Solo Day Trip to Amherst

When this past weekend rolled around and I didn't have any plans to do much of anything, I began contemplating taking a drive out of Boston, just to clear my head and get a change of scenery. Within about twenty minutes of awaking on Saturday morning, I decided I'd like to drive to Amherst, got dressed, filled a water bottle, grabbed my camera (which I didn't really end up using), jumped in my car, scooped some Dunkin Donuts, and hopped onto the Mass Pike for a 100-minute drive west.

It wasn't a very nice day for a drive - a mixture of snow and rain - so that put a slight damper on my ability to zone out while driving to ponder life's great questions. Instead, I skillfully maneuvered my Yaris down the wet Pike while singing along with my iPod at the top of my lungs. (Quick random poll: Do you sing while you drive? I only recently realized that not everyone does this, which seems really effing weird to me. Please weigh-in via Twitter or Facebook.)

Arriving in the Pioneer Valley, my very first stop was Esselon Cafe. This was where I had my first post-college job as a server/barista/staff supervisor. I graduated from UMass in the spring of 2006 and then floundered a bit for that summer, not knowing where my next step should be. With a whole crop of the-best-effing-friends-in-the-whole-world still finishing up their final year of school at UMass, it wasn't terribly hard for me to decide to move back to Amherst for the fall "semester." There, I found an apartment, scooped the job at Esselon, and then spent the next year working there full-time while pretending I was still in college with my friends.

When I stopped into the cafe for brunch on Saturday, it was the first time I'd been there in years - but the place hasn't changed a bit (aside from staff turnover). I ordered French toast with strawberry compote and fresh berries, which I enjoyed with a big mug of hot coffee before getting back into my car and beginning the ultimate Amherst-drive-around.

.  as seen by all the cool people on my instagram  .

For about 2 hours, I wound and wove my way through the streets of Amherst and through every nook and cranny of the UMass campus. So much has changed in town and on-campus since I was a student there. Businesses have closed, moved, changed hands, changed names. A tonnnn of new buildings have sprouted up all over campus, leaving some areas nearly unrecognizable.

.  campus pond and view of the library and student union  .

I made special trips past a few of my old apartments and dorm buildings, as well as some of my favorite off-campus hangouts. The latter included some of the best and most notorious "party houses" around town, which were all given colloquial nicknames like Russell Street, Hippie House, Long Radio House, or Monkey House. Everywhere I drove, bittersweet memories flooded back to me, which - as the term bittersweet generally implies - was both good and sad.

Before leaving town, I did manage to park and actually get out of my car for a bit to head into the Campus Center, where my wallet took a hit as I went a little H.A.M. on the University Store's apparel section.

It seemed high time for my wardrobe to get some fresh UMass gear, so I bought two new t-shirts and a sweatshirt. The sweatshirt has barely left my body since Saturday - it's so freaking soft and cozy.

There were so many fun and irreplaceable times had in Amherst, and driving around town/campus was pretty much as literal as you can be with the phrase "taking a trip down memory lane." It was a much-needed reflection session, and I was glad that I was alone for the day - able to drive absolutely anywhere that I pleased, able to stop at any random house or building or parking lot that I wanted, able to spend as much time as I chose. But I do hope I'm with lots of friends the next time I go!! :)

And on that note, check out this post from the last time I visited Amherst with my friends Kara and Kyle!

Where did you go to school?
When was the last time you headed back to your college campus?
Do you still keep in touch with your college friends?

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Children of the Corn Maze & Other Amherst Adventures

This past weekend I took a spontaneous day-trip to Amherst with my friends Kara and Kyle for some reminiscing about our college days at UMass Amherst. October is such a perfect time to be in that part of Massachusetts, and I'd personally been craving a Pioneer Valley trip the entire month thus far, so it was just the thing to lift my spirits.

When I think of Amherst in the fall, I think of beautiful foliage splashed across the hills surrounding the valley, pumpkin patches, farm stands, corn mazes, haunted hayrides, apple cider, and the UMass campus teeming with students wearing North Face jackets, UMass gear and Ugg boots. Since Kara, Kyle and I were only going to be there for the morning/afternoon, we couldn't pack all of those pleasures into this one trip, but we picked a nice selection of Amherst-area activities and gave it our all.

We made it to the Valley by around 10am, and after swinging through Northampton for some coffee, we made a bee-line for Mike's Maze in Sunderland - a local corn maze and farm stand that I'd been to once before with David some years ago. And what a gorgeous day to do a corn maze!

And looking north, here was the gorgeous view of Mount Sugarloaf from Mike's Maze:

Sidebar, Mount Sugarloaf is also a great attraction on a fall day if you're in the Pioneer Valley. It's a short hike with lovely views of the Connecticut River and the surrounding hills.

While I'm sure all corn mazes are different, Mike's Maze does a different maze design every year and also incorporates a whole game/challenge into the maze. This year's maze design was a raven, and you can (and should) check out the bird's eye view of it here. The game aspect involved a bit of animal trivia and some drawing, and while that part was obviously mostly for the kids, we still got into it pretty unabashedly that morning. Here's an intense shot of Kara completing one of the drawing challenges, while Kyle makes sure she doesn't go over the allotted 30-second timeframe to do so.

What a nice day to be lost in a corn maze...

After we found our way out of the maze, we were each rewarded with a free sugar pumpkin to take home. Did you even know there was such a thing as a "sugar pumpkin"? Apparently that's what the smaller pumpkins are called - and they actually have differently textured flesh that makes them better for baking with than larger pumpkins. Now you know. 

From Sunderland, we drove into Amherst and through the middle of the UMass campus as we made our way towards the town center for lunch. If you are a UMass alum, you don't need me to tell you where we went for lunch that day. You already know. For everyone else, our lunch stop of choice was Bueno Y Sano - aka the best Mexican restaurant in the entire world. Yep, even better than the ones in Mexico probably. But seriously, Bueno is famous in Amherst (and beyond) for its in-cred-i-ble burritos, tacos and quesadillas. Most people go for the burritos but I'm more of a chicken soft taco girl myself. I ordered two of them while Kara and Kyle each nommed on different types of burritos. Everyone was more than satisfied with their choices - and it was SO good to eat at Bueno again after my 3 or 4 year hiatus.

We followed up lunch with a stop off at a local watering hole - McMurphy's. It was definitely one of the most popular bars in town when we were students, and it's one of the few that has remained relatively unchanged in the years since we graduated. Many of the other bars have changed owners or been renovated or moved completely to new premises in the last 7 years.

Same goes for UMass itself! An impressive number of new buildings have gone up all over the campus. Guess that's what they did with all of our tuition money haha! Has anyone else gone back to their college campus and been like, "Whaaa? Where'd all this new shit come from??"

We took a stroll through campus and checked out our Student Union and Campus Center while we were there. Again - things changing left and right. There are some really fancy new common areas and dining facilities inside of those buildings that have the whole place looking like something from THE FUTURE. Kids these days. They're growing up spoiled! (Shakes fist at young'ns.)

The proper way to conclude our Amherst trip was to drive past a few of our favorite college apartments of yore (#RUSSELLST, #TRIANGLEST, #EASTST, #BESTYEARSOFOURLIVES) for some ceremonial sighs and memory-lane'ing, and then stop into Hadley's The Donut Man for some treats on our way out of town. I was thrilled to see that Donut Man still sells my much-beloved Frozen Hot Chocolate drink - which is just effing out of this world, guys. Tastes EXACTLY like a delicious Swiss Miss hot chocolate, except it's a frozen, ice-blended version. Mmm... I'd like one right now, in fact.

All in all, I'd say this day-trip to the Valley was a roaring success. And, as Kyle keenly pointed out, having had such a lovely time in such a short amount of time (a span of just about 4 or 5 hours, not including the drive) will hopefully encourage us to head to Amherst more often in the future. In other words, students of UMass... see us in a bit.

When was the last time you headed back to your college? Leave a note in the comments and let me know where you went to school! I'm curious :)

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