Moving to Kansas: 5 Things I’ll Miss

As most of you know, I am moving soon! On May 8, I will be making an epic journey to Manhattan, Ks with Frank and our two (angry) cats. I expect it will be fun and I am so excited to have new places to see… however, I am sad to miss some stuff here. This is going to be a two-part blog entry! This first one includes 5 things that I will miss about South Bend and the next (which I’ll post next week) are 5 things I am excited about in Manhattan, KS.

Well here we go…

The Purple Porch Co-op

This is the best place ever. I love the Purple Porch. It is a food co-op that started as a small Farmer’s Market on Wednesday nights. Now it’s an actual grocery store! The best part is that I’ve been around to see the transition. I love the people, the vibe, the farmers, and the food. They are an amazingly supportive community. They’ve given me free food, you know, cause I’m a grad student and we are a poor group of people. They’ve given me a community… really, I don’t know what I will do without them.

The South Bend Adventure Club

When Frank and I moved to South Bend, we had left a club called OAR (Outdoor Adventure Recreation) in Gainesville. OAR was a great group of people and we had tons of fun. So, we tried to recreate it in South Bend. Amazingly, we were rather successful! We managed to create a community of over 1300 people (and counting) that like to go outside, hike, climb, caving or whatever else there is to do in the area. A lot of the people in the club became some of our closest friends, all of whom I am sad to leave. The club was such an awesome thing, and it’ll be an adjustment to not have that for my weekend fun!

East Bank and River Trails

The East Bank and River Trails run for about 15 miles along the St. Joseph River. I just love them. There are always lots of runners, people walking their dogs, and just lots of happy people. With it being along the river, I get to see a good amount of birds and wildlife, along with an occasional angry goose (or river otter). I do almost all of my long runs here and a lot of my tempo runs too. I just love the river and being close to it (although, Manhattan, Ks has TWO rivers).

Fleet Feet Group Runs

I really like running socially for my slow and recovery runs. The Fleet Feet running group meets once a week at a bar about a half-mile from my house. We run a 5k route and then all hang out to eat dinner/drink. It’s a pretty fun group of people and I’ll miss them a lot. I’m trying to get a few of them to run the Sunburst Half Marathon on the same day as my Hospital Hill Half!

Down Town South Bend Events

South Bend used to be a booming industrial town back in the 50’s and 60’s, but in 1964, the Studebaker plant when under and lots of people lost their jobs. South Bend went through kind of a dark age after that. However, a few years ago, a large group of young and educated people moved into town and wanted to really make a great city. They started a ton of fun events down town and tried to get a good community of people involved. Events like Ignite Michiana, where Frank gave a talk about the Adventure Club, and monthly events like Science Café, First Friday, and Green Drinks allow for things to do after work. We made a lot of friends in the downtown crowd and had a lot of fun. I’ll miss all the people and having a group that really wants to see the city grow.

I guess the real thing that I’ll miss is all of the friends I made here. I’ll be back around these areas often, while I finish writing my dissertation, but home base will be in Kansas. I’m crazy excited about what’s to come, but I’ll miss all the friends I’ve made here.

What do you love about your town? Do food co-ops exist where you are?