A College Student's Guide to Topeka

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Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library

Welcome back! Today I will be talking about the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library here in Topeka. I used to work at the library back in my hometown, so I am definitely a huge advocate of public libraries. The library here in Topeka is fantastic and I would highly encourage you to go and visit and support them. The TSCPL offers many different things. They have a children’s library, a cafe called the millennium cafe, an art gallery, a “booktique,” and is home to over 500,000 books. They also have a “bookmobile” that travels across the country. In addition to these things, TSCPL also offers many different events throughout the year. They host events geared towards children which encourages them and their parents to foster good reading habits and education. They also offer events for people of older generations such as iPad workshops where you can learn technology tips and tricks. In addition to these events, they also host various academic events such as guest speakers, a...

Topeka Zoo

Welcome back! In today’s blog post I will be talking about the local zoo. We have a great zoo here in Topeka and I would encourage you to check it out! The Topeka zoo offers quite a few exhibits and lots of learning opportunities Admission to the zoo is $5.75 for adults and $4.25 for children. They also offer discounts for large groups and field trips. The zoo offers several different exhibits. One exhibit is the waterbird lagoon, which is three different ponds that include a variety of different birds including swans that people can feed. Another exhibit is the Kansas carnivore exhibit where you can find several different animals native to Kansas including mountain lions and otters. Another fun exhibit is the tropical rainforest which is really cool. The tropical rainforest includes bats, birds, reptiles, plants, sloths, and other species that are native to the tropical rainforest. The zoo also offers exhibits of popular animals including hippos, tigers, and apes. The zoo...

Trampo Lazer Rockball Park

Welcome back! In today’s post I will be talking about the Trampo Lazer Rockball Park here in Topeka. Like the name suggests, this place has many different activities for you to enjoy. They also offer a party room that is free for rental if your group has eight or more people. This place is great for large groups or parties and offers many different attractions at an affordable price. One of the many attractions offered at the park is the trampoline room. In this room, you can play games and jump on the trampolines that cover the entire room. This room is a lot of fun with a large group of people. The price for this room starts at six dollars for one hour per person, and they offer discounts for large groups of people. Another attraction that is offered at the Trampo Lazer Rockball Park is laser tag. This activity is also great for parties or large groups of people. This game lasts around 20 minutes and only costs each person four dollars a game. The park also offers ...

Mulvane Art Museum

Welcome back! Since its been awhile since I wrote about a Washburn related event, so I decided to check out the Mulvane art museum here on campus. Mulvane is located next to White concert hall and the Garvey fine arts center. We are so lucky to have an art museum on campus and Mulvane does a great job of bring art exhibitions to campus! Mulvane is home to 4,000 works of art, and is completely free to the public. Mulvane hosts many different art exhibitions. In addition to their in house art collection they host over a dozen guest exhibitions each year. They currently have six exhibitions on display, and they are constantly planning new ones. The exhibitions Mulvane hosts are innovative, and often focus on a broad range of topics. In addition to exhibitions, Mulvane also has an art lab. The art lab is great for people of all ages, and is completely free of charge. When you visit the art lab, you have the chance to create your own piece of artwork and to gain some new knowledge...

Garry's Berries

Welcome back! Since it’s officially fall I decided to pick a festive place for this blog post. Today, I will be talking about Gary’s Berries. Gary’s Berries is located about 20 minutes outside of Topeka in Grantville, Kansas and is a great place to go. My sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, recently went for a sisterhood event and it was so much fun. While many people go to Gary’s Berries to take Instagrams and to explore the corn maze, there are lots of different attractions. They have pig races, a ton of goats, pumpkin bowling, a tornado simulation, and “barnyard golfing” to name a few. The corn maze is one of their most popular attractions and is very difficult. Other attractions include a hayride, two oversized trampolines, and the infamous giant rocking chair. Also, every Friday night at nine they host a fireworks show. In addition to these attractions Gary’s Berries has many different food options. In addition to typical fair foods, such as turkey legs, cotton candy, hot dogs, h...

The Sports Center

Welcome back! A lot people have trouble finding cheap activities to do with a group of friends. My friends and I have found a few places in Topeka that are both fun and cheap. In today’s blog post I’m going to be talking about is the sport center here in Topeka. My friends and I have gone here twice and it’s a lot fun. The sports center is located right off Wanamaker and it’s a great place to go as a group and it’s not too expensive. The sports center offers lots of fun activities for groups to do at a good price. My friends and I tried “goony golf,” which includes various obstacles like a giant pink kangaroo, an igloo, and an ichabod. They offer 18 holes of “goony golf” for only seven dollars and it was a lot of fun. They also offer 36 holes of normal putter golf and a golf driving range. If you are more into sports, they also have nine baseball batting cages that you can use. The second time my friends and I went, we tried the go-kart course. It was again only seven d...