The Two Major Perks of Parent’s Weekend at Wash U

Parents coming into town for the weekend is either dreaded or well-welcomed. I was somewhere in between. I was so excited to see my parents, but I also dreaded the comments about my messy room or questions about my grade in Intro to Psych. But, when the weekend came and left, I was sad to see them drop me off at Shepley on Sunday and hug me goodbye. The weekend had been fun filled with amazing meals and finding some actually really cute boutiques not too far from campus.

So far freshmen year I have tried the typical restaurants you hear about on campus; Mission Taco, Insomnia Cookies, Winslow’s Home, Pastaria. Having my parents here, I felt like the yelp expert on our neighborhood. Friday night, I brought them to Pastaria, and I am pretty sure I got bumped up on their favorite child ranking list after they bit into a warm bowl of the bolognese. Showing off St. Louis and Clayton was actually a lot more fun than I thought. Not to mention I didn’t have to grab the check after dinner!

Aside from ‘throwing what I know,’ with my parent’s rental car I was able to explore new places with them I probably wouldn’t have gotten to on my own. Saturday night, we tried this restaurant called Retreat Gastropub that is supposedly in the Central West End, but when we went none of it looked familiar to me. Hearing about what was going on at home and talking about Thanksgiving plans over a great meal was surprisingly refreshing.

Aside from stuffing my face during Parent’s Weekend, I also discovered some of my new favorite shopping spots. Aside from the Nordstrom at the mall, I was pretty sure Missouri had curbed my shopping addiction (probably for the better). However, with my parent’s around I welcomed the trip to Cha Boutique and Splash Boutique. These two stores, located in Ladue and Clayton, are great boutiques if you want to skip the trip to the dimly-lit, overwhelming, crowded mall. I was happy to find some new clothes that not everyone on campus already has. Make sure to stop by next time the rents come to town.

Overall — Parent’s Weekend only happens once a year so enjoy the free meals and trips off campus that won’t cost you half your allowance in Uber!

GIFs via giphy.com.

• food
• parents weekend
• shopping