The people have spoken and clearly we missed a few of BSA’s favorite after school hangout spots, restaurants, and shops.
Ah, the Enoch Pratt Library, one of the oldest and most beautiful buildings in the whole city. Once you have acquired snacks or coffee from your favorite cafe, head to the library. There you will find students from all the universities in a 20-mile radius feeling cranky about their school work, and even more cranky to see a highschooler anywhere near them.
The library is a perfect place to study, listen to music, and pick out scholarly books. You may choose a Jane Austen or even a Shakespeare play to decipher. The options are endless and the Pratt has a plentiful collection. You can browse to find any play Paul and Becky might make you do in theater, or the exact translation of the strange unknown art song your private lesson teacher gives you. It is fit for a calm, aesthetic, and very intellectual lifestyle.
Hidden behind its artifacts, hundreds of books, and mahogany wood is the Teen Center. The Teen Center is a hop and a skip through the very high tech security entrance, a few hallways, and a lot of stairs.
The Teen Center of the library is where many BSA kids choose to spend their afterschool time. Filled with computers, graphic novels, and even a VR headset, it’s a fun place to de-stress. It is furnished with incredible technology that not a lot of students would get a chance to use otherwise. Other than elevators that are constantly out of order, students don’t usually see this specialized technology at BSA.
One example of this is the direct to garment printer which students at the school love using to print their homemade and wacky designs on T-shirts.
“The T-shirt printer is so unique and creative. The fact that you can do it for free—it’s such a blessing and it’s so accessible and I’m so grateful to have it. I love it. Who wouldn’t love having a shirt with your best friend’s face on it,” says Leo Pevsner, a 10th grade actor.
7-Eleven
The 7-Eleven is located on N. Charles Street and is not all that it seems. With a three out of five star Google rating, a ceiling so low it would kill anyone who’s taller than five feet, and some very sassy workers, the bodega hides a mysterious secret.
If you feel a chill as you grab your after school Corn Nuts or get spooked while trying to squeeze past a grumpy businessman in one of the rows for a Cherry Coke, it’s not all in your imagination. This 7-Eleven is where the first Ouija board was named and manufactured in 1890. You would think this would be Mt. Vernon’s claim to fame, but next to the Washington Monument, the measly gold plaque looks pretty puny. The name Ouija translates to “Good Luck”, which is what you’ll need to fit through the maze of isles with a backpack in this location.
7-Eleven is perfect for quick after school snacks, for example, if the “Moovit” or “MTA” app says the Pink bus is 2 minutes away. This hangout spot is not for hanging out, it is a quick in and out, for if you linger for more than 5 minutes, the 7-Eleven locals will give you a side eye.
Mt. Vernon Super Mart
The Mt. Vernon Super Mart is perfect if for some reason you need eggs, milk, bread, lettuce, and assorted Asian limited-edition snacks on your way home. The store will not only provide you with the snacks you desire, but it will also provide your parents a mini heart attack when they see a charge from “Mt. Vernon Liquors” pop up on your card.
The littered walls tacked with “THIEF: IF SEEN REWARD” papers and security camera’s lining every square inch of the store might scare you, but just make it past the rows of cigarettes and Hennessy and you are good to get your Hot Cheetos. The store is cute and quaint.
The Zone
The Zone is perfect for the large percentage of BSA students who think they live in a Wes Anderson film. The store is full of itchy sweaters and cute vintage tchotchkes that are probably haunted. The store is funky and fairly priced; many BSA students go to The Zone to have a dress up montage moment in the dusty dressing rooms.
The store is all fun and games but when you finally decide to leave, it has the effects of Lotus Casino from Percy Jackson. You go in at 4:00 p.m., happy and healthy, and when you open the door to leave it’s 7:00 p.m., you are sweating, your head hurts, and you can feel a cockroach crawling up your leg.
Mt. Vernon is flourishing with after-school sweet treats, snacks, and adventures. Take your pick, meet new friends, and enjoy the luxury of BSA’s surroundings.
Correction: An earlier edition of the article incorrectly attributed the photo credits.
To contact this writer, email Muse Newspaper at musebsa@bsfa.org.
Featured photos of mentioned locations captured by Scarlett O’Comartun for the BSA Muse.
