Visiting Washington and Boston

[MasterMike]

We will be traveling to Washington and Boston next week with our son to look at several schools. Any visitor advice or things Laser to see? I see a large marina near the Tidal Basin. It would be fun to get to Annapolis and look at boats, visit APS. Where do you sail in Boston?

We will be all planes, trains - no automobiles.

Suggestions? Laser events, marinas, shops? We will see the cultural highlights of course, but I hate to miss a chance to get near the water. At least a walk along a marina.

 

[LooserLu]

Well, if I would visit Boston area, I would think about the crazy idea to visit the museum where the first Laser (Bruce Kirby's Laser) now is located. She is to find at the so called Mystic Seaport Museum. Okay, the idea is a bit crazy if you have no car, because this museum is about 100 miles away from Boston, but they say, somewhere at their homepage, that it is reachable by train. However, here is the homepage of that museum:
http://www.mysticseaport.org/
Ciao
LooserLu

 

[pirouette]

Amtrak train runs from Boston's South Station to NYC (Mystic, CT is one of the stops on the way). Check Amtrak.com for train schedule and fees - not cheap plus I don't know how you get from the train stop in Mystic to the museum or if the museum is open in winter. There is an active Laser Fleet in Winthrop, MA which is a working class town near Logan airport (Cottage Park Yacht Club) but you would need a car to get there or contact someone from Cottage Park YC -they sail Lasers on Sunday in the winter. Most of the colleges focus their sailing activities on the Charles River - perhaps there's something called the Boston Sailing Club or google Sailing Charles River? I have never seen any Lasers sailing the Charles or Boston Harbor. Newport RI is about an hour south of Boston, has a very active frostbiting fleet on Sundays, and I am sure there is a bus that goes to Newport from Boston. Also check with Tufts Univeristy - I have heard that they have a sailing program. hope this helps

 

[Merrily]

We will be traveling to Washington and Boston next week with our son to look at several schools. Any visitor advice or things Laser to see? I see a large marina near the Tidal Basin. It would be fun to get to Annapolis and look at boats, visit APS. Where do you sail in Boston?

We will be all planes, trains - no automobiles.

Suggestions? Laser events, marinas, shops? We will see the cultural highlights of course, but I hate to miss a chance to get near the water. At least a walk along a marina.

When we visited APS we also walked a few extra blocks and took a detour through the Severn Sailing Association, a big one-design yacht club with a Laser fleet. Maybe you could call ahead and get someone to show you around.

 

[JohnG]

I don't think you will see much at the marina near the Tidal Basin other than a lot of big powerboats. There is some sailing at the Washington Sailing Marina, which is located off the GW Parkway less than 2 miles south of Reagan National Airport.

The serious sailing in the Washington area is in Annapolis, which is well worth the visit. APS, Severn Sailing Association, the Annapolis Yacht Club are all within blocks of each other, and there are also a lot of good restaurants in town. Also of interest are the Naval Academy and the many historic buildings in Annapolis.

 

[Merrily]

Also of interest are the Naval Academy and the many historic buildings in Annapolis.

I don't know if they still let you in to see it, but years ago I saw the tomb of John Paul Jones at the Naval Academy. It is a huge, gorgeous marble sculpture well worth seeing.

 

[vtgent49]

Many of the Boston and DC schools have sailing teams in full swing right now. I'd check their websites, and find time to go watch, and hopefully meet the coach. They are pretty intense groups.

We did this last Spring and they all were thrilled to meet prospective teammates, and encourage them. It can really add a personal touch to the usual campus tour.

My daughter's future coach emailed his congrats within 10 minutes of the early acceptances being posted online. That was very nice.

Al

 

[MasterMike]

Also check with Tufts Univeristy - I have heard that they have a sailing program. hope this helps

Thanks! - Tufts is one of our visits, so I'll check on that.

When we visited APS we also walked a few extra blocks and took a detour through the Severn Sailing Association, a big one-design yacht club with a Laser fleet.

Annapolis is on my list if the timing works out. I have to take a back seat to the campus tours and interview schedule. But if there's time.... Actually, our off day in DC is Sunday, so maybe someone will be sailing at SSA. There is a bike walk path shown along the river from the Georgetown campus northwest - that might be a nice walk.

Many of the Boston and DC schools have sailing teams in full swing right now. I'd check their websites, and find time to go watch, and hopefully meet the coach. They are pretty intense groups.

Thanks - sounds fun. As my 16 yr old is just learning to sail now, I doubt he's a likely target for sailing team recruiting! He's just hoping to play club or intramural soccer. We're also rebuilding a wooden Opti for the 11 yr old.

Thanks folks! Really looking forward to the trip.