the getaway guide

Happy Father’s day, reader! Whether you’re a prospective with a father, a father with a prospective, a greatgreatgrandfather with a prospective, or somebody who’s ever known a father (hopefully this qualifies everyone?) wish a father in your life a job well done today!

I came home this weekend but not for father’s day. My dad is actually out of town (on father’s day, yes people, I know) so I’m spending the day, ironically enough, with mom instead. Williamsburg is a lot of fun and all during the summer but I began to get a bit of ‘colonial cabin-fever’ after about 2 weeks of working and cheese shop sandwiches with no class or other people around. The result has been a sequence of adventures, some of which I will share with you below. Boredom, expect for a lucky few, is an inevitable feeling during what can be at times (even if you’re doing something) some lazy summer months. After coming from finals and the hustle and bustle of school, most things you can do during the summer make you feel like you’re taking it easy. If you’re like me, therefore, and sit around thinking to yourself “wow this place is boring, what could I possibly do to make it more interesting,” there are a few options. My favorite is the:

Weekend Getaway (n.) (weeeeekehnd get-uh-waaayeeee): A spontaneous or poorly planned trip, involving friends, to a random destination with an equally dimly perceived goal in mind. Also see: road trip.

Last weekend
3 friends from school and myself trekked down to Lake Gaston, NC where myself and another friend have a lakehouse – we met my dad down there (so I don’t feel too bad today with him gone) and 2 of my other friends from high school came down. We tubed, jetskiied, boated and floated for two nights and a day on the beautiful lake. The temperature was perfect and I still have some soreness in my arms but it was a get spontaneous adventure for a weekend. It’s also neat to realize that just because you’re in College doesn’t mean you have to separate your “high school” life from your “College” one. My friends at William and Mary are so cool that they became fast friends with my ones from home and we all had a great time. So invite friends to visit you at school during the year!

This weekend
I came home to go eat at some of my favorite places in DC (for a bit of variety), play with my dog and see King Lear at the new Shakespeare Theatre (which was awesome). Plays and other events like galleries, exhibits, concerts and festivals are changing every weekend during the summertime in any big city, so pick up the newspaper and see what’s going on, you’d be surprised that a lot of things are free or pretty cheap to get into! And hey, you might also wind up experiencing something you never thought you would before!

This coming weekend
I’m planning on heading up to New Jersey (the dirty Jerz) with two fraternity brothers to attend an ’09 brother’s grad party up there before he heads off to get his masters at Johns Hopkins in the fall. The great thing about relationships that you form at the College is that they stretch out beyond the scope of school and also, in many cases, the four years that you’re there. Find a friend to visit who lives close by or in an interesting area where there’s stuff to do! Most of the time they’d be happy to put you up!

If you’re getting tired of the pool, then, just pick up a paper and see what’s going on around you! I think that you’d be surprised at what the weekend section has in your town – all you need is a little ingenuity! Get in the car and go for a picnic, visit a local sight, or just round up some friends and start driving down the road! Summer, while it may be at times busy or boring, is also summer, people. So if you’re looking for an adventure find one or create one yourself!

“sunday morning, rain is falling” (in NoVa) at least,

Brian