2007 Indoor Track & Field Championship

You probably haven't heard the sage advice to visit your West Point cadet during the “gloom” period, January - March before.

My wife, Shelley and I flew back to West Point for the President’s Day weekend in 2007. We decided to fly in and out of Stewart/Newburgh airport to determine any advantages over flying to Newark or JFK. Ordinarily we would fly Jet Blue and we’re thankful we didn’t this time. The only disadvantage of flying to Stewart (SWF) is there are no direct flights from the bay area so we had a layover in Chicago’s Ohare airport.

There was a pretty bad storm that preceded us by a couple of days and the effects were still evident. Our plane in San Francisco was an hour and a half late to begin with and we couldn’t land on time at Ohare because, by the time we got there, they were reconfiguring the runways. But all in all, we made it to Newburgh, New York at 11:30 instead of 10:00 PM.

The cost was $350.00 per person round trip. If you add up the price of the flight to one of the other airports plus the cost of transportation to West Point, it’s about the same. Stewart is a small regional airport. It’s very clean, not crowded, and there are 8 gates. Ticketing, security, and baggage claim are at street level while the gates are on the second floor.

We left San Francisco at 10:00 AM and the flight to Chicago was approximately 4 hours. The 2-hour layover at Ohare allowed us to try the Chinese food at the food court. The flight to Stewart was 2 hours and Kevin met us at the airport and drove us to the 5 Star Inn just outside the main gate next to the West Point Museum.

Here are some photos from the hotel as well as the Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Championship.The weather as you can see was below freezing and we got to eat brunch on Sunday in the cadet mess hall. Every time we visit West Point we are astounded not only by the beauty but by the positive and professional environment our sons and daughters enjoy at the Academy.

We discovered a few eateries we had not known before and thought we would pass these tips along for your enjoyment. We had breakfast twice at Andy’s which is a block off the main drag in Highland Falls. We also had dinner one evening at Pineapple’s Steakhouse in Montgomery. You pass it on your way into town going to the Thayer gate.

The accommodations at the 5 Star Inn are as nice as the Thayer, only at half the price. The building we were in was part of Ladycliffe College at one time. So was the West Point museum. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at West Point and highly recommend Stewart Airport and the 5 Star Inn.

Kevin did very well and took 3rd place in the Shot and 2nd place in the Weight throw.