H. O. Smith Botanical Gardens

garden flower, originally uploaded by Berks_Awhile.

H. O. Smith Botanical Gardens on the north side of Penn State campus is not far from the Beaver Stadium.

I accidentally discovered this oasis while looking for the Dickinson School of Law building. I spotted the new and unique looking building at a football game so drove up to get a closer look.

The center piece Overlook Pavilion offers dramatic views of the countryside and is a good starting point for meandering down the paths.

Beautiful themed gardens are separated by pathways, fountains and open areas.

With Phase 1 progressing wonderfully, the upcoming projects should be just as impressive making this a must see on return visits to the campus.

Penn State Football (Perfect Day)

Incredible weather prevailed for the pomp and circumstance of the Penn State football home opener. The high scoring 1st half team couldn't find the end zone in the 2nd half and missed on several opportunities, but it was great to be back in the house that JoPa built.

Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts

Two "must-see" events at State College (aka Penn State) include the Arts Festival and football games. In July many thousand alums, families, and art fans congregate and reunite for a long weekend of fun on the streets of State College and Penn State Campus.

Heister Street was closed for street chalk painting. Allen Street had a band stand, and water activities for kids. Sand sculptures. Food vendors, albeit overpriced, lined the street too.

Tents for photographer's, painters, jewelers, plus glass and wood workers meandered for about of mile. To my delight, a high concentration of photographer's showed off their various destinations and print processing techniques.

Penn State has added some great buildings over the past 10 years. Possibly my favorite new one is the Information Technology Sciences building, a curving, soft "S" shape straddles Atherton St.

Finishing off the morning was a delicious lunch at the Indian Cuisine restaurant on Calder Way.

Penn State Football

Penn State football home opener. I try to go to this game annually due to good weather, a likely win and fairly plentiful tickets. Some games extra tickets just don't exist since the correlation between team success and ticket availability is present. This looks like a solid team, so tickets will be scarce.

A trip to State College is not complete without a walk up and down College Avenue and stop by the College Diner for famous Grilled Stickies. The scene is the epitome of a college town.

Cloudy AM, Hot PM 70-80.