I cancelled a trip I had planned this weekend and early next week to visit Boston College and Holy Cross with my daughter. I was worried that school would be cancelled and we wouldn’t be able to get around with all of that snow! Delta let me change our flights with no change fee 
Lots of airlines are offering changes with no fees for folks flying in or out of Boston between now and noon Monday. THAT would be a tip to me that I should stay away!
We did cancel - thanks. I feel like this is a wasted couple of days though - I wish we could squeeze something in but alas, nothing within driving distance (which I consider 3.5 or maybe 4 hours max for a short visit) that she wants to see…
After advising everyone not to visit Boston this weekend, I spent an hour on the phone last night trying to convince a Mom to let her daughter fly to Boston at the end of this week to interview for a summer internship. I think she will let her go, I did warn her that she will likely be living in an apartment this summer without AC. Seems like a very silly thing to think about at this moment.
@bjkmom - THANKS! I am going to print out your advice. I was going to go down with my sister and both of our adolescents (my niece and my son). My sister is getting “cold feet” ha ha ha.
Interesting question… although we made 40 (yes, 40!) visits between our two kids, I don’t think any were in the dead of winter. We used spring break, fall pause, a long weekend our kids get in April, some stops during other summer vacations, etc. But we live in MN – so our kids know what winter weather can be like (and this might explain the migration of the youngest to a college in Southern CA, from whence she sends me pictures of palm trees with comments like, “I hear you are running out of road salt this year!”).
I also live in Cambridge. Snow out the window is heavier at this hour than we expected.
I have never seen a winter like this. Not at all typical. Young visitors might be a bit discouraged from going to school here, at least if they visit this weekend. I think by the end of the week a visit might be fine.
fretfulmother: Seriously, right now the snow is merely a minor inconvenience. Some of the side streets (like my tiny little one way) are still a bit more narrow than we would like. Honestly, that’s pretty much it. Come down to Hofstra!
If you arrive early and have some time to kill, there’s a McDonalds right across the street from the campus. Or, if you want a bit more variety, go East on Hempstead Tpke off the Meadowbrook (instead of West to the campus.) Within a mile or so, you’ll see Wendys, Burger King, Friendlys (all on the right side) and a diner (on the left, across from Home Depot.)
If you arrive with a few hours to kill, the Roosevelt Field Mall is a few miles away, right off the Meadowbook a bit north of the campus. You can find a huge food court, and everything from Dick’s sporting goods to JC Penney to Macys… it’s a pretty big mall and you could certainly kill some time there if need be.
On your return: try, very hard, not to leave between about 4:30 and 6 or so. You WILL spend way too much time in bumper to bumper traffic, either on the island or on I95.
@bjkmom - it sounds wonderful on LI. I’m just north of Boston and literally we have a snow shovel inside waiting for the snow to slow down enough to shovel our doorway enough to get out to shovel more. Out the 2nd floor window it looks like white soup, and this indoors-snow-shovel is like something out of Laura Ingalls Wilder. The question will be whether I can get the first 100 miles of the journey, I suspect.
Re arrival - indeed I hope to arrive a couple hours before the admissions tour (2pm) - do you know if there is a kosher place to go out for lunch? (No allergies except nuts, and no other restrictions so any menu is fine.) I remember from the dark ages when I visited that there were a lot of kosher places on LI but I don’t know the local geography.
Re departure - DS is really excited about going to the “Sushi at Hillel” event that starts at 6pm so I’m not worried that we would hit rush hour on the way out; I’m more worried about the ICE STORM that is expected back in Boston overnight. You know, a layer of ice to just seal in the 7-foot-high drifts until next winter or something.
Thank you!!!
I cannot get out of my apartment building in Cambridge right now. Snow drifts too deep.
fretfulmother,
Ouch… I’ve spent something like 44 years in Catholic schools. I’m not your best source for Kosher food.
Of course, there’s always Ben’s Deli:
Ben’s Kosher Delicatessen Restaurant & Caterers
59 Old Country Rd
Carle Place, NY 11514
Phone number (516) 742-3354
That’s probably 5-10 minutes from Hofstra, very close to the Roosevelt Field mall.
If you want something more than that, I hit google and came up with these. Sorry, I can’t vouch for anything beyond location… we’re most definitely a bacon cheeseburger and fries kind of family.
http://www.wingwankosherrestaurant.com/default.aspx probably 10 - 15 minutes from Hofstra via parkways
http://www.greatkosherrestaurants.com/restaurants/146/colbeh-roslyn a bit further, but in an upscale neighborhood, probably 20 - 30 minutes or so away.
http://www.hunkiskosher.com/ probably 15-20 minutes.
If none of that sounds appealing, I bet the Jewish community at Hofstra could be of more help. Try this:
http://www.hofstrahillel.org/faq/
And keep that Marriot in mind-- and perhaps throw a suitcase “just in case” into the car. It’s actually a lovely place to stay, though I suspect it’s not cheap. (We live about 12 minutes away, so I’ve never had a reason to look at their prices.) If you want me to find more budget friendly “just in case” accomodations, let me know. I’m spending most of this week grading geometry projects and would love any excuse to do something else.
Just checked the forecast… they’re saying 3-5 inches on Tuesday, flurries on Weds.
Then again, they said 2-5 inches yesterday, and we got about a quarter inch.
Thank you @bjkmom !!