<p>Just got back to the hotel from the day’s festivities. Drove around campus, toured Ridgecrest South and the Rec Center, bought a bunch of stuff at the Supe Store. My parents (and I, of course) were very impressed. Now we’re just trying to figure out where to eat tonight!</p>
<p>Dreamland! [Tuscaloosa</a> Dreamland Bar-b-que Restaurant](<a href=“http://www.dreamlandbbq.com/Tuscaloosa.aspx]Tuscaloosa”>http://www.dreamlandbbq.com/Tuscaloosa.aspx)</p>
<p>So glad your visit is going well, tommy.</p>
<p>If you want to stay close to campus, Bento Japanese is good.</p>
<p>if you want to go to Downtown, then DePalma Italian, Mugshots, or Chuck’s Fish is good (chucks is a bit pricey)</p>
<p>Five is good.</p>
<p>If you want to be around Midtown Village, then Iguana Grill (mexican) is good and Wings U is good and has cool Crimson Tide decor.</p>
<p>Went to Dreamland last night! It’s great. Probably going to Mugshots.</p>
<p>Wished I’d seen this earlier. I don’t even want to admit where my daughter and I ended up for dinner! We are visiting a church in the morning and will have Dreamland for lunch. </p>
<p>Today went very well. I had been concerned because we hadn’t received any correspondence after RSVPing and, sure enough, we weren’t on the list. But they handled it very gracefully. We also met several others who weren’t on the list. It was very crowded and I think they were a little overwhelmed with the response. Regardless, we learned a lot and my daughter was very favorably impressed. She loved the dorm. That might be the clincher!</p>
<p>Hey tommy and lattelady! We were at the Capstone Scholars day today too and enjoyed it very much. It was very crowded, but managed very well. The university staff and students did a great job of making it work very well. The campus is quite impressive and beautiful. I can only imagine how nice it looks during spring, summer and fall. The administration seems genuinely interested in making this place a home for high achieving students. We are pleased and very impressed. We will see how the personal tour works out, but I expect great things. :)</p>
<p>lattelady: haha, Wendy’s? We ended up at a Japanese place in Midtown, as both Mugshots and Wings U were 45 minute waits. Should’ve left earlier on a Saturday night. And which dorm did you visit? We went to Ridgecrest South North Tower since that is where I plan on living, and it was great. It was also a LOT closer to everything on campus than I anticipated.</p>
<p>Note:…on weekends the regular spots…Mugshots, Chucks, Iguana Grill, ect can get full fast. Most kids will not/don’t have weekend meal plans and eat out. Good news y’all will be those guys next year. The dorms are great. So glad it is a good experience!</p>
<p>DS worked the day as an Arts and Sciences Ambassador. ( He would be the one with the red Alabama bow tie!) He said he met many impressive new students! Glad y’all had a good time! Roll Tide!</p>
<p>tommy: no, actually Wendy’s was Friday night! We stayed at the Courtyard over by it, and grabbed ‘dinner’ on the way to the hotel. On Saturday night, after seeing too long of a wait at Outback, and learning that Rory’s (?) was a buffet, we ended up at Ihop! But on Sunday we did have lunch at Dreamland. </p>
<p>We visited Ridgecrest South. Of course, it was very crowded, but we saw enough for her to fall in love with the dorm. Compared to some little cubes we’ve seen up in the NE, it made quite an impression! In fact, she says that UA has pulled an Iowa Santorum in her personal rankings of colleges. She applied at our request and it is now her favorite.</p>
<p>We were there for the weekend too. What a great job everyone did with this event. We never felt like one of the crowd. The breakout sessions were great. Really loved hearing about all the safety initiatives and recommendations from the police department. Made me feel very good about leaving my D at 'Bama in the Fall. </p>
<p>We met Dr. Sharpe on Friday and wow were we impressed. What a caring man! He is very proud of the Honors College and the students that attend. </p>
<p>This trip was our second and it cemented D’s decision. She is definitely going to be attending 'Bama in the Fall. Of course being one of the last flights out on Thursday because of the snow storm and landing in Birmingham and having it be sunny and just a little chilly really helped. lol</p>
<p>Being from Chicago I found the Parents breakout very interesting. One Dad from Ohio really helped put it all into perspective. He was a great speaker and huge asset to UA. We met a parent from CA and a parent from Naperville, who were on their first visit, but they were also very impressed at the end of it all. </p>
<p>We did the bus tour of campus for hubby to see everything and walked over to Ridgecrest South. That is hopefully going to be her home next year. She and her dad were talking about furniture placement when I walked in. lol</p>
<p>I was afraid that the second visit would dim some of the sparkle that she had. Seeing the campus again sometimes it is not as ‘perfect’ as it was during a first visit, but this was not the case at all. In fact she became even more determined to attend. </p>
<p>We hit Dreamland for dinner and luckily we got there early before the dinner rush. The banana pudding is to die for!</p>
<p>Busymom- that “Dad from Ohio” is sitting only feet away. We just got back from Alabama an hour ago. I asked him to pause the DVR and read your Post. Our two boys at UA love their decision to go south. If you or your husband have any questions, don’t hesitate to private message me.</p>
<p>Momof3boyz- I appreciated your husband’s insight as well. I was the one from Indiana at the parent’s session who asked him how someone from Big10 country ended up in Alabama. The visit was our first, but the experience raised UA to the top of S’s list. As a parent I was very impressed and was able to get a comfort level with UA that I never had before.</p>
<p>Momof3boyz, my D and I weren’t able to attend Capstone Scholars Day. I would have loved to hear your DH. Would he mind sharing some of his insight here? We are from Cleveland, Ohio and my D is going to UA in the fall. My husband is having a tough time with letting his daughter go so far from home. Perhaps RugbyDad and Buzymom could share some things they remember from what your husband shared? We would really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Were there any folks from the New York area?</p>
<p>Am trying remember if we have had a previous thread that addressed why “we” chose Alabama (or rather why our children chose Alabama). I know for some of us it was the merit aide, the bottom line financially, the lure of the south, football, Greek life…countless reasons. I am wondering though if it would help some parents and their children who are on the fence post (especially those who are not able to attend functions like Capstone Scholars) to hear from those of us who are from OOS, maybe even those who are a significant distance away (we are 11 plus hours by car). Travel, being far away from home, a different lifestyle perhaps…all come into play when the decision has to be made. I would encourage Momof3boyz H to post his remarks from the past weekend and any others who feel they have something they’d like to share. If there was a previous thread maybe someone can bump it so our “newbies” can read why we love Bama so much and most importantly why we send our children there.</p>
<p>I’ll ask my DH to post some if his thoughts later tonight.</p>
<p>Ahpimommy, the most common comment my daughter gets when she tells people that she’s going to UA is “boy are you in for a shock”. I am assuming that people are referring to the change in lifestyle from where we live on the westside of Cleveland. It is all the positive comments that D and I have read here that helped her to decide to head South- as well as the National Merit scholarship. The insight and advice here is so valuable, and we greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>linnylu- I think the “shock” will be a very positive one :). Coming from the Midwest (suburb of Kansas City) we found life at Alabama delightfully slower. I remember standing at Qudoba in the Strip (it’s no longer there) ordering lunch after Panhellenic Preview Weekend was over. I was having a very tough time convincing DD to leave. She had such a wonderful weekend, met some great people and was just ready to ditch the last 6 weeks of high school and move right in. The line was 30 people deep (mostly college kids…guys in polos and shorts, girls in Nike shorts and Sperrys) and there was 1 guy taking orders and 1 guy making the food. The pace was slow (actually super slow!), people did not seem to be upset that the process was crawling. Everyone was polite and patient. We just took it all in. At home, even though we do not have the fast paced life of the big city being in the burbs) people would have been sighing, muttering under their breath and just rudely impatient. People chatted with one another even though didn’t know each other. Several of the kids asked DD about her experience over the weekend. One girl added her on Facebook right there in line. It was picture perfect!</p>
<p>I would assume that the shock will not be unsettling but rather one that will be a positive influence. Your D sounds sweet. I am sure that she will LOVE Bama and all that it offers! My DH was not happy that the “baby” chose t go so far away either but he supported her decision. I will admit he does not love all things southern like his DD and DW but…he does love the SEC and football and has totally enjoyed the past two seasons and is really looking forward to the Bama-Mizzou game on Oct. 13th. I am glad we can all be of help…that’s what you and your family will find is the norm at Alabama…every single day!</p>
<p>Oh and don’t worry about the Facebook kids. Most of them are out there bragging about doing things that they think will make themselves sound all grown up and “cool” because they are nervous about fitting in. They want to portray the “college image” or at least what they think it is. There are lots of nice girls out there to room with…you just have to dig a little. I’ve wondered if the Honors College kids should start their own Facebook page to find roommates that might embrace some of the same study habits ect? Any takers???</p>
<p>Good luck…we are always here for you!
Roll Tide!</p>
<p>linnylu: What is it like to live in Cleveland?</p>
<p>We are from central FL. We were shocked when we went to Tuscaloosa. Everyone there was so nice! I don’t mean “ordinary” nice. I mean that you get a "yes, Ma’am. Someone opens the door for you AND smiles at you! The drivers behave on the road. It isn’t like that where we are from.</p>
<p>Quick story: I went to the University Mall in Tuscaloosa with my D to buy lots of clothes, etc. We were in several of the stores for a few hours total. As we walked outside of the mall, we saw the most beautiful sunset. I wanted to take a picture of it. Couldn’t find the camera in the car. I remembered that I put it in my purse. Looked in the car for my purse(I don’t usually carry one). Couldn’t find my purse! Yikes, I remembered taking it into the mall. We rushed in and asked at the first store if they saw the purse. The girl that worked there smiled and handed me back my fully-intact purse! Yes, Ma’am! I had hung it on the back of the dressing room door. </p>
<p>(I lost a purse in central FL the same way. No phone, no purse, no camera! Lost it all.)</p>
<p>My D is 10.5 hours away by car. It is a hassle getting her there and back home but she is very, very happy at Bama. She could have attended nearly any school (if we had the money) but she chose Bama. I love it there. She loves it there. The NMF scholarship is a fantastic deal to be sure. But we would have paid to send her there over our state flagship. </p>
<p>Now that my D has been at Bama for a semester, I wonder why we stressed out over this decision. Wherever your child goes to college, they will make it their own. I am glad my D chose Bama and that they chose her. My D2 has her sights on UA as well. </p>
<p>Good luck with your decision. Roll Tide!</p>