Good morning all! My son and I have planned out his spring break to be college tour drive-a-palooza. We’ve got reservations everywhere and, because of scheduling, are finding we have a weekend in the middle with no tour. We’ll be touring VA Tech on a Friday afternoon, and Clemson on a Monday morning (with planned check-in to a hotel near to Clemson Sunday so we aren’t stressed Monday AM).
On one hand, it’s a long drive, so I’m glad to have some free time. On the other, what am I going to do with that time?
Does anyone have suggestions for things to do in/near Blacksburg Friday evening/Saturday morning before we leave or things to do on the way from Blacksburg to Clemson? Or a place to stop and stay Saturday night on the way?
My kid likes just about anything - history, nature, exploring small towns, you name it. I just want something fun and not stressful. For example, with my older son we had to drive across NY State and we randomly chose the town where the corning glass factory is located, it was a fun little downtown area to walk around and explore in the afternoon/evening, then the next morning we toured the Corning glass museum and got to blow glass (and make some Christmas tree ornaments that are still fun memories to this day). It was a nice little break.
I’d appreciate any thoughts - we’ve got two days to fill and the drive-time will take some, but I also want to make this a fun part of our trip.
Well there are some other colleges along the way if you’d like to walk around more campuses. Appalachian State and UNC-Charlotte are probably safeties for a kid who got into Va Tech and Clemson but they are good schools.
You might like to drop by Asheville. The last time I drove I-85 from Greenville to Charlotte it was a cluster-****. SC is doing some years long project on the road there that was many many many miles long. You might check it out and see if it’s finished yet. If you go to Asheville you avoid I-85 although there may be construction on I-26. I haven’t been that way in a long time. Asheville is a super fun city. Well worth visiting. It is home to UNC-Asheville which is small and not really Clemson or VT equivalent. The city of Asheville is beautiful, has great food, arts, music, and beer scenes. Great hiking around there too.
[Wrote this before I saw Sweetgum post something similar!]
Asheville is a super-cute town, and (depending on your route) could be a great spot to visit, right along your path. Charming and artsy, with a good food scene, I think. The Biltmore Estate is there, if touring that would be interesting, but even without that, it’s a cool small town to visit.
Definitely agree with Asheville, NC. But if you looking for another stop that isn’t too far out of the way… Check out Brevard and the Dupont Forest. They have 3 really cool waterfalls on an easy 3 mile hike. DuPont State Forest 3-Mile Waterfall Hike | RomanticAsheville.com
I hope it’s finished! That stretch on I-85 is horrible to drive.
I’m a big fan of Asheville and the surrounding area so I agree with that suggestion. Asheville has a lot to offer itself, the Biltmore is nearby (if that’s of interest to a teen boy), plus lots of hiking, waterfalls and scenic drives.
Not a whole lot to add here but VT - it’s a nice little college town but unless you’re into going to one of the local bars that Friday night (think college bar) there’s not a whole lot to do. Not sure the rest of your agenda but VT was one of the few schools we found that did admission tours on Saturdays - if you didn’t already know that.
Thanks all - sounds like Asheville should be on our list! I appreciate the direction. I’m looking forward to road tripping with my guy, he’s a good sport and a good travel companion, and I want this to be a fun experience for him.
Yeah, that’s what I figured re: Friday evening. We’ll be tired anyway by then, having driven down from N. Va. earlier in the day. I was frustrated a bit with their tour options - when I looked not only did I not see anything on Saturday, but I also didn’t see anything the whole next week, like they took a week off. Which, I get, but it’s spring break week for at least two of the more student-heavy Virginia counties (Fairfax and Arlington). Really? No tours that week when you have to have lots of Juniors wanting to check out campus? That was three or four weeks ago though, so maybe they’ve updated the schedule since then. Or maybe that’s college spring break so they can’t do tours. Still seems like a missed opportunity though.
Although it is about 1.5 hours from Blacksburg in the opposite direction, Poplar Forest – one of Thomas Jefferson’s homes – might be worth a visit. Also, Abingdon, VA has the Barter Theatre – a nice regional performing arts location – which is right across the street from the Martha Washington Inn.
I second the suggestion of Asheville, and a visit to Biltmore House; there are lots of things to do on the property if you get a day pass.
Though I don’t remember if VT was one of them - I do remember a good number of schools didn’t post the tour schedule until a month or so out. Frustrating from the perspective of trying to make plans.
I wasn’t hesitant to reach out directly to the different programs my S23 was interested in either. We might not have gotten the standard admission spiel at a couple of schools but were able to meet with programs directly to see the space and in a few circumstances get to directly ask questions from some students in those programs. Met with two very nice young women in the Architecture program at VT on a Saturday.
I did a similar spring break trip with my daughter last year. If I remember correctly, they had added some additional tours/programs available in the spring, like a mid-March open house and extra spring break tours toward the end of March and beginning of April. So there will be more dates opening up on the schedule for those dates in the next month or so.
We toured VT twice, once when my D was first considering it and then again when she was accepted and trying to narrow down between her top two schools. Our first tour was disappointing - one of the worst we’d experienced. It was a huge tour group and the guide wore a speaker so she could be heard, but it was still hard to hear her. The tour cut across the drillfield over towards a few dorms (did not go inside), then over past the bookstore and a few academic buildings and then over to the pylons for photos. The end. I think some of the groups continued on a bit. We were somewhat familiar with the campus already and it was a beautiful day so we explored on our own since we had time. D had also arranged to meet with someone in a major she was considering which was helpful. The campus is gorgeous and cohesive and my D just fell in love with it…but that first tour by itself was a turnoff. There is also an app you can download with options for a 30-, 60-, or 90-minute self-guided tour if you and your son want to explore more. Good luck!
Thanks for this @flyawayx2 - I toured VT with my older child and had the same type of experience you describe. Enough so that he really didn’t want to consider the school. I’m hoping that this time goes better, but pre-planning with the self guided downloads would be good, and we will know some students there this time so I’m hoping we can get one of them to show us around too.
In my opinion, the nicest large campus in America.
It makes sense that the quality of tours and info sessions impact how a kid feels about a campus.
But it’s a bummer if kids decide their love or desire for a school is totally turned on or off by this 1 to 2 hour snippet of time - but it does make sense.
