A long weekend--can it be?!?

Oh yes. And it's wonderful!!!

Last week was quite a whirlwind. In fact, it seemed like two weeks in one: from a busy weekend with family to battling a cold, to completing mid-term comments and grades, to a dentist appointment and endless chores, all to finish with "parents' day" on Saturday... I welcome this time off with wide open and loving arms!!

After impressing my students' parents all morning, then wasting precious long-weekend time at a dentist office all to find out that my new insurance won't cover a bite splint, my weekend finally started.... with a head ache and gum ache. Two ibuprofen later, Matt and I set out for Philly to visit his cousin and his girlfriend. We had planned to go to the haunted house (#1 in the country) in the Eastern State Penitentiary. I had my doubts. In fact, I thought this was going to be a big waste of time and money, and that it would turn out really lame. I mean, who goes to haunted houses anymore except children at theme parks? Nevertheless, there had to be some reason it was so well-known and rated so high... My curiosity peaked.

First, we all enjoyed a delicious meal at a Greek restaurant. I had moussaka and Matt had meatballs, Jared had calamari and Caroline had stuffed peppers, but she could hardly eat because she was so scared already. I kept telling myself (and her) that it was only a big theatrical event with actors, and to remember that they weren't allowed to touch us.

In line at 8:30, we had to sign a waiver form. That's when my adrenaline started pumping. That and when the freaky dudes dressed as escaped inmates and zombies started spooking us. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're saying. I know. I was thinking the same thing before we all walked inside.

It's difficult to explain exactly what they did that made it SO SCARY AND FRIGHTENING. All I know is that when we drove home, we were exhausted (adrenaline having dropped) and sore. YES, SORE! My legs and calves and abs and hips were sore from the tension (and the running and ducking and jumping). You know when sprinters line up at the start of a race and all of their muscles are flexed so that they're ready to run the second they hear the buzzer??? That was us. For an hour.

The whole thing was a maze through different parts of the building. After the second (of four), I wanted to go home. I had had enough of the anticipation of and experience of creepy people jumping out at me from all angles and sides at any moment. But we were trapped! Sometimes, we had to go through a smoky hallway with zombies & inmates on either side, standing like soldiers. You didn't know who was going to stand still, and who was going to jump out to you or follow you whispering scary things!! We'd be walking through the twisting and turning obstacle course and there'd be creepy people just waiting to jump out from around the corner! The worst was when they'd scream and reach down from above!! (hence my ducking and crouching and sore legs) Sometimes the walls weren't real and there'd be a trapped door that would suddenly open and, once again, a zombie would shove his face an inch from yours!! Another time, part of the wall was in fact stretchy fabric so suddenly a zombie would lean forward (or reach forward) and scare you!! We couldn't get away. There must have been over 50 people dressed as the living dead, waiting to scare us at every moment--you were never safe. My screaming didn't help my already sore throat, but clutching to Matthew (and stretching his sweater) was a little reassuring. What I hated was the strobe lights. As if we weren't already failing at guessing when and how the zombies would spook us, the strobe lights made it IMPOSSIBLE to train your eyes to spot them. One guy in particular came out of thin air and appeared 1 centimeter from my face. I screamed so hard he must have guessed I had moussaka for dinner. Matt's worst experience was when we had to wear those 3D glasses and everything in the building was spattered with 3D neon paint. What happened was that there were guys dressed all in black and splattered with the same paint, like the walls. For a while, they'd stand against the walls while you were trying to figure out the right direction and SUDDENLY they were in your face!!!

SO SCARY!!! Jared and Caroline were with us the whole time, and we all clutched each other and ran for safety when we could--Caroline got spooked and ran ahead and even grabbed onto another guy for safety until she realized it wasn't Jared... See how fear messes everything up?!? It wasn't until we were completely out of there that we could breathe deeply. Oh my goodness.

But it was so fun. I would recommend it. I don't think I would do it again in the dark, but Matt and I want to go back and tour the Penitentiary in daylight :)