Although a lot of people decide to spend fall break basking in the luxuries of being at home -- mom's home cooking, visiting your old friends from high school and capitalizing on the fall sales at the mall -- home is just a bit too much of a trek for a fair share of Hopkins students.
Never fear, kiddos, you don't have to sit around, bored out of your mind while catching up on reading all those novels for Literary Criticism. Instead grab a couple friends stranded on campus for the long weekend, and get creative with your weekend activities!
Stuff Your Face, Get Your Shot at Fame and See the Coolest Band Ever: This Weekend in Washington, D.C.
Just a short drive or a quick MARC Train away, Washington, D.C. is the most convenient way to get the most bang for your traveling buck (you can spend the money you saved on tacky souvenirs).
You already know about all the usual stuff you can do in D.C. -- the museums, the shopping, the political and historical activities. But you probably don't know that there are some special events happening in D.C. this upcoming weekend, and you can spend the day there, guilt-free, since you have an extra day to do all those pesky homework assignments.
On Saturday afternoon, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., you can go to the Taste of Georgetown, a unique and special festival in which D.C.'s finest restaurants serve up sample dishes and complementary wines for a mere $5 per restaurant or $20 for five restaurants. Check out http://www.tasteofgeorgetown.com if you want to gorge on food while listening to live jazz and blues music in the lovely autumn weather. And try not to eat breakfast beforehand, either.
If stuffing your face isn't your thing, you could check out a concert at one of D.C.'s hippest venues. You might have to do some extra work and track down a spare ticket since this show's already sold out, but if you're extra lucky and can find a way to get into the Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins performance at the 9:30 Club, you will definitely not be disappointed.
In case that falls through, you can catch TV on the Radio at the 9:30 Club later that night, or you could see Minus the Bear at the Black Cat, both of which would also be high quality shows. See http://www.blackcatdc.com and http://www.930.com for show times.
Last but certainly not least, if you want to get your shot at being an MTV reality star, the shows The Real World and the Fresh Meat Challenge are holding an open casting call for their upcoming seasons this Saturday at FELIX in D.C. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admit it, you've always wanted those 15 minutes of fame, and your life isn't that boring, so maybe you could become the first Hopkins representative on the show.
Or maybe not, but you could say you tried. Go to http://www.bunim-murray.com for details.
Embrace Nature
Who said camping was only meant for your Boy Scout or Girl Scout stint in the fourth grade?
If you can convince a few people to drive out to somewhere in rural Maryland, for a relatively small price you can capitalize on this abnormally beautiful fall weather and spend your weekend making S'mores and traipsing around in your hiking boots.
We won't bore you with a list of all the possibilities here, but it's safe to say that about five minutes of Googling can lead you to a plethora of campgrounds in the area. Just make a phone call for reservations now, and the next thing you know you'll be roughin' it like a pro.
Get into the Halloween Spirit
The debauchery of Fell's Point might still be a few weeks away, but you can relive your youth (well, if you're from a somewhat rural area) and go to a haunted house, hay ride, corn maze or pumpkin patch.
Just think of all the blackmail you can have on your seemingly tough friends when you watch them clutch the stranger in front of them as some 16-year-old dressed like Freddy Krueger lunges toward them.
For the faint of heart, hand-picking some Jack-O-Lantern quality pumpkins and navigating through a corn maze like a rat in an operant conditioning experiment can be surprisingly fun, even adorably romantic if you're joined by a special someone.
Although there are plenty of decent haunted houses in Maryland, Pennsylvania goes above and beyond in the ghoulish fun -- an hour's drive will get you to York Haven, Pa., home of Halloween Park, which boasts (get ready for this list): The House of Terror, the House of Doom, Terror Behind the Doors, the Electric Chair, the Coffin and the Haunted Elevator. Check out http://www.halloweenpark.com for more information.
An (Almost) Free Movie Marathon
Grab some friends, get your J-card, go to the A/V Center on A-level and collectively take out about 12 movies from the library.
Buy an economy-sized pack of popcorn, a few bags of Twizzlers and the drinks of your choice. Then find someone with a huge TV screen and crash at his or her apartment for the next 24 hours.
You haven't lived until you've had a 24 hour movie marathon, so give it a whirl when you can catch up on your sleep the next day without feeling guilty.
If you're really into films, try a themed marathon. If you're bored easily, choose a good mix of genres -- just start with the dramas, or else you'll succumb to the lure of sleep once hour 20 commences.
Leave Baltimore behind, at least for a while
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.