The Cabell County schools had spring break the first full week of April, so Sam and I planned to go visit 5 colleges and his friend Sean came with us. Now, the guys are both freshmen in high school and many people asked why I was bothering going through the school search process so early. Simply, last summer, in an attempt to get Sam to start being a tad more serious about his grades in high school, I asked him to make a list of schools that were interesting to him. He has said at this point that he would like to be able to stay involved with sports, so thinking sports journalism, sports medicine and sports management, he is looking for schools that offer those kinds of academics. Also important, of course, is any school that he would consider has to have men's track and cross country programs.

So, we narrowed down a list for the northeast: Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Boston University and Northeastern University in Boston, University of Hartofrd and University of Connecticut in CT.

We stayed with my sister Susan in CT for 3 nights, my good friends Liz and Jim Hance in NJ for 2, and one night in a hotel in Boston.

Sam got his driver's permit on Good Friday, 2 days before we left and in all, got 7 hours of driving on the trip.
You can see his level of concentration in this first photo and his confidence in the second.

I noticed I didn't take a lot of campus tour photos. The guys each carried a camera as well and took quite a few, but here you can see how they were paying attention on the Boston University tour. Except for one other mom and freshman son we met on the UConn tour, we were definitely way ahead of the curve with our thinking about college. Most students were juniors and we also met quite a few anxious parents of seniors.

I tried to arrange visits with coaches as well.....swim coaches for Sean and track coaches for Sam. We learned that the swim coaches we met at 2 of the schools ran extremely competitive programs. One even was very terse and said "My athletes eat, sleep and swim.....oh yes, they also go to class." In comparison, even at the same schools where the track programs are highly competitive, the coaches indicated that training, especially for first semester freshmen, has to be individualized to fit each's kid's capabilties and stressors at adjusting to college life.

We fit in sightseeing as well. This was Sean's first trip to the Northeast and I arranged to stay one night in Boston not only to avoid traffic both mornings but also to enjoy exploring a bit. We learned to take the T, the transit system in Boston. There was a subway station at the Tufts Medical Center, right next to our hotel.

Quincy Market, located in downtown Boston, has historically been the location of the city market. Located adjacent to historic Faneuil Hall and very close to the site of the Boston Massacre, one of the events leading up to the Revolutionary War, Quincy Market now is a shopping and restaurant location. Sam and I planned to introduce Sean to his first taste of clam chowder. He decided he is not a fan of clam chowder.

Bill Rogers is a renown runner who won the Boston Marathon many times. He has a running shop there and Sam was able to pick up a singlet and running shorts.

Because both guys enjoy sports we set aside time to go to the New England Sports Museum which is on levels 5 adn 6 of the Garden. In those hallways is a wonderful collection of local professional, college and high school sports memorabilia. There were only a few other people wandering around and the employees were cleaning the area with the seats and the zamboni was smoothing the ice. The guys were told we could go everywhere but the ice so they climbed down into the team box.

Both Sam and Sean liked UConn the most and here in the bookstore, Sam tried on a Husky mask, and now wishes he had purchased it.

My sister treated us to lobsters, again a first for Sean. When we lived in Connecticut, we would hold lobster "races" whenever we cooked lobster at home. Here you can see them participating. *G*

Sean enjoyed the lobster dinner but is not sure it is worth the trouble. We told him next time, we'll eat his share.

My sister lives on a small lake in the central area of Connecticut. We left quite early the day we drove up to Boston...the moon was still out. The morning after we returned from Boston we were heading to UConn, only an hour away, so we could get up earlier and I caught some nice sunrise shots.

The guys were able to get in some kayak time as well.

There are a number of swans on the lake. This guy swam over to me, expecting some food I suspect.

On the way from Connecticut to New Jersey, we drove through New York City, another first for Sean. We made decisions on the routing based on traffic jams, so although it took us probably 2 more hours to get from CT to NJ, we had great views of Manhattan.

Finally, we made a stop at the 3 Mile Island power plant to see the remains of the 1979 nuclear accident. The power plant is near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and could have disasterous results.

The active units are obvious. The two cooling towers without steam have metal gridwork below the concrete....so the location of the accident is very apparent.