<p>My son wants to visit University of Delaware, James Madison, Elon and possibly Penn State this summer. We want to combine visiting these schools with some fun. Any ideas????</p>
<p>Where will you be coming from?</p>
<p>Can’t visiting schools be fun?</p>
<p>We will be traveling down from Massachusetts.</p>
<p>
For most visiting students - I don’t think so. I think most view it as a necessary thing they feel they need to do since they’ll be attending the college for 4 years or so and have some vested interest and others are being dragged there by their parents.</p>
<p>From the tours I’ve seen the parents tend to express a lot more interest than the students and even they probably don’t view it as ‘fun’.</p>
<p>We made the mistake of trying to visit 4 schools in two days last February. The campus tours and discussion groups all started sounding the same. When I took my son to see UVA and William and Mary, we stayed a few days and really tried to see the area. As a result, my son was able to take in the school as well as the area that where he would be attending. Also, my younger son who is currently a Freshman is coming on the trip as well and I want to make it fun for him as well. Thus, I’m looking for Water Parks to stay cool, places to swim, amusement parks, possible historical sites or museums.</p>
<p>I don’t know those schools and the areas in particular, but we did things like take in a MLB game. Big hit with ds.</p>
<p>If you are interested in history, you will be close to both Philadelphia and Washington, DC; Newark, DE is in between right off I-95. You will also be within a 3 to 5 hour drive of the Atlantic beaches in DE, MD, VA, and NC, depending on the school. Williamsburg would be doable and has history plus Busch Gardens, including a Water Park. King’s Dominion is off of I-95 in VA.</p>
<p>If you want to do some furniture shopping - surely at the top of your son’s list 
- Elon is close High Point and all the discount stores.</p>
<p>We did a tour covering a number of schools in NC and SC this Spring. I found MapQuest really helpful in mapping out different routes.</p>
<p>You are near some really great paintball places.</p>
<p>DC has much to see but is not fun in the summer. Same for all of Va. except maybe the water parks etc.</p>
<p>Hmm, three schools “off the beaten path” and one off I95. UDelaware is easy. Not only is Main Street a welcoming diversion, but it’s within an hour of Philadelphia and ninety minutes of Baltimore (Camden Yards, Inner Harbor, etc.).</p>
<p>The other schools are fairly isolated. DD and I did James Madison, Hollins, Virginia Tech, and Elon in a single trip. I don’t advise that, even though the scenery is lovely. It’s many hours in the car, and the social highlight was a sparsely attended outdoor concert in Roanoke.</p>
<p>
I had fun in DC in the summer. It would have been nice if it wasn’t so hot/humid but if that’s the timeslot that’s available one can still have fun. If someone hasn’t been there and happens to be in the area anyway, it’s worth visiting.</p>
<p>Baltimore is an excellent suggestion from I-95; you could stay there overnight and be at UD for a morning tour the next day easily. Inner Harbor is loads of fun. The water taxi to Fort McHenry and the aquarium are highlights. Camden Yards for baseball, not to mention baseball in Phillie or DC (right on the Metro).</p>
<p>I think you just have to accept the fact that it will be hot in the summer where you are headed and plan accordingly.</p>
<p>I like the idea of ball games too. At the risk of revealing myself to my son who also reads cc, we combined some college visits with fishing! Sounds crazy, I know, but the guy loves to fish and wants to be sure there is fishing near his college. How far is Elon from the ocean? The NC and SC coasts are pretty. I’ve heard Charleston, SC is interesting to visit.</p>
<p>One thing to be wary of - and we hope to be visiting Philly this summer ourselves - is the potential for heavy, time-stopping, traffic. We returned from Florida this spring starting via I-95. We spent 2 hours crawling through North Florida and south Georgia with about a zillion other cars, all headed north at the same unfortunate time. Some tractor trailer accident backed up the interstate for, like, 100 jaw-dropping miles. We were ready to marry D off to one of the neighboring cars, figuring we could have grandchildren on the way by the time we actually reached Virginia :).</p>
<p>Once we were in Maryland and contemplating a brief jaunt to Philly (didn’t happen), the Baltimore-Philly traffic had slowed to an apocalyptic crawl. Anyone planning summer trips should look into the traffic situations.</p>
<p>You could go to the beach in Delaware.</p>
<p>There are quite a few historical sites around James Madison… New Market is off of I81 north of Harrisonburg … battlefield, small museum, etc… Staunton is about 30 miles south of Harrisonburg where I81 and I64 meet. On Saturday there is a nice farmers market in the “wharf” area. There is a pretty cool glass blowing shop… I think they let you try blowing glass yourself, I can’t remember. Staunton also is the home of the American Shakespeare Center, which is a great theatre company in a theatre like the Globe in London… and there is the Frontier Culture Museum, which is interesting. In Harrisonburg there are a bunch of very good restaurants downtown. Generally, I think what really “sells” JMU are the students, campus spirit and energy… won’t get the same sense of that in the summer, but the campus is lovely, and he can get a sense if he thinks he likes the smaller college town environment. At JMU most students live off campus junior and senior year, so you may want to drive around to the various off-campus student housing complexes. Most are pretty empty in the summer (as are the student houses that are close to campus), but will give an idea of the options.</p>
<p>Have a fun road trip!</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>Newark, Delaware, is a great base for exploring the Dupont mansions and museums: Winterthur, Nemours, Hagley (the original Dupont gunpowder works). Other historical houses in the area include Rockwood and the tiny Amstel House. But YMMV (DD loved it, DS would rather have had root canal, which is why we went while he was at camp).</p>
<p>Delaware beaches are wonderful. Rehoboth is my favorite. Newark has a great main street as well. If you are into gardens, Longwood Gardens and Nemous Gardens are both nearby and are some of the most amazing gardens in the world.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>mini you always amaze me ;-)</p>