The Trip Part Two: The Reunion

Friday and Saturday were devoted to my 10 year Smith College reunion in Northampton. On Friday night Kristen and I (with her husband John in tow...what a trooper!) hit some of our old haunts...ok two haunts in particular. After dinner and the class tea we walked by our old house (dorm but called house in the Smith lingo). Even though it was late the door was wide open and students and alumnae were hanging around and talking. So we walked in to check the place out. Alums and Seniors were staying in a lot of the rooms but my junior year room was open so we took a pic. We also took pics in front of the doors from each our senior year rooms.

Then it was down the back stairs for the all too familiar trip to Packards. This was our favorite bar in college (favorite because it was the closest). Back in the day they did a promo night every Thursday. There weren't too many that we missed as we thought that those Heineken and Foster's t-shirts were too good to pass up (all of which I threw away during my first of graduate school). We bellied up to bar and had a beer for old times sake (unfortunately they do not make Greatful Deads anymore, not that we could have handled one anyways). We have no idea who that guy is behind us in the picture.

Ivy Day (Saturday) dawned nice and sunny. I've already blogged about what the Ivy Day parade is and it did not dissappoint! Of course Miss K was with me decked out in her white as well! She did great until she saw a couple of kids with some balls and realized that she could not play with them because they were not hers. There ensued a moment that lasted until the class of 1999 started walking in the parade. Then she helped me push her stroller and perked right up. We skipped out on the speeches and instead met up with Papa and Gram for some late breakfast and strolling through campus and downtown. The threesome left around lunchtime and I stayed behind to attend a few more events. By the end of the day I was exhausted, I forgot how much walking around I did in college. I was more than happy to drive back to my parent's house to relax for the rest of the evening. I took a bunch more pictures than this but here are two:

It was a bit surreal being back on campus. On the one hand it seemed like only yesterday that I was a student, that if I closed my eyes really tightly I would be magically transported back in time. It was also great to see some people I had not seen in a long time (and meet baby Clara, Laura!). On the other hand I realized how much I have grown and changed since my college days. Back then I thought I had all the responsibility in the world...I had no idea. The only responsibility I had was me, myself and I. I wonder what I'll think in another 10 years.