<p>pixeljig, this itinerary sounds a lot more doable than the original plan. Good luck!</p>
<p>And let us know when you’re ready for restaurant suggestions!</p>
<p>the Rice/UT drive depends entirely on the timing. If you can get out of Houston in the early afternoon, but not too early, and get to Austin after rush hour, you will all be happier.
Totally off topic:
While your son is touring UT if you want something to do, take the state capitol tour (walking distance from campus) Really cool. Or, for something completely different (do I sound like Monty Python?), take a Segway tour of Austin. I count it as one of the most entertaining things I did in the last year… took the evening tour with a stop to watch the bats, and so spent the last bit zooming through the growing dark on a thrilling vehicle. I came home and tried to buy one (before common sense set in…) Like skiing on the pavement…</p>
<p>Everyone here has been so awesome, am truly glad!</p>
<p>Thumper, I am not sure where to spend that Sunday - Whether to fly out of St Louis Saturday night or come to Atlanta and relax. What do you think the weather difference might be?</p>
<p>Dragonmom, Oh that Segway tour sounds so fun!! My younger son will be so thrilled to hear this!! </p>
<p>Gosh I am getting so excited and I wanted to do some shopping as well! How will I manage that? wanted to get Kindle too but we do not have the book buying facility in this part of the world yet, they are pushing Sony here.</p>
<p>Actually, you can download from your computer onto the Kindle, maybe not through wi-fi directly… I know it’s possible to get the books downloaded in Asia, as several of my friends in this part of the world have one. Or wait and see what the Apple version will be like.</p>
<p>I would fly out Saturday night, if I could get the right flight times. The weather should be fine that time of year in Atlanta (usually if Atlanta gets winter weather it is done by the second week of Mach), but it is a little less predictable in St. Louis. However, Atlanta’s airport is one of the busiest in the world – so delays are unpredictable. </p>
<p>From Atlanta, you will probably want to fly into Houston Hobby if you can. I think it puts you a lot closer to Rice than Bush International. (Houston has two airports).</p>
<p>Plan to fly to Atlanta the night before. It’s ALWAYS good (in my opinion) to get there the night before. Then you aren’t scurrying around in the morning…or driving and flying BEFORE visiting a college. You’ll be able to have a leisurely breakfast at the destination and go to the school.</p>
<p>I also think flying to Atlanta the night before is the best idea, especially since GT seems to be high on your S’s list. This will give you more time to explore the area. Has UMiami been dropped from contention?</p>
<p>Agree w/flying into Atlanta the night before, logistically and because it’s a great city.</p>
<p>my3sons, UM is still in the running, son has applied, but we are not visiting. The trip was already too hectic. </p>
<p>Great idea about spending the night in Atlanta. I agree that its always better to keep this kind of cushion for flight delays etc.</p>
<p>Son got an email from a WashU alumni asking for an interview, anyone knows how to prepare?</p>
<p>The WashU Alumni interview went very well!!</p>
<p>We are arriving into Atlanta the night before and spending the night there.</p>
<p>Need suggestions for Hotels in Santa Clara, WashU, GTech and Rice/UT. Need to start booking. Will ask for restaurant suggestions later…;)</p>
<p>Perhaps we can skip hiring a car for Santa Clara and just take the Bart? We are arriving Thursday night and visiting SCU in the morning to fly out that same evening to WashU.</p>
<p>Thanks all, you have been great!!!</p>
<p>The bart doesn’t go to Santa Clara. It only goes to Fremont. Public transportation is not convenient in the south bay.</p>
<p>The area around Santa Clara University is quite built up, and there’s no obvious hotel/motel that highlights the campus.</p>
<p>As the previous responder noted, there’s minimal public transportation in Santa Clara/San Jose. You can always try taxis, but you have to call for them and you’ll probably lose more time than you’d like. So renting a car is the best option.</p>
<p>San Jose airport is closer than San Francisco airport, so you may want to check out if there are convenient flights to from San Jose. If not, San Francisco airport is about 40 minutes away. Avoid rush hours (typically from 7-9AM, and 4-6PM).</p>
<p>The hotel list posted on the SCU site is quite good:</p>
<p>See:[Santa</a> Clara University - Hotels near SCU](<a href=“Phonebook - Santa Clara University”>Phonebook - Santa Clara University)</p>
<p>Most likely you’ll find a need to drive from hotels to SCU and probably to restaurants if you’re looking for something special, so I don’t think there’s any one hotel that stands out. There’s a great deal of business travel in the Santa Clara-San Jose area, so all the “brand” hotels will be of decent standard.</p>
<p>You probably would want to get GPS for your rental to help you navigate.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>For UT, I have found it more convenient to say at hotels just north of campus (less than three miles north of campus) on I-35 than to stay downtown. There is a strip with an Embassy Suites, a Crowne Plaza, and a Doubletree. There are probably some others there that I am not remembering. Any of these are fine; my kids would vote for the Embassy Suites because they like the breakfasts. Close to campus, free self parking and less dealing with one way streets downtown. That stretch of 35 gets busy during rush hour; it will be less busy that week since it is UT spring break and if it looks busy you can just not even enter the freeway and take the frontage roads that run alongside the freeway. Target is handy, too, in case you need a Target run.</p>
<p>We enjoyed the amphibious vehicle “Duck” tour of Austin during a family visit there, if that fits into your schedule. You might do a “Tower Tour” that goes to the top of the UT Tower and looks out on the entire campus and at the city of Austin; this might give you a nice feel for the beautiful hill country surrounding the city if you won’t be driving through it. (I don’t know my Texas geography.)</p>
<p>I think you will have a UT acceptance letter in hand by the end of February.</p>
<p>From my post # 22
</p>
<p>[The</a> Houston Marriott Medical Center is your superb Houston Downtown Hotel](<a href=“http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/houmc-houston-marriott-at-the-texas-medical-center/]The”>Hotel near Downtown Houston | Houston Marriott Medical Center/Museum District)</p>
<p>[Bestwestern.com</a>, the World’s Largest Hotel Chain.](<a href=“Search Best Western Hotels & Resorts”>Search Best Western Hotels & Resorts)</p>
<p>There is a Candlewood Suites directly across from SCU on El Camino. There are several motels along El Camino Real but it is the closest. Have never stayed there but have used their lobby bathroom when waiting to pick my girls up from soccer camp. If you want something more upscale there is a Double Tree a couple of exits up which is closer to the airport but you can’t beat the candlewood for convenience. No need to drive or park, just walk across the street and there you are. Don’t know if they have a shuttle but if they do you won’t need a car at all since you will be waking distance from eateries too.</p>
<p><a href=“Welcome travelhero.com - BlueHost.com”>Welcome travelhero.com - BlueHost.com;
<p>At Wash U, check the Knight Center, on campus. It’s mostly used for conferences, but they rent the rooms like a hotel when available and I’m told by people that have stayed there that it’s quite nice and right on campus. Otherwise, there are hotels in Clayton (we’ve stayed in the Sheraton many times) that are very close to campus, as well as downtown options.</p>
<p>
That’s the one hotel I avoid when I go to San Jose. The last time I stayed there, a few years ago, it was really getting run down with old carpet, ice machines not working, tired looking rooms, the ‘old hotel smell’, and their service wasn’t very good either. They’re also over-priced IMO.</p>
<p>SCU is right next to San Jose airport and San Jose airport has nonstop flights to most major cities so I suggest flying into San Jose rather than San Francisco unless you just wanted to visit San Francisco. You could stay at any of the San Jose airport hotels and be close to SCU but the Candlewood’s the closest. There’s a Holiday Inn Express within a mile or so. You could taxi it easily if you fly into SJC as well as use the hotel’s free airport shuttle (check first to be sure they have one).</p>
<p>I haven’t actually stayed at the Candlewood because I know there’s a train track that runs right behind it and I try to avoid those situations. If you do stay there try to get a room not adjacent to the tracks if you can.</p>
<p>Will keep this post handy when making hotel reservations. We are renting a car at the SF airport (thats where our flight is landing) and then next day we leave for St Louis so it makes sense to be near SCU in order to save time.</p>
<p>It will be nice to see the eateries nearby.</p>
<p>At WashU, wander over to the Loop to check out the restaurants there.</p>