What to see/do during Academy visit

TampaDad

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My son and I will be visiting the CGA during homecoming weekend in a few weeks. Is there anything a prospective cadet should see or do while he's there? We'll be at the football game Saturday and the lacrosse tournament Sunday, but is there anything else we should look into? Also, any restaurant recommendations would be appreciated.
 
My son and I will be visiting the CGA during homecoming weekend in a few weeks. Is there anything a prospective cadet should see or do while he's there? We'll be at the football game Saturday and the lacrosse tournament Sunday, but is there anything else we should look into? Also, any restaurant recommendations would be appreciated.
Steak Loft in Mystic is a good restaurant. I'd recommend the Coast Guard Museum, the Exchange for CGA gear, and just exploring the Academy.
 
Muddy Waters on Bank St, for breakfast or lunch. Otherwise, what ChevyDad said. Or Drydock for lunch in Leamy Hall, gives a little exposure to daily life.

If you wish, I can PM you a list of restaurants that the parents have put together.
 
Captain Daniel Packer Inn for a really nice dinner in Mystic

Visit the USS Nautilus and the Submarine Museum across the river from CGA in Groton.

No visit would be complete without a stop at Clydes Cider Mill in Old Mystic

Favorite Thai Restaurant anywhere is the Spice Club in East Lyme not far from CGA
 
Mystic Seaport Museum
Griswold Inn (Essex)
Mystic River Drawbridge Ice Cream Shop
 
Thank you for the replies! AuxNoob, yes, please send the list. We'll be there for three days so we should have time to check a lot of things out. It sounds like most of the places are in Mystic. We've seen parts of Mystic before (ice cream shop, Mystic Pizza, etc) as we occasionally visit friends in Pawcatuk in the summer. I guess it's time to see the rest of it. :) I think the biggest shock will be the weather. It never gets truly cold here in Tampa. I'm looking forward to a visit to highs of upper 60's.
 
PM me your email. And you'll be pretty lucky to get highs in the upper 60s. You might. Maybe.
 
Weather is forecast to be in the upper 50's this weekend with spotty rain. Tampa to Connecticut can be a brutal transition at this time of year. Mystic Seaport and Charles W. Morgan tour is great. Abbotts Lobster in the Rough in Noank is great if the weather is fine. Bring warm clothes. DD can't stand trips from Virginia to Connecticut let alone Tampa to Connecticut!! Griswold Inn has some great events over the weekend and if weather is bad you should try it. Check their website.
 
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I guess it is a good thing we're not coming up in the next 6 days. It would be way too ironic to leave Florida and get hit by a hurricane in Connecticut. ツ

We've been to Abbott's a few times (loved it), but only by boat. I'm not sure I could find it by land.
 
These are interesting suggestions, because, with regard to a majority of what I've seen here, I haven't visited nearly enough of the New London area. In fact, I didn't know there were nice sections of New London until my senior year.

We did Paul's Pasta a few times, for Parents' Weekend. As a cadet we ordered Tigers (no longer there) and Mr. G's…. which, while not the best option, are pretty regular cadet spots. My favorite place in the area was the Portuguese Fisherman…. great, not entirely healthy, stuff for Sunday mornings. By junior or senior year, a few of us would grab brunch after church.
 
We will definitely check out Paul's Pasta! We will also check out all the submarine stuff and some of the other restaurants. Being that it is Homecoming weekend, I understand that we will probably need to park at the Connecticut College, particularly on Saturday for the football game. I guess we'll figure that out when we get there. We originally had planned on staying at the Red Roof Inn to save some cash, but after reading the reviews and the comments here we moved to the Springhill Suites. ツ. Right now the weather looks great for the weekend. Chilly (by Florida standards) is great. Chilly and wet, not so much.
 
We will definitely check out Paul's Pasta! We will also check out all the submarine stuff and some of the other restaurants. Being that it is Homecoming weekend, I understand that we will probably need to park at the Connecticut College, particularly on Saturday for the football game. I guess we'll figure that out when we get there. We originally had planned on staying at the Red Roof Inn to save some cash, but after reading the reviews and the comments here we moved to the Springhill Suites. ツ. Right now the weather looks great for the weekend. Chilly (by Florida standards) is great. Chilly and wet, not so much.

HAHA, yes, Red Roof is….. interesting….
 
We will definitely check out Paul's Pasta! We will also check out all the submarine stuff and some of the other restaurants. Being that it is Homecoming weekend, I understand that we will probably need to park at the Connecticut College, particularly on Saturday for the football game. I guess we'll figure that out when we get there. We originally had planned on staying at the Red Roof Inn to save some cash, but after reading the reviews and the comments here we moved to the Springhill Suites. ツ. Right now the weather looks great for the weekend. Chilly (by Florida standards) is great. Chilly and wet, not so much.

HAHA, yes, Red Roof is….. interesting….

Hmm...can't say I ever heard it called the Red Roof when I was a cadet. The Corps seemed to have other names for it. ;)

More on topic...if the weather does stay nice and you and your child are interested in hiking/outdoors, Gilette Castle is an awesome place and so is Devil's Hopyard (a lot of waterfalls and just overall cool hiking). I HIGHLY recommend Clyde's Cider Mill as well, I would love one of their cider donuts right now. Have fun and encourage your sun to ask questions, including the tough ones. Homecoming is a great weekend to visit, it can be entertaining and it really showcases the Academy's ability to turn thousands of people into one family.
 
I wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions. Unfortunately we really didn't get a chance to see much off campus. Between the football game Saturday, the lacrosse tournament (and post tournament cookout) Sunday and the Admissions Briefing Monday, we spent just about all of our time on campus. All in all it was a great visit. My son loved the family feel and atmosphere. At the lacrosse game we sat in front of a lady who was in the first class to admit women (1979?). She has two boys on the lacrosse team. We loved hearing her stories of how she ended up there and how her boys were doing.
 
Class of 1980 was the first with women. Class of 1979 was the last all-male class.
 
I thought that seemed odd. I recalled seeing the Class of 1980 on the field at halftime of the football game and the announcer saying it was the first class with lady cadets. I must have misheard her in the stands.
 
I thought that seemed odd. I recalled seeing the Class of 1980 on the field at halftime of the football game and the announcer saying it was the first class with lady cadets. I must have misheard her in the stands.

https://www.uscg.mil/history/uscghist/WomenAtUSCGAcademyTimeline.pdf

1976

• 3 February 1976: The Coast Guard Academy announced the appointments of 50 cadets to enter with the Class of 1980, including three women: Cathryn Lis, Susan Kollmeyer, & Cynthia Snead. The Coast Guard News Release also noted that: “Of the four largest federal service academies (Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard) the Coast Guard Academy is the first to offer an appointment to a woman.” (USCG News Release No. 7- 76, 3 February 1976)


• 28 June 1976: Class of 1980 swabs report to the CGA, including 38 women (14 eventually graduated with their Class).
 
I think USMMA was before the Coast Guard Academy (but isn't listed here…)
 
At that time, it was a lot easier for DOT to lift restrictions than DOD.
 
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