OT: Connecticut College

[Northbound]

having your children settle thousands of miles away after college poses another challenge when visits only occur a few times a year or less

When i went to school i came back once a year - Christmas break was it. They saw two games a year, but when i left i left.

I’m like 300 miles from them now and don’t see them that much. Their social calendar is full and they travel a ton (pre pandemic 3 or 4 months out of country) so maybe 4 times a year. That’s just the way it is.

Last three times my wife and i were going to visit they had friends in town or parties to attend. Its possible they hate us, but not probable.

All i can say is damn good for them - they worked their asses off they should enjoy those fruits.

 

[8893]

I will be well-past the point of wanting to make small talk at that point…actually thinking of going to Lobster Landing instead. It’s a few steps closer to home.

Only been there twice so far this summer; from what we’ve seen the new owners have maintained the same quality.

If you want to mix it up this time or next, check out Liv’s Dockside in the Clinton marina. Also a very good lobster roll but also other good choices and sides (including A+ onion rings; I love them and I hate onions). It’s a couple hundred yards from LL and also BYOB.

Whatever you do, do not go to Shanks, which basically sits in between the two of them. It used to be decent, but my wife and daughter went there with friends the other night and reported that the food was inedible. Lobster was tough and chewy; apparently it defies your theory about the ease with which any toddler can make a good lobster roll.

 

[Chief00]

Wait until they move out for good. Then it hits.

 

[husky8273]

Wait until they move out for good. Then it hits.

haven't emptied their rooms and closets yet.

 

[Fishy]

Only been there twice so far this summer; from what we’ve seen the new owners have maintained the same quality.

If you want to mix it up this time or next, check out Liv’s Dockside in the Clinton marina. Also a very good lobster roll but also other good choices and sides (including A+ onion rings; I love them and I hate onions). It’s a couple hundred yards from LL and also BYOB.

Whatever you do, do not go to Shanks, which basically sits in between the two of them. It used to be decent, but my wife and daughter went there with friends the other night and reported that the food was inedible. Lobster was tough and chewy; apparently it defies your theory about the ease with which any toddler can make a good lobster roll.

We kept a boat at Cedar Island Marina for years and years..and somehow never went to Liv’s. We used to go to Chips a lot - I have heard that’s slipped a bit in the past few years.

A few years back, we were not using it that much and the dockage was expensive so we sold it….and now the kid is in New London and we could have basically had a floating apartment down the road.

 

[8893]

We kept a boat at Cedar Island Marina for years and years..and somehow never went to Liv’s. We used to go to Chips a lot - I have heard that’s slipped a bit in the past few years.

A few years back, we were not using it that much and the dockage was expensive so we sold it….and now the kid is in New London and we could have basically had a floating apartment down the road.

Yeah that would have been nice. I know you don’t live far, but if you do need an overnight in the area I am guessing that there would be a decent selection of AirBnBs available during the academic year. Otherwise, your wife would probably have you at the Madison Beach Hotel, which is nice but not cheap. I‘d bet you could find some real nice stays elsewhere for that same money.

We used to go to the Chip’s in Guilford more than the one in Clinton, but we haven’t been to either in a few years. Covid has wreaked havoc on most restaurants in the area—they just can’t find the staffing.

As for Liv’s, it is a bit confusing: there is the original Liv’s Oyster Bar, a brick and mortar place on Main Street in Old Saybrook, and there is the original Liv’s Shack, a seasonal place in Old Saybrook near Saybrook Point. The third one was initially another Liv’s Shack that was in the Pilot’s Point Marina in Westbrook where Boom used to be, and that was our favorite setting (and BYOB). Last summer they moved to Clinton Town Marina and changed the name to Liv’s Dockside, which I am guessing they did to avoid confusion (one of our daughters actually torpedoed a family meal at the Pilot’s Point one, when she drove to meet us but went to the Old Saybrook one instead).

tl;dr: If you are going to the one in Clinton, make sure you put “Dockside” in your search for the address or you will likely end up at the wrong place.

 

[8893]

Good luck today, @Fishy .

I don't care how stoic you are, today is always a moving day in more ways than one.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Good luck today, @Fishy .

I don't care how stoic you are, today is always a moving day in more ways than one.

We had no excessive emotion about it last year. My guess is that having my daughter home, in the house almost all year round due to Covid made us all happy to get some additional space. She did come home quite often, and now can do that even more easily on the commuter rail. If she was going far away (like overseas next summer) I think we'd feel differently.

 

[8893]

We had no excessive emotion about it last year. My guess is that having my daughter home, in the house almost all year round due to Covid made us all happy to get some additional space. She did come home quite often, and now can do that even more easily on the commuter rail. If she was going far away (like overseas next summer) I think we'd feel differently.

It was pretty emotional for us with our oldest. She was the first one, she was going five-plus hours away (i.e., not coming home often), and our youngest was also very emotional about it. I still remember her (the youngest) slipping a handwritten note to the oldest right before we walked away. It was very sweet, and now an indelible memory.

One of those life moments where it is the unmistakable end of one chapter and the beginning of another. All good, but can also be pretty moving if you allow yourself to soak it in. Everyone deals with it differently, though. My wife and middle daughter didn't really want to digest it that day, but dealt with it at different times before and after that.

 

[Fishy]

Good luck today, @Fishy .

I don't care how stoic you are, today is always a moving day in more ways than one.

Thank you.

Honestly, the day was so hectic and hot - they have the freshmen really heavily scheduled through Sunday - that there really is not a lot of time for too much emotion.

We actually skipped the parents’ reception and the lobster rolls. We had to rent an SUV to move the stuff out there and by the end of the day, we just wanted to return it and get home. (We also envisioned Connecticut traffic that actually did not appear.)

I am guessing that on Saturday morning when it stays quiet around the time she generally wakes up will be our moment.

 

[8893]

I am guessing that on Saturday morning when it stays quiet around the time she generally wakes up will be our moment.

Your daughter wakes up before noon on Saturdays?

You do have a special one!

 

[beerfan]

College drop off and a proper lobster roll

 

[Fishy]

Sooooo……the college move-in was immediately countered six days later by the Covid bounce-back.

Daughter is upstairs sleeping in her room.

Freshmen have a seminar class that was meeting daily last week and they started dropping like flies on Friday. By Tuesday, our kid had it.

The isolation rooms were already full, so her option was to stay in her room masked for five to ten days, so we opted to fetch her

 

[8893]

Sooooo……the college move-in was immediately countered six days later by the Covid bounce-back.

Daughter is upstairs sleeping in her room.

Freshmen have a seminar class that was meeting daily last week and they started dropping like flies on Friday. By Tuesday, our kid had it.

The isolation rooms were already full, so her option was to stay in her room masked for five to ten days, so we opted to fetch her

Bummer. I hope it passes uneventfully and that she is back there soon, with a semester that is at least mostly in-person.

Seems to be springing up in lots of places again. We are heading to a wedding this weekend and I expect that it will turn out to be super-spreader event. We are flying there, so the plane is probably our highest risk. Hoping that our second boosters will help protect us, as most of those we know who have gotten it recently only had one booster.

The bride and groom are going to South Africa for their honeymoon and they actually planned it for two weeks after the wedding in case they get Covid at the wedding.

 

[CL82]

Sooooo……the college move-in was immediately countered six days later by the Covid bounce-back.

Daughter is upstairs sleeping in her room.

Freshmen have a seminar class that was meeting daily last week and they started dropping like flies on Friday. By Tuesday, our kid had it.

The isolation rooms were already full, so her option was to stay in her room masked for five to ten days, so we opted to fetch her

I feel for her. Well, I guess it is better to knock it out early and get back to classes in a couple of weeks than they have it happen later in the semester when there will be greater demands on her time.

 

[husky429]

Bummer. I hope it passes uneventfully and that she is back there soon, with a semester that is at least mostly in-person.

Seems to be springing up in lots of places again. We are heading to a wedding this weekend and I expect that it will turn out to be super-spreader event. We are flying there, so the plane is probably our highest risk. Hoping that our second boosters will help protect us, as most of those we know who have gotten it recently only had one booster.

The bride and groom are going to South Africa for their honeymoon and they actually planned it for two weeks after the wedding in case they get Covid at the wedding.

Went there for my honeymoon this summer. A+ choice for the bride and groom.