<p>We stayed at the downtown Hampton in 2010 but used Hilton points so don’t know what the prices were. I just looked at the cost for 3 nights May 18-20 2012 and they’re showing $134 AAA rates. For two nights May 19-20 they’re showing $161. Big advantage there is free parking. We like it much more than the Hampton University Inn.</p>
<p>Re the “big dinner” - we did the opposite of RacinReaver - we went to Monterey Bay on Saturday night and had a great time - the restaurant was filled with graduates. Our only other activity Saturday was the Alumni Reception in the afternoon. </p>
<p>It’s true that you have to be on campus early the next day, but Sunday is a very full day and you may be very tired by the end of the celebrations. We started with the SCS breakfast, then the commencement in Gesling, then right over to the SCS diploma ceremony at the Carnegie Music Hall followed by a reception. It was a ton of walking! After all that we dropped off the graduate and went back to the hotel to crash for a couple of hours, then in the evening we went to Bravo at the Waterfront for a late supper. Kudos to my mother (who was 84 at the time) for making it through everything, although some of it was touch-and-go.</p>
<p>At some point Sunday evening we packed up some of our son’s stuff (including the bookshelf that I had to dissemble in the hotel room). Then on Monday we had one last breakfast at Pamela’s Shadyside, packed up the rest of the car, and headed home.</p>
<p>The best part of the weekend was the job offer that DS got that Friday morning! Made the rest of the weekend much less stressful.</p>