<p>So we’re making the trip to Muhlenberg in a couple weeks… coming into town Saturday Nov 1st, evening, to catch the Sunday Matinee of Oklahoma at Muhl…, then on Monday the 3rd, D has a day of interviews/auditions/sitting in on classes, etc.</p>
<p>Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions of things to do in Allentown on Sat and Sunday evening. Good restaurants, etc… would also be welcome recommendations.</p>
<p>Seems there’s a haunted house thing at Dorney Park on Saturday, if we get in early enough, but I am not exactly crazy about the idea of taking D out somewhere to scream her lungs out a day before auditioning…! lol.</p>
<p>I haven’t had my D there long enough to know, but I have heard something about a Farmer’s Market and I do know that one weekend of Oklahoma there is a marching band regional that is pretty big if you like marching band. (In high school my kids did both theater and MB!)</p>
<p>I would love to hear what your D thinks of the school after sitting in on some classes. My D and I visited in the summer and she loved the school and Charlie Richter. Although she didn’t get to sit in on any classes she did get to watch some rehearsals for Tommy. She is a junior this year and this is the school she would love to attend if she does not get into any audition programs. She is a good match for Muhlenberg.</p>
<p>We also met teriwtt’s D who is a sophomore this year and she was very helpful. We only stayed over one night as we were off to Philadelphia the next day to visit UARTS. D and I went to a movie as Tommy had not started during our visit.</p>
<p>There is a great source of information that some Muhlenberg students wrote. It is a guidebook and now has also been turned into a website. If you search google for “Living here in Allentown beyond the red doors” you will find it. It suggests restaurants, day trips and nice places close to campus.
Some of our favorites when we visit our D are:
dinner at Bravo Italian at Whitehall mall- it is a chain but my D loves the food and atmospere. Dinner at Bayside in downtown Allentown for a more expensive but gourmet dining experience. Sunday breakfast at Billy’s diner in nearby Bethlehem. Saturday breakfast at the farmer’s market.
Quite a few of the Muhlenberg students have worked at Dorney’s Halloween event, and my D did scream herself hoarse there the year she worked, so probably not a good idea the day before an audition.
We are from California so we usually take a day trip to historical things around Muhlenberg if we have a free day, since we had never seen them before she got there. The countryside around Allentown is beautiful, and we have enjoyed day trips to Gettysburg and other places like that.
Hope this helps a bit!</p>
<p>Well, if you’re interested in seeing another theatrical performance, I’m in a third-tier that goes up that Sunday at 8 in the Red Door… (: if I may plug our wonderful show. It’s called Love is Merely a Madness, it’s Shakespeare love scenes, and it’s all freshmen in the cast~ it’s fantastic. (:</p>
<p>Yep! It’s Sunday the 2nd and Monday the 3rd at 8pm, in the Red Door, which is in the bottom level of Seegers Union near the bookstore. And it’s free! If you decide to see it, stop me afterward- I’m playing Miranda and Ophelia. (:</p>
<p>My D is in a production tomorrow at 3 (and Monday and Tuesday?). We are coming in for a whirlwind visit. Because we live 2 1/2 hours away, we have only come in do drop off or pick up. One of these days we will come stay for a whole weekend!!! :)</p>
<p>Cellybelly, perhaps we will see you there!? I will be the lady wearing Crocs!</p>
<p>Awww… shucks. Am glad she could help. Actually I should have told you that the little exposure she had this summer in talking to prospective students led to something bigger. Charlie asked her to work the Muhlenberg booth at the Visual and Performing Arts College Fair being held at Northwestern University while she was home for fall break. She said she enjoys talking to ‘prospies’, and got braver as the day went on.</p>
<p>We’ve stayed at the Wingate hotel. New, clean, inexpensive (tell them you’re visiting Muhlenberg and you’ll get discount) but nice rooms and close. It’s about a 10 minute car ride if get all the red lights along the way.</p>
<p>Thanks NEDad. I assume the earlier post was a place to visit, (guitar factory/museum) not a place to stay? We won’t have time for sightseeing, this trip is unfortunately go, go, go!</p>
<p>We stay at the Courtyard by Marriot, near the airport. It is technically in Bethlehem, about a 10 minute drive to campus.</p>
<p>The only bad hotel we have ever stayed in there was one that was highly touted by Tripadvisor reviews, that was tremendously smokey throughout. We are from California where all hotels are non smoking and even though we had a nonsmoking room at that other property every piece of my clothes reeked of smoke and my allergies were going crazy. All Marriott properties are nonsmoking, so if is an issue for you, look for a Marriott- I don’t know if the Wingate is non smoking, but for the first two years my D was at Muhlenberg the area around the Wingate was torn up so we have never stayed there.</p>
<p>We have usually stayed at the Comfort Suites across from Dorney Park. This last time I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express across from Dorney. They both issue credits toward my Rapid Rewards program for Southwest Airlines. And again, depending on traffic lights, it can be made in 5-10 minutes. They are about two miles from campus and both offer free breakfasts.</p>
