<p>For Saranac (if you’re lurking) and others,
I agree with you 100%. I contacted the administrator with the idea of doing Something, what I don’t know, locking this thread perhaps or blocking certain people from posting, but know one has gotten back to me.</p>
<p>The only thing I know to try is to ignore ALL POSTS from CR.
If we could all do that perhaps she’ll stop posting and the thread can go back to being what it was intended for.</p>
<p>Can anyone recommend a DC hotel that is both reasonably priced (well, in DC terms) and within a couple of blocks of the Metro red line, for Parents Weekend and other visits? I tried to book the Embassy Suites at Friendship Heights, which is just one Metro stop from AU, but they are fully booked for Parents Weekend, no doubt by all those smart folks who, unlike me, plan their lives well in advance. All we need is something clean and convenient, since we expect to be at AU most of the time.</p>
<p>MommaJ, try the Georgetown Holiday Inn–it has a free shuttle to and from AU</p>
<p>We try to stay there when we’re in town, it’s very nice. It’s also on the Circulator Bus route which will take you downtown or into Gtown for dining for a $1.00. I hate to tell you, but we made our hotel reservations the beginning of August when we booked for Freshman Orientation week. Good luck, though!</p>
<p>Min’s reference to the tragic life and death of Matthew Pearlstone as ammunition in her feud with Cadmiumred and as an attempt to bolster AU’s image vis a vis Cornell, is singly the most reprehensible post I have ever observed on CC.</p>
<p>I stay in Alexandria - much cheaper - and rent a car. Probably not going PW, though as it will be very busy. More likely in early November but we’ll see. I use my AAA discount for the car and it was dirt cheap last weekend. I use Hotwire for the hotels. $65 a night.</p>
<p>We aren’t able to go for parents’ weekend, so H and I decided to go visit S#3 for a few days, tomorrow through early Sunday so we can be home by Kol Nidre. S#3 will go to shul with his older brother and his wife–they weren’t able to get tickets for H and I on such short notice. We can’t wait to get to DC!</p>
<p>I wonder if any of the students I meet will be any of your children? I will NOT be asking that question.</p>
<p>^ probably a wise idea to NOT ask that!!! Have a great time.</p>
<p>s#1 just made a reservation at our favorite restaurant–First Farmers (i think that’s what it’s called) on Pennsylvania. I loved their 17-ingredient salad last time I was there…it was fantastic but so big there was still salad left even after I shared it with my daughter-in-law.</p>
<p>I have heard of that - First Farmers or is it Founding Farmers? Either way, great reviews. D and I were planning brunch there when I visited but there was a triathalon going on and getting there would have been a challenge and created a time crunch. Next time, though! 17 ingredients? Wow. Sounds terrific.</p>
<p>You’re right, it’s Founding Farmers. Food there is yummy!</p>
<p>D was trying to figure out how she could possibly have blown through her Eagle Bucks so fast (me too!), so she checked her on-line statement. She found a lot of hefty charges at the coffee shop in the Bender Library–and she’s never even been there. I suggested that maybe another locale shares the Bender coffee shop charge number, but she can’t think of anywhere else she could have spent those kind of amounts, and in any event the most recent charge occurred while she was in a rehearsal off the main campus. A friend told her that some of the food sellers don’t require an ID swipe, but will accept just a recitation of an AU ID number–which is a huge loophole for fraud.</p>
<p>D will compare the dates and times of the remaining questionable charges to her class schedule to see if she can find any other clearly fraudulent transactions, then head over to Housing and Dining to try to sort things out—I’ll report back on how it went. I’m going to look at this as a great opportunity for her to practice dealing with customer service snafus–some practical education, shall we say. I recommend your kids take a look at their Eagle Bucks accounts (on the “Blackboard” or something?) on a regular basis, and ideally, retain receipts and check them against the account (though that’s probably asking way too much of a typical college student).</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up. This happened to my D1 at CMU and ended up with students being expelled for theft of her money and a full refund to us. Took a LONG time though. If indeed its <em>gone</em> she should report it to campus police - in D1’s case they took it very seriously and did a full investigation. Keep us posted and thank you.</p>
<p>Momma J - I sent you a PM about this!</p>
<p>My son is going through his Eagle bucks fast also. But he seems to know why. He said he might need more and I encouraged him to be sure to eat at the dining hall as much as he can. He only got the 150 meal plan, but I don’t even think he’s on track to use all of them. He keeps eating out. I asked him if I should sign up for any of the meals offered on parent’s weekend and he just wants to be take out for steak.</p>
<p>Well, folks, I’m here in DC visiting S3 at AU. Last night we took S# 3 and 7 of his new best friends to dinner at an Italian restaurant in Friendship Heights. I’d forgotten how much adolescent males eat… the bill was enormous but there wasn’t a crumb left on the table and all the boys were extremely grateful.</p>
<p>His group of friends is from all over…many different states and 2 foreign countries were at the table last night. The boys seemed to have very eclectic interests which they all share with each other…they have gone to free lectures at the Brookings Institution, gone to some huge Virgin Mobile concert in Maryland (and missed the last train back to DC), gone to several museums, and played flashlight tag on the Mall. Their favorite activity is eating, though, so every weekend they try to go to some exotic ethnic restaurant. Last weekend they went to Chinatown and looked in windows until they found a place that seemed to have no one but Chinese diners…went in an gave their waiter some $$$ and asked him to choose for them, told him they wanted what the Chinese people there were eating, not what Caucasians generally order. They aren’t quite sure what all they ate, and they liked some dishes better than others, but they had a good time.</p>
<p>His group seemed to have the work/study balance right. They are a very social group but all seemed academically focused. It was funny how all of them seemed up on who was having what tests/papers/projects due and when. My S was asked about how his Calc test went, one boy was asked how his studying for a Physics test was going.</p>
<p>S3 is in Anderson which is supposedly the wild dorm but it seemed very tame to me. I was at the dorm from about 4-7 and I actually felt his floor was too quiet…no loud music or anything, and it’s not a “quiet manadated” floor. There were 2 groups in the floor lounge, one studying at tables in the back and one group playing a video game they had hooked up to the TV…they seemed to coexist just fine. S said his room is social central, generally a large crowd in there and that they can get loud, but that they quiet down if asked. If he needs to study in quiet he goes to the 2d floor of the library.</p>
<p>He has an intramural soccer game today and he asked me to come watch…if he gets back from a class field trip to the World Bank in time.</p>
<p>Tonight we are having dinner with S#1 and his wife (I’m still not used to saying that) and S3 at Founding Farmers, and tomorrow night we are all going to Shabbat dinner at S1’s apartment.</p>
<p>I will ask S3 to check his Eaglebucks account later today–thanks for the heads up about a possible problem.</p>
<p>I have a lot of free time if there is anything or any one any of you want checked on!</p>
<p>MommaJ - We stay at the Doubletree on Wisconsin Ave in Bethesda for about $100/night. It’s a few blocks from a Metro stop on the red line and markedly cheaper than anything closer. Very clean etc.</p>
<p>Thanks for the hotel advice all. I have a reservation now at the Courtyard by Marriott in Friendship Heights, but will investigate other options, and maybe try Priceline as the date approaches. The Holiday Inn Georgetown was $200/night, and that’s more than I want to pay.</p>
<p>Regarding Eagle Bucks, D confirmed that indeed charges that appear as the Bender coffee shop on her account can actually be for purchases at other locations. So now she has some detective work to do, and is under strict instructions to check the account daily and keep her receipts–and eat in the cafeteria!</p>
<p>BoysX3, you are a wonderful mom to treat all those boys! Next time you do this you might want to try the Cheesecake Factory at Friendship Heights-their portions are enormous, perfect for young men!</p>
<p>We ate at 2 great restaurants in Friendship Heights and a great restaurant in Gtown. I’ll check the names with H and get back to you guys. S also wanted to go out for Parents weekend as the food in the TDR is “a bit boring”. Will have to check with him about Eagle Bucks.
S’s planning on coming home this weekend and I got a ticket for a bus from Chinatown for $28.00 round trip versus over $100+ for the train. I hope this works out ok, there’s no train tickets left unless he wanted to leave at 4:30am!</p>
<p>Citronelle, 1789, and Mei Wah are the good restaurants in Washington. Most others are facade or chains. L’Auberge Chez Francais for discriminating diners in Great Falls. You need reservations for all four.</p>