Let’s face it: if you’re reading this edition of the Torch, chances are the weekend is coming up or already here. Which begs the question, what are your plans? If you’re stuck with no ideas of what’s fun, don’t worry. I have a feeling that it’s kind of like a tradition here at VU, students milling around aimlessly up and down dorm hallways eternally asking whoever is listening for suggestions on what to do that night. And as I’m sure you’ve noticed, the ideas are not flowing freely from their lips.
Downtown Valpo is not really a center of fun and excitement (considering nearly everything closes by 6) and since the close of Hollywood Connection, nearby fun is not exactly readily available. Especially if you’re a freshman without a car. Believe me, I went through that last year, and you may as well sit in your dorm room and hug a book for all the fun you’re gonna find. Unless, that is, you get creative.
Sure, Hollywood Connection is closed. But after braving the traffic and jaywalking across Highway 30, what to your wondering eyes should appear? That’s right, a Wal-Mart, full of aisles and aisles of good fun just waiting to be had. At any time, too, because it’s open 24 hours a day. Ride in a cart pushed by a friend and compare prices, get down and get funky to the hip muzak, or search for that elusive smiley face that bounces around in the commercials, lowering prices like a fiend. Fun abounds.
Or, if Wal-Mart isn’t your idea of a good time (or it is your idea of a good time but you have been banned for riding in the carts, a distinct possibility) try Denny’s. Again, a fine enterprise within walking distance for those of you vehicularly challenged students which is open 24 hours a day for your thrill-seeking tendencies. Try your luck at the stuffed animal crane and win a scary looking stuffed creature worth about six cents for the low, low, bargain price of one or ten bucks, depending on your reflexes. Order a Big Texan Skillet in a big Texan accent. (The servers really get a kick out of that one.) Or, just kick back and watch the people who frequent this restaurant. Count the mullets. If you don’t know what a mullet is, go to Denny’s to learn.
The possibilities are endless. Denny’s and Wal-Mart are the two main attractions. And don’t be fooled into thinking you get into some secret members-only fun club if you do have a car. Having a car adds a drive-in movie theater and Innman’s bowling to your repertoire of quasi-nearby fun-to-be-had. Speaking from personal experience, last weekend I was involved in a quest for fun, and we ended up driving along dark country roads for I don’t know how long until we gave up for fear that our eyes would never adjust to the bright lights of campus again and turned back. We ended up watching a movie and then a series of haircare infomercials starring some guy named ‘Snacky’. Hey, some nights you gotta work for the fun and some nights it jumps up and latches onto your face. Go Valpo!
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