Make Your Own College Tour

On our summer to-do list was “find the turtles and dairy at College Park.”  It sounds like some environmental adventure, but it’s not.  My kids, specifically my oldest daughter, Elle, had decided that they wanted to go on their own scavenger hunt across the UM College Park campus, in search of the Terrapin (“Terp”) painted statues across the campus and get a scoop of ice cream.  You’ve seen these painted statues, often a public works/arts/public fundraising project in various cities – an animal decorated in all kinds of themes and scattered through the streets.  Wandering through DC, you may spot a multi-color panda, donkey, or elephant on the street.

The flagship campus has their school mascot, a terrapin, painted and waving at passers-by around the university.  We had no map and the kids basically relied on their memory of where they thought they had seen them on previous trips to campus (basketball games, school trips, and alum activities with my husband, the proud Terp) and where it seemed reasonable (to my kids) that they should be.  We wandered fromm the Comcast Center to the main library, looking for these decorated turtles.

 

My favorite terp was the Kermit the Frog, in honor of UM alum, Jim Henson

Maryland also makes it’s own ice cream in the creamery operated by the College of Agriculture.  Somehow, we’ve missed getting a scoop on other visits, except Breeze who had some during a summer camp.  The Dairy's ice cream was really good – just sweet enough, full of mix-in ingredients – you know, the s’mores ice cream had lots of chocolate, graham, and marshmallow; the birthday cake flavor had good chunks of cake with frosting blended in.  I had “Fear the Turtle” – vanilla ice cream with white chocolate, pecans, caramel, crème de cacao, and triple sec.  We each had one scoop, which I have to say, was more than the normal commercial scoop – and about half the price.  A pretty good deal.

While in the student union, we came upon a small art installation which attracted the kids with its headphones hanging below video screens.  The exhibit was "Juke" by the artist Jefferson Pinder, a series of videos of African-American persons lip-syncing to a song not typically sang by an African-American person.  According to the accompanying placard, the exhibit "questions the perceived racial categories in music and asks...'is there black music?'"  One art exhibit, the kids can handle that.

We generally wait until kids are ready to fill out college applications before taking them on a college tour, but these mini-towns can be a fun place to wander around even when the kids are younger.  Of course, we first think of the sports teams and their games, but also consider all the majors and their related buildings and exhibits – music performances, art exhibits, farms, libraries, chapels, and athletic facilities.  And if there’s an agriculture college – ice cream or other agriculture products. My alma mater, UDelaware sells Blue Hen wool yarn, shorn from the sheep on the farm.  Many of these buildings and exhibits are open to the public and offer affordable options for a family outing.  And shhh… don’t let the kids in on this part – they might even learn something along the way.

So for your next close to home day out, check out your local university.

UPDATE:
After our road trip vacation, summer 2014, I am adding the MIT Museum and Harvard Square to the list of great college visits.  If your family enjoys science museums - MIT has to be on your list if you're ever in Boston.

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Which Wins? Hanging Out vs. Chores

We usually head to the beach for the Labor Day weekend, but this year, we're staying home. And I thought I'd get some housework done. You know, the kind you reserve for long weekends - paint something, clean somewhere, unclutter some stuff. Then it kinda hit me that this was the last weekend we have no plans to do anything for a long while.  We have an event on the calendar for every weekend for at least the next 2 months - and that's before we even have all the sports schedules in hand. So I decided to goof off instead and hang out with the kids.

Yeah, moms - we've got to give ourselves permission sometimes to set aside the got-to-do chores and the projects to spend some free time with the family.  The laundry and cluttered basement will be there next week; the free weekend won't.

Yesterday I flipped through the newspaper - I'm one of the dinosaurs who still subscribes to the real paper newspaper that gets thrown on the driveway in the wee hours of the morning - and found a local art show. That was it - close to home, no admission, pretty pictures. Who's with me?  I only had two takers, but off we went.  And it was nice. We looked at the work by local artists, made our own critiques, the kind people make at museums and art shows which basically fall into three categories: "wow, that's really good," "I think I could do that myself," and "really, they're calling that art?"  It was inspiring though - my kids have been talking about the next painting their going to make and sell for a couple hundred dollars (wouldn't that be nice?)  And then we stopped for cupcakes - it's not a day out without something sweet.

Today's newspaper perusal came up with the Renaissance Festival. I haven't been since high school and figured 20+ years was a good amount of time between visits.  Three folks to go along with me for this one. Off we went to enjoy smoked turkey legs and sword-fighting. My daughter, who has studied Romeo & Juliet I think every year of middle school and deems herself an almost-expert, complained that the women were not dressed in authentic Renaissance attire. The women of that period would've been dressed much more conservatively, not in mini-skirts, bare shoulders, and jingle bell waist scarves - which her sister bought and shook her hips to jingle the rest of the evening; I probably should send a warning to the teacher for Tuesday morning. The women instead were more reminiscent of flirty pirates, gypsies, and folks just looking for an excuse to wear corsets and low cut blouses.  But, really, is the Renaissance Festival really about authenticity or fun, because we also ate ice cream cannollis, frozen lemonade, and Nutella strawberry crepes and I got a henna tattoo. I've never read any of that in Shakespeare.

Sword-fighting demonstration at the Renaissance Festival

Who knew strawberry Nutella crepes were among Shakespeare's culinary options?

Dressed in their Renaissance finest.

Tomorrow? We'll see what the newspaper holds. And if we can get the whole family to like what I find.


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The Louvre

We arrived in Paris in the early afternoon on the train from London. It was a relatively quick trip, about 2 1/2 hours. We got settled into our hotel (teeny rooms but more about that another day), then decided to spend the evening at the Louvre since it was open late.

The cab driver let us out on the street, pointing across the way and saying "the Louvre is over there". It was what you would picture a city street - busy, souvenir shops, traffic, kinda grungy-ish (sorry, Paris) and as I looked up at the dark stone wall in front of me, I was a bit skeptical about where he dropped us off. We crossed the street towards an entry tunnel and walked thru. When we got to the other side of the wall, I actually gasped and my eyes widened. Remember when Dorothy lands in Oz and the movie goes from black and white to color? It was better than that, and that is one of my favorite parts. Stepping into the space of the Louvre was awe-inspiring. I've seen the facade in photos, seen the Pyramid in tour guides, but somewhere along the way never realized the size and grandeur of the palace. The museum looks like it extends forever and in it's u-shape design, you feel enclosed in this art world. And if you step over and look just pass the wing, there's the Eiffel Tower in the distance. I said to my daughter, we could be outside all day; but we did make our way inside.

Of course, the famed lady with the smile was on the must-see list. But, oh those Louvre folks don't just hang her at the front door, you've got to do some work to find her. We went thru the Roman statues - my son is about done with the naked people in art, but I was impressed to find that L was actually paying attention in history and reading classes and could identify many of the gods (although, as she reminded me, these were Roman, she studied Greek. She did pretty well when we got to that side, too). And then we went thru more paintings, mostly religious, L was sure that she had seen the same paintings a few days ago in the London museum and I promised her they were not the
same. Her siblings agreed. "Birth of Jesus", "crucifixion" - seen it. There were even a few saints and stories unknown to us before a few days ago, so when they saw paintings of them, that just further strengthened their argument. More proof? The fact that there happened to be an art exhibit in the DC art museum of an artist's distinctive paintings - portraits made with fruits and vegetables - and those "same" paintings were now hanging here.

Many have said it's a small painting at the end of a hall, but I guess they moved it or something. The Mona Lisa hangs in the middle of a
gallery room, on a wall all by herself. If you don't recognize her, follow the crowd milling around her. N thought she was pretty but didn't see what was the big deal. Something's are a big deal, just because that's their role - to be oohed and ahh-ed over. Unfortunately, you really can't sit and stare at her and come to your own thoughts. There's such a bustle about her, that you feel compelled to look, note that you saw her in real life, then move out of the next person's way to do the same. She's so crowded, that her eyes probably can't follow you as you walk away. And perhaps she is smiling, as she may be the only one who knows what secret she holds, why everyone is so enamored with her.

We bid adieu to Da Vinci's work, then headed to find another beautiful lady, this one's secret - what she was holding in her hands, before her arms went missing.