<p>Champs,
I'm planning on heading up about a week early. A two or three-day tour of Virginia, a day in DC, and then two or three days of rest in Delaware before R-Day.</p>
<p>Champs,</p>
<p>My son and I are travelling early from Oregon...your neck of the woods...for the same reason...time zone change. At this point we plan on leaving Friday but may move it back to Thursday.</p>
<p>I was planning to leave Friday from Las Vegas but now am thinking of leaving Thursday. We have a huge family and I've never really had "alone" time with my oldest son. This is the perfect opportunity. </p>
<p>Is anyone going straight to West Point, and if so, what is there to do around the area for the 2 or 3 days before R day? Can we go to USMA and go to the museum, etc? Or is it completely off limits?</p>
<p>I say if you have the time, there is so much to do in the area. </p>
<p>USMA Visitors Center
USMA Militory Museum
USMA Cemetary
Purple Heart Museum
FDR Library and Hyde Park home (really interesting)
CIA (that would be the Culinary Institute of America) has great restaurants
Really great discount mall not too far away (somebody will know the name of the mall and the town) (Woodbury Commons?)
Storm King Art Center
Kykuit
Boscobel
Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival Hudson</a> Valley Shakespeare Festival - performing at Boscobel, in Garrison, New York
Cute little town called New York City (I hear they have a theater district)</p>
<p>That's a start. There are some terrific restaurants - once you get out of Highland Falls. ;)</p>
<p>Guess what else is close to WP??? OCC! That's right: Orange County Choppers!! While you can't tour the plant, there is a store where several models are on display. If you're lucky you might run into Mikey, Paulie, Senior, and the gang! = )</p>
<p>^^Keep your eyes open when driving in the area. When I took my son for a visit in March 2006 we were sitting at a light outside Newburgh and Paulie and Senior ride past us! My son and I looked at each other like "did you just see what I saw?" :D</p>
<p>We are also staying at the Econolodge in Highland Falls the night before. Don't think we will leave quite as early as some of you westerners since we are in the same time zone as NY, although I am thinking s won't sleep real well from nerves setting in anyhow... </p>
<p>And pardon my ignorance, but who are the Orange County Choppers????? :o</p>
<p>Just a warning to those of you driving up via interstates: don't leave your mapquest pages at home on the desk!! We did (accidently) and thought well, WP exits will be well-marked.... Hmmm. We went past Highland Falls northward up to Newburgh never seeing anything about USMA or WP on the signs, and I kept telling hubby that I was pretty sure we had gone too far. He did not think so. Finally we stopped and bought a map, then had to go back southward. On the way home, we missed the exit for the New Jersey Turnpike (I think, that was a year ago during our spring break) and ended up going into NYC. Not fun with horrible traffic during rush hour without a really good close up map of the city and me navigating (I hate that job!!) and paying LOTS of toll bridge dollars. I think we paid for a bridge ourselves that day! This farm girl did not like that big city back when I visited on a 4-H trip in high school and 30 some years have not changed that. Hopefully we won't repeat these mistakes the second time going and coming. :D</p>
<p>When motorcycles cross the line and become art, you have the Orange County Choppers. A guy who owned a metal working company made bikes on the side...they received so much attention they evolved into their own entity. The family is a riot (very dysfunctional) and now they have their own TV show. They are pretty close to the academy...so they are a local attraction!</p>
<p>We usually fly to Newark, rent a car, and drive up to WP.
It really helps to use a GPS system if you are going to drive. We have also found easypass a great time and stress saver. Eazy</a> Pass</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice! Looks like we'll have no problem finding things to do.</p>
<p>Re: OCC - Ahhh, gotcha! I'll be on the lookout for them now. Thanks mom3boys!</p>
<p>You may find this article on OCC in the Pointer View interesting: [url=<a href="http://www.pointerview.com/%5DIndex%5B/url">http://www.pointerview.com/]Index[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Attn: to those of you in NC. Skybus offers a flight from Greensboro to Stewart International Airport for only $35 for a one way fare. Also Stewart is significantly closer to West Point than Newark or La Guardia. Just wanted to let you know.</p>
<p>Will cadets be eligible for military air-fare after reporting for R-day? I hear that military personnel can get plane tickets for $14 provided that all the if's arent a problem. Would we be able to take advantage of that for leave?</p>
<p>Thanks for asking, inhibitor. That's been on my list. Are we eligible to do military hops, too?</p>
<p>Hopefully one of the cadets will chime in, but I'll give my 2cents.
Yes, I believe that cadets are eligible to do military hops, and cadets do take advantage of this for vacations when there is some flexibility in scheduling. Some of my son's friends used military flights to fly to Europe last summer.
However, cadets usually fly on regular airlines when flying to and from home for long weekends, breaks etc. Cadets can buy military tickets, (which may or may not be cheaper than regular tickets), which allow last minute changes with no fee. We do not usually purchase a military ticket for our son.</p>
<p>where are you finding these militaryflights??? who has military discounts? I am having trouble finding airlines who offer military discounts!!!</p>
<p>I am not aware of airlines offering military discounts. You can however book a "military ticket", which allows you to change the booking with no fee. In our experience these can be more expensive than regular tickets but do offer some flexibility if flights need to be changed.</p>
<p>The military hops that cadets can use to fly overseas are military flights not regular airline flights.</p>
<p>The "military flights" referred to above are military aircraft that have space available and will allow military members, retirees and their families to use these spaces. It is a neat perk, but you have to be VERY flexible as it is never a sure thing. The airlines often offer a "military ticket" that is changable without penalty, but is usually not discounted very much. You can find lots of good information at: Military</a> Hops: Space-A Military Travel</p>
<p>That is a great site, USMA08Mom. It even has my favorite booking site, [url=<a href="http://www.militarytravel.com%5DMilitaryTravel.com%5B/url">http://www.militarytravel.com]MilitaryTravel.com[/url</a>]. Thanks for the link!</p>