The drive to Rensselaer was beautiful. It’s in Troy, NY which is almost three hours away from Burlington. In my last post, I made a note to myself to schedule college visits before daylight savings, and this thought was reinforced by the trees. They were past their prime. Still beautiful, but we could see the potential for amazing beauty if only we’d arrived a few weeks earlier. Arriving in Troy it felt a bit like the trees – past its prime. The architecture of the buildings is beautiful – it was easy to picture a thriving town with shops and community life. But that’s not the feeling we got that day. I wondered how badly COVID had hurt Troy. Or, maybe Troy is in the process of rebuilding itself. We drove to a small Korean restaurant we found on Yelp – Sunhee’s Farm and Kitchen. A small, quaint building among not much else. Welcoming staff and simple, very tasty food. We were pleasantly surprised to find vegetarian options so easily. This became an important point of our visits. Mary eats vegetarian and, if she can, also vegan. Food matters, so the options available in each place would matter, too.
After lunch we headed to the school for our tour. Awkward at first, because no one else was there, we ended up getting a private tour with a spunky, fun, lacrosse playing girl named Riley. The weather was dreary – gray clouds hung overhead. Thank goodness for Riley! Her energy and enthusiasm for the school and for her experience gave Rensselaer a chance it might not have had otherwise (that’s my opinion…I still haven’t asked Mary).
Riley took us through multiple buildings, talked about their internship programs and shared her experience as a student-athlete. Mary would love to play soccer in college. She had several schools express interest, but only one of them was on her college list. Listening to Riley talk about the structure and sense of community she gets from being on the lacrosse team made me feel like this would be great for Mary too. I imagined that was only making Mary’s choice harder. As we left Rensselaer Mary mentioned that she really liked the red brick buildings.
The next day was Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, NY. Grand and green. I was taken aback as we arrived – the entrance unmistakably marked by massive stone pillars. The rest of the campus fell in line. The Admissions Center is a huge glass front building with a concrete dome on top. To the right an expansive greenspace overlooking the Hudson River. One funny thing, inside the Admissions Center, the hallways smelled like maple syrup. Coincidence or strategic marketing? ……
The director of admissions was kind enough to introduce himself and talk with us before the tour started. He recognized the distance we’d traveled and wanted to meet Mary (very nice touch, Marist!). Our tour guide was a local from New York. She clearly loves the school and wanted to be close to home. Campus life seemed focused within the campus. They offer trips into NYC, which is only about 75 minutes away. After the tour, we were hungry. It was about 2:30pm and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. The tour guide recommended Lola’s, a small local spot nearby. Another hidden gem with several vegetarian options. While there, we chatted with an older couple sitting next to us. They’d raised their kids in Poughkeepsie and were getting ready to welcome their first grandchild into the world. They tipped us off to the Walkway Over the Hudson, an old railroad bridge turned into a walking path spanning the Hudson river between the town of Lloyd and the city of Poughkeepsie. As we walked along it, Mary commented, “this would be a nice play to go for a run.” “Sure would be” was all I replied.
Last stop: Rochester, NY
The Frampton Clan 