Visiting Amanda in Saratoga Springs and stopping in the Berkshires

This past weekend I got to spend time with a familiar face, which I really needed! I went up to Saratoga Springs, NY to visit my friend from home, Amanda, who goes to Skidmore College.

On the way there I stopped in a town called Stockbridge, which Frommers named one of the best small towns. It is located in the Berkshires, which is Western Massachusetts and driving though it I couldn’t help looking all around me at the trees beginning to change. Stockbridge is the first town to be what I envisioned as a cute New England town. The downtown consisted of about a two-block long main street and two other side streets. I stopped at Stockbridge Coffee, hoping to enjoy a drink while getting some schoolwork done, but the five people in the shop were taking up all the seating space available. What I loved most about Stockbridge was that there weren’t any tourist shops, and even though some of the people I’m sure were tourists it didn’t feel like a tourist town. The one store I went into was really cool and is kind of hard to describe. It had an eclectic mix of items from the past decades. I saw posters of 1960s bands, old issues of Life magazine, and CDs.

As I was approaching Saratoga Springs, I immediately realized that it was bigger than I thought. I met Amanda and she and her friend, Lindsey, showed me around campus then we walked downtown, which was only 15 minutes away. The downtown, which spanned several blocks, was much larger than I thought it would be. It consisted of boutiques, cafes, restaurants, and random shops. I learned that Saratoga Springs is known for its water, and downtown there is a park where there are fountains of water you can drink from. Amanda told me that there is fountain with water that tastes really good and is carbonated, but smelled like sulfur. I was skeptical if it would really taste good if it smelled bad, so I waited until a young boy tried it to see his reaction. He absolutely hated it. Apparently people bottle this water because it is so good for you and contains several beneficial minerals. I decided I wanted to try it anyway. The first time I didn’t get that much and thought it was disgusting. Since I really wanted to taste the carbonation I drank more. It was so disgusting that if you ever decide to go to Saratoga and drink it, bring a mint or gum to get the taste out of your mouth.

For dinner we ate in the dining hall, which was huge! There are so many stations and several healthy items. There was even a projection screen showing college football. Later that night we went to a comedy show featuring some stand up comics from NYC.

After breakfast the next day, where I made my own omelet in the dining hall, I headed back to Massachusetts. I stopped at a town in the Berkshires, Lenox, to get some work done at Lenox Coffee. Once I arrived I discovered a festival, called Apple Squeeze, was going on. I sat at a table outside since it was a beautiful day of 80 degrees and listened to a band play a block away for the festival, while I worked. When I was done a walked around the festival, which consisted of stands selling homemade crafts and food, especially apples. Walking around the rest of the small downtown, I decided I had discovered another town that was my idea of a cute New England town.

Coastal Connecticut, dinner with a fellow Edgewood alum, & being a Yalie for a night

My first trip as a solo female traveler was a success! Saturday morning I set out on my adventure to explore coastal Connecticut. I have been fascinated in the towns along the coast in Connecticut ever since I took a train with my mom from Boston to New York a few years ago, so I wanted to explore these places that looked beautiful out the window of the train.

I started by going to Stonington, which is only a few miles from the Connecticut-Rhode Island border. In a recent article in Coastal Living (if you didn’t ready my first post, I use this magazine as inspiration for places to go and things to do) they had an article on coastal farmers markets and there listed one in Stonington, so I decided to check it out. Looking back, I suppose I had high expectations since I am used to Madison’s Farmer’s Market which has over 100 vendors. Stonington’s farmer’s market had about a dozen stands, selling such items as bread, organic produce, and maple syrup. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed, but I suppose it was sufficient considering the size of Stonington. I walked along the downtown, which was only about 2-3 blocks and consisted of boutiques, shops, and restaurants, then continued to walk down Main St. all the way to the water where there was a small beach. As I was walking, people said hello to me and had conversations with each other they happened to see on the street. There were not many people out and about, but the majority of those I saw were at least middle aged. Overall, my impression of Stonington was a small, quiet, friendly town where people can live a relaxed lifestyle. Of course, as with all the towns I visited, things may be very different in the summer when families come to stay in these coastal towns.

Next I stopped at a coffee shop in New London called Bean and Leaf Café. While the 7-layer bar I had was delicious, the rest of the coffee shop was nothing special. I thought New London’s downtown was nearby, so I started walking but quickly realized it was not. I walked around the block and decided to drive around instead to try and find a downtown area. I did find a stretch of about 2 blocks not that far from where I was that had a few stores and restaurants, but nothing worth checking out. New London is not a place I would go back to unless I had a good reason.

Old Mistick Village was my next stop. It is a touristy shopping area with sidewalks that lead you around the “village” to various shops. It happened to be Garlic Fest when I was there, so there were some stands selling food with garlic and I even saw a garlic magnet. This would be a great place to go Christmas shopping because of the variety of stores! There were Italian, kitchenware, dog, and hippie stores.

Then I headed to Mystic, which was the closest to what I had imagined as a classic Connecticut seaside town. It had the most populated downtown I visited and had several clothing shops along Main St. There was even a drawbridge, which I got to see in use up close!

Next I went to Old Saybrook, which didn’t really have a downtown like the other places I visited. I didn’t even get out of my car to walk around because it there weren’t many shops that looked appealing and there weren’t many people around.

The last town I visited was Essex, which was another small, quiet town. I stopped in at Essex Coffee and Tea for an apple cider chai. The coffee shop was quite small and unfortunately didn’t have Internet. The rest of the downtown had a few shops, a park with a view of a cove, and not too many people around.

I then made my way to New Haven, specifically Yale. Just a few days before, I used a website called CouchSurfing, which is a network of people worldwide that allow other members to stay on their couch or just meet for a drink, to find someone to stay with. I narrowed my search to females between the ages of 18 and 20, and found my host Nicholle. She told me that she wouldn’t be able to meet me until 8:30pm, so I was in need of someone to have dinner with since I didn’t want to be out by myself after dark. The only person I knew who lived in New Haven was Matt Everts, who was a year ahead of me in school at Edgewood. Fortunately he was free, so when I arrived in New Haven we went to a restaurant called Yorkside Pizza and had dinner with 2 of his suitemates. Matt then showed me around campus, until Nicholle was free. Later that night, she took me to 2 parties hosted by Yale groups, the first one by the Gay Co-op (according to Nicholle, 1 in 4 guys who go to Yale is gay) and the second by the Latino club. We then went to a dance club called Toad’s Place and were there until it closed. I wish more schools sponsored parties like the ones I went to! Sunday morning I had brunch with Nicholle and some of her suitemates in one of Yale’s dining halls, which are so beautiful. Nicholle showed me around the rest of campus, which seems so huge for just over 5,000 undergrads. I was amazed by how many beautiful and hidden places there were all over the campus.

 After a very busy and exciting 30 hours I arrived back to Westfield and felt very accomplished that I successfully completed my first weekend traveling on my own!

Exploring surroundings and observations

I have only been here a little over a week, but I have already done some exploring around the area. Last Thursday drove to South Hadley to get some work done at a coffee shop I found online that got good reviews, called Thirsty Mind. South Hadley is home to Mount Holyoke College, an all women’s school, which has a beautiful historic campus. Downtown South Hadley is very quaint with a small town square with gazebo and surrounding shops and restaurants. There was also a small farmers’ market going on in the town square green space! Thirsty Mind had a laidback, college feel, which has brought me back to it today in spite of the 25-minute drive.

Friday I went to a Stanley Park, which is near campus. This park is extraordinary! There is a pond where you can feed ducks, open green space for sports, a garden that holds weddings, and trails in the woods. I walked around and explored the park, then read on a bench in the garden.

On Saturday I ventured to Northampton, which was 35 minutes away. Rob and Carol Sawyer, my grandparents’ friends who live in the area, warned me that the city is like a smaller version of downtown Madison because of all the “interesting” people. They were right on. Northampton definitely has attracted a homeless and hippie crowd, which I have not yet seen in other cities. Carol recommended I visit a café called Hay Market. Located on Main St. with the other shops and restaurants, you can order coffee drinks upstairs and food downstairs. This was another great place to get work done, but the atmosphere of the city and café was a little more hippie for my taste. Something unique about Northampton is that you can jaywalk! At a major intersection, when it is the pedestrians’ turn, a whistle sounds and people can walk diagonally across the intersection.

I am always in search of local coffee shops wherever I go and once I moved here I did an internet search to find some, but I didn’t have much luck finding any nearby. There are none in Westfield, but a few in Springfield; however, they didn’t have any reviews or websites. Coffee shops are where I like to crank out all my homework, so it would be great if I can find one closer to campus!

To end this post, I have made a list of observations I have made in my first week:

1. On the Massachusetts Turnpike, known as “The Pike,” people drive really fast. I am used to driving in the left lane because I like to go fast – usually 7-10mph over the speed limit. The posted speed limit is 65mph, but I have noticed people in the left lane go 75-85mph.  One of the first times I drove on The Pike, to keep up with traffic in the left lane I had to go 85mph! I was not comfortable going that fast so I got out of that lane.

2. Almost wherever you are you either have a beautiful view of the mountains or of the valley. Trees cover the landscape, so I can’t wait until this fall when everywhere I look will be incredible. I hope I don’t drive off the rode admiring the view!

3. Drivers are extremely good about stopping for pedestrians.

4. People say “wicked” a lot. I knew I would be hearing this, but it just sounds new and strange to me. Here are some instances I have heard it being used in sentences like “those boots are wicked sweet” or “that was wicked funny.”

Getting to MA and the US Open

On Tuesday, September 5^th we (my mom, step-dad Mark, and me) set out on our 17-hour drive to Massachusetts. Day 1 was uneventful, but Day 2 got a lot more exciting.

 

Wednesday we woke up in Cleveland and went to The Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, where we spend 2.5 hours. We could easily have spent several more hours if we weren’t in a rush to get back on the road. This is definitely a must see for any music fan. There is cool memorabilia, guitars, outfits, etc. from artists of all genres. Outside the museum we were able to walk around in Johnny Cash’s tour bus, which was especially cool for Mark who is a huge Cash fan. Something that I thought was fascinating was a display on Otis Redding. For those of you who are unfamiliar with him, one of his most famous songs was “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” He died in a plane crash in Madison, WI in 1967. There was a photo of his plane crash in Lake Monona with a view of downtown Madison and the Capitol in the background, along with a piece of the plane that was recovered from the lake.

Early afternoon we left Cleveland and continued on our way. Everything was going well until we reached New York. Mark was driving with cruise control when all of a sudden my car, which is only 2 years old, stopped accelerating, could not go over 40mph, and two lights on the dashboard turned on. Luckily we saw a sign that said a rest stop was 1.5 miles away, so we put our hazards on and crawled to the rest stop. I called Hyundai assistance to see if they could tell us what was wrong, which was a waste of time and no help. There was a gas station and small garage at the rest stop, so the clerk called a tow truck to take us to a Hyundai dealership. This was the first time being towed for my mom, Mark, and me! We still had no idea what was wrong. Worst-case scenario, it would take until the next day to fix and I would miss orientation. Best-case scenario, it would only take a little while to fix and we could be on our way. Thank God it was the latter! Apparently something was wrong with the transmission, which they had seen happen before. All in all, we got delayed 3 hours.

After two days of orientation, where I meet other exchange students from places like China, Poland, Portugal, Canada, Louisiana, and Arizona, we left for New York City Friday night. The three of us took the train out of Springfield, transferred in New Haven, and arrived in Penn Station 3.5 hours later. On the itinerary I selected on amtrak.com, it said we would take a shuttle to New Haven. I thought that meant a bus, but it is actually a train.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we went to the US Open in Flushing Meadows on Long Island. It was incredibly crowded and multiple times we had to wait in lines to get into the stadium. While I did see some great tennis, I don’t think I would go back unless I had reserved seats in a stadium or tickets to Arthur Ashe, the main stadium. If you are interested in seeing some professional tennis up close and in a less crowded atmosphere, I would recommend the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA (near Palm Springs). While it is not a major tournament like the US Open, most players were in both tournaments.

After watching the tennis Saturday night, we walked through Times Square. I have decided that I am tired of Midtown, especially Times Square. There are too many people, a lot of creepers, and too touristy. Next time I go to New York, which is hopefully this semester, I want to spend time exploring other neighborhoods Manhattan has to offer.

After a tearfully goodbye in Penn Station, I headed back to school on a train all by myself.

Welcome to my life!

First off, I want to thank you for taking the time to read my blog! I have been looking forward to starting one so I can share with everyone what I have been up to. I am very excited, and I hope you are too, to see what adventures I will have in the future.

I decided to start a blog now because I am currently going to school in Massachusetts and plan on doing A LOT of traveling during the semester I am here. So you may be wondering how I am attending a school in the United States other than my home school, University of South Carolina. Well there is this awesome program called the National Student Exchange (nse.org), which has about 200 participating schools in the US, Canada, and US territories (Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico). Students can attend a different school for a semester or year and their credits transfer back to their home school. Some reasons students do this is to take classes their home school may not offer, try living in a different part of the country, and explore possible graduate schools or future employment. My two reasons for participating is that I love living in different places to see how people live (I tend to get bored if I stay in one place for awhile…) and to travel all over New England on the weekends.

Since about the time I decided I wanted to spend a semester here last winter, I have been compiling lists of things to do and places to go within 3.5 hours of Westfield, MA. It is nine pages long and includes maps, information about hostels, and festivals in the area. I have gotten most of my information from magazines, Frommers and Lonely Planet websites, 1000 Places to See Before You Die, and news articles. Call me crazy, but I have word documents for every state with places I want to see and things I want to do. For years I have been an avid Coastal Living magazine reader and any information they publish about a destination I record in a word document. I am hoping to go on “mini-trips” every weekend, since I have almost a dozen that I want to go on! I strategically planned my schedule so that I am done with classes on Thursday at 2:00pm and don’t have class until 1:45pm on Monday.

I am extremely grateful that my mom allowed me to take my car, which will make it so much easier to explore places. There is also a bus and train station in Springfield, which is about 25 minutes from campus and can get me to cities such as Boston, New York, and Providence in a decent amount of time at a good price.

I can’t go alone, so I’m hoping to meet people who want to take these trips with me! My roommate, Kelley, thinks she might go on a few and my friend Amanda from home, who goes to school at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, wants to go on some (if she has time!). If you live in the area, want to visit, or know someone who lives in New England (who is trustworthy!) that wants to travel with me or show me around a city they live in please let me know! I enjoy spending time with people of all ages!

Well that is all for now… quite a long first post! If you think any of your friends will enjoy reading about my escapades, please pass this on to them! Also, please follow my blog! I will post soon about my adventure getting to Massachusetts… Thank you SO much for reading this J