College Station Vacation

So you may be wondering if you read the title correctly - College Station and vacation?!? It was actually a very peaceful and fun extended weekend - which is exactly what we had hoped for and definitely needed. A few weeks ago we were discussing the need for a break. We knew that a summer vacation would likely be impossible because of baby #2's arrival mid-July, but we also didn't want our first 'time off' to be with a newborn. We thought about camping, but there were too many unknowns due to Kendall's young age and my rapidly growing belly. We thought about visiting Austin or maybe San Antonio but didn't know how much fun Kendall would really have at this age and neither of us knew too many details about those areas. Then I started thinking 'what about College Station?' Neither of us had been back since Trenton's graduation in August 2003. It was sure to be a quiet weekend on campus - perfect for wheeling a toddler around without looking completely odd and out of place. And for months we had been remembering all the restaurants we wanted to eat at the next time we returned.

So College Station it was. We arrived at an extremely nice Hampton Inn on Thursday and stayed until this morning. As soon as the reservations had been finalized, old memories came flooding back. Suddenly as I lay awake at night, unable to sleep because of acid reflux, I began remembering those first experiences away from home - how horrible and yet exciting it was living in that tiny dorm room with a roommate I hardly knew. I thought back on running for Student Council Secretary - how completely out of my comfort zone that whole experience had been, but how great it was as well. I remembered driving down to College Station that very first time alone to go to Fish Camp and staying - all alone - at the MSC Hotel. All of these moments I wouldn't necessarily want to relive, but what great, bittersweet memories.

And then the memories around Bonfire - what a fun experience it had been my freshman year to have a bonfire buddy and to experience the build up before the big game...and then when it fell my sophomore year. I remembered seeing it from the parking lot of the Barnes and Noble the night before it happened - thinking about what a HUGE structure it was in the dark night. Then the phone call I got in the middle of the night from a close friend in the Corps - stifling back tears as he told me it had fallen. I don't think I'll ever forget how completely quiet the campus was the following week.

So with all these memories swimming in my head, we began the drive Thursday afternoon. Just seeing some of the old speed traps along the way brought back memories - although not all fond ones! The weather couldn't have any better - not too hot and not too humid. The first evening we went to Longhorn Tavern - a restaurant we didn't find until after I'd graduated - but Trenton was dying for one of their chicken fried steaks. Friday we decided to go on campus because the MSC would be closed over the weekend for the holiday. Aside from a couple new student tours, a handful of graduate students, and some professors, we were really the only people wandering around campus. This actually made me feel a lot better - I can't fully describe how weird it was being 7 months pregnant and rolling a 16 month old in a stroller around my old college campus. For lunch we had a delicious meal at Cafe Eccel (the strawberry tart is still THE BEST!) and had a lighter dinner at Blue Baker before walking around Wolfe Pen Creek Park. The following day we went to the Bonfire Memorial and then to play at Research Park. That evening I got to visit with a good friend Renee and then met another awesome friend Justin for dinner at Wings 'n More.

It was a great trip! It's hard to imagine the next time we might go back - the kids may be attending by then!