Last year I ordered my son a cake from Lou’s Restaurant https://lous-restaurant-bakery.myshopify.com/
They delivered it to his dorm if I recall correctly.
@Mirmark Lou’s offers a birthday package that they will deliver to the student. It’s called Birthday Bash and includes a 10" cake, candles, paper products for 10, cake server and a card. <:-P
I also recommend the Lou’s birthday package for birthdays. That’s what I did when S was on campus for his birthday.
Which living learning communities are open to first year students? On the Dartmouth website, it looks like there are some specifically for Freshmen, but wondered if all others were open as well.
I seem to recall my son receiving a packet of information that contained details on all of that. It’s probably just too soon for you to have all the relevant information, but you will!!
Hey all - we had a great time visiting our freshman during First Year Family Weekend earlier this month. Not sure if we will go to Sophomore Summer weekend. Although Dartmouth puts on lots of great activities for families, we’re really there to see our kid, and think that in the future we’d like to do that on a quieter weekend. (FYI, Family Weekend coincided with Kentucky Derby, Pigstick, and the Gatsby Party at Panarchy, plus two festivals and numerous other activities not related to families.) Other than fall color in October, does anybody recommend a particular time of year to visit?
At the end of freshman year my daughter and I picked my son up when school was over, and that turned out to be a great time to be there. Lots of people still around, so it wasn’t barren, but thinned out enough that we could easily go to whatever restaurants we wanted, and all that. Plus, the weather was really nice, no longer cold but not particularly hot and humid. My son will be there for Sophomore Summer this year, and I do not plan to attend the events for that,
@NorCalTootsie : Sophomore Summer was HOT. I do not recommend. We skipped junior year; pretty sure D was on FSP at the time. We went in October of senior year, and it was wonderful. D was a rugby player, and we wanted to see a game [the one in Berkeley on a spring tour didn’t really count]. I highly recommend going when other people aren’t. You can run into leaf peepers in the fall, but I don’t think Hanover is a hub of that universe. We did not encounter uber high price increases at least, and it was very relaxing to spend time with D and friends when there were not hordes of other parents in town.
@biggreenca, the end of spring term would be lovely timing, since there is a break between spring term and Sophomore Summer. We could have a family vacation and then deliver him back to campus. @ AboutTheSame, although I’m a NorCal girl now, I spent my summers in New Hampshire in childhood so very familiar with that muggy experience! My husband visited this year in October, so maybe we’ll find a year when we can do that together.
@NorCalTootsie Just remember that commencement is about a week after the last day of finals and about two weeks before summer term. If you want to avoid crowds, definitely try to leave town during that time.
Plenty of nice family vacation spots that are easy driving distance from Hanover - Maine coast (~3 hrs to Portland), Burlington/Lake Champlain (~90 min), Quebec (~3 hrs to Montreal, 5 hrs to Quebec City depending on the border crossing), etc.
We really enjoyed Sophomore Summer Weekend. S was more settled in, had a GF, and we enjoyed doing stuff with them. It was pretty hot, but we were staying at the late great motel up Rte 5 that I can’t recall the name of – Mohican? something like that – which had a nice small swimming pool that hit the spot. My father had died earlier that summer, and I had spent weeks with him and my mother involved in hospice and estate-settling stuff, and the weekend was a joy and a blessed relief.
Chieftan Motor Inn!
I like where NorCalTootsie is going. The manufactured weekends are nice, but as a parent, you would like to spend time with your child and their friends. When everyone else has family around that is tough. There is nothing better than taking a group of students out to a meal. They are excited to eat in a restaurant, and the chatter over a meal gives you a great sense of your kid’s world.
The Chieftain is gone, sadly. It’s a park with access to the river.
One thing to think about re: the time between spring term and summer term is not only graduation but the weekend after is reunions. Very busy, very crazy in town. Early October is gorgeous here in town.
I was very fond of the Chieftain: a friendly, old-fashioned place. The people who owned it were really nice. I prefer that sort of place to standard chains.
An example of what would happen at the Chieftain. They had a breakfast room with a buffet: cereal, bagels, fruit, hard-boiled eggs, muffins, lots of coffee, etc. People would hang out there and read, chat, etc. Sophomore Summer Weekend I met a woman from Alaska whose S was in my S’s class, chatted about stuff, etc. At graduation, who did I meet in the breakfast room again but the same mother from Alaska. We were like old friends. 
The owners rented a van and gave us family guests free rides to and from campus, so we didn’t have to worry about parking, which was very nice. Of course, like most of the places around there they also charged a lot more for graduation weekend, but still, I appreciated it.
That weekend the owner and I were talking, and she told me they were facing a decision about whether to put a lot of money into the place to renovate/modernize. Apparently they decided to sell instead. 
@Shrmpngrtz thanks for all the great ideas.
Does anyone know of reasonably priced transportation between Hanover/Dartmouth and Manchester (NH) airport (thinking ahead to winter break )? Fares are more reasonable from Manchester airport to where we live. The Dartmouth coach only goes to Boston airport. Greyhound bus apparently comes but only runs two times a day at 4:35am and 2pm). I called a shuttle service listed on Manchester airport ground transportation and it was 180.00 one way from Hanover to Manchester and others I called don’t go up to Hanover. Does any have experience with Greyhound from Dartmouth to Manchester airport? Any other shuttles or suggestions, besides driving oneself? Do the students or the college organize groups to go to the Manchester airport during when winter break starts? Any help and suggestions are appreciated. Thank you.
Good Afternoon @tinley,
My daughter is a Junior and she has since the beginning flown out of the Manchester airport. The company that we originally used unfortunately went out of business. We are now using DASH Transport. The owner is Karen O’Connell and reservations can be made either by calling 844.GOT.DASH or her personal mobile 603.306.7995. The fee for transport to or from Dartmouth to the Manchester Airport is $115 and that is per car not per person.
My daughter has not come across many students that fly out of Manchester. Students tend to take the Dartmouth Coach to Boston or New York City. There was a shuttle service but many times she was the only one on it so even though I booked shuttle she ended up with private car service but that is no longer an option.
@tinley there is uber and taxi service. Kids will leave at different times because of their exam schedule. I think there is a group chat or bulletin board thing where kids can post about ride shares. It might actually be easier for your kid to arrange it than for you to.
D took Greyhound to and from Manchester one time, and it was a royal pain. Lousy schedule options. Extremely hard to get information on how to arrange a stop in Hanover. That was 5 or 6 years ago, and things may have improved, but I kind of doubt it.
Thank you all so much for your replies! They are very helpful. We will look into DASH transport and the ride shares. Thank you for the feedback about Greyhound also. Greatly appreciate CC help!