When you need to get out of Charlottesville

Cavalier Daily

LIFETaking a break to enjoy what you have



by Ellie Hanson
| Mar 24 2017 | 2 hours ago

















By the time spring break finally rolled around, I was in desperate need of an escape from school. Everything from classes, to social events, to the daily stressors that inevitably accompany U.Va.’s “work hard, play hard” reputation had me feeling on edge. While I would like to flee home to the promises of home-cooked meals and being able to shower without shoes on, I’m an out-of-state kid who only goes home for Christmas and summer. Luckily, though, I had made plans to go northeast with some of my friends.We started off our break with a shockingly pleasant Greyhound bus ride that took us to my friend Maggie’s house in Morristown, N.J. Over the next few days, Maggie got to show us everything she loves about her hometown, which included a popular hole-in-the-wall empanadas restaurant, her high school and Morristown’s cookie-cutter downtown that looks like it’s straight out of a storybook. We spent nights watching movies in the basement, sharing funny stories and consuming exorbitant amounts of junk food. It was the first time all semester that I had left my dorm, roommate and everyone’s favorite gourmet hotspot ― O-Hill. Even though it was weird not being home with my family for break, it was even weirder being away from the University and all of the little things that make up my life there. Regardless, there was something undeniably comforting about Morristown, and I was able to relax for the first time in weeks.However, we soon left suburbia behind in pursuit of a grand adventure in the loud, overwhelming and always exciting Big Apple. We never had a particular destination in mind, so we stopped at any coffeeshop, bookstore or art gallery that looked interesting, and took time ...

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