Grand Theft Golf Cart - A Night out at Hamilton

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Although we were looking forward to our class dinner, it was with some dread that we entered the Annex - now known as the Tolles Pavilion, once they realized that "Annex" wasn't as sexy a name as they first thought. This was because we all remembered in great detail what the Annex was like - a cold, grey, uninviting garage-like box with poor acoustics. The one benefit, we thought, to being in here though was that it would likely be cooler than any other un-airconditioned space on campus.

We were wrong.

It was just as hot and humid inside the Annex as it was in our dorm rooms. We made our way through the narrow hallway and presented our tickets for the dinner to the girl at the door before walking into the part of the Annex that had been sectioned off, just for us. The class of '97 was next door in the other section, but we learned quickly that while we were having a buffet-style dinner, they would actually have their dinner served. At least we know where we stand on the alumni food chain. We also eventually learned that there was a high-powered fan available in the Annex, but they didn't think it was necessary to turn it on, that is, until everyone was complaining about the stuffiness of the room. Man, I love this place.

As soon as we put our stuff down at a table and got our drinks, we headed outside to the small patio area to get some air. Sitting at a highboy table gave us the advantage of being able to people-watch while looking busy. We mostly chatted with each other, but also checked out which classmates had changed the most and the least since our time together. There were only about sixty people from our class who came, so it was a bit of a letdown. Maybe the ten-year holds more appeal and will be a bigger draw. There were definitely some familiar faces that I was missing.

Dinner was fun though - maybe not the best meal I've ever had, but they did try to make it nice for us. There was a pub quiz on the college, our classmates, and our time there and I was actually the answer to the very first question! It was "Which one of your classmates once worked for the New Jersey Devils?" So that was a funny surprise. Afterwards, we watched a slideshow of photos from the last five years of our classmates. I had sent several in, so it was fun to see those come up and to realize that although five years is only a short time, a lot has happened. Yet, at the same time, so much has stayed the same. Once the slideshow was finished, the dinner had really lost its appeal, so we debated about our options for the rest of the evening. We learned that a band of former Hamilton students known as "Steak Nite" would be performing in Commons beginning at ten, so we decided to head to the pub first and then over to Commons.

The pub was once again filled with alumni, and it felt like being there on a weeknight when we were in college. I always enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere of the pub, and because we were almost always able to get a seat somewhere in there, it's a great place to spend some time. We stayed for a little while, and then as we were making our way over to Commons, I ran into a former professor of mine who was catching up with some of my other classmates from the computer science department. One of the things I loved about Hamilton was that I did know all of my professors and they knew me, so there's something special about being able to come back to a place after five years and have your teachers know who you are. I sat with all of them for a while, and we discussed the possibility of having a department reunion next year for all of the concentrators who have graduated. I hope that comes to fruition, because I would love to go back again!

My friends returned from Commons with the disappointing news that our classmates were avoiding Steak Nite, and so all of the alums were much older. We decided to enjoy the atmosphere of the picnic tables outside the pub, where it was much cooler. One of the alums who worked at the college parked a golf cart outside, and went in to enjoy the company of some of his friends. This was a mistake. Quickly, two of our friends commandeered the golf cart (which was missing its keys) and tried to figure out how to hotwire it so that we could use it to get down the Hill and to the bar. The girls and I were on the side of sanity and were advising against this, but a couple of us did sit on the golf cart with the boys for some photo ops. One of the helpful golf alums came over to suggest that putting it in neutral and rolling it to the top of the Hill might be a good way to get some momentum. As the cart started to roll, the ladies jumped off and the boys pushed it towards the road, with us yelling after them. We lost sight of them behind some trees, until suddenly, they both came running towards us. We figured that either they'd lost the cart to gravity and momentum, or someone had caught them. Sure enough, the next person we saw was campus safety. But they didn't come by to find out what we were doing.

A few minutes later, though, the golf cart's guardian came out and realized that the cart was no longer parked out front. The boys diverted blame to another alum and a group of them got togehter to "find" the cart. Eventually, the driver did locate it, and bring it back to its parking spot and we suggested that he keep a closer watch on it.

We decided to head again to Commons for some food and enjoyed watching the older alums really cut a rug to Steak Nite's music. Some of them were really into it, so it was pretty entertaining. We then split up, some to go to bed, and others to the Village Tavern, one of our main college hangouts. Also known as the VT. I drove everybody downtown, and we headed first to the VT, only to find to our disappointment that none of the alumni were in there! It was strange that a very popular bar during our college years was left in favor of the Rok, a less popular place. And for a good reason - Don's Rok gives a new name to seedy bars. It's tiny, with a beer-soaked floor and awfully low ceilings. We could barely move amongst the crush of people, and the girls and I were pretty much ready to leave when we walked in. But we situated ourselves at a tiny table that wasn't too sticky and chatted with some of the alums we had known, and some we hadn't. That was a fun part of the night - meeting people that we had graduated with, but hadn't known during our four years at Hamilton. We met some nice guys that way.

Finally, it was time to collect the boys and escape, much to our tired bodies' delight. We bid each other good night and headed to bed for our last night in the Dunham. Morning again dawned slightly too early for me and I learned once again that although five years have passed, some things don't change. Someone had left us a nasty surprise in the hallway - as my friend said when she called campus safety, "There's no good way to say this. Someone pooped in the hall in Dunham." Seriously. And also seriously, not the first time I came upon something like this at Hamilton, sad to say. That dampened our spirits a bit as we packed up our cars and debated the morning's breakfast options.

We settled on Breakfast at Tiffany's, a New Hartford diner. We had found this little gem during our days on the Hill, and it was a good, cheap weekend morning diner option. It always reminds me of one late night when we went there to grab a bite, and saw a guy slap his girlfriend right across the face in front of everyone. We were all too shocked to say anything at the time. But on this morning, it seemed only fitting that we go there, as this was the site of our last breakfast together the morning after graduation. I remembered saying goodbye to the girls in the parking lot, and crying, and one of my friends saying, "This isn't goodbye, we're seeing each other next weekend!" But it was still an ending, and those always make me sad and everything did change after that.

So it was very nostalgic to come back after five years, almost to the day, and have another breakfast together. The food is what you would expect, but it's good and cheap, so I was happy. We lingered in the parking lot over our goodbyes and then we were on our way!

Although I usually don't sum up my trips, this one was particularly meaningful to me, so I will. All in all, it was a great weekend and it gave me a lot to think about on the way home. I thought about how much I had loved Hamilton and my four years there, and wondered whether I still loved it because of the memories and the good times we had there, and because of being there at that time and with those people, or if it's because I also truly love the Hamilton campus and surrounding area. It's hard to say where the origin of my feeling "home" whenever I am there comes from. I heard a song on the way home that really summed up the whole weekend - the refrain says "Everybody knows it hurts to grow up, but everybody does it. It's so weird to be back here." And it was a little weird, but also good. And it made me realize that there's a lot I prefer to my life now versus five years ago - I mean, I wouldn't want to live in a dorm again and have a communal shower and bathroom. I certainly wouldn't want to go back to dining hall food. But there's still a lot I miss - my friends being across the hall at the furthest and eating every meal with them; impromptu parties on a weeknight just to watch Friends; intellectually challenging classes with passionate professors; deep conversations with incredibly smart and talented people; walking every day almost everywhere; the beauty of the campus; and the courage that I used to have to do and try things I'm afraid to now. I guess I would say that it's not that things are any better or worse now, they're just different and even five years later, it continues to be an adjustment. I think you can go "home" again, as long as you don't expect to relive college and take the visit more on your terms (ie, for our tenth reunion we will NOT be staying in the dorms, especially since we'll all probably have kids!). It also reminds me about what's important - keeping the people you love close - more than what you do for a living, how much money you have, where you live, being with the people that you love and sharing old memories and creating new ones is something I wouldn't trade.

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Photos

The boys firmly believed they couldn't get a DWI for drinking and riding in a golf cart if there were no keys
But we were pretty sure they'd get arrested for something like grand theft golf cart or drunk and disorderly behavior!

It's not an illusion, this woman was DRIVING with one foot out the window.
Perhaps that accounts for the rather large dent in the side of her car!