Ohio — It’s not your average dream vacation destination.
When daydreaming about my future travels, I cannot help but ask myself, “Why of all the places in the world did I choose Ohio?”
That question is amplified when I revisit pictures of my time abroad on the coast of Australia or when I look at friends’ Facebook albums as they study at the University of Hawaii or intern in New York City.
However, in the past few weeks, my reasoning for picking Ohio University has been renewed. The springtime sun has shone brighter, the trees have bloomed greener and the parties have rocked harder, making me believe that Athens is as good as any holiday hot spot.
No paradise is complete without a beach. I give you the playground for the college-aged crowd, the Aruba of Athens: Strouds Run State Park.
Dow Lake might not be your typical tropical paradise, but heck, it does the job. Who needs frilly umbrella drinks when you can have water bottles of warm, spiked Gatorade?
And the timber information shed is as good as any Tiki hut as far as I’m concerned.
In the stale humidity of a hot spring day, the green-brown water of Dow Lake somehow looks inviting. So what if the water smells like rotten fish and there is oily foam and plastic bits at the water’s edge? The place is our haven, and that’s all that matters.
No stress, no worries — just a Frisbee and some cold beverages to turn any weekday into a vay-kay.
Denial isn’t a river in Egypt; it is pretending the cement-soft dirt sand of Dow Lake is a beach. “Sand” volleyball can easily turn bloody on the treacherously rocky court.
Welcome to Strouds, where we play hard.
The best stuff at Strouds is beyond the sand and through the woods. Get native, and go for a muddy trail run along the Lakeview Trail, or just hike the hills where ancient glaciers have left gorgeously gaping ravines and rock formations.
You may have noticed the sign upon entering Strouds that reads, “NO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE.” Does that mean that multiple beverages are allowed?
The “PETS MUST BE ON LEASH” sign seems invisible to the countless dog owners who let their pups roam free and shake their wet fur onto sunbathing sorority girls.
To skip or not to skip, that is question. For 99.9 percent of universities who are on a semester system, it is already summer. That makes going to class on a gorgeous May or June day that much harder.
After you decide whether your dreaded daytime lecture is worth attending, ponder this: What will you really recall about the final Spring Quarter?
How to map a supply and demand curve? How about the philosophical differences between axiology, ethics and aesthetics?
You will most likely remember the sun-drenched days spent splashing around at Dow Lake, the time you got outrageously sunburned, and how hard you laughed when your friend was rocked by the rope-swing. As long as you pass the class, or graduate in a single-digit amount of years, life is good.
NBC may be able to terminate Parks and Recreation, but nobody can stop us from enjoying the real deal. Sun’s out, guns out. So let’s get leisurely.
Thank you, Athens Parks and Rec for abducting sun-loving students from their lecture-hall desks.
Anna Moore is a junior studying magazine journalism and fine arts. Email her at am846608@ohiou.edu if it’s nice out and you’re down to skip classes for the day.
