Advice for a rainy Baltimore weekend

By ALLISON BARTOWSKI For The News-Letter

Fall is finally here! We’ve all been waiting for the leaves to change and the heat to chill out, but this weekend we were forced to remember that sweater weather and pumpkin spice lattes come with rainy days.

This weekend Hurricane Joaquin kept many of us inside, and as the temperature continues to drop there will be more and more weekends similar to this one.

So of course I have some suggestions on how to spend these days outside of the library!

The easiest way to kill time when it’s raining is to take a nice long nap. Many of us at Hopkins are quite sleep deprived. And a stormy weekend is as good a time as any to catch up on much-needed rest.

If you’re feeling more ambitious, it’s never a bad idea to brew a cup of hot tea and watch a movie or read a good book. (Netflix and chilling with someone is also always an option.)

If your friends are willing to trek through the rain, you could invite them over for a movie marathon! I had one this weekend, and it is definitely a move I recommend.

We watched throwback Disney movies, including Spy Kids and High School Musical. It was a lot of fun to dance and sing along (which, by the way, is also a great way to exercise without walking through the rain to the gym). Netflix is also releasing a lot of films and TV shows this October, so it’s the perfect time to try a new foreign film or to catch up on some of your favorite shows.

To prepare for my movie night I baked cookies. If you aren’t an experienced baker (and I definitely would not qualify as one), it’s easy to bake from a box mix or by using a roll of cookie dough. Check out CharMar, 7-Eleven or Eddie’s Market for some low-maintenance options.

However, if you’re more experienced, rainy days are definitely great for trying out new recipes, just as long as you don’t have to venture too far for ingredients.

One of my favorite things to do on a rainy day is solve a puzzle! You can do something like this with or without friends, and some truly require a lot of time and effort (which means they look really nice when you’re done). Try hitting up Amazon Prime for elaborate options. Plus, if you’re not the puzzle type, Scrabble, chess and other board games are always available on good ol’ Amazon.

If you’re feeling really adventurous, you could always just throw on a raincoat and some comfy rain boots to go play outside and splash in the puddles. And as long as the weather’s not too severe, you might as well trek to the Inner Harbor or Hampden to explore Baltimore.

My point is this: Don’t let the rainy weekends get you down. They are the perfect excuse to spend some time alone or catch up with friends amidst a busy semester.