Venture 5: Big Dogs Karaoke Night

courtesy of Mike Thompson/Big Dogs Restaurant


Sometimes I've caught myself getting bored with the same Saturday night routine at Longwood and have wanted to try out something different. Although I enjoy what I normally do on weekends- I was kind of interested in seeing what this "Big Dogs" place was all about. I would often drive by there and wonder but never actually go in and check it out.

When I looked at their billboard I saw that Saturday night was karaoke night and I absolutely LOVE karaoke (especially when there's more than one kind of crowd around singing). I thought this would be alot of fun so, some friends and I decided to go on in and see what it was all about. To say the least, we had a blast. Yeah, it was a completely different environment than what I'm used to, but it was alot of fun. There were alot of people that lived in the town, but there weren't many students there at all. The crowd from the town sang mostly country music, with some rock and pop- but it was pretty entertaining. Then,when karaoke was over, people went out on the dance floor which seemed like a pretty nice place to dance.

I'm surprised more students haven't went to hang out here, but hopefully with time that'll change. The group that's putting together "Senior Challenge" has started making some senior events like "100 Days until Graduation" at Big Dogs which I think will help in drawing in a bigger crowd.

What I was interested in finding out was if any of you guys been to big dogs? If so, What did you think about it? Do you think there would be anything special they could do that would draw in more students?

Venture 4: Twin Lakes State Park

I've been to Twin Lakes State Park a few times since my freshman year at college. Its a really fun place to go to when it's warm outside and another great place to get some good natural sun. There's sand all around the lake and it makes a great place to lay a towel down to soak up some sun. When you're driving into the park it's actually a campsiite as well, with a big wooded area, volleyball court, and public restrooms. My first time coming here was during family weekend freshman year. My friends parents had a picnic for us at the fairly large picnic area right in front of the lake. We brought good music, food, and a cooler. Then, after we ate we ventured around the lake, played volleyball, and took some funny pics on the campsite and playground in the sand. We even got in the lake too (which I don't think we were supposed to at this time of year) but we went ahead and did it anyway. It's definitely a fun little 10-15 min road trip and worth it when the weathers right, so we definitely planned a couple more trips back after that.


Location:
-Take a right on 3rd St. coming from Main St.
-Keep going straight and you will pass Sunchase on your left
-turns into 460 E Bus. which you will stay on for about 1.5 miles
-you will take a right onto Co Rd. 696 (for 5.2 miles)
(*There will also be signs to help direct you)
-take a left at Co Rd. 612 (for 1.7 miles)
-take a slight right at Co Rd. 613 (for 2.6 miles)
-take a slight left onto Co Rd. 629) (for .8 miles)
-Then you will turn right onto Goodwin Lake Rd. (for .3 miles)
-Twin Lakes State Park will be on your left (.2 miles)

Venture 3: Briery Creek+ Recap on Ventures 1 and 2

In Venture 1, My roommate and took the trip out and I made sure to have the camcorder at had for the whole ride. I got some pretty good shots and was pretty excited about it until I actually got there and found out it was flooded. The biggest part of that trip is the trail you can walk on when you get there, and although I still tried to make it still happen- it didn't work. To say the least, I ended up getting caught in some thorns in the woods while trying to make my way back onto the normal trail. When I ended up leaving, I was pretty disappointed but thought I could go ahead and use the shots anyway (because it was actually kind of funny). So, I uploaded them to my hard drive for another class and then they mysteriously got deleted. So that was that.

Then Venture 2 was also affected by the lovely snowstorm we had. However I do plan on putting up videos of these later.

Now, let me get to the Briery Creek venture. Briery Creek is a fun little place to go to if you want fish or if you just want a quiet get away place to go to to think about things or hang out with some of your friends on a warm day.That's what I end up doing sometimes. Some and my friends and I actually went up there Freshman year and laid out at this hill right beside the lake. We took a cooler and lunch with us and it ended up being a pretty fun time. It's takes about 10 minutes to get there and it right off of Main St. You'll end up passing Sheetz on your left and continue down the road for about 9 minutes or so. It's a street called Briery Creek Drive on your right about 4 minutes after you pass the turn for Hampden-Sydney College.

Venture 2- Sailer's Creek Hauntings:

Sailor's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park is a great place to visit around here. To get there you have to get on 460 E for about 10 minutes and then turn right on 307. It'll be on your left if you follow the signs that take you to Sailor's Creek. What makes this place so interesting is the fact that on April 6th, 1865, which is also known as "Black Thursday", 7,700 troops and 8 generals died. General Lee decided to surrender on this day.

The Overton-Hillsman House was turned into a hospital during the battle and the women, children and slaves that lived there were forced into the basement. The basement was covered in blood that seeped through the floors when the bodies were amputated and thrown out the window. This battlefield and building are known for being haunted and I have talked to a person who experienced it himself as well as heard stories from people I know about others who have experienced these things. This state park is a pretty place to visit, but it's history is pretty brutal.