VMI Open House

Roughrider

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Son (junior in high school) registered for the VMI Open House/Overnight Visit on February 14-15. I'll be going with him, so any recommendations on lodging & dining in Lexington, or any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also, he's interested in varsity swimming at VMI. There's an athletics department presentation on the agenda for the open house. Would you recommend he email the head swim coach directly now to express his interest and maybe report his top times/events, or should he just wait to introduce himself at the open house event?

Thanks,
RR
 
Rough Rider- lots of hotels in Lexington these days to stay in- one of the nicest Hampton Inn's that I've stayed in is in downtown Lexington (Hampton Inn Col Alto) - about 1 mile south of VMI which is easily walkable thru the middle of town and thru W&L's campus. About 1 mile north on I81 ("North Lee Highway" is not walkable) are a number of chain hotels (Holiday Inn Express, Country Inn & Suites, Sleep Inn, Comfort Inn, Best Western). I've included Lexington Visitors guide. You will find several good restaurants in town and a bunch of chain restaurants on I81North by the hotels

http://lexingtonvirginia.com/result_1.asp?table=lodging&type=Hotel/Motel

I would contact the coaches following the link here: https://www2.vmi.edu/Forms/athletic/show.asp?DB_OEM_ID=9800
 
Having the coach know who you are definitely puts you ahead of the other rats that try out and since your son has a whole year of high school left the coach can give him goals to strive for. At least that was my experience.
 
RR - Some of the Hotels (Hampton and Windham) offers a military rate if it applies to you. Book early. Dress warmly as you will be moving outside from place to place, often walking from one end of the campus to the other. Also, they may have a parade while you're there which lasts for about an hour. Again, dress warmly.

When we went for the overnight, we all had a wonderful time. My favorite part was getting to sit in on an overview lecture of two programs with the various professors. we went to History and International Studies. Both professors were awesome. Good luck.
 
Roughrider..we have signed-up for the March 21 Open House (my son is a junior as well) and I was going to ask the same questions as we're flying in from the west coast. My son is looking to continue his wrestling in college so it sounds like he should reach-out to the coach as well. This will be our first time on campus and looking forward to the experience.
 
Thanks, everyone, for the advice and recommendations. We're looking forward to the trip.

Bruno, thanks for the link to the VMI athletics recruitment questionnaire. (Forgive my ignorance. This kid is the first jock in the family going back at least 4 generations, so the ins and outs of division I sports is not, to put it mildly, my forte.) He'll be sure to take Thaboman1's advice and ask the coach for goals.

SGTLee, I'll share anything I learned when we get back -- good luck to you and your boy.
 
for parents

If you are staying more than the day+ of the Open House here are some other Points of Interest while visiting that IF you have time would give you a feel for the area if you have never been to the Shenandoah Valley:

- Natural Bridge (check the Rat Bible 'worth a visit by every cadet')
- Goshen Pass
- Equestrian center
- Robert E Lee & Stonewall Jackson's final resting place(s)
- George C Marshall Museum (actual Enigma machine, Rommel's field glasses, etc)
- New Market
- Blue Ridge Parkway (though it takes longer you can actually drive up the Parkway from Roanoke to the overpass (Rt 60) that'd bring you down to Lexington )

It has been more than 12 years since I visited Lexington so many of my old haunts (restaurants & taverns) are no longer there. But I 'think' the Palm is still in business and Southern Inn. (Sigh, no more "Spankeys, Ducks or Stell's)

Enjoy the trip(s)
 
About 1 mile north on I81 ("North Lee Highway" is not walkable) are a number of chain hotels (Holiday Inn Express, Country Inn & Suites, Sleep Inn, Comfort Inn, Best Western). I've included Lexington Visitors guide. You will find several good restaurants in town and a bunch of chain restaurants on I81North by the hotels [/url]

We stayed at that Country Inn and Suites several times. Good hot breakfast bar that's included in the room rate. But like Bruno says, there's not really much walking around in that area.
 
We try to stay at the Hampton Inn - Col Alto whenever we're in Lexington( it's very popular) ....a very nice and historic location in town and offers a good breakfast... as Bruno stated, walking to VMI campus is possible....(about 1 mile) Bistro on Main is the wife's and DD's favorite dining establishment in "LexVegas"....DD is a first year at W&L.....older big brother was also accepted to W&L in '08 but opted for USNA instead...btw- DD just accepted an invitation by a Rat(?) to a VMI formal ball in February ....the mom is mailing her a formal dress tomorrow:biggrin:

FLY NAVY,
:tomcat:
 
When we went for our daughter, we stayed at a B&B Abigail Inn, beautiful, historic, even had prior VMI yearbooks to look at....hope you and your son enjoy your visit!
 
Can also check the site VRBO (vacation rental by owner), we were lucky to find a house and an apartment in downtown Lexington my son's Rat year, and ended up renting each one of them for various events throughout his 4 years at VMI.:thumb:
 
Son (junior in high school) registered for the VMI Open House/Overnight Visit on February 14-15. I'll be going with him, so any recommendations on lodging & dining in Lexington, or any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also, he's interested in varsity swimming at VMI. There's an athletics department presentation on the agenda for the open house. Would you recommend he email the head swim coach directly now to express his interest and maybe report his top times/events, or should he just wait to introduce himself at the open house event?

Thanks,
RR

Good luck getting to Lexington for this weekend- it looks like they are getting over a foot of snow today- won't affect VMI itself all that much but could really foul up air and road travel- so I suggest that you definitely call both VMI and the airlines this afternoon to make sure that all is still on track.
 
Good luck getting to Lexington for this weekend- it looks like they are getting over a foot of snow today- won't affect VMI itself all that much but could really foul up air and road travel- so I suggest that you definitely call both VMI and the airlines this afternoon to make sure that all is still on track.


All flights into Charlotte and Roanoke are cancelled today so we'll be attending the open house in April, instead. The VMI administration managed the change in plans with courtesy and efficiency. I cannot say the same for US Airways.
 
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