Friday night at Westminster Station

I’m not one to go wild and crazy on Friday nights, but I still like to have fun over the weekend. Often time, my friends and I will hang out in my suite’s common room (like we do on most nights), but tonight, I went with a couple of friends to Westminster Station, a local coffee shop.

Westminster Station is nice because it’s in walking distance from McDaniel (though we drove because it was cold and dark out) and because it’s open until 11 or so. They have a variety of drinks including tea, smoothies, and of course, coffee, and they’re quite tasty. They also have a gift shop with some pretty random and entertaining items. The atmosphere is nice–there’s plenty of tables but also plenty of sofas and there are more secluded and areas that are more out in the open. The bathroom is also worth mentioning, as it has a chalkboard wall. A lot of live music takes place here too.

There’s also plenty of books to read and look through. I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of last year’s issue of Contrast, McDaniel’s literary magazine sitting on the coffee table where my friends and I situated ourselves for the evening. (I highly recommend perusing through the 2012 edition of Contrast if you ever get the chance–it’s a beautifully designed book with phenomenal prose, poetry, and artwork.) We spent a lot of our time looking through an astrology book that was also there, learning about our signs, our friends’ signs, and various interpersonal compatibility factors of each sign.

I had a lovely time and the fact that I was with a small group of friends was a nice change of pace for me. I have so many friends on campus who all like to hang out as one big group that I don’t always get to interact with my friends on a more individual basis. There’s nothing like being in a coffeehouse with good fun and good friends, and I would love go out for coffee more often.

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Strange Days Indeed

The last four days have not been entirely typical of my experience at McDaniel College, but they’ll certainly be memorable.

After an evening of fun that involved watching McDaniel’s improv troupe Danger Sauce put on their annual Halloween show and going to Westminster Station for coffee late Friday night to support Advocacy Team’s “Music for Micro” event, I woke up bright and early Saturday morning to attend the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire with my friends Zach and Walter. The Office of Student Engagement sponsored the trip as one of their Weekend Blitz Trips, which was awesome since it only cost $10 to attend–much less than the typical cost of admission to the Ren Faire. The guys and I had a great time eating the food and watching the shows and we were fortunate that the weather held out on us, as it was quite cloudy throughout the day.

But my Saturday wasn’t over yet! When I got back to campus in the evening, I got busy preparing for my annual trip to the Rocky Horror Picture Show held at the Carroll Arts Center in Westminster. This involved making sure my prop bag (which I ended up forgetting) was in order, putting on my costume (I decided to go dressed as Janet), and finding other people to go with. In the end, I managed to go with a pretty large sized crowd who also went in costume, and we had a really fun time! I can’t wait until next year!

I guess I had too much fun on Saturday though, for on Sunday, I woke up with a garden variety cold which I’ve been dealing with for the past three days now. (I’ll spare you the details.) Conveniently for me though, Hurricane Sandy rolled into town beginning Sunday night and class was canceled yesterday and today as a result. Thus, while other people have been spending all their time getting stuff done and having fun, I’ve been spending a lot of that time trying to sleep my sickness away.

I do want to say though that I’m extremely impressed with how the College and our Department of Campus Safety have handled the situation with the weather over the past several days. As early as Friday, the student body received emails letting everyone know that the College was monitoring the storm and preparing for the worst. As the storm made its way to Westminster and McDaniel, Campus Safety sent out countless emails, Facebook posts, and tweets letting everyone know the status of the storm and how it would be affecting us here on campus. The Office of Residence Life also sent out detailed daily emails about the storm and possible situations that could have come from it.

Even though I still have some homework to tackle (thanks, cold), I’ll be glad to get back to reality tomorrow (provided my cold goes away). Two days with canceled classes and the College being closed are quite enough, and I know that people are starting to get cabin fever. Special thanks to Campus Safety, Res Life, and those who worked in the dining hall over the past few days for helping all of us here at McDaniel weather the storm!

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Last Friday Night…

…was nothing like the Katy Perry song of that name, but I truly had a blast!

Westminster’s annual Fallfest took place last weekend and though it started last Thursday evening, things really kicked off last Friday night with Westminster’s annual Midnight Madness. As a freshman last year, I managed to miss hearing about Midnight Madness, but when it entered my radar this year, I knew I had to go! From 6 p.m. to midnight, local Westminster shops and restaurants are open, offering great deals and samples. Parts of Main Street are blocked off and are filled with a variety of musicians.

I visited a few stores and the Westminster Public Library, which was also open late for the occasion. This library seems like a cozy place, and I learned that McDaniel students are welcome to check out books and other materials here using their student ID cards. (You can also reserve materials to be sent to McDaniel’s own Hoover Library if you don’t want to make the walk.)

I would have loved to have gone to a lot more stores, but my friends had reserved spots on a free ghost tour so we had to get to that by 11:00. Luckily, it was sponsored by Birdie’s Cafe, a local coffee shop on Main Street, so I was able to get a tasty peppermint mocha beforehand. (It was delicious!) I had never been to Birdie’s before, and I would love to go back. (If only it weren’t such a long walk from campus!)

The ghost tour was awesome. The guide was pretty funny, and she was a great storyteller. The tour was less about trying to see ghosts and experience paranormal activity and more about hearing some of the area’s more bizarre and macabre history, which was really interesting and fun.

I have to be honest though: my favorite part of the tour was visiting inside a place called Cockey House, a place now occupied by some sort of historical society. They were serving some absolutely delicious chicken noodle soup in honor of Midnight Madness. (I wish I could have taken the whole crock pot with me!) And outside of Cockey House, I got to meet a corgi!!! She was super sweet and reminded me of my own corgi at home!

I got to see a lot of historic Westminster that I hadn’t seen before, and I’d love to explore it some more in daylight with some friends. There are a lot of intricacies and beauty to be seen on the local buildings and landmarks.

Last Friday night was among the best I’ve had at McDaniel, and next fall, I definitely want to go to Midnight Madness again!

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