A Lil Visit to Nittany Lion Country

Welcome to Nittany Country!

Me and co-worker / new friend Sam went to Penn State on Monday! To give a mini-presentation and meet with an advertising class that we're working with this semester. I was pumped to visit the campus and for Sam to show me around her school.

So here's the tricky thing about Penn State, it's in the middle of nowhere. Flights were crazy expensive and required connecting in Philly, trains would take far too long and buses really wouldn't be the most comfortable way to travel for 7 hours.

Sam and I decided that renting a car was the way to go. We could make it in an easy 4 hours, leave the city early Monday and drive back early Tuesday. Perfect.

However, let me be perfectly clear, I don't drive. Or I prefer not to. And I certainly don't drive in the city. So Sam, being the confident 23-year-old that she is, decided to take on the challenge. Even though you need to be 25-years-old to rent a car, I opted out. Young driver's fee. Done. She did know where we were going after all, so surely it wouldn't be terrible.

Hah! I wish I could say it was easy.

Neither of us had any idea how to safely exit the island via vehicle. (um, I rarely leave the island period!) Luckily we maneuvered our way into the Lincoln Tunnel and were feeling incredibly confident. And then we realized we were on toll roads. Crap. "Do you have any cash?" "Um, I have $10 I think, wait, only $2." "exact change only...awesome."

So that was fun.

The drive through Pennsylvania was quite lovely. The snowy weekend left the Poconos covered in a blanket of fluffy white, the rivers frozen and lucky for us, the roads clear. We passed the Delaware Water Gap, what is it? No idea. I was fascinated that there were no towns or cities off I-80. There weren't even any billboards. It was just a long drive through the country. As we got closer to State College there were little farms sprinkled through the valley. So cute! Sam just laughed at my amusement.

State College was absolutely adorable. We walked through the snowy campus in our skirts and heels - obviously overdressed in comparison to the college kids running around in their sweats. Jealous. It's all about first impressions though, so I will rock the heels in snow. Slowly.


There were a few football players in the class we're working with. After our presentation, I got a "Hook 'em Horns" sign thrown from the back of the room. Followed by "so, how about that football game?" WHY, why would you need to bring up that football game?! Clearly it was heartbreaking, weren't you watching? Geez.


We went to the HUB (which is like the student union at UT) for some lunch. Chick-fil-a! Enough said. I was a happy happy girl. Thankfully, Sam wasn't too embarrassed by my urge to take pictures as we walked through campus. :)


Sam took me on a driving tour of State College. They have a residential West Campus, just like we do at UT. It's really adorable. She showed me all the frat houses and the lil houses where students live. Her sorority has a "Senior House" that is ohsocute! She took me to Target, yessss! And finally to the Lion Shrine. Huh? Oh yes, the Lion Shrine. It turned out to be just a statue of a Lion. Kind of like the giant Bevo statue near the Erwin Center. But I guess it's a big deal. So naturally, we took pics. Nittany Lion Love! Yay!
(sidenote: totally loving the new bangs Sam!)


We had a delicious dinner with a few professors on the main strip across from campus. We went to the Ad Club meeting where they were watching all the Super Bowl commercials. Met another professor who oddly enough is good friends with one of my college professors. We watched The Bachelor at the Senior House with a few of Sam's friends, one of them was from Houston!


And then it was morning. And we had to get an early start back to the city. We were tempted to stay. Claim the roads were too bad to get back. Spend the day playing in State College, wishing we were students again. But...we are practical girls and there was work to do back at the office. Meetings to have, emails to send. So after a quick coffee run, we were back on I-80, Manhattan bound. Sigh.


Until May, Penn State! Please be a lil bit warmer and drier when we return!