Stephanie Steiner | Arts & Life Co-Editor

Although you may feel as if there’s not much to do off campus, there are plenty of options. Sometimes you just need to adventure to find them.

I am approximately five miles from Storm Lake and raindrops sprinkle my hair as I wait outside at 8:55a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20. I am about to step inside of one of the most creatively designed places – 220 S Main Street in Alta, Iowa – where I will meet with a far too long lost acquaintance, a cupcake. You guessed it: I am at the White House Cupcakery.

Five minutes later, I am inside of the building, and the smell of baked goods consumes me. But wait, I’m distracted: there’s a chandelier in here. *Cute!* If you should know anything about me, it’s that I am obsessed with design. This place aces the modern and crafty design test.

Back to the food. The White House Cupcakery obviously sells cupcakes! Each week, there are a number of flavors of cupcakes available. But here’s the kicker: they are only open on Fridays and Saturdays, or until they sell out. You can purchase one cupcake for $2.50 or a dozen for $28. Worth it!

Here are the flavors that I chose:

Monster
Snicker doodle
Elvis
Cinnamon mocha
Chocolate peanut butter cup
My Bday
Toffee

The neatest part about this place is that it has an upstairs area and a patio area available to rent for parties and get togethers!

After meeting with a long-lost friend, I decide to go hang out with a familiar friend, coffee. Better yet, I’m going to have coffee in a train. Something I sure haven’t done before. The Hoodlebug is a jaunt up the road, on 3 N Main Street. They have coffee and food. I thought, ‘why not try a really strange coffee flavor and a really strange breakfast food?’ Root beer float latte and jalapeno bread it is. And I’m in a train.

After that, I take a small walk around Alta and then I’m back, safe and sound in my suite by 11:00 a.m. Plenty of time to do homework(?) and enjoy the rest of the weekend. This is a quick, close trip you can take with your roommates or anyone who just needs a little break from campus on the weekend. Or, you can surprise your roommates with cupcakes like I did (I think they like me a little more now). Never be afraid to try new things in new places; it’s usually most rewarding and even if you didn’t enjoy some aspect of it, at least you can say you’re educated.

Photos by Stephanie Steiner