While I am absolutely exhausted and completely behind on my readings, this past week of fall break was truly a fantastic one. I have separated it into four phases in my mind, and if you read my last article where I anticipated my plans, here is the long-awaited recap!
Phase 1: Upstate!
I shipped off to upstate New York on Friday morning with one of my fellow HerCampus co-chairs, Fiona Smith. We were having a lovely drive when we passed a sign for Stockbridge, MA, in the Berkshire Mountains. Fiona told me that was where the Norman Rockwell Museum was, and it was the location that most of his paintings were based on, so our curiosity drove us off of the highway a few miles later. The town and Main Street were perfectly New England in the fall: full of quaint shops, foliage, and delicious sandwiches to carry us through the rest of our drive.
We arrived upstate and met up with another fellow HerCampus member, Ashley Bunici, who beat us to my house and spent some solo time with my family. The three of us embarked on a walk through a trail partially in the woods, where I showed them some of my personal landmarks in the area: my late grandfather’s house, the park I grew up playing in, and the place where I get my favorite (and shockingly inexpensive) lobster roll. We then raced home to beat the sunset, which I knew they had to experience from the front porch of my family’s house (my personal favorite part of being upstate). We watched the sun sink into the mountains over music, Aperol spritzes, and charcuterie while we relayed to my mom some stories from the first few weeks of our semester. That night, we ate delicious homemade Greek food, had Stewarts Ice Cream, and played bingo with my family at the request of my 8-year-old cousins.Â
On Saturday, following a delicious breakfast, we went for a fun hike with my family, which occupied the entire morning. That afternoon, I took my friends to town for lunch at my favorite restaurant in the world and afterwards we explored the shops on Main Street. Fiona and Ashley then had to leave to head back to campus before Nashville, so my roommate (another HerCampus member who had arrived late the night before, Mimi Knight), my older brother, and I went to Oktoberfest at the mountain I grew up skiing at. We drank a few beers, embraced the live music, food trucks, and ski shop sales, then got picked up for a small dinner party happening back at the house. Around 30 family members and family friends came over that night for tacos, even more bingo, lots of wine, stories from my mother and her childhood friends about their adventures growing up, and eventually the movie Baby Boom (in honor of Diane Keaton) to finish off the night.
Phase 2: Nashville…
I made my return to Long Island on Sunday morning and spent the day running errands, packing, and getting a very necessary haircut. I left JFK bright and early on Monday morning, landing in Nashville at 10 am. A third fellow HerCampus member–Emma Weiss–and I Ubered straight to Broadway in search of food and something to do until we could check into our Airbnb at 4 pm. All of the days included a lot of eating, drinking, shopping, and most importantly–listening to live music. I won’t recap the entire trip as most of the days honestly blended together, but know it was a fantastic three days. It was unbelievably fun to spend time with all of my peers at the infamous Broadway bars, and I cannot believe the trip is already over. That being said, by the time the trip was over, I was very much ready to leave. It was absolutely exhausting, but I do hope Nashville and I meet again someday.
Phase 3: Chicago and Madison
I made a hasty exit from Nashville on Thursday morning and landed in Chicago in the afternoon. I took multiple trains until I was all the way down on the South Side at the University of Chicago stop. My stepsister is a senior there, and I was set to spend the night with her. After dropping my bags at her apartment, she gave me a tour of the campus during sunset. It was beautiful, and the exact reprieve from the chaos of Nashville that I needed. During the tour, we saw the set of an upcoming Netflix movie being filmed on campus, which was very fun. It was very special to see the place my stepsister loves very dearly, and the place she has called home for the past couple of years.
I woke up on Friday morning feeling well-rested and very motivated to take on Chicago in the small window of time that I had. After having breakfast with my stepsister before her class, I took the train up to Millennium Station and went to the Bean. I then walked up the Magnificent Mile, went to my parents’ first apartment to send my mom a photo, strolled through and journaled in Lincoln Park, walked along Lake Michigan, and admired the architecture surrounding the river. My family, who flew into Chicago that morning, picked me up right around Wrigley Field. I loved the city, and am very happy with the amount that I saw.Â
And then my family was off! We were two hours away from Madison, Wisconsin, on our way to spend the weekend with my younger brother and see his school. He gave us a quick tour of the school and the town surrounding the school on Friday afternoon. We had a great family dinner on Friday night, and I got to try the #1-ranked cheese curds in the state of Wisconsin. We met a few of his friends that night and explored the bar scene, but overall had a very chill and early night of chatting and catching up. On Saturday, we were ready bright and early to start tailgating. It was a very fun day of checking out his frat house, bar hopping, and having delicious bratwurst. The tailgating was a very different scene from a Holy Cross tailgate, which was interesting to see. Wisconsin lost the game, but my siblings and I still had fun watching and cheering in the stadium! My brother is on the club lacrosse team at Wisconsin, so my family got to watch part of his game on Sunday morning which was very nice. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Chicago to make our flight home, and alas that concludes my hectic final fall break!