My Top 3 Small Town Activities

You always have those go to things you do for fun in your hometown, but what do you do when you get tired of the same old thing? Here are just a few of the things my friends and I did to shake things up!


1. Geocaching
- Geocaching is an app you can download on your phone. It is basically a treasure hunt throughout your town. You go around trying to find these little hidden boxes, and you either leave something or take something from the box! Also don't forget to sign your name so people know you've been there! My first Geocache I found was in a cemetery a few miles outside of town. We were walking around this cemetery when a cop shows up and asks us what we're doing. My friends and I were completely freaked out and told him exactly what we were doing, hoping we wouldn't get in trouble. He laughed at us and said "Just don't still any tomb stones."


2. Middle Nowhere Bonfire
- This can be kind of hard depending on how small your town is, but it's always something fun to do if you can be smart about it. My friends and I were driving around one night when we came around Dakota Road. It's a hidden, small road that was perfect for getting away. So every so often around ten of us would drive out there and just sit around a small fire.

3.Cruisin Main
- The Main Street of your hometown should be something special. For me personally cruising down Main Street has always been a tradition in my hometown. The casual driving around is always a go to, but during a drive around town we always seem to make it back to Main Street. My mother is from a very small town named Gossel that's about 30 minutes away from McPherson. She use to tell stories of how her and her friends would drive to McPherson just to cruise Main Street. There would be people sitting around there cars on the side just talking and listening to music. People yelling and leaning outside of their windows as they drive by. That story always reminds me of a simpler time and how even the smallest of things can be fun.

photo by me

Small Town Cafe Gathers Community

Saturday morning, it's around 10:30am you have that deep craving in your stomach for something, but you’re not really sure. All you know is the only thing that can satisfy your mid morning hunger is Neighbors. Everyone has a go to place to eat when they just are tired of eating at home or need something different, and that has to be Neighbors for my hometown. To describe Neighbors in one word I would say, “Homie.” You always feel welcomed whenever you walk through the door, Shelly (the owner) greets you right when you walk in the door and tells you to sit where ever you want. It might not be a big place but you can tell by the atmosphere it has a big heart to it. Naturally I sit on the side wall in a booth like usual. Right when you sit down you’re taken back by memories from pictures on the wall. The waitress gives you the menu, but of course you already know exactly what you want.

Here is a link to Neighbors website- http://www.neighborscafe.com

- My photos 

HAPPS

A single word that can turn a lame lonely night into an adventure... Happs. Also known as Half Price Apps at Applebee’s. It might not seem like much to most, but for someone just trying to get out of  the house it’s a life saver.

It’s a Friday night, your hometown football team just one their game, you’re with all your closest friends, so what do you decide to do? Wait for 15 minutes at Applebee’s to get a table just to eat half price appetizers. You walk in, it’s packed, but of course you already know almost half the people there because this is just the place everyone wants to be after a Friday night win.

Sometimes the small things don’t seem like much, but when you look back on it they meant the world.

Small Town, Big Heart Break

Tragedy can happen anywhere, anytime, any place, but for some reason people never think it can happen to them. Tragedy struck my home just last week. A young man that was in my graduating class in high school committed suicide. Thing change and people change after high school, but feelings don’t really change. This boy wasn’t someone I was necessarily close to, but close enough that I knew where he was going to school, I had occasionally been to a party or two with him and had similar friends. Living in a small town everyone is affected different by an upsetting event like this, but we are all affected in someway or any other. This tragic death also can bring people back together. My friends and I all went back for the viewing and gave us a chance to see people we haven’t seen in awhile, but it all hurts just the same. It might be a small town, but it’s a big heart break for everyone in it.