Penn State students can easily fall into the trap of thinking the world begins and ends on College Avenue, rarely venturing beyond its confines. But if you have access to a car, weekends don't have to be the same boring routine.
Kelly's Steak and Seafood
316 Boal Ave., Boalsburg
Total estimated distance: 3.66 miles
Total estimated time: 8 minutes
Instead of standing in long lines at Canyon, try a change from greasy pizza or wings with Kelly's Steak and Seafood in Boalsburg.
Owner Sean Kelly has one reason students should come to Kelly's: "You're not going to be standing four people deep at the bar waiting 45 minutes for a drink."
Voted the Best Steak Restaurant in the Centre Region for two years running by State College, The Magazine, Kelly's has a large menu with items ranging from $7 to $45, Kelly said.
"We have something for every budget," he said.
The food at Kelly's has a distinctive Pacific-Northwestern twinge, since Kelly lived for a time in Seattle, he said.
"A lot of the stuff we have is stuff you wouldn't necessarily find anywhere else in the area," Kelly said.
Kelly's is perhaps best known for the 12-foot tall steer that graces the top of the restaurant.
Kelly said the steer was brought to the restaurant in 1967 from the Midwest and "it's been here ever since," he said.
Mount Nittany Vineyard & Winery
350 Houser Road, Centre Hall
Total estimated distance: 7.34 miles
Total estimated time: 16 minutes
Instead of going to the Phyrst or Café 210 again, check out the Mount Nittany Vineyard and Winery in Centre Hall. College students who are over 21 can learn about what kinds of wines appeal to them through the 20 different kinds of wines the Vineyard offers, manager Gene "Jinx" Proch said.
"It's a great opportunity for anyone to find out what they like," he said.
The Vineyard offers mainly wine tasting, with visitors allowed to taste up to six wines in the tasting room for no charge, Proch said. Wine tours are $5 per person and include a tour of the winery, wine tasting and a tasting glass etched with the Vineyard logo, according to the Web site.
Proch said that in addition to tasting wine, students can take in the picturesque setting, nestled on the southern slopes of Mount Nittany above the village of Linden Hall.
"It's a great place to come out, buy a bottle of wine and relax," he said.
Penn Skates
2210 High Tech Road, State College
Total estimated time: 13 minutes
Total estimated distance: 6.59 miles
Instead of going to yet another frat party, try going to Penn Skates in State College for roller-skating or paintball.
Admission to the skating rink is between $7 and $9, and public skating is from 7 to 10:30 pm. Roller skates can be rented for an additional fee.
"Skating is something you can do your entire life, it's great exercise," manager Valerie Dench said.
About two months ago, Penn Skates began offering paintball, Dench said. The Penn State paintball team holds practices on the field, and individual groups can rent it for between $20 and $30 per person, she said.
"Word is starting to get out [about the paintball field]," she said. "Business really started to take off once the college kids came back to town."
Penn Skates occasionally holds special events that may be of interest to college students, such as "carload nights," where admission is $20 for as many people as you can legally fit in your car, Dench said. Check Penn Skate's Web site, www.pennskates.com, for more details.
Garman Opera House Movie Theatre and Inn
116 E. High St., Bellefonte, Pa
Total estimated time: 17 minutes
Total estimated distance: 10.36 miles
Instead of seeing a movie within the drab cinderblock walls of other cinemas, try visiting the Garman Opera House, Movie Theatre and Inn in Bellefonte.
Originally built in 1890 as a venue for live performances, the Garman was reopened in 2000 as a movie theater. The theater boasts reclining seats, a balcony and a full service concession stand and shows mainly independent, art and foreign films.
Manager and co-owner Kathryn Iadarola said the reclining seats are a big draw for the theater.
"They're not stadium seating, but old-fashioned seating, which leads to a more intimate setting," she said.
Iadarola said that until recently, the Garman was the only venue for art and foreign films in the Centre Region.
"I've always been partial to independent films," she said. "When I bought the movie theater, I couldn't find those films anywhere, so I decided to show them here."
The theater also shows feature films, she said. Recent movies included The 10 and Rocket Science.
Ticket prices for students are $5.
