<p>This next weekend is Parents Weekend at Smith. I'm looking forward to it a lot. D sounds extremely happy and spent Fall Break (the last four days) visiting a friend in NYC and another in Pelham.</p>
<p>Okay, this post isn't as meaty as some but it's the very first post on Smith in the "new" forum.</p>
<p>Prospective students, please feel free to start threads asking questions about Smith...there are several Smithie parents on this board.</p>
<p>I'm going up for family weekend also. Hopefully I'll see more of the Smith campus and less of the local discount stores than I did in Sept.</p>
<p>Just saw Peggy Kerry speak on behalf of her brother at a rally here in Ohio. She is a Smith alumna and an impressive, very down-to-earth woman. It was interesting to see that Kerry face in the feminine form. Very striking lady. LOL, Kriket. I hope you get into Amherst for a nice meal and a stroll. All the best to all the parents making the trip.</p>
<p>Thanks, pattykk! I did have to do time at the Holyoke Mall, but did see more of the campus and town this time. Hopefully my younger daughter and I didn't embarass our Smithie too much with the frequent stops to collect leaves and take yet another picture of the fall foliage. As long time Floridians that was pretty exciting for us.</p>
<p>Ah, the Holyoke Mall. We spent a couple of hours there while D acquired a proper winter coat and a couple of sweaters. Her shopping needs thus slaked, she was indulgent about me acquiring a local map and taking the back roads back to Smith, driving past Mount Holyoke College and ultimately to Mount Holyoke itself (the mountain), all 942 feet of it. While I snigger at the pretensions of something 942 feet tall being called a mountain, the view from the Summit House at the top was drop-dead gorgeous. I highly recommend this to anyone who can carve an hour out of their schedule; I had heard about it before but never had the time as we sprinted from place to place, appointment to appointment.</p>
<p>Sunday morning we did our own foliage walk along the far side of Paradise Pond and hte stream that feeds it. We had originally hoped to find a footbridge over the stream but it got to the point where we had to turn back or else be late meeting people for a brunch.</p>
<p>This trip TheMom and I finally got a chance to see the art museum. The Boston MFA or NYC Metropolitan it's not but it's surprisingly good and includes works by Monet, ****aro, and <blanking on="" other="" artists="">. There were a series of early American portraits that I positively hated for their idealization, too.</blanking></p>
<p>The art museum was on my "to do' list. Maybe next visit. Even with the trip to Holyoke Mall, my daughter is still w/out a proper winter coat. Have any Smithies died of frostbite/pnuemonia? My daughter may be the first!</p>
<p>at smith's art museum, the restrooms are works of art. check them out, both men and women's, if possible.... they were underwritten by Kohler Co.</p>
<p>although not in the parents weekend program, the holyoke mall could have hosted a five-colleges reception on saturday. while we were there, D ran into three other 1st years that she recognized, all with their parents. our search for a winter coat ended at Sears with a purchase of a Lands End down jacket.</p>
<p>We actually headed out the other way to buy a bike at the Hampshire Bicycle Exchange.</p>