Washington DC - Spring 2014 Meet-up

The Spring 2014 Washington DC meetup will be held on Saturday, May 3rd! We will be in historic Old Town, Alexandria VA, visiting the Book Bank, touring the sights, and eating yummy food.

There will be additional activities in the DC area on Sunday for those who want to stick around.

This is the planning thread. The first message will be updated as plans are finalized.

Since the 2013 Spring meet-up was in Northwest/Maryland, I propose we have this year's meet-up in the lovely neighborhood of Old Town, Alexandria VA. There are a few bookshops (including a good used one), copious restaurants of all shapes and sizes, and beautiful historic scenery. It's accessible on the Blue and Yellow Metro lines and many bus routes, and parking is not nearly as bad as downtown.

Any ideas on dates? I'll be out of town the weekend of April 19th and busy on the 15th of March. Here's a list of the Saturdays this spring:

15 March
22 March
29 March
5 April
12 April
19 April
26 April
3 May
10 May
17 May
24 May
31 May
7 June
14 June

I'm liking the VA idea. I'm glad we're skipping the first two weekends in March. :) I have a friend coming from Ohio who isn't a LT person (I could never convince her. Go figure.) that I'll be hanging with from there.

April 5 and April 12, I have 5K's to run.

I can't do the end of March or beginning of April since my sister is coming from Colorado. I think May or June would be best for me, but I'm never a shoe in for this meet up so take that with a grain of salt. I would love to come though! I'm going to try extra hard this year since we might be getting orders soon.

I like the Virginia idea too!

We'll be away the weekend of March 22nd. I also have a conference one weekend in April and one weekend in May, but I'll have to check those dates when I'm not on a bus and have a better internet connection (hopefully this afternoon). And we should also exclude Easter weekend, whenever that is.

Easter is the weekend of April 19th

How would folks feel about Memorial Day weekend? That'd be May 24.

We'll be heading to Louisiana for various family obligations around 10 May. As usual, we're happy to be there, but shouldn't be planned around. :)

By the way, I love the idea of doing this in Old Town Alexandria!

Old Town is a fantastic idea. Nora is trying to relive her first meet-up with me, obviously ;-)

Depending on the date, I will try to make it. Memorial Day weekend would be tough just because flights and hotels would probably be more expensive, but since my chances are only 50-50 of making it at this point, no need to plan around me!

8: I like Memorial Day weekend!

>10 katiekrug: You definitely gave me the idea. The last time I was at the Book Bank (many moons ago) it was very unpleasant, but you and I had a great time so I never would have known that it's a nice place now without you!

I would love to come but my schedule is totally unpredictable now. If I don't have any clients to be on call for at the time you all decide, I will try to make it. It always sounds like such a great time.

I've starred the thread so I can look at the pictures post-meetup. There will be pictures, right? :)

I, too, think that Old Town Alexandria is a great venue for an LT meet-up.

I'm not sure about Memorial Day weekend as that's my grandson's first birthday. I'm booked for several other weekends, too. I'll wait to comment until the list of dates gets smaller.

The only weekend in May I can do is Memorial Day weekend. Otherwise I am free so far. Of course, later today, for instance, I MIGHT get out of bed. maybe. Too soon to tell. Didn't last Saturday at all. Not planning much right now. Or sleeping...

I have to be at a family wedding in Maine on May 31, will probably get there a couple days before and may stay a few days after. So obviously that weekend is out, and I'm not wild about the weekends before or after either, though I'd try to manage if that's the decision. Alexandria is an excellent location.

I'm not a huge fan of Memorial Day weekend, since I'd rather use long weekends for farther-away trips that can't fit into regular weekends. But if that's the weekend chosen then I'll go, though I think Mark will be in San Francisco.

And I checked the dates of my conferences: April 11-13 and May 16-18 are the weekends when I'm actually busy. (Hmm, maybe that May conference is close enough to Memorial Day that I wouldn't want to schedule another big trip for Memorial Day anyway, and would be happy to go to DC. Planning is so hard.)

Taking everyone's conflicts into consideration leaves us with the following list, I think (let me know if I missed you somehow!)

March 15
April 26
June 7
June 14

Any more conflicts? Right now my vote is for April 26.

HA! April 26 is my birthday...

Well then you HAVE to come so we can buy you books and cupcakes :-)

Mmmmm, cupcakes......

I can't do April 26th as April 27th is the Kensington Book Festival, and I chair that event. However, I can make my home available for anyone who has stayed with me in the past and wants free lodging that weekend. :)

March is too cold! Warm weather is a prerequisite for all the walking that we usually do.

June 7th or June 14th look good to me.

>22 katiekrug: I've counted nine places that sell cupcakes on King Street. There are probably more.

June is too hot! 7th is iffy as noted above. 14th would be OK.

At the moment I can do any of those, but I vote for Katie's birthday!

April 26 looks good for my schedule...

Jim, no voting based on my birthday since I don't know that I can make it :)

Well, I'm scheduled to work most of those Saturdays but could get someone to switch or cover for me... March 15 would be the most difficult just because it's closest and I might have a meeting that Friday night, but still probably workable at nearly two months out.

April might possibly be doable for me. I make no promises as babies are unpredictable, but for now I am not on call then and it's unlikely I will fit any clients in the small window that's open then anyway.

Let's not do April 26th since that is the weekend of the Kensington Book Festival which Madeline likes to attend. Also my concern with June is that since the National Book Festival is almost a whole month earlier this year, the two meetups would only be 2.5 months apart.

What about Memorial Day weekend (24 May)? Flights/trains/buses might be more expensive but at least there will be plenty of notice.

I'm game

I'm fine with the holiday weekend.

I'm iffy. Depends on currently unknown details of the wedding schedule and whether I'll need the holiday weekend to get organized.

I like the holiday weekend too.

Ummm... so despite suggesting it myself, I actually can't make Memorial Day weekend. I forgot I'm in a wedding that Saturday.

Two other possibilities are April 5th or May 3rd?

This is hard :-/

From comments above and below...

15 March – bell7 iffy, norabelle414 no, SqueakyChu no
22 March – Zoe no, WildMaggie no
29 March – RosyLibrarian no
5 April – gilroy not morning, RosyLibrarian no
12 April – gilroy no, Zoe no
19 April – norabelle44 no
26 April – SqueakyChu no
3 May – MDGentleReader no :-(
10 May – drneutron no, MDGentleReader no
17 May - MDGentleReader no, Zoe no
24 May – katiekrug no, SqueakyChu iffy, qebo iffy, bell7 no
31 May - MDGentleReader no, qebo no
7 June – qebo iffy, JBD1 no
14 June – JBD1 no

Added strikeouts for rejected options per below.
Added bold for the winner.

So, June 14 is still fine for everyone? I think we'll survive the heat if that's the only option available.

See, I told you it's hard. (also I'm a definite "no" for April 19th, regardless of Easter)

>39 _Zoe_: I can do 14 June, but it is only 2.5 months before the Book Festival now that the festival is moved to August.

June's out for me because RBS is in session (but don't try to plan around me!)

I'm interested. As of now, I have something on the weekend of March 22-23. It's very likely that other stuff will start filling up my weekend schedules but that's the only thing firm.

I nominate qebo to finalize the date because I'm having a "need to please everyone" attack.

44: Oh, thanks. I get to be the bad guy? So... everyone who is interested: how likely are you to be there on any date you haven't ruled out? Noting that if it's either/or between spring and the National Book Festival, the book festival may be the better choice.

norabelle414 has to be there because she's in charge of entertainment.

SqueakyChu is a fixture and is offering her house. I can see April 26 happening only if the Kensington book festival becomes an item on the agenda, but checking public transit schedules this doesn't appear to be an option.

I'm in for any dates other than May 24-June 7. These shouldn't be strikeouts because of me. I'd like to be there, but for various reasons I haven't always gotten there for the spring meetup.

Hate those. Because, you know, it's just not possible...

* gets whine already to go * ;-)

I fully intend to be there on any date that I haven't ruled out.

I need to remind you that Memorial Day weekend will probably also be my baby grandson's first birthday party. I love all of you, but... :)

Unfortunately, the Kensington Book festival is not accessible by Metro train.

Just cause he's absolutely adorable and he's yours....

I am sure Metro train + bus would work for the Festival.

So, what about March 15? It seems to be the only one without a no, and the "iffy" is pretty promising: "March 15 would be the most difficult just because it's closest and I might have a meeting that Friday night, but still probably workable at nearly two months out." Mary, when would you be able to find out for sure?

> 50

March is cold and nasty in Maryland. :(

It's a lot more fun to be out and about when we don't have to consider the wind chill factor (not to mention rain, snow, sleet, ice storms, etc.).

It is currently 12 degrees in Rockville...and it's the middle of the day. :(

But we can't guarantee perfect weather no matter what—mid-June could be pretty unpleasant for the opposite reason—so I think it's more important to make sure that everyone can be there.

I will have people visiting from out of town the weekend of 15 March. I think they are running in a half marathon in the morning on the 15th but want to do things in the evening. Also, Tina (TinaV95) and her SO are going to be in DC on the 15th, sightseeing, and I told her I would have lunch with them. They might be interested in going to an LT meetup instead of sightseeing, but maybe not. So I might be able to make an early meet-up on the 15th work, but not later in the day, and only if Tina is interested.

>51 SqueakyChu: In the DC area, March has the fifth highest precipitation by month, after May, June, July, and September.
Also, wunderground.com/history says that for March 15th in Alexandria the average high temperature is 59 degrees. The average snowfall on March 15th is 0.00 inches. The average rainfall on March 15th is 0.12 inches.

53: I bet TinaV would be thrilled to have her trip coincide with a meetup, but you're kinda significant to the enterprise so if you're unavailable then March 15 is out.

>50 _Zoe_: If the weekend of March 15 works best, I'll get someone to cover that Saturday. I can work it out as long as I know, say, a month in advance to give me the best bet of finding someone. The tentative meeting is most likely not happening because I haven't heard anything as of yet, so don't worry about it. But that's all a moot point if Nora's not available, unless we want to try to make it a Sunday-Monday event?

March 15th is out for me. It's the eve of the Jewish holiday of Purim.

Nora, if you're setting up this event, please pick a date that works best for you. There is no one date that works for everyone. If I can't attend the spring meet-up, I'll attend another one. It's not as if I don't chat with everyone frequently.

> 45

SqueakyChu is a fixture

Hmmm? Like a chandelier?!

58: There are worse fixtures to be.

:)

58> Beautiful and provides light. Sounds good to me.

One other thought: is this just a one-day meetup? I think previous meetups have had parts on both Saturday and Sunday, which is definitely what I prefer when going all the way to DC. If we meet on the Sunday also, would that help anyone who's busy only on the Saturday of a given week? (It wouldn't help me, since both of my events will take the full weekend and are in completely different places, but maybe it would make a difference to someone else.)

I will be available both days, whatever weekend is chosen (except 15/16 March and 19/20 April)

I'm only out for the mornings on the dates I said no. Figure an hour to run the 5k, then time to go home, clean up, and get back to Metro (Go into the city to go back out again...)

But I'm not as much a fixture as SqueakyChu or Nora.

I haven't commented much, mainly 'cause I'm pretty flexible this far out except for early May as already noted. Mostly I want to say thanks to those planning the event. I know it's tough to coordinate and I appreciate the thought and effort put into it!

What if we narrow it down to 29 March, 5 April, 26 April, or 3 May and take a vote? Or should I put them into a random number generator?

>66 norabelle414: Doing it randomly seems fair to me.

66: Yeah, Memorial Day is good for several, but also bad for several, and I agree that June is too close to the National Book Festival, and doesn't improve the situation anyway. So each of those four days leaves out one person... I'm OK with any of them. I would prefer, like Zoe, to have the meetup extend into Sunday, because my options are either a day trip with limited time in DC, or an overnight.

Random generator sounds like a good plan.

Thirding the random number generator; that seems most fair.

Okay. I'll have random.org pick a number between 1 and 4.

1= 29 March
2= 5 April
3= 26 April
4= 3 May

...drumroll....

I was having the exact thought :-).

I figure I have a 3:1 chance of being able to attend. Pretty good odds.

HA sorry, I got distracted.

Random.org says FOUR which means the date of our meetup is going to be May 3rd!

Okay, good odds or no, I won't be able to make it. Shouldn't be too hot, though and definitely not too cold, so good for wandering around Old Town. Have fun!

>75 MDGentleReader: We will miss you. I hope you'll come to the book festival again this year!

Yay for a decision (and no bad guys).

Alright, I have May 3rd on the calendar!

FYI, there is a meet up at National Harbor, MD, (approximately across the Potomac from Old Town Alexandria) on Thursday, February 27 at 6:30 pm. We'll meet at Salt & Pepper books (cook books) and then head to Elevation Burger for dinner.

See National Harbor, MD Meet Up for more details and to talk about it.

Yeah! I found the thread! Hope I can make the 3rd ....

Just was reminded, May 3rd is out for me. :( That's the same day I volunteer for my community's annual parade... Drat.

I'm getting really excited for this! Is everyone who thought they were going to be able to attend still able to?

Anyone planning to travel from out of town and on a budget is welcome to stay in my tiny apartment, should they so choose. Let me know if there are any questions about planes/trains/Metros, etc.

Does anyone have any requests of things they would like to do/see/eat while in Old Town, besides the bookstores?

Yup, we're in as well! No preference on the to-do list... :)

I'm in except for the day of my grandson's birthday (which I still don't know which day that is).

ETA: I'm out for all of Friday. It's a family member's graduation during the day and family Sabbath dinner that evening. I still need to see which days I have free. Memorial Day weekend is tough.

I'm still planning to be there.

Haven't bought the plane tickets yet, but I'm planning on coming :)

Mark and I will be there!

As of right now, nothing has changed. Sunday is wide open and Saturday is open early but I'd like to be back in Rockville by mid-afternoon (like just about every Saturday).

On the to-do, let's go look at books!

Getting to be time for train and hotel reservations... What's the agenda?

I don't know about the overall meetup schedule, but Mark and I are planning to get in to DC late Friday night, and leave around 4 on Sunday afternoon. So we won't really have time for Friday activities, but we're assuming there will be something happening the rest of the time. I'm looking forward to it!

Also: Maggie, I hope you bring your family!

>89 qebo: I'm thinking:
Saturday, brunch in Old Town then bookstore browsing and walking around Old Town, then dinner, then maybe more walking around Old Town?
Sunday, whatever people want to do depending on when people are leaving. We can do brunch and go to bookstores in a different neighborhood or go to museums. Everything will be public-transit-accessible.

I have a trip this weekend but once I get back Sunday night all my attention can be on this.

Thanks, Zoe, I'll invite them! My daughter will likely still be at college. We'll see who's up for Old Town.

>92 norabelle414: Earliest I can get to DC is 11:30am Saturday, so I'll meet you all at brunch or whatever is next. Expecting to stay overnight, so I'd be there for brunch on Sunday anyway. I'll get myself more organized this weekend.

I'm arriving in DC on Friday night and staying at my sisters. I don't have the time for the Sunday flight in front of me, but it's later in the afternoon/evening so that I could stay for most if not all of what's planned.

Sorry Nora, I'm out this year too. I'm working two jobs right now and I'm so new that I can't ask for time off. I'm actually working that day. I swear I will get up there this year and we can go to Nandos!

I'm out for Friday night , but probably in for Saturday and Sunday...However, I'm not getting up early either day. :)

We're in for Saturday!

OK, train reservation set: arrive 11:30 Saturday, depart 4:25 Sunday.

Does 10:30 work for Saturday brunch for those who are planning to join?

I suggest Bittersweet, unless someone else has a better suggestion. (http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/7/100620/restaurant/DC/Old-Town-Alexandria/Bittersweet-Alexandria). It's at 823 King Street.

It's really easy to get to but I'll plan to be at the King Street Metro station 20 minutes before the meet-up to walk with anyone who is going that way.

Then we can head to the Book Bank (1510 King Street) at 12:30.

_____________________________________________

Does anyone need a place to stay or help with transportation?

Weather forecast for this weekend:

Saturday: high of 69, low of 53, 20% chance of rain

Sunday: high of 70, low of 49, 20% chance of rain

>100 norabelle414: I'll probably get to Alexandria before 12:30, but if not I'll go directly to the book store. I have your phone # from a previous meetup (PM me if it's changed). I won't call unless something goes drastically wrong with the train schedule. Otherwise, assume I know my way around well enough and I'll meet you all when I can.

Thanks, Nora! Sounds good.

>102 qebo: My phone number is the same and I have yours unless it has changed. Thanks for reminding me! Also, there is a free trolley that runs the length of King Street (from the Metro/train station to the waterfront) from 11:30am to 10:30pm, if you're interested. You can't miss it - it's the one that looks like an actual trolley.

______________________________________________

Anyone who doesn't already have my cell phone number, let me know if you would like it!!

>104 norabelle414: Mine's been the same for years.

Have fun!

>100 norabelle414: That sounds good to me!

I saw some pictures of Alexandria flooded today, but I assume that will pass....

We're in for brunch. I'll check with mrsdrneutron to see whether she'd rather ride the Metro or drive - Metro's likely.

>107 _Zoe_: Erm....... The flooding is down by the water and brunch and the bookstore are significantly inland. It might affect our walking around Old Town as I was especially going to show off the waterfront area. It might be drained by then but we can play it by ear.

If anyone is interested, Sunday is the 4th Annual Literary Hill Bookfest - a book festival just for authors who live in or write about Capitol Hill. It's at Eastern Market from 11 to 4. Here are the details: http://www.literaryhillbookfest.org/

:seething with jealousy:

Y'all have fun now, y'hear!

:seething with jealousy:

>110 norabelle414: I looked over the author list and I don't think I know of any of them. Are you familiar with some?

Btw, my brother-in-law will be coming to brunch today and my sister will be along for the rest of the day.

>112 bell7: I know a few of the authors who are local newspaper columnists, and I also went to see a talk given by Stephen H. Grant a couple weeks ago. He wrote a book about Henry Folger who started the Folger Shakespeare Library.

>113 norabelle414: oooh I think I did see something about that book. It sounds interesting :)

I've cataloged the books I got with you guys today. Unfortunately, I don't think LibraryThing lets me catalog the comic books I got at free comic book day. Anyone else get free comic books?

>115 WildMaggie: If they won't come up in search you can manually add them! I definitely plan to catalog mine. When I get around to it.

Pictures?

Oh, a bunch were taken. I'm sure they'll be popping up soon.

I expect most of the pictures will be up when Zoe gets home tomorrow night

Okay, I will try to be patient :-) Hope you all had a good time. The hubs is looking at some jobs opportunities in the DC area, so maybe I'll be able to join you one of these years!

So sorry I missed hanging out with yous guys yesterday. The day started too early and I was exhausted by noon, but the parade I helped with turned out great!

>121 gilroy:

We missed you! I hope to see you at the National Book festival meet-up. Glad your day was also good and the weather turned out to be perfect.

I got home about an hour ago, and I'm done in for the evening, but expect to get photos organized and uploaded within a couple days.

>123 qebo: Glad you got home okay! It was great to see you, as always.

>123 qebo: Glad you're home safely.

*waits for our other three distant travelers to check in*

We're home, but my brother arrived to visit at the same time, so no pictures tonight. Maybe tomorrow, or the next day....

Glad you're both home safely. Enjoy your visit with your brother!

Got home late last night, but I'm at work and functional if still a bit tired! I have to figure out how to get the pictures off my phone, but with help from my sister or a friend I think I should manage to be able to post them soon.

>128 bell7: Glad you're safely back home.

Looking forward to seeing everyone again at the end of the summer.

Has anyone started a thread for the September ... I mean August... meet up? :)

>130 gilroy: Nope . . . . go for it!

Saturday in Alexandria. I arrived after brunch and met everyone else at the Book Bank. Then a kid book store. Then a comic book store because it was Free Comic Book Day; SqueakyChu and I got free comic books for our Little Free Libraries. Then a coffee/snack stop.

Some people went elsewhere to get humongous ice cream cones.


The book haul, so far.





Then walking around.

Another cute Zoe and Mark photo.


What to do while lounging outside in beautiful weather?






SqueakyChu looking for birds.


Then more walking, through an old railroad tunnel.


Reading everywhere.


Sunday in DC. We met at Eastern Market. Where there happened to be a book festival of local authors.

This couple publishes one book per year.


Another book store. It may be a bit overcrowded.

My pics are pretty much the same, but here are a few I can add...


Our excellent tour guide


Another birder

Some birds we actually saw (beside house sparrows and starlings)...


Canada Geese


Mallard Duck - male


Mallard Duck - female

Awesome pictures, everyone! Looks like you all had a fantastic time!

>132 qebo: I put the free comics (5 of them) in my Little Free Library as soon as I got home. They were all taken in less than 24 hours!

>135 SqueakyChu: I'm not surprised. I haven't put mine out yet; the bag o' stuff is still sitting on the dining room table.

Great pics! We had *such* a good time.

So envious!!! Greener than Mr. Mallard's head with envy.