I left the B&B this morning right on time (and managed to coordinate the rain such that it stopped whenever I went outside - power, I tell you). This morning I hit up 4 more wineries along my path. I skipped the Hard Cider place cause I wasn't in the mood for cider. Honestly, I think college was the last time I was in the mood for hard cider.
Speaking of college, I drove through Ithaca this afternoon, so I decided to drive through the Cornell campus. I was thisclose to attending Cornell. It had pretty much always been my dream school. I can't remember exactly why I decided that I wanted to go there, but in 10th grade, I was pretty set on it. But when it came time to apply to schools, I knew I should apply to more than just Cornell. After applications went in and decision letters were sent back, I had to choose from Northwestern (too far away), University of Pennsylvania (too close), Cornell, and University of Virginia. I did an overnight visit at Cornell and liked it. It was what I always wanted. And then I did an overnight visit at UVA and absolutely fell in love with it. I don't know if it was the beautiful grounds (yes, grounds, not campus), the more southern hospitality disposition, the weather, or some other factor (it was actually probably all of it combined), but I just felt at home there. I was pretty much decided that I was going to go to UVA over Cornell. When I got home from the overnight visit, my parents told me that since UVA was so much cheaper than Cornell, if I chose UVA, they'd get me a car. Yeah, that was the tipping point. I loved UVA. I still feel like it's home to me (well, one of my homes). I've been involved in the Alumni Association since graduation and later in this trip, I'll get to go visit. But it's interesting to think about the choices I've made along the way. There are a couple of major decisions that I've made in my life: where to go to college (Cornell vs. UVA), where to take my first job (Microsoft vs. Dell), whether to leave Dell or not when I had the opportunity. Driving through the Cornell campus today, I thought about how different my life would have been had I taken the other path. I don't know where it would have led. Would I still have ended up in Austin? Who would my friends be? Obviously I would have a completely different group of college friends. Would I be a stage manager? Would I even be involved in theatre? These are all questions that I don't have an answer to. There's no way to go down both paths. You make a choice and you commit to it. Even if you change your mind at some point down the path, you'll fork from the path you're on. There's no way to actually go back and change that decision. Time keeps moving forward. Interesting to think about.
Anyway, I got to the Cooperstown B&B around 4:30 and pretty quickly crashed out for 2 hours. I hope I'm able to sleep tonight.
Tomorrow - Baseball Hall of Fame. ahhhhh!!!!! so excited!!!!!
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