Washington DC Spring 2012 meet-up

There is a Wiki for this meet-up here.

Saturday, June 9, 2012 (Main meet-up day)

1. 10AM - Brunch and introductions at Le Pain Quotidien (7th St and Pennsylvania Ave, SE) (Eastern Market Metro Station)
2. 11:30AM - Book shopping at Capitol Hill Books
3. noon - Exploring at Eastern Market
4. 1:30PM - Library of Congress public tour
5. 3PM - Folger Shakespeare Library
6. 4:30PM - shopping/exploring at Union Station
7. 6PM - Dinner in chinatown
8. 8:30PM - books/drinks/dessert at Busboys & Poets

Sunday, June 10, 2012 (Optional day for anyone who is staying in town more than one day)

1. ?

This meet-up is in the planning stages. This first post will be updated with relevant information when decisions are made.

See below for discussions.

First order of business: Date.
A weekend in (late March?) April, May, or early June. That gives us:

31 March
7 April
14 April
21 April
28 April
5 May
12 May
19 May
26 May
2 June
9 June

(Bold dates are the current best dates)

Second order of business: Entertainment.
I think the plan is to stick to the east side of DC this time. So our options are:

Eastern Market
Capitol Hill Books
Liber Antiquus
Library of Congress (tour?)
Folger Shakespeare Library
US Capitol (tour?)
Barnes & Noble at Union Station
Busboys and Poets

3rd: Food. To discuss later.

First things first. The warmer, the better! March is too cold to be out and about in DC.

Not good for me:
31 March - too cold
14 April - Passover - won't be able to eat anything with leaven (i.e. anything good)
21 April - the weekend of the Kensington book festival. I chair that event.
May 26 - I have tickets for a film festival that day.

Good for me:
2 June
6 June

Entertainment:
All are good

Food:
You pick. I'll eat. I'm not hard to please.

won't be able to eat anything with leaven (i.e. anything good)

Flourless chocolate cake?

Flourless chocolate cake?

Do they even sell that at DC's finest restaurants? :)

I have to admit that I've never had a flourless chocolate cake that I've particularly enjoyed.

I'd love to try make it to the DC meet up and the June dates work best for me.

I'm very easy with food.

Caroline, that would be so much fun to meet you! I hope you can make it down to DC.

Early June would be good if you plan to stay for more than just the weekend as school still does not let out until mid June (I believe).

Flourless chocolate cake is very vogue right now, actually. With chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream.

April 12-15 is the antiquarian bookfair in New York, so I think we should save April 14 for a meetup there.

9: I was just about to cross-post with you. Yes, I would prefer not to have a schedule conflict.

> 8

In my house, flourless chocolate cake has been in vogue for decades.

May or June works for me. I've got tickets to A Prairie Home Companion on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, but if that's best for folks I'll work something out. Although, I'm not sure I want to be anywhere near DC on a holiday weekend in the Spring! :)

I love the idea of an east side excursion. LoC tour has been on my list o' things to do for some time now. THe Folger would be a nice complement. And, of course, a bookshop stop of some kind.

As for food, I'm very flexible.

Mrsdrneutron will almost certainly be joining us too.

>9 _Zoe_:,10 Got it

My only concern about June is that I think the later we have this meet-up, the less likely people will be to travel to DC for the National Book Festival. (Maybe that's just my crazy logic.) I don't want the two to seem close together so people feel they have to choose one or the other.

So now we are down to:
5 May
12 May
2 June
9 June
(Maybe 31 March if necessary . . . I don't think it will be that cold)

I also have noted in my calendar that April 28 is "AAUW booksale in PA--LT meetup", but I don't know any details about this or whether it's actually going to happen. Linda had mentioned it last April. If it does end up taking place, we might want to avoid May 5, to avoid having meetups on two consecutive weekends.

I think June and September are far enough apart! I wouldn't worry about any conflicts there. If my California plans ended up falling through, I wouldn't have any problem with going to DC in both June and September. But if both June dates turn out to be equally acceptable, we can always go with the earlier one.

I hope to participate in this one! I'm pretty flexible this far ahead, but will be out of town March 31.

Will May be too late for the Cherry Blossoms? I think last year we worked our way through the trees in early April. It was chilly, but not bad.

Otherwise, I'm open to trying any of these. (Just hope my company can afford to give us a bonus so I can book shop!)

May will be too late for the cherry blossoms, they bloom in the first week of April. The street festival lasts from 20 March to 27 April (it is extra-long this year because it is the centennial anniversary of the gift of the trees).

Ah, that might give us another reason to avoid March and April. (Though I might still try to catch the blossoms again this year.)

I'm watching this one - I may be able to participate this year.

I am happy to be participating in a meet-up this year! As far as I know now, both June dates work equally well for me unless something should come up between then and now. (Like, employment.) I'm not familiar with DC at all, but the Library of Congress is something I'd really like to do. I found the tour website here: http://www.loc.gov/visit/tours/

Everything else you listed looked fun and I am not too picky of an eater.

BEA is 4-7 June in 2012, if that makes a difference for scheduling.

One more question...does everyone meet for one day or the weekend or...? I'll most likely be driving up.

> 22

What is BEA?

Book Expo America (big publishing conference in NYC)

>22 jbd1: Would that make you (or anyone else from LT HQ) less available on the 2nd or the 9th of June?

>23 RosyLibrarian: For the DC meet-up last May, people stayed just one day. For the September National Book Festival, they stayed overnight because the festival was 2 days. It probably depends on what other people from out of town (Zoe, qebo, etc.) are doing. If you want to stay an additional day I'd be more than happy to suggest some things to see and/or show you around :-)

26: Google tells me it is a 9 hour drive so I would most likely want to stay 2 days just to make it worth the trip. If you're available to show me around an extra day that would be great! If not, suggestions are welcome too.

>26 norabelle414: - I probably wouldn't be able to do the 2nd, but will try to be there whenever something's settled :-)

Proposal: 12 May

Is there anyone who definitely (or maybe) would not be able to make it on 12 May?

Maybe not for me. It's probably too close to my son's wedding. If I don't catch you this spring, I'll catch you all in the fall.

Would May 5 be better, Madeline?

Also, are you going to be in New York for the antiquarian bookfair, Jeremy?

And is there any point in trying to organize a New York meetup around BEA, or is it just too hectic for the people who have a reason to be there and too inaccessible/expensive for the people who don't have a reason to be there?

Maybe we'll end up with 3 or 4 spring meetups ;)

>31 _Zoe_: - I'm hoping to get down for the book fair, definitely. BEA tends to be pretty busy, unfortunately, but the book fair would be a good weekend if folks are around ...

Okay, let's stick with the book fair weekend for that. I'm certainly around, and hopefully other people can arrange to be around as well. I'll start a new thread.

Here's a thread for the New York meetup, so I won't derail this one anymore.

Note that everyone living in the area is expected to attend both ;)

> 31

Would May 5 be better, Madeline?

Truthfully, I don't want to promise for May because I've never had to deal with a son's wedding before. Something tells me that my weekends will be hectic at that time, and I work during the week.

I would be interested in early May. I'm planning on taking my wife to see The Taming of Shrew around that time at the Folger.

I'll be in town from Saudi in early May for training- would love to be able to join if possible.

May 5-6 is the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in DC; mom and sis will be participating and I hope to as well if I can get any training done over here...

I would love to attend a DC meet up, but sadly ther is one thing that will
probably keep me from being able to attend. I think I would like to watch this
thread though... just in case...

Proposal: 9 June

Would this be better for everyone?

June would be better for me because school should be out by then, but if I planned accordingly then May would be just as good too. (I know, that doesn't really help at all, ha ha.)

June would be marginally better to give me more time to get the Friday/Saturday off from work.

Also, everything on your list of possible places to visit looks great, Nora. I'd be especially interested in the Library of Congress and Folger Shakespeare library.

I'm remaining quiet because so far all dates in May and the first half of June are equally good for me.

42: Ditto.

I'm really new here, but this sounds really fun. I would love to go to the Library of Congress. I will probably spend the day before or after checking out dinos or the Textile Museum.

43: ditto.

4, etc> I make a buche de Noel (Yule log cake) with a flourless chocolate cake and whipped cream filling. Yum (it's from Rose Levy Berenbaum's Cake Bible.

Wahhh! I wish I was on the East Coast. I wanna come! (not happening, unless I manage to win the lottery in the next couple months...)

I live in DC and would love a meet-up. I can make almost any weekend work this far out. And I live on Capitol Hill/Eastern Market so I can give lots of suggestions.

I'd be more apt to attend a June meet-up.

It's lovely to see so that some new people will be joining us!

Just passing by to say that I'd be interested, but I'm travelling to Europe at the beginning of June, so could only consider a May date. Or March: it's not too cold, and the cherry blossom will be out by the end of the month.

(Don't plan around me, though: I'm a stay-at-home Dad and rarely get a chance to go in to DC unless it's taking the sproglets to the museums.)

#43 and 45 - Suddenly, I'm having a flash back to 1st grade with the smell of those fresh mimiographed worksheets...

As for the rest, pick a date, I'll see what I can do that doesn't conflict. :>

So 9 June 2012 is okay with almost everyone? Speak now or forever hold your peace. (or at least until our next meetup in September ;-)

I'll wave from Europe :-)

>52 MyopicBookworm: I hope you'll come to the National Book Festival in September! You can bring your kids, there's TONS of stuff for them there.

I may be able to attend. Added to Outlook.

51: As far as I know, good for me.

I won't be able to come in June - too close to my wife's due date. . .

> 46

I must check that out! I've made bûche de noël, but only with a genoise. As I have a friend who is gluten-intolerant, I'd love to be able to make one with flourless cake.

Thanks for the tip.

51: I'll be back in Saudi Arabia by then so I'll miss this one...

9 June works. Marking my calendar now...

Only request (which is probably a no brainer): Metro accessable?

Ok it looks like June 9 is our best bet. I'll update the first post now. Everyone save the date!

>59 gilroy: absolutely. Depending on where we start, the closest will be Eastern Market or Capitol South (both on the blue/orange line), but it will also be a walkable distance from Union Station (red line).

Awesome.

LoC is a high spot on my list right now, as is the Shakespear Library.
Union Station B&N could be fun.

I'm pretty open on the travel thing.

Craptastic, I almost forgot, that may be Relay for Life weekend... Might not have all day to play. :(

This is good for me. Thanks!

I would like to join a meet-up in DC - being retired means I'm pretty flexible on dates, and I'm only 60 miles away so, for now anyway, I'm in. Thanks for proposing this!

*mutters* Okay, got a confirmation. St Mary's County Relay for Life is Saturday June 9 at 7 pm. :/ So I get the early day to wear myself out, before I have to go walk laps on a track all night.

I'll work something out! I swear!

OK, June 9. Noted!

So, is this just a one-day meetup?

Let's call it a one-day mandatory meet-up, with a second optional day ;-)

Marie (mbellerose) is staying more than one day, and I'll be showing her around, and you (and anyone else) should join us. We can do Dupont Circle again, or museums, or something.

Sounds good to me!

Circled on my calender!

I think this is going to be the biggest and best meetup yet.

I doubt that I'll be able to make it. I have a conference in West Palm Beach the following week and will possibly have to fly out on Saturday to get decent airfare. I would have loved to have tried that Megabus that offers the cheap rates to D.C. I couldn't possibly drive there for the price that their fare is, and I'd be able to read or sleep. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to do one of the distant meet-ups.

Darn, I was hoping to be able to make it, but have graduation out-of town for one of my nieces.

I should be able to join on June 9. I will add it to the calendar. I have not been to LoC since 1997 when I very first moved here. I have an LoC library card somewhere. Will have to search for that. Shakes Library would be good. I have not been there. There also is the old second-hand bookstore in Eastern Market that is good but we may not be able to fit everyone in there.

We could do LoC, then lunch at American Indian Museum or somewhere near the F. Shakes Library, then F. Shakes Library then the downtown B&N (I think this one is closer to F. Shakes).

Looking into flights...

Nora, I may need your help navigating the metro. Any tips? :)

I am the Metro master of the universe. No worries! Where are you staying?

Here is the Metro website for anyone who needs it.

Metro Tip #1: Do Not get a "one-day pass". They only save you money if you make at least 4 trips in one day.

Metro Tip#2: I personally recommend getting a SmarTrip card (a commuter card, as opposed to the usual paper card). It costs $5, but has many, many advantages. You can buy them at DC-area CVS or Giant stores, or online here (You can for some reason still buy ones from the inauguration, if you want to pretend you were here 3 years ago.)

>75 norabelle414: Not quite sure yet, but I'm hoping to talk my sister into putting me up - I'll PM you with more specifics when I have them.

I can't guarantee, but would love to try to join the crowd. I have relatives in the area, so will be staying in Northern VA, but Metro works just fine. I'll stay tuned in.

I've made a Wiki for this meet-up. There's no urgency to put yourself on the list yet, it's just a way for us to keep organized (and so other people can update it when I'm not around).

June 9 is for the moment perfect for me. I've written it down in my calendar and will try to schedule all work commitments around that if possible. :-)

I've done a preliminary check on tours of the Library of Congress. If we have more than 10 people going (which does not look like it will be a problem), we can schedule a private tour. If we have less than 10, we can hop on one of the public tours. The general public or private tours are only of the Jefferson Building.

Since everyone seems very interested in this, I will add it to the agenda as confirmed. Private tours need to be schedule at least 3 weeks in advance so I will do that in the last week of April.

What time are things getting started on the Saturday morning? It's about time to book bus or train tickets.

well, earlier is better for Eastern Market. It gets CRAZY later in the morning. I would lean towards 9am, but other people probably want it to be later, if it's not as easy for them to get downtown.

Hmm, I guess I may just have to miss the very first activity. I don't even see any trains leaving New York before 6:45 (arriving 10:13), and I'm not sure I'd want to catch an earlier one even if I could....

But that does resolve the question of which train I should catch, anyway.

I checked Capitol Hill books' website and it says they don't open until 11:30, (though I swear I've been there at 11 . . . )so 10am for brunch should be plenty early, even accounting for people who can't make it until a little later.

Just let me know when, I'll try to be there. I just have to remember the travel time. :>

>85 gilroy: I'll try to stick with a set schedule to help out the late people, and also let everyone have my cell phone number so they can just call and find out where we are.

Is everyone okay with the following:

10am - meet for brunch and introductions at Le Pain Quotidien (7th and Penn, SE).
- explore at Eastern Market (7th and C, SE)
- book shopping at Capitol Hill books (7th and C, SE)
1:30pm - tour of Library of Congress (1st and Independence, SE)

>86 norabelle414: Sounds good to me - I'm really looking forward to it!

Earliest I can get to Union Station is 11:30, so I'll find you.

>86 norabelle414: Oh forgot to ask... did it look like we could fit in a visit to the Folger Shakespeare Library?

yep, the FSL is open from 10-5 on Saturdays, and it is right behind the LoC. Tours are on Saturday at 11am and 1pm, so I don't think we'll be able to take one. However, the building will be open and we can go to the exhibit, which will be maps of London 1500-1700. There is a 2pm performance in the theatre so we definitely will not be able to look around in there.

oh wow, I didn't know they had performances and things. I'd love to go in to the exhibit, though. :)

If you want to drop some significant dough we could go to a performance on June 10th ;-)

>92 norabelle414: Hmmm....I will think about that. Is it generally sold out if you don't buy them way in advance?

Nice! Count us in!

>93 bell7: I really don't know. Early in the season tickets go really quickly, but June 10th is the very last day of performance, so I have no idea.

Oh goodness, this is getting elaborate, isn't it!

The play is The Taming of the Shrew. Performances at 8pm on June 9th, 2pm and 7pm on June 10th. Price range is $47 to $65. Details here: http://www.folger.edu/wosummary.cfm?woid=678

Also, groups of 10 or more get a 15%-20% discount.

I'll have to check with mrsdrneutron on the play, but we're in for the rest.

>96 norabelle414: My sister looked at it and said that there's also a student discount, 50% if you buy a ticket an hour beforehand. We're going to try to see if that 50% discount is only included as a student discount or if it's across the board.

Yeah, tickets are super cheap if you wait until right before the play starts, but a lot of times they are sold out at that point.

>99 norabelle414: Yeah, that's what I was afraid of.

Am I reading that no plans have been made for dinner Sat evening? Are we planning to group it, or break up and go it individually? My daughter (another Clemson grad) who lives in Arlington may join us (I'll probably be staying with her) and I'd just like to clue her in on what's the plan.

We will definitely be doing dinner as a group Saturday evening. The only thing not decided is where we're eating, what we're eating, and who wants dessert :-)

*pout* Depending on when, I'll be departing the group before dinner, because I have Relay for Life that day. Starts at 7pm. Gotta walk my laps. :>

Oh, I'd say dessert is unanimous! :)

Depending on where dinner is, I might be able to join the group for dinner. Since I can't do the walking bit, I have to decline the touring, but would love to meet if there's parking for the dinner venue.

If no plans have been made for Sunday, Linda (whisper1) and I are trying to plan a meetup in Columbia PA the home of the National Watch and Clock museum. It's about 2½ hours north of DC - halfway between Linda's home and mine. If others were interested in joining us there, we'd set our date for Sunday, I'm sure.
I'd be happy to share the ride if someone wanted to join us.

Hmm... I could almost walk to Columbia... But I may still be in DC...

So, if I'm reading all this correctly (catching up a bit on the message stream), it's June 9, 10am at Le Pain Quotidien to start to fun. At this point, I'm in. My wife may accompany, but for now, count on just one and I'll reconfirm. Looking forward to it!

>107 GaryCandelaria: I think we're going to aim for 10AM, actually. (Though I will likely be there at 9AM if anyone wants to come earlier.) I'll update the first message; thanks for reminding me. Look forward to seeing you there!

I would love to visit, not that I could afford to buy anything!

I voted "undecided" but happy-either-way would be more accurate. Although I might feel a bit guilty to impose on a business that opens by appointment when there's no chance that I could buy anything.

I'm definitely going to be able to make this meet up! I'm so excited!!! I'll probably fly in on Friday evening and leave Sunday. I'm not that familiar with the DC area, any hotel recommendations close to the meeting point?

Unfortunately, there are several other trips upcoming, so this one isn't going to fit into my schedule. BOO HISS....maybe another time. Or a New England/Boston meetup?

>111 cameling: The only hotel I know if that is walking distance to the meetup spot is Capitol Hill Suites. I don't have any experience with them at all. Your other options are (in the order I recommend them):
a) checking www.airbnb.com for rooms/houses for rent near Eastern Market,
b) staying somewhere near a blue or orange line Metro station,
c) staying somewhere near a different Metro line,
d) staying away from the Metro and taking a taxi,
e) staying away from the Metro and driving a car.

I am thinking that, in the interest of time, we will have to skip the tour of the US Capitol. My connection at the US Capitol Historical Society can only give tours to groups of 15 or less and this is looking like it's going to be more than that. So we would have to take a public tour and the waits for those can get very long in the summer.

I also think we will skip the visit to Liber Antiquus due to lack of interest.

I'm with you, Maggie, I think I would feel weird going there with no intention of buying anything.

Thanks for the suggestions, Nora. I may actually stay with a friend in Arlington and have her drop me off in the morning for brunch. If not, I'll look into hotels around the Metro lines.

I'm coming too, it looks like. Haven't yet figured out whether to crash with my own HS friend in Arlington, in which case he might want to come along & join in the fun, or to find a place in the district. I'll be staying until Tuesday morning, as there's a black tie thingummy on Monday night that I'm going to, so I'll prob have to find a place to stay in the district for at least Monday, mebbe Sunday.

Is anybody else interested in the Folger performance of "Shrew" on the Sunday?

>116 Chatterbox: I might be interested if there are still tickets left.

Jim and I are contemplating joining you folks. We'd be coming down by train, I think. Is anyone staying in a hotel or other paid accommodations? If so, would you let me know where?

It's just a maybe at this point.

I'm staying with my friend in Arlington, traveling down on Friday to arrive in the evening. Judy, if you guys want to plan to grab the same train, let me know.

Waiting on Jim to figure out if he needs to be in NYC that weekend. I'll let you know.

Attention

I need to get a rough estimate of how many people are planning on attending so I can schedule our tour of the Library of Congress. Please check the WIKI and add your name if you are probably going.

(The wiki is super easy to use, but if you need help/would like me to do it for you just let me know.)

Thanks!

I've just ordered my SmarTrip card and booked my train for the way there (Saturday morning, if anyone wants to join me). It turns out that I can actually arrive in time for the very start of the meetup, and the train was cheaper too... but I can't say I'm looking forward to getting to the station for 5:45! Hopefully I'll either manage to fall asleep at 8:00 pm the night before or go back to sleep once I'm on the train.

I'm going to return by cheaper and slower bus on Sunday, but I still have no idea what the timing of that day is like. When will things be ending?

We still don't know what we're doing Sunday, I don't think. There will be fewer people so we can probably make some decisions about that later when we know who will and will not be there.

Hey Nora, I'm already on the wiki but wanted to make sure you know that my sister and her boyfriend will also be coming to events on Saturday, at least - they want in on the LOC tour.

Great! I added "+2" after your name on the wiki

>125 norabelle414: well that works, doesn't it. :) Now I feel silly for not coming up with that solution.

Very much looking forward to this trip! I'll be leaving work a little early on Friday to make the flight down, and flying back up early Monday morning. Fortunately going to a library conference meant that I worked extra hours and had to average my time back down, so I'll be working for a few hours on Monday afternoon, but not my normal hours.

After much consideration and examination of planes, trains, etc., Jim and I have decided we can't make it to this meetup. &:(

But, Randy Metcalfe has announced that he will be in NYC the first week of June, and I've asked him if he'd like to meet up with any of us. I'll create a thread if he says yes.

And Jim and I would like to suggest a meetup in Philadelphia some time this year. We've been meaning to spend a long weekend there for some time, and we'd love to include our LT friends in the event.

After we know our schedule better, I'll post a suggestion for Phillie.

It turns out that the LOC does not offer private tours on Saturdays, so we will have to latch ourselves onto a public tour. Tour times are 10:30, 11:30, 1:30, and 2:30.

My train arrives in DC at 11:30, so I vote for an afternoon tour.

My SmarTrip card arrived a couple of days ago! I'm so glad that I won't have to deal with the incomprehensible machines in the stations.

I agree that an afternoon LoC tour would be better. It's weird that they don't offer private tours; you'd think that they wouldn't want a group of 20 people just going along with the public tour....

I still need to book my return ticket for Sunday, so I'm hoping to get some idea of what's happening that day.

I leave DC at 6:20pm on Sunday (the latest train possible), so I'm figuring on museums in the afternoon but haven't decided which. I've been hearing good things about the Newseum.

I was still thinking about doing the 1:30 tour of the LOC since that was the time we had planned for the private tour.

It might be worth figuring out from the LOC folks how far in advance we need to be there in order to be sure of getting on the tour... especially since it's a weekend, and there undoubtedly will be tourists (like us!) interested, and we're a large group.

qebo, I was at the Newseum last time I was there -- I would say it's absolutely fab for people who aren't in the news business. (Oddly enough, when I was there, I met two former colleagues that I had worked with on different newspapers, so I suppose we all gravitate there anyway...)

I put this on my calendar, but I don't know if I'll be attending yet. A lot will depend on the weather. I don't do well when it's 90+ degrees out. :)

Bring a parasol!

Unfortunately, mrsdrneutron won't be able to make it, but I'm still in!

Aw, we'll miss her!

Weather forecast for Saturday:
partly cloudy, high of 84, low of 70
10% chance of rain
humidity: 44% (fairly low for this time of year)

Please send me a PM if you would like my cell phone number to be able to contact the group (if you're going to be late or you get lost easily or whatever)

So, what needs to be done, packed, etc. in preparation for this trip? If I have 8 hours of travel time, how many books do I need, given that I'll be carrying them around with me both days?

Nora, is your cell number the same as before?

140: You aren't going to acquire any books in DC?

>141 qebo: I like to think not. I only acquired a couple last time I was there. (We won't talk about Boston for now.) I'm already facing a huge space crunch when it comes to moving around for the summer and fall, so acquiring more stuff at the moment really doesn't seem like a good idea.

142: Well, there's always the transitory option of SqueakyChu's BookCrossing books...

Yes, but the two I acquired last time were BookCrossing books, and I still haven't managed to read those either.... Sigh.

> 144

Yes, but the two I acquired last time were BookCrossing books, and I still haven't managed to read those either.... Sigh.

I have lots more really good BookCrossing books available for you both this time as well! :)

Checklist item: padlock for bag.

:(

Something I just thought of that I probably should have mentioned before: the Library of Congress has strict security. You don't have to show ID or anything, but you can't bring in any food or liquids of any kind. That includes everything from water bottles and sunscreen to shampoo, conditioner, contact solution, etc.

I'm not sure what we can do about this for people the people who are arriving in DC right before the meetup and staying overnight Saturday night. I'll think of something if it looks like it's going to be a problem.

Hmm, that would be annoying, but I'd think not an unanticipated occurrence considering the ample supply of tourists in Washington DC. The web site appears less strict: http://www.loc.gov/visit/guidelines/. Also there is a cloakroom.

Ah, I didn't know there was a cloakroom. That solves that problem. Thanks Katherine!

Weather update: Mostly sunny skies. Hot. High 91F, 0% chance of rain

Leaving work a little early this afternoon to make my flight down. I'm getting really excited about this!

Yay, I'm excited too!

Have a wonderful time, all of you. Sorry I couldn't be there.

So who else is bringing a camera besides me? :>

With deepest regret, I have to bow out of this sterling event. Uncontrollable personal circumstances (which I had hoped would resolve themselves) make it necessary. Have a wonderful time all! I do wish (sincerely) that I could join you.

So, it makes no sense to take the subway from Union Station to Eastern Market, right? I'm all prepared with my card, but it looks like it would require taking three different subway lines for a walk of just over a mile.

But I know Madeline has disapproved of my walking in the past, so I figure it's better to check ;)

There's a bus, if you'd prefer that. Your SmartTrip card works on the bus just like the metro. Plus, the area between Union Station and Eastern Market is very affluent (I think mostly office buildings); there will be no safety concerns at 10am. Let me look up the bus information for you.

I walked from Union Station to the National Book Festival last year.

>159 qebo: So did I, and I arrived a bit later than intended.... ;)

Looking at the schedule, I may have to duck out before the Shakespearean library (which I was looking forward to!)

Relay for Life is kinda stealing me away...

Zoe/Katherine, get a SamrtTrip card for the Metro as we're going to be using the Metro for travelling all weekend. You can reload it whenever you want (and even online).

If it's going to be 91 degrees, you're not going to want to walk great distances...

1) It's a very pleasant walk from Union Station to Eastern Market, though it will be hot.
2) It is a very easy, short, cheap cab ride.
3) Google maps says you can take the 92 bus or the 96 bus. http://goo.gl/maps/VzoK
4) Do not take the Metro; it will take 40 minutes and cost almost as much as the cab.

If it was me I would probably take a cab.

To get to my house, we'll need to take the Metro, though.

Yes. I think we will probably end the evening near the red line so it should be breezy for you and other people staying on the red line to get home :-)

Nora, could you post a tentive time schedule for the various activities so those of use who are trying to catch up with you at various times and days will know where to find you?

If you do it on the wiki, that would be nice.

Thanks!

There's another bus that runs from Union Station to Eastern Market: The Circulator (Union Station - Navy Yard route) - http://www.dccirculator.com/Home/BusRoutesandSchedules/UnionStationNavyYardviaCa...

I change my vote, I'd take that bus instead of the taxi. It's designed for tourists so it's very user-friendly, and it only costs a dollar.

>167 SqueakyChu: I've updated the first post with slightly more specific times for our activities. I'm not sure if I will be able to give an exact restaurant for dinner because I don't know how many people we will have, and the restaurants around Chinatown are going to be pretty busy on a Saturday night.

I'll update the Wiki with the same info.

Thanks for updating the schedule Nora. I am looking forward to the meet up and plan to be at brunch--but I am going to have to duck out at around noon to watch my daughter's final (as in last ever) rec soccer game and senior awards ceremony. I'll plan to head back for the Shakespeare Library.

I'm on the Acela! (which has wi-fi....) So will see you all tomorrow morning.

A few pictures from this weekend...

Pictured: norabelle414, _Zoe_, qebo, bell7 and her sister, chatterbox, drneutron, AnneDC
Not pictured: gilroy, wildmaggie, SqueakyChu

here's a picture of Zoe in "Canada" with a popsicle

Preview is showing a red X but I'm doing this from my work computer, so I don't know if it's working or not. :> If not, it's over in my gallery.

Here's the last group shot from before I left.
Had fun! Want to do this again.

Nice pics! I had a blast with everyone on Saturday. Let's do it again in the Fall for the National Book Fest!

I didn't take any photos on Saturday. These are from Sunday at the fountains. Front to back:

bell7, _Zoe_, little bits of norabelle414 and SqueakyChu


SqueakyChu, _Zoe_

The train that was scheduled to depart Washington DC at 6:20pm actually departed at 7:40pm. Never clear why from announcements but an online report says a broken power line on a bridge. Then another mysterious delay in Baltimore. Consequently, I arrived in Philadelphia 15 minutes after the last train to Lancaster had departed. Sometimes they hold the train. This time they did not. Seven people stumbled into Customer Service, and Amtrak put us on taxis to three destinations. Lancaster is 75 miles by highway from Philadelphia. Not the most pleasant of travel experiences, but I arrived home only a half hour or so later than I would have had everything gone smoothly. I just got less reading done.

Oh no! I'm glad everything worked out okay though . . .

Thanks for all the pictures, everyone! Madeline, I love how many times you caught me laughing. I'm slowly uploading my own pictures to LibraryThing, which really doesn't make the process easy. But eventually it will be nice if we tag them and then we can look through all of them together.

Gilroy, are you going to post your other pictures too?

Katherine, I'm sorry to hear about that terrible trip! It's always frustrating to travel by taxi at night and lose out on reading time. My trip was pretty uneventful, though I found myself unusually annoyed by the people around me after the previous day's lovely train ride in the quiet car.

Okay, you can now see all LT pictures tagged "DC Spring 2012" here. Currently there are only mine....

I've only got the one downloaded so far, Zoe. Just enough to tease.
I'm working on stitching together three from the Shakespeare Museum for a fun little image. But it's new software, so not used to it.

Will go back and tag what I have up there now.

179: I tagged mine.
180: I'm working on stitching together three from the Shakespeare Museum for a fun little image.
Excellent! Should be a classic.

#180, oh dear oh dear oh dear....

Ugh, Katherine, that sounds dreadful. Still, I'm glad you got home in a reasonably timely manner and didn't get stuck anywhere.

Hey Zoe, can I use your picture of the DC Public Library sign as the venue picture? I had to make a new venue for it because it wasn't in there, and I don't have any pictures of it.

Sure, you're welcome to use it!

Katherine I'm sorry to hear about your complicated trip home but I'm glad you got there. It was fun to see everyone in person and I will mark by calendar for the Book Festival.

Katherine, your delayed trip home sounds dreadful, but I'm glad you're home safely so you can begin more work in your garden with your handy-dandy wildflower book. I ordered my copy of that same book last night! :)

I added my pics to the ones tagged "DC Spring 2012". Enjoy!

I posted my pictures too. :)

Went back to the Library of Congress this eve for my black tie thing!! The awards presentation was in a theater tucked away in a corner that we didn't see -- the cocktail reception in the main entryway on the opposite side to where we were told we couldn't have a tour -- the dinner upstairs with tables around three of the four sides of the atrium, and then the performance in the main entryway where we came in. It was fab. Great food. Now I'm tired and trying to write; heading home tomorrow.

Love all the pictures and I'm glad everyone had a good time. I would have loved to have been there. Sigh, if only Nora had invited me...

:P

By the way, someone should write up a summary of the meetup as a whole, in case Jeremy wants to blog about it later. If anyone is looking for something to do....

If anyone is looking for something to do....

Um, yeah...Like I need something else to do. :)

It is a good idea, though. I wouldn't mind us showing up on the blog.

Stephen is a dirty liar. I invited him 12 million times.

>190 _Zoe_: I will happily fact-check, but I won't write it.

Nu uh! I believe your words were "You should think about coming to the DC meet-up" because you knew I wasn't invited and you wanted to torture me by making me think about it. THEN you messaged me the day before, because you knew I could never make it. Oh, I am so mistreated by the people of this website. No appreciation, and to think of all the things I do for you all, like organize your underwear drawers when you aren't looking. :_(

Why did she have to invite you?

ETA: that explains why my socks go missing. I thought it was my cats.

Everyone looks great and I'm glad a good time was had by all.
Health wise, I never would have been able to keep up with you.
Sure wish I could have, though. **sigh**

I could hardly keep up with me, Cheli! ;)

194: Well, I simply MUST be invited. You see, I'm a very, well, socially anxious person. Okay, I'm outright terrified of any social interaction whatsoever. You can imagine what would happen if I showed up uninvited. I would see the group from afar and instantly freeze in place. I would stand there, staring and thinking about how simple it would be to just walk up and say hi. After several minutes, I would turn around and run away screaming hysterically. The group, not knowing I was coming, would think I was just some random madman.

So, if Nora had actually invited me (She didn't! She might say she did, and she might say my social anxiety is the reason I didn't show up...but noooo!) I could have shown up, you see, and then when I turned around and screamed hysterically, someone could have chased me down, tackled me, and dragged me kicking and screaming to the meet-up.

You might think this post is absurd, you think to yourself "if you are so afraid of socializing then isn't THAT the reason you didn't go to the meet-up?" and question the logic of my explanation. Well, ummmmm, no. No no no. Definitely Nora's fault, it must be. =P

Oh please. Jim and I would tackle you and drag you kicking and screaming to the meetup even if I hadn't invited you. Which I did. Months ago.

Yup.

Is it sad that I understand exactly what he's talking about?

Though I would think a thread like this would equate to an open invite to any LT member...

He's just being difficult. Little does he know, the more he argues, the more likely I am to march myself to Ohio, find him, and drag him onto a bus for the next meetup in late September.

I'm already Googling for heavy chains to shackle myself to a tree with.

you need to use reverse psychology - just tell him he's not welcome in September and I bet he shows up! he.he...

So based on all this, should we start planning the fall meet up at the end of September?

Finally getting a chance to get on the site to thank Norabelle for organizing and also everybody for coming. It was a great meet-up! I was kind of torn about leaving early. Wish I could have been in two places. Did you finally get to the Folger?

We did! We were exhausted by that point so we sat down on some benches in the Folger and everyone pulled out a book and started to read! It was pretty funny.

And there should be photo evidence (see post 180).

I read about this first on June 12, I think. Totally missed it. Mind you - two friends got married that weekend, so I would have missed a lot. Bookstores, Library of Congress, Eastern Market enjoyed with LibraryThingers. Heaven. I go to Bus Boys & Poets in Hyattsville several times a month. I also enjoy Le Pain Quotidien. And I had to be oblivious... Naturally I am on vacation September 22-29. Perhaps next Spring I'll be able to participate.

Looks like you all had a great time. Seeing pictures of folks I already feel I know was awesome.

I'll do a more thorough picture upload this Monday.
Software is misbehaving, so I'm just going to upload as is.

ETA: Okay, finally remembered to bring the photo archive with me to work. (Dial up at home means one picture takes an age to load.) Added a few more fun pictures.