking from the Lion Shrine inward toward campus. At the end of this long road is the stadium.

More views, this one just outside the Forum Building:

The Forum is a round building of classrooms, all set up with theater-style seats. Andrew took chemistry there. He tells a story about how he won $5 sophomore year from a friend who bet him he’d end up going out with some other girl in their class. Just a few months into OUR relationship at that point, this friend gave him the money and said the writing was on the wall: Andrew was going to marry that girl, Holly. And he did 🙂

This is the Palmer Art Museum. I’ve never been in it. Not once. But I’ve always loved it.

View from East Halls down toward the South end of campus and College Ave:

East Halls has 14 dorms and houses about 5,000 freshman. It’s the largest block of dorms on campus:

View from East Halls over the tennis courts with Mount Nittany in the background:

Wagner Building, which is next to the tennis courts and across from East Halls, houses the ROTC programs on campus. It has an armory around the back. I spent A LOT of time in that building.

Just beyond Wagner building is the intersection that separates the campus from Beaver Stadium (capacity: 106,572) and the Bryce Jordan Center (basketball, concerts, commencement, etc…):

BJC:

Apparently brand-new Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula is a Penn Stater, too! Note the also brand-new Pegula Ice Area, below. Makes him feel like family. (For those who don’t know, the Buffalo Bills, our home team, was up for sale recently and the collective *sigh* heard when Pegula announced that the team would be staying here was almost audible. Let’s just say he’s a hero around these parts.)

Our last stop was Cafe Lemont, which is just a few minutes from campus. Some friends of ours used to live near it and told us to stop by when we were next in town. It’s definitely for the hippie-crunchy-I-know-good-coffee-types, but quaint all the same.

We grabbed a couple mugs and sat outside in the sun before heading back home to New York.

I’ve always said I wanted to live in State College. Always. I absolutely love East Aurora and have ZERO intentions of moving, ever. BUT. If one of us ever wanted to teach at the collegiate level… I’m just saying, it’s possible.

one happy (valley) girl

Well, where did I leave off? (I realize I’m two days behind… I’ve been a busy, traveling girl!)

When I woke up Sunday morning, this is what was waiting for me on the table:

Awwwww 🙂 When Adam had asked me what I ate pre-race, I mentioned toast, peanut butter and banana. And he got organic–double awwwww 🙂 🙂

Here we are, before:

I got the tank to match the neon pink trim on my shorts!

And can I just say that it was like 90% humidity and that State College has WAY MORE HILLS than I remembered? Like, a ton. It was as I was rounding the golf course hill that it all came back to me…

(Check out the building behind me in the above picture–that totally was not there when we went to school!)

And here we are, after:

Adam was DRENCHED and I was pretty sweaty, too. Hot and steamy, it was!

And guess who WON her age group? YOURS’ TRULY! A 10k in 46:56. Not too shabby.

I’d love to say I was shocked, but I wasn’t. Perhaps surprised is more accurate. I definitely wasn’t feeling fast that morning and was, as usual, intimidated by the field. I have to admit; all this winning is still really new to me (let’s just say running wasn’t my sport of choice for, like, my entire life), but I’ve placed in my age group enough now that I feel like I can’t leave a race until they’ve posted the results. It’s weird. Awesome, but weird. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it. I mean, I don’t even really look like a runner. At least not the fast ones.

And I have a theory: I’m in what I’m calling a “sweet spot” right now. I’m in the 20-30, or sometimes 25-29, age group, which is just older than the super skinny, super fast high school/college ‘elite’ runners, but I’m younger than the ‘been-running-for-twenty-years-post-kids-competitive’ group. More times than not, I’ve noticed that the ladies finishing just ahead of me are older, but don’t win THEIR age groups.

Apparently, my 15 minutes of fame is limited. Or I’ll just have to get faster. (I think I’ll take the latter.)

And the perfect end to a fantastic weekend, a great run and a win? The Waffle Shop!

It’s a State College mainstay and super famous. It now has three locations–the original being right on College Ave.–and always has a line around the building on weekends. I’ll admit that Andrew and I weren’t regulars here while we were students, but it is the first place I had chocolate chip pancakes, and for that I will be forever thankful.

Adam, Andrew and I met up with Abigail and waited outside as the temps started rising. We made it into the air conditioning just in time!

I ordered the “mini platter” and was able to request chocolate chip pancakes instead of plain. Thank goodness for substitution-friendly establishments!

After our delicious and very traditional PSU breakfast, we all parted ways and I headed toward Philadelphia, while Andrew and Abigail went north back to New York. I’ll be on the road through Thursday–more photos and updates on my travels soon!

Arts Fest

Or, ‘a walking tour of the best school ever.’

(I can’t help it, I’m a bit biased.)

Let’s go chronologically, shall we?

A friendly face greeted me when I opened up the cabinet to get a mug for my coffee! Yet another surprise Adam had waiting for us.

Adam and I went for a trail run together once he was up and going. We ran right out his back door and onto the trail.

I’d been on that trail before, but never to run. Ninety-one percent humidity today = lots of sweat!

We swung into the visitor’s center (located next to the stadium) to pick up Adam’s race packet and for me to register for the 1oK tomorrow. Yay for being spontaneous and getting some exercise at the same time. I love races!

While there, we took some photos of (and with) JoePa’s statue. In light of recent events, I felt like we couldn’t get there fast enough to snap another photo should the unthinkable happen. Thankfully, (at least for now) the statue is safe.

We lunched at the Penn State Sub Shop, located just off campus on Beaver Avenue. It’s one of those rinky-dink places with limited seating and its walls are covered in photos from the 70s, 80s and 90s in which the subjects are all displaying sub shop banners.

We walked around the booths and we actually ended up buying something. Andrew loves photography, and with the new house needing some more ‘stuff,’ we chose four different prints of the campus at different times of the year. Can’t wait to have them framed and up together in some sort of grouping.

Arts Fest is both on and off campus, and features all sorts of art and street vendors. Allen Street had a giant structure in which water systematically filled and then was dumped out of buckets hanging above.

After we made the rounds of the art booths off campus and then made some purchases at stores along College Ave (the obligatory Family Clothesline purchase, a neat PSU football field platter to match the one Abigail gave me for Christmas, and a vintage Buffalo Bills t-shirt from People’s Nation, similar to Homage in Columbus, OH), we made our way back onto campus as we meandered toward the car.

We passed Simmons Hall, where Andrew spent three years and I spent two.

Look! Here’s Andrew in front of his window (which, for awhile anyway, he used as a door for the convenience factor).

We wandered through the HUB (student union building) as a shortcut to get to Adam’s staff parking lot. Many a lunch was eaten in this building, mostly at Panda Express. Since leaving college, Starbucks has invaded the campus as they bought what was there before–Seattle’s Best.

We passed the Armsby Building, which is where I took my Advanced Creative Writing class.

Our destination: the creamery! When we were students, the creamery (at least the retail part of it) was housed in a small building on the north end of campus. It’s now been moved into a giant, brand-new building on the same road.

I have to admit, while the new building is beautiful and the blue-and-white umbrellas and tables outside are nice, it just doesn’t feel the same. Granted, whenever I go back to campus now it’s typically an event weekend, which means there is a huge line at the creamery and you basically file in and out as fast and as efficiently as you can. There are ton of people working behind the counter; yelling peoples’ orders and scooping ice cream as fast as their fingers can.

All the cones and cups come in one size; and yes, I ate every last bit of it! I chose Alumni Swirl: vanilla with swiss mocha chocolate crunchies and a blueberry swirl. Yum. And I was genuinely hungry after four hours of trekking all over downtown and campus.

We walked back toward downtown and passed one of the buildings they built while we were students. I tell you what–each time Andrew and I come back there are buildings and green spaces popping up all over the place. One the one hand, it’s nice that the campus is growing well and looks beautiful, but the more it changes, the less I recognize it.

Here’s Thomas Building, which houses the largest classroom on campus–it seats a whopping 1,000 students! I actually had a class in that room–100 Thomas–my first semester on campus: LARCH 60–the History of Landscape Architecture. It’s hugely popular.

Here’s a view of the Shortlidge Mall, which used to just be Shortlidge Road.

Not all of the buildings on campus are beautiful and old; this one is very much in the 50’s style of architecture.

And here’s the front of the HUB:

Here’s one of the prettiest areas of campus, the mall leading up to the library:

We went to Golden Wok for dinner, a favorite of Andrew’s from college.

Here’s Andrew’s fortune:

After reading it, he quickly replied: “I already have–I married her.” Awww. He must want something.

After dinner we walked back up through the engineering quad and discovered that Penn State now is home to a bunch of ducks in a small pond near the alumni center. They were incredibly friendly, but that’s to be expected; the squirrels here are all but domesticated. I mean, think about it? There are like 40,000 students walking around for nine months of the year; they couldn’t avoid them if they tried.

And our last surprise of the evening? The fact that we barely recognized the Peace Garden, which was being put in while we were students. See those trees? They were just saplings when we were here! Look how they dwarf Andrew and provide all that shade–I remember sitting and reading here in the sun before the trees were tall.

We walked our little legs off today, and I’ll looking forward to some rest! Adam and I have 6.2 miles to run in the morning, followed by lunch at the Waffle Shop!