College Park, Maryland
I thought it would be fun to return to College Park, Maryland, where I spent time working on my undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland. It had been at least 30 years since I visited the campus. There was very little that I recognized. The town of College Park had significantly expanded with new roads, parks, bike paths and buildings.
Arriving
Clearly, there were many more cars. The big open parking lots on the edge of campus were gone, replaced by large University buildings. There were 5 story parking garages in the center of the campus, close to class rooms and sports locations. Two lane streets have been converted into four lane streets, with wider sidewalks and in some places bike lanes.
I had tickets for the football game that afternoon. I was hoping to find parking on campus, but the university limited the parking and forced you to take parking in one of the large parking garages. The cost was between 35 and 75 dollars depending on where you parked. I tried to find parking in College Park on the street, but almost everything was for residents or less than two hours. Driving around, I found a few streets with unrestricted parking a few miles from the stadium. This wasn’t a major issue because I had a bike.
Bike ride
The car was parked near a bike path that didn’t exist when I was there. I decided to explore the path and headed south away from the campus. Where there were once open fields, there were now large apartment complexes, office buildings and shopping centers. I turned around after about a half mile and head North. It was similar on the North side but some of the older homes still remained. The bike path had been newly paved making the ride easier. There were many more people living in the area as well.
RJ Bentley's
R J Bentley’s: Hasn’t really changed in 40 years
I rode back into College park and found a few places I recognized, RJ Bentley's (a restaurant) and the bank building across the street where I got my first car loan. The Voo on the corner, had become the Cornerstone Grill & Loft. Certainly an upgrade from the beer soaked floors of the Voo. My friends, Susan and Brett owned a hair salon next to Bentley’s which has been renamed, Alina's Hair Salon.
I stopped at R J Bentley’s for a late lunch. Not much had changed with this restaurant. The food didn’t seem to be as fresh as I remembered. They also had several bouncers at the door for some reason. As students came to the front door, I noticed they were being redirected to the side of the building. It seemed there was some exclusive party going on next door. Bentley’s was filled with a lot of Maryland graduates, many with kids, some waiting for friends to show. Most people around campus and in Bentley’s were wearing Maryland swag.
I quickly looked at the menu and couldn’t find what I used to always order, a rueben. The woman told me she thought they had a Rueben. She left to ask and didn’t return for 15 minutes. While she was gone, I found a sandwich that had all the makings of a rueben, but they called it The Rolls Royce. I tried to be a little healthier by ordering turkey instead of corned beef.
Tour of Campus
Attempting to avoid traffic, I rode on sidewalks but this also proved to be difficult because there were tailgate parties happening all over campus in the parking lots. This still seemed the safest way to get around campus. The computer science building had been converted and expanded into a complex for the Psychology Department. Computer science, my major, was now housed in a huge building at a different location on campus. I took a tour of the lower level of the building. We certainly didn’t have anything that nice in the day. There were some students collaborating on a project. Also, something that we didn’t do much. I remember we had to book time on computers at 2am to complete projects. The machines were so big and there was a very limit number of computers.
There is a big effort on campus to combine sciences and provide incubation centers for new collaborative products. There’s a new bio-sciences building under construction. Across the street is the Idea Factory where many of these new ideas are being developed. The building looked really futuristic when the sun set.
Maryland / Northwestern Football Game
One nice thing about riding the bike was that I could park very close to the stadium. As I locked the bike up, the U.S. Army Drill Team came by on their way to the stadium. They looked as hot as I felt in the scorching Saturday afternoon sun. They were in lines but not instep. It was more of a very fast walk.
I had a seat in the upper deck. The stadium had expanded and I would say doubled in size. At the time, when you entered the stadium, you came in at street level and walked down into the stadium. The expansion built on top of the street level entrance. The last time I was at a game here, I burnt my scalp. Hence, today I remembered to bring a hat.
I was surprised that the stadium was not full. I shouldn’t have been because I’ve never seen a sold-out game at Maryland. Maryland was always a big basketball school when they were in the ACC. They were also a powerhouse lacrosse school. My seat was almost too far up from the game. Watching the reruns of the game, I could see things that I clearly missed in the live game.
It was a pretty even match between the two teams. Northwestern tied the game with 3:34 left in the 4th quarter at 24 apiece. Maryland on the next play, took the ball 75 yards for the winning touchdown with 3:22 left on the clock and hung on to win.
When the game ended, it was dark, and I had a couple miles to ride to get to my car. The streets were well lit and I easily found my way to the car.
Whole Foods College Park
A short distance from where I was parked was a shopping center with a Whole Foods. I went to the deli bought vegetable soup and a large salad.
After my meal, I found a Walmart Superstore nearby and I parked the car under a tree. I unloaded the cooler and water containers and set them beside the car with an 8 foot cable lock connecting them. I moved a few of the items in the trunk to the front seat and unrolled my Hest Sleeping System. I put sun reflectors in most of the windows to keep the parking lot lights out. I was asleep by 10:30.