Weekends at Salem State
By: Jennifer Hendricks
Once Friday rolls around the excitement of the weekend is before us. But what do Salem State University students do on the weekends? From what I have seen most students go home, sleep in, or work. There are the occasional parties that occur on South Campus. Some complain that weekends, after the excitement of Halloween can be boring.
So what can you do?
Plenty!
One thing you can do is go to downtown Salem, about a 20 minute walk from North Campus. Now I know it can be expensive to go there. However, if you go downtown you can go the Peabody Essex Museum for free, and there are always new exhibits on display. Now that October is over, the streets are cleared of tourists, and window shopping in many of Salem’s unique gift shops can be a way to spend an afternoon.
Cinema Salem, in the Museum Place Mall, gives SSU students a dollar discount off the price of admission, and afterwards you can go to Flying-Saucer Pizza, 118 Washington Street, which has amazing pizza, and you can use Clipper Cash to pay for it.
You can also go get some ice-cream which is only a couple bucks at the end of the day and much better than the soft serve in the Marsh Dining Hall. Captain Dusty’s, 143 Derby Street, serves up delicious frozen cups and cones, and is around the corner from the House of Seven Gables. Melt, 60 Washington Street, is somewhat new to the City and serves homemade ice cream. Is gelato your thing – then stop by Jaho’s Coffee & Tea, 197 Derby Street, and take a stroll out to Derby Light, as you enjoy your homemade gelato.
If you have access to a stove, the weekend can be a day to flex your culinary skills and bake a cake or brownies or muffins. Take the time to give yourself a treat for all the hard work you did during the week. Invite friends over and just make some baked goods filling the entire suite with delicious smells, and you could make it a movie night.
Try going down to the Gassett Fitness Center and cheer on our Viking basketball and hockey teams. Make sure you get tickets to Macbeth, at the Gordon Theater, which begins on November 30th.
Finally take the commuter rail and head into Boston for museums, ice skating on the Frog Pond, yummy foods, shopping, stroll through the North End and treat yourself to a cannoli, explore the Seaport District, find the red bricks that will direct you on the Freedom Trail, or just enjoy a day away from campus.