Electric City
College Life
By Tom Salitsky
As the Book of Ecclesiastes says, to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. If you are in college, then congratulations! It is officially time for you to do some of the stupidest, most irresponsible things you will ever do in your life and, best of all, if you play your cards right, you can get away with them! Yay!
After two or so decades of constant monitoring, you are finally free to indulge your inner idiot and the only authority responsible for watching over you is you. Want to skip class and watch The Big Lebowski for the 52nd time? Done. Feel like figuring out how many people you can cram into a phone booth (provided you are capable of time-traveling back to a time where phone booths still existed)? Done. Feel like having a beer at 11 a.m. because it’s Tuesday and it’s raining outside? Done. You are finally in the driver’s seat of your destiny, so to speak, and life is the highway you will drive all night long (provided you are Tom Cochrane in the year 1992).
In order to aid you in your decision-making process, we here at electric city/diamond city have compiled a list of some the area’s top attractions, establishments and traditions that every college student should experience before graduation and we have chosen this moment in time to drop this knowledge upon you in the hopes that it will provide you with a truly excellent collegiate experience.
Still here? Great! Me too! That means we have something in common and that’s a great place to start a relationship: common ground. You know where else is a great place to start a relationship? Common grounds, as I call them, or a cup of coffee, as the rest of planet Earth calls them! (Am I reaching here? Maybe, maybe…are you still reading? Maybe, maybe..) A great place to get a cup of coffee in the Scranton area is Northern Light Espresso Bar and Café, located at 536 Spruce St., just across from the courthouse. Northern Light features a wide variety of coffee, espresso, tea, cocoa and smoothie beverages and their grab-and-go salads, sandwiches and baked goods perfectly complement their drink selections. They offer free Wi-Fi to all customers (if the internet is your thing, which, given the state of the informational society that has emerged over the past 20 or so years, it probably is) and they also feature plenty of reading material for anyone looking to get lost in a good book over a hot cup of java. Each month, they display the work of a new featured artist and past exhibitions have included photographs, paintings, sculptures and mixed media pieces. Also, their large picture window provides one of the best views of the heart of downtown Scranton, especially if you are lucky enough to corral a chair on their cozy, loft-style upper-deck, which also features a sofa so comfortable you wouldn’t mind if it swallowed you whole. Paradoxically, it manages to be the perfect place to hang out while simultaneously functioning as the perfect place to buckle down and really get some work done, which is a rare and beautiful thing to find in these troubled times.
Coffee, of course, is only part of the equation … if you’re anything like I was when I was in school, you’re probably thinking, “Yes, but where can I grab an adult beverage” The answer, of course, is anywhere, but the more socially acceptable places to do so are called bars. Scranton, fortunately, has its fair share of drinking establishments and, during your time here, you should try to visit them all in order to really get a sense of what our fair city is all about. There are plenty of bars that cater to the college crowd — Cockeyed’s (1234 Mulberry St., Scranton), Goodfellas (1212 Mulberry St., Scranton), The Green Frog (815 Mulberry St., Scranton) and Andy Gavins Eatery and Pub (1392 N Washington Ave., Scranton) all specialize in providing a lot of bang for your buck and, if you happen to live near the University of Scranton, they are within walking distance, which is a definite bonus. For those souls brave enough to stretch their legs and venture past Jefferson Ave into the downtown district, there are a number of bars that can offer a taste of life outside the ivory tower of academia. Mulligan’s (519 Linden St.) and Kildare’s (119 Jefferson Ave.) both pride themselves upon targeting the under-25 demographic, so you will feel very much at home in either of those places. For the creative types looking to express themselves, look no further than The Irish Wolf Pub (503 Linden St., Scranton), which offers an open mic night hosted by Jay Luke every Wednesday night. The major player in the original music scene, however, is The Bog (341 Adams Ave.) and it features local, regional and national touring acts regularly. In addition to its well-known emphasis on music, The Bog showcases a monthly art exhibit, Monday Night Quaaystion Night (their take on a pub quiz) and the ever-popular Panked! DJ theme parties that often threaten to tear the roof right off the building. Finally, there is The Backyard Ale House (523 Linden St., Scranton), featuring more than 500 bottles of beer, 28 rotating drafts, food and the largest patio in downtown Scranton.
Contrary to popular belief, there is more to do in Scranton than drink and Nay Aug Park (1901 Mulberry St., Scranton) is the perfect place to prove it. Nay Aug offers plenty of trails for those looking to take a hike, a large picnic area for those looking to impress a date and a tree-house for those looking to pretend they live in an Ewok Village. The park also houses the Everhart Museum, which features art, science and natural history exhibits. During the summers, its Olympic-sized swimming pools and water slides offer much-needed relief from the heat and its Christmas light show will make you believe in magic once again.
Speaking of Christmas, it won’t be long before we are pulling our ski jackets out of mothballs and bundling up against Old Man’s Winter’s unwelcome advances. Before you get a restraining order against him, however, remember that Montage Mountain (1000 Montage Mountain Road) offers some of the area’s best skiing and is only minutes away from the heart of downtown. In addition to the skiing, The Pavilion at Montage Mountain brings national acts to the area each year for its summer concert series, although the last one of the season occurred a few weeks ago, so it’ll be awhile before you can experience the majesty of a rock show on the mountain. While you’re waiting, you can catch a national act, watch a nationally touring production of a play, or just marvel at the architecture of The Scranton Cultural Center (420 N. Washington Ave, Scranton). The center features a wide variety of performance events and its upcoming schedule can be found at scrantonculturalcenter.org/schedule-of-events/full-season.html.
If you’re a sports fanatic, Scranton has plenty to throw your way. While the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, our AAA baseball team, just wrapped up their season a few weeks ago, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, our AHL hockey team, will play their first game of the 2014-2015 season against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Oct. 11 at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza (255 Highland Park Blvd., Wilkes-Barre), which is a mere 15 minutes or so from downtown Scranton (and well worth the drive).
As we get deeper into fall and rapidly approach All Hallows Eve (Halloween, to those of you who aren’t weirdo electric city writers with a flair for the dramatic), there may be some of you seeking to receive a good scare. Luckily, Scranton has a well-known association with magic and the occult and you can schedule a spot on the Scranton Ghost Walk by calling (570) 383-9297. The walk begins at 7:45 p.m. and explores the legends surrounding some of Scranton’s best known buildings and structures. For those of you looking to delve deeper into the history surrounding the greatest magician of them all, Harry Houdini, look no further than the Houdini Museum (1433 N. Main Ave., Scranton). Run by Dorothy Dietrich, the first lady of magic and Dick Brookz, the founder/director of the museum, the museum is only open on weekends by appointment, so be sure to visit their website at houdini.net/museum for more information. And, to continue your trip into Scranton’s past, be sure to check out The Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour (1 Bald Mountain Rd, Scranton, at McDade Park) and Steamtown National Historic Site (350 Cliff St.) both of which will give you a glimpse of what life was like for the early denizens of the Electric City.
Life as a college student is not easy, but it sure should be fun. Hopefully, we’ve given you a few ideas on how to enjoy yourself over the coming years. Be sure to explore all the area has to offer before moving on to the next chapter of your life, wherever that may be and remember that, for the next few years at least, abnormal is the new normal.