Charlottesville has been hotter than Hades this summer or it seems like it has. Here is what I decided are the best ways to beat the heat this summer.
1. Volunteer at the hospital.
It's a well known fact that hospitals are kept at subzero temperatures. It is annoying when you're a patient, but if it's super hot outside and you're a broke college student who doesn't want to turn on the AC until it's absolutely necessary, this could be a beneficial solution. Not only are you cooling down, but you're also gaining volunteer hours, and hospitals are always in need of extra help.
2. Go for a long road trip.
This is only applicable if your car has AC. From experience, sitting in a freezing car in northern Virginia rush hour traffic is superior to sitting in front of a box fan imagining colder weather. Additionally, you can have dance parties in the car, go to visit friends and explore more of the area you live in.
3. Visit museums.
Summer is the best time to visit museums, especially the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall. Yes, there are tons of tourists, but it's free AC. They are also educational, interesting, and fun if you go with friends. Going to museums in the summer is also so much better than going in the school year because you don't have to fight with all of the school buses and hyper-energetic kids that go during the year.
4. Go to a quarry.
Yes, you have to go outside and may get a bit warm, but jumping into the water is much more satisfying than you would expect. If you don't have a quarry nearby, go to a pool, or a lake, or a beach if you feel like it.
5. Treat yo-self.
Eat as many Otter Pops as you want. My family always called Fla-Vor-Ice popsicles Otter Pops, because they are actually exactly the same: produced by the same company, same flavors. Also, Otter Pops are great mixers if you are a legal drinker in America. Be smart.
6. Cocktails in a kiddie pool.
Heat like this makes it socially acceptable to buy a blowup or plastic kiddie-sized pool. This is to be accessorized with sunglasses, a baseball hat, and a styrofoam cooler full of the cheapest alcoholic drink you are willing to consume in large amounts. Bonus points if you apply neon colored zinc oxide to your nose. Sun safety is sexy.
7. Ice skating.
This is a perfect time to perfect your triple axel. Or if you don't know how to stay upright while in ice skates, maybe try this new hobby out. Ice rinks are legitimately buildings full of frozen water. Ice skating camp was the best thing my mom ever did for me. To educate yourself on your new hobby, refer to the classic film, "Ice Princess," starring Michelle Trachtenberg.
8. Start a Baskin-Robbins/Ben and Jerry's bucket list.
Why not use the heat to try a different flavor of ice cream every day? This may not be my favorite option on the list, but for some people who are game to see how many different flavors of ice cream they can test in the months of May through August, this could be a perfect idea. I personally am already searching for shaved ice places, because snow cones are perfect to beat this summer heat.
9. Find a sprinkler.
Going back to being a kid again, running through a sprinkler is one of my most treasured memories of beating summer heat growing up. If you live in an apartment, and therefore do not own a sprinkler, either babysit for a family who has one and then pose the activity as something for the kids to beat the heat with you, or wait for it to rain and then run around outside while the sky opens up and cools down the earth for free.
10.Go home.
More likely than not, your mom will be willing to take pity on you and let you turn the AC down to something closer to 76 or lower.
If none of these work for you, I am sincerely sorry. Some of the descriptions are highly sarcastic due to heat exhaustion, but I will be employing one or more of these methods quite possibly every day this summer.
