2016 Georgetown Family Weekend Day 3

After we finally got up, I wandered across the street for coffee at Starbucks. The plan for the morning was to work out in the Equinox Health Club in the hotel. Sharon did half of a spin class and then lifted, while I ran on the treadmill.

We caught a cab to campus once we got cleaned up. We went to a session entitled: Achieving Health Equity - The Role of the Healthcare System. With both of us starving, we went straight from the presentation to the tailgate for the soccer and football games to grab something to eat. The food was actually pretty good.

While there were a lot of different presentations and events planned on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning for the Parent Weekend, we kind of set our own course. Our goals were to see Jack, enjoy Georgetown and Washington D.C. and participate in a few of the planned events.

After the tailgate, we stopped at the bookstore and bought a little more Georgetown swag. At this point, we finally caught up with Jack, visited for a bit and made plans for the evening.

Leaving the campus, Sharon and I wandered through Georgetown. Sharon stopped at a couple of stores...

We eventually headed to check out the Georgetown Ritz Carlton. When I made reservations for the weekend, I made reservations at the Washington D.C. Ritz Carlton with Marriott Points. I didn't realize that there was also a Ritz Carlton in Georgetown. The Georgetown Ritz Carlton is closer to the school. Luckily, Sharon didn't think it was nicer than our hotel. From there, we walked down to the Potomac River and ended up at Tony & Joe's Seafood Place for a cold drink.

To get away from the crowds on M Steet as we headed back towards the hotel, we walked on N Street. At one point, Sharon stopped and admired a house for sale. Looking it up on her realtor app, the house turned out to be known as the Jacqueline Kennedy house. Jackie Kennedy lived there for a while after JFK was assassinated. The asking price was $8.9 million!?!

We made another stop at ENO. We have stopped here twice before: once last summer during the college tour and then again during the move-in weekend. From there, we walked back to the hotel.

Jack eventually walked to the hotel and joined us in the room. We visited for awhile and then headed to dinner. Sharon had made a reservation at i Ricchi. This restaurant features authentic Tuscan and regional Italian cuisine. We had a very nice dinner and a very relaxed visit with Jack.

We had calamari and scallops as starters and then split the risotto special of the day. For entrees, I had Cavatelli Neri (squid ink shells), Jack had Taglierini and Sharon had lamb chops.

The three of us walked back to the hotel. From there, Jack continued back to school, while Sharon and I crashed watching the end of the Cubs versus the Dodgers in the first game of NLCS.

2017 Georgetown Move In Weekend Day 2

After a long day and a relatively late night, Sharon, Jack and I slept late. Sharon and I wandered down to the concierge lounge for breakfast.

Eventually, the three of us grabbed all of the bags and caught a cab to the campus. Dropped at the front gate at 37th and O Streets, we dragged the bags across the campus. Jack is in McCarthy Hall this year.

It was a very different experience than last year. With the freshman moving in over the weekend, there were only a few parents on campus.

We unpacked the bags. We then wandered down and picked up a cart. Sharon and Jack had stored three boxes last spring. We quickly got the boxes and dragged them back to the room in the cart.

After we got the boxes unpacked, we wandered up and explored the remodeled Leavy Center. Heading back to the room, we ran into Jack's new roommate Victor. Victor is older and a junior in International Relations. He has an interesting and very different background.

Grabbing the suitcases, we caught an Uber back to the hotel. While Jack took a nap, Sharon and I walked into Georgetown. Sharon did a little shopping and window shopping. Typically, we have made a stop at ENO, but it is closed on Monday. We ended up wandering up to Graham Georgetown Rooftop lounge and then down into The Alex Craft Cocktail Cellar & Speak-easy.

Walking back to the hotel, we got cleaned up for dinner. The three of us walked to dinner at Flavio. I had a Flavio pizza, Jack had Ricotta Gnocchi and Sharon had Bronzino. After dinner, we walked to the front of campus and said goodbye to Jack. We got an Uber back to the hotel and crashed.

2019 Fall East Coast Trip - Day 5

For the second day in a row, we slept late. We eventually wandered down to breakfast in the concierge lounge. After breakfast, I did 40 minutes and three miles on the treadmill.

After getting cleaned up, we took an Uber into Georgetown. With Jack running a little late, we walked down along the waterfront and checked out the restaurant for dinner.

We met Jack for lunch at Sweetgreens. After lunch, the three of us took an Uber to Safeway and bought a few groceries for Jack. We caught another Uber back to his apartment from the store. My only comment on the afternoon is that Jack and his mom are two peas in a pod...

From Jack's apartment, Sharon and I took an Uber to the Dumbarton Oaks Museum. Dumbarton Oaks is a historic estate in the Georgetown. The upper sixteen acres were transferred to Harvard University in 1940 to establish a research institute for Byzantine studies, Pre-Columbian studies, and studies in the history of gardens and landscape architecture. We toured the Byzantine and Pre-Columbia artifacts on display. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Pre-Columbian pieces. Sharon spotted an interesting painting by El Greco [The Visitation] in the music room. After touring the museum, we walked through the gardens.

From there, we walked down to M Street. We had a couple glasses of wine at ENO Wine Bar. This is another of our favorite Georgetown spots. We showed up just as it opened at 4 pm on a Sunday afternoon. Within a few minutes, it was packed and turning people away.

We walked back to the hotel. Along the way, Sharon spotted a couple of restaurants for future trips including: an Italian restaurant - Ristorante La Perla; and, a Japanese/Peruvian restaurant - Nabu.

We finished the night with dinner at Reverie. We shared Scallop Crudo [Buttermilk/Dill/Dried Scallop], Agnolotti [Mentaiko/Tobiko/Chili], a very good Burger [Misozuke/Special Sauce/Smoked Cheddar] and Lamb [Smoked Butter/Spruce/Tapioca]. We sat at the counter and watched the chefs. Although we had some confusion with the menu, I would definitely go back. They have a tasting menu that I would love to try.

Catching an Uber back to the hotel, we crashed after two late nights. I fell asleep watching the Sunday football game between the Vikings and the Cowboys.

2016 Georgetown Move-in Weekend Day 4

Sharon and I slept in until about 8 am and had breakfast at the hotel. Sharon had wanted to do a neighborhood tour again, but by the time we caught a cab to the main gates of the campus, it was after 10 am.

We caught up with Jack at the Chaplain's Tea. Jack was in line with Jack Ryan, a classmate from Jesuit High School. Including our Jack, there are three boys on Jack's dorm floor from his high school! We ended up visiting with Jack Ryan's parents for awhile.

We then took Sacred Spaces tour. This included a tour of the Catholic chapel, an Eastern Orthodox space, a Muslim space, a mediation space and a Protestant chapel. In each of the stops, they talked about the religion and the key features of the building.

From there, we went to Jack's dorm room and installed Microsoft Office on his laptop. His aunt Lee Ann bought him a new laptop for graduation. He transferred everything over to it, but we needed to install Office. Jack actually has an Excel class this semester.

We went from there to the car barn for presentation on study aboard programs. The place was a zoo. We weren't able to get into the general overview session, but did attend a sesson on programs in Germany and France. Jack is taking French. We smiled when we saw that one of the German programs is in Frieburg.

Heading back to the campus, we got a late quick bit to eat in the dining commons. They were just closing down for lunch.

Sharon, Jack and I then went to a reception for the McDonough School of Business. After the reception, Jack took off to meet up with his orientation group. From this point forward, we didn't see much of him for the rest of the weekend. There is a great view from the top of the business school.

We ended up talking to Jack's roommate George's parent's (Pete and Linda) for almost an hour and a half. I had hoped to try and get out to see the Nooter's new house, but I could never get a grip on the schedule. By the time, we stopped visiting with George's parents, it was too late to connect with the Nooters.

Although there were some more choices, I was done going to sessions at this point... Sharon and I walked into Georgetown. We stopped at Martin's Tavern for a snack. Continuing towards our hotel, we stopped at ENO. We had stopped here last summer when we were on our college tour.

After getting freshed up in the hotel room, we ended up having a very late dinner at Ris near the hotel. We had the fixed menu; Sharon had trout and I had a pork chop.

With a lot on the schedule for Sunday, we set an alarm for 6:20 am.

2015 East Coast College Tour Day 2

After a restless nights sleep, Sharon and I had a solid breakfast in the hotel. After breakfast, we walked a long ways to UPenn to meet Jack. I had set a GPS point near his room in the dorms, but he was waiting in the front of the building. Finally connecting with Jack, we walked back across the campus and down Locust Walk. Walking up to Chesnut, we hailed a cab and headed back to the hotel.

Dumping Jack and Sharon at the hotel, I walked a couple of blocks to Enterprise. One of the oddities of the trip is that it was half as cheap to pick up a rental car downtown on Saturday than it was to pick it up at the airport on Friday; literally, half as expensive…

Picking Sharon and Jack at the hotel, we headed to Villanova. Although Villanova doesn't offer tours on Saturdays, we decided to make a stop there. Unlike UCLA, walking around campus was a success. We ended up at the business building. We were all impressed with the campus. Villanova might be one of Jack's safety schools.

We headed to Washigton, DC. I could complain about the traffic, but it would quickly become a broken record. With a longer than necessary stop at Subway for lunch, it took us about three hours to get to the hotel. We are going to spend three nights the Capella Hotel in Georgetown.

Somewhat unbelievably, the room was not ready at 4:15 pm. After an hour wait in the bar, we were finally in a very nice room.

After getting unpacked, Sharon and I headed to M Street. Sharon did some shopping and we ended up at ENO for a class of wine. We wandered down the C&O Canal and out to the river. I need to come back and visit the Stone House.

We finished the night with a late dinner at the hotel restaurant, The Grill Room. Sitting along C&O Canal, I had yellow fin tuna, Jack had veal and Sharon had guinea hen.

After dinner, Jack and I spilt a couple of games of chess in the library before finishing the night watching Treehouse Masters.