Escapades!

About a week ago, on a trip to the airport, my friends and I realized that it was the first time we had left Oberlin's campus the whole semester. After a moment of consideration, my friend Zoë told us that she can't remember ever spending that long in a single town before. She and I both grew up in pretty rural areas, and we would frequently travel to the next town over for some reason or another, whether that be for groceries, school, or social events. Going to college means that you have access to all of those things within a 10-minute walk from each other (which is super convenient!) but also can also start to feel redundant after 35 consecutive days without leaving. So naturally, after reflecting on the past six weeks I've spent on campus, I thought it would be fun to write about the last time I left Oberlin.

Let me start by setting the scene: it's Friday, February 2nd, three days before classes start. The sky is gray, the air is not quite warm, and everything is covered in a nice fresh layer of seasonal depression.

As a little treat to ourselves for finishing Winter Term, my friends and I decided to book a rental car and make the short trek (40-minute drive) to Ohio City. Located just southwest of downtown Cleveland, Ohio City is a neighborhood filled with dramatic murals and trendy restaurants. This semester, the ObieExpress offers students a ride there every Saturday from 3:30 to 8pm, free of charge.

Unbeknownst to me until we arrived, I had actually been to Ohio City before, when I visited family in Cleveland as a kid. As soon as we passed West Side Market, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia... and the scent of deliciousness! Ranging from butchers to bakeries, the booths inside host a wide range of vendors. If you've never been to the market before, it's definitely a bucket list item. We stopped inside the market to get a little pick-me-up snack (crêpes!) before venturing up West 25th Street towards our next stop, Horizontal Books. Part-café, part-bookstore, this shop features a large selection of books on beautiful wooden shelves. The addition of plants and comfy seating was a perfect touch, although we didn't have time to stop and sit down. 

After about ten minutes of browsing, we continued to the next stop on our adventure: Mitchell's Ice Cream. Inside, they have a huge glass window where you can look down at the ice cream being made. When I visited as a kid I remember sitting there for nearly half an hour, completely mesmerized by the employees below. We weren't super hungry after the crêpes, but we still poked our heads in for a few minutes to watch before heading to Brittany's Record Store. None of us actually owns a record player, but we thought it would be cool to check out, and we were right! Brittany's is a member of City Goods, a collective of local art vendors distributed throughout 7 dome-shaped hangars. We probably spent over an hour checking out all the different vendors, and we left with some super cool jewelry and stickers.

Last but not least, we headed over to Avalon Exchange, a curated thrift store that faces Lake Erie. Inside, we found some excellent sweaters and vintage denim. We also took some silly mirror selfies and witnessed an almost burglary (don't worry, it turned out to be just a misunderstanding). After all that shopping around, we stopped at Ohio City Burrito and West Side Market again for some treats for the drive home. And yes, I mean home. I think that's the magical thing about leaving campus—it makes you realize how much it feels like home when you come back. Yes, I was feeling ready to leave after being here for so long, but it only took a few hours away from Oberlin to realize how much I missed it. In the wise words of Joni Mitchell, "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone," so I'm going to try to soak it all up while I still can. Maybe the next time I leave campus I'll be more upset about it...