My parents were up in Vermont visiting UVM for Parents Weekend, and I decided to drive up to see them and my sister (pictured). Problem is, I don’t get out of SNL until 1:30am on Saturday nights, and have to be back at SNL on Tuesdays at noon. So it had to be the shortest road trip ever.

Of the 36 hours this trip lasted, I spent 10 of them driving, 7 of them sleeping, and the remaining 19 actually there. And it was all totally worth it.

The last time I went to Burlington, VT, I flew there. It’s like a 40 minute flight from JFK, but getting to JFK takes like over an hour, then you have to deal with security, and waiting to board, and boarding, and waiting on the tarmac, and waiting to take off, and then landing but waiting to taxi to the gate, and then waiting for your bags, and then waiting to be picked up from the airport.

So I just wanted to drive. 

Plus, I’ve never driven in the northeast before and it’s fall! So I rented a car and did it (because the whole “you have to be 25 to rent a car rule” doesn’t apply to New York for whatever reason).

Hey guys, there’s this place, it’s called Upstate New York. It’s BEAUTIFUL. You should check it out.

Seriously, the drive was amazing. On the way up I went through New Jersey, into upstate New York, and drove all the way up and then crossed over into Vermont. On the way back, I drove down through Vermont, through Massachusets and Connecticut, and then back into New York.

I also drove in Manhattan/Harlem/The Bronx for the first time which was crazy but exciting and not as scary as I thought it would be.

Anyway, the point of the story is that I can never drive in Florida again. I wish I could have taken pictures of the mountains and hills and leaves changing colors, but ya know, I was driving. I do, however, have a few pictures from Vermont which is what’s scattered through this post. Seeing the fam for a few hours was nice too.

This weekend I went up to Gainesville for what seems to be turning into an annual summer trip. As much as I love to hate on the Gators, that place grows on me every time I visit, haha. I was only there for Fri & Sat, but the kids at UF (and at all the big Florida schools, for that matter) are so chill and nice, so it was a lot of fun. I wish we had that at NYU.

Anyway! I got to hang out with Kelly & Cara, sisters whose parents went to UF with my parents back in the day and who I’ve known my whole life. That was great since I never get to see them anymore.

Even though this was like my fourth time visiting UF, I had never actually been inside the stadium before. They just leave it open and let people go hang out/work out there whenever they want which is unique but awesome. Really it’s such a crappy stadium but it’s still so cool because it’s such a legendary place, like Fenway Park. And even I, a non-Gators and non-Red Sox fan, can appreciate that. Cara and I walked all around campus, from Rawlings to the stadium, to Tandy’s place at Springs.

I also visited Jordan who showed me her apartment and sorority house that she’ll be living in next year.

One thing that amazes me about Gainesville every time I go there is that it’s so far north in Florida that it actually gets hilly. The picture above is from i75, which may look pretty regular to some people but I see hills so rarely in my life that it’s cool — even small hills like that.

So yeah, pretty much spent the two days doing Gainesville related things like going to Swamp, Pita Pit, and Mochi. All around good trip. 

Road tripping to UF & UCF is becoming routine for my Winter & Summer breaks. This past weekend was my third trip up to Gainesville after starting college, but what would a road trip be without a stop in Orlando and UCF?

After leaving Gainesville on Sunday night (late Sunday night on the night before school started, sorry David) I made my fourth trip to the University of Central Florida in Orlando. David has this sweet new apartment with Joe that is really nice (view pictured above!). In fact, looking back, David’s housing situations have always been pretty awesome. Congrats on that accomplishment, Mr. Nathanson.

Anyway Monday was the big back to school day in Florida and David had a class, which I decided to join him in. I mean, that’s what I did the last time I was up there and I blended into the class of 500 just fine. Upon showing up to this class, however, there turned out to be only 30 kids. So I ran away, called Jenny, and she brought me over to see her new ballin’ house (so, so nice).

The funniest thing about being on the campuses of UCF and UF is that you just see Cooper kids everywhere. Not only was there another Cooper kid in that class that I ran away from, but they just show up on the sidewalks. It’s kind of cool.

Overall it was a great trip, and I’m suuuure I’ll be back Winter Break. Except for that next time I need to hit up Tally, too. It’s just so far, ahhh.

PS. More pics are on Facebook. Click it.

Ahh today is Monday, the first day of school, back to the books… for students in the state of Florida, that is. For me, I’m just here chilling at various Florida schools until we go back on September 7th.

I spent the last two days at the University of Florida, which even though I consistently ridicule on this website, has seriously grown on me over the past few years. This was my third trip to Gainesville, and honestly, it’s a pretty awesome place. The people there are the perfect mix of smart & hot, unlike NYU where everyone is just… nevermind.

I stayed in Monica, Michelle & Tatum’s amazing new apartment in the Arlington Square Apartments which is in such a cool area of downtown Gainesville (picture above). And Saturday was Monica’s 19th birthday so obviously there was an ALL OUT RAGER KEGGER UF STYLE PARTY. Except for that not really. There was a party though, and everyone is still alive, so it was pretty fun.

I also got to see my other good friend Kelly’s (NICE!) apartment over in the Royal Village Apartments, and I was there when Jessica tried to burn down Beaty Towers (my mom lived in Beaty West when she went to UF 5000 years ago, isn’t that weird?) while attempting to cook chicken. The smoke alarm going off reminded me of my gramercy days.

Anyway, now I’m in Orlando at UCF with David, but more on that later.