This past weekend, Dave and I went to UMass to visit Gabbie. We have been to campus before, both when bringing her to school and driving her back after Thanksgiving, but never actually during the school year or for a weekend. Simon had his fall youth group weekend, so it gave Dave and I a chance to travel as well. We flew to Boston, which is two hours from Amherst, and drove from there on Thursday. Our first stop was for lunch in Brookline and I was already taking photos of the trees!
Our second stop was at a brewery (of course). It had a nice outdoor area and I talked to Zachary while we were there.
We got to Amherst at dinner time and we met Gabbie and had dinner with her at the dining hall. We weren’t sure if her meal plan qualified, but it did – family eats free! We stayed at the UMass hotel.
On Friday morning, Dave met Gabbie at the gym, and then he worked a few hours while Gabbie had class. Then we met her for lunch and walked to the student Farmers’ Market, which is really like a craft fair. I took some fall photos on the way!
Next, we drove to Mount Sugarloaf for a hike. There is a view from the top where you can see the UMass campus! And the fall leaves were lovely. I took the following photos on my actual camera.
Us while hiking:
Our next stop was Yankee Candle – apparently the headquarters is there!
On Friday night and Saturday, we spent Shabbat at Hillel, the Jewish organization that Gabbie is a part of. We met her friends and two other sets of parents that were also visiting – one of them came because we were coming and the other was coincidental!
Saturday night we went to the hockey game and then out to a speakeasy.
On Sunday, we went to a place called the Book Mill. It was cute.
Next, a scenic bridge over the Connecticut River, and then back to the brewery, same one as Friday but a different location.
Finally, it was back to campus for lunch and Picklepalooza, which was a really cute event at Hillel!
Can you tell I love pickles?
We flew home from Hartford, which is the closer airport to the school! But since there are no direct flights, we transferred in Baltimore.
Sorry about all the pictures!
