The Secret Courtyard at the Nittany Lion Inn

I found it! I found it! On this day, I found it! Found what? The secret outdoor courtyard that's located in the middle of the guest rooms at the Nittany Lion Inn!

I am calling it "secret" because in all of my years of Penn Statery (and those have been quite a few!), I never even knew there WAS such a place until a few weeks ago, when I glimpsed it through a window while waiting to meet friends for a lunch featuring the Nittany Lion Inn's world-famous lobster bisque. :-)

And yes, one smiles when one speaks those words: lobster bisque. See how nicely it rolls off the tongue? It tastes even better ON the tongue, believe you me! But alas, I was not there to eat bisque on this day.

It was drizzling, and I was on my way to a meeting on the west end of campus. I parked at the Nittany Lion Inn parking deck and took a quick stroll through the Inn, not because I had any business there, but because it is one of my favorite buildings on campus.

I had about 15 minutes to spare and so I decided I would do my best to find the secret courtyard. And so I did the unthinkable: I actually asked someone! Two someones, to be specific. They told me that you could access the courtyard with gazebo somewhere along the first-floor guest rooms.

And so that is where I went. Heading toward the front desk, I walked by Whiskers (the bar at the Nittany Lion Inn), strolled through the lobby, and took a right off to the first-floor guest rooms just after the coat room.

From there, I simply walked around until I found a doorway to the courtyard. It turns out there are two access points: one by the vending machines, and another through the fitness/workout room (but you have to have a guest key to get into the fitness room, so really, there's just one point of public access).

And then I stood in the drizzle under my umbrella and took an insane number of photos! And I thought - if it is as lovely as this in February in the rain, I can only imagine what it will look like in spring and summer. So of course, I immediately made plans to go back!

There is a little thing I have been doing, photographically speaking, that may seem sort of strange. I have begun a series of Photos From Inside a Darkened Room. The process is quite simple, and even a fool could do it: find an interesting room that is dark, go stand inside it, and take pictures. Like falling off a horse!

And so I took a series of photos inside the Gilpin Room, an ultra-fancy, charming, little dining room just off the Nittany Lion Inn's main dining room. (If you must know, the bisque tastes even better when eaten in such a beautiful space; or so I've decided!)

The thing I need to tell you about such photography before you undertake it is that some people will look at you strangely. But somehow, that concern has never stopped me from doing ANYthing. I am a girl who does ridiculous things at the drop of a hat. Sometimes I try to think up the funnest or strangest thing I can imagine, and then I do it!

But my advice for such situations is that you act totally normal. Pretend you are there on assignment. Ignore people who look at you funny; they will usually just go away, too afraid to actually approach you and say anything.

And then I emerge from the dark room sighing, as though what I was doing in there was REALLY important, and hard work, and look how exhausted I am! And I stride away quickly, as though I have many other more important places to go. Gotta move! Other pictures to take!

One of the photos I took from inside the darkened Gilpin room is included in the extras. It features a beautifully set table, and the light from outside is illuminating the pretty blue goblets (yes, of course, blue! our school colors being blue and white) and shining blue light and reflections on the burnished wooden table.

Our digs were never as fancy as this in the home where I grew up. But the scene with the table set, a folded napkin at each place, neatly awaiting the guests, made me think of suppertime at home when we were kids, and how we prayed the circle of family would remain unbroken. (And still, all these years later, that is our prayer; I pray it every day.)

The song to accompany the main image - of the Nittany Lion Inn's beautiful secret courtyard garden with gazebo (yes, the gazebo appears directly BEHIND the fountain in this photo) - is the very mellow and lovely Bruce Springsteen tune, Secret Garden.