Northern VA/DC/Maryland OO Get together?

[The Meal]

Trivia nights tend to be conversation killers. Fun, but tough to connect with people and filled with interruptions and distraction.

Sorry to hear about the concussion. Hopefully you're not starting training camp on LTIR.

[pr0ner]

I do see your point about a trivia night not being good for conversation. I will reset the search.

TBD about how long the concussion will keep me out. Today the head feels worse than yesterday, so who knows. It's at least a week, as per the doc.

[pr0ner]

How would the Dogfish Head Alehouse in Falls Church work for those looking to attend?

I can vouch for most of the food on the menu - I've never eaten something there I haven't thoroughly enjoyed. And there are a few TVs in the bar area to keep a passing interest in the MNF game.

[MHS]

Works for me! So, we have a location and day, do we need reservations? We are pretty open on time, my training ends by 3:30 so we'll probably beat everyone else there.

[pr0ner]

Works for me! So, we have a location and day, do we need reservations? We are pretty open on time, my training ends by 3:30 so we'll probably beat everyone else there.

I don't believe we'd need reservations on a Monday there. At least I've never needed them for any size group when I've gone.

What time would work best for those who are attending?

[naednek]

I don't think I'd want to be in a trivia game with Neal.... I'd be seriously disadvantaged In fact, I think we all would be

That's all I have to say. I'm a bit too far away from DC....

[Default]

Unfortunately, l am out.

I have had some infection issues and have to stay close to home.

[Grundbegriff]

I think I'll have to withdraw. Falls Church is 1h40 away without traffic, and on a Monday after work... the Balty/Wash corridor's gonna have traffic.

Maybe next time!

[The Meal]

At the risk of upsetting the applecart, I wonder if there's not a more convenient location which would allow all who want to attend to attend? I don't know your area at all (this is my first trip) so I have no idea if this is a feasible outcome. I'm getting the impression that it may not be possible.

I'm also not the guy to generate alternative suggestions.

Get healthy Default. If the rest of the OOers don't screw this up, I could make a glorious return trip at some point in the future. MHS is out your way fairly frequently.

[Default]

This ain't the first rodeo I've had to bow out of this summer. :-/

Have fun. kids!

[pr0ner]

Yeah, the challenge with the area, as Grund said, is traffic. I nominated the place in Falls Church since I thought I had read that there were more people for whom that is more convenient, but perhaps that was a misreading.

There are places that would be more convenient to people living up near Baltimore plus the people in Virginia, such as Arundel Mills (lots of restaurants, and a casino, and closer to Grund) or Silver Spring (lots of restaurants), but the same issue that applied to Grund and Falls Church applies to those - rush hour traffic here is hideous. Arundel Mills would be doable for people in VA on a weekend. On a Monday evening, that can be close to a 90 minute drive. Silver Spring is closer, but being on the north side of DC, that would also mean traffic, or a crowded rush hour Metro ride that, right now, isn't reliable.

I could come up with some suggestions to go to in either area (the rest of the stretch between DC and Baltimore I don't know very well) if needed. But I understand that planning something like this on a weekday in the area is logistically difficult.

[Grundbegriff]

I think we just have to accept the harsh reality that Baltimore is both next to and half a day away from NOVA.

Stick with the plan that works for people close to Arlington. Participants will have a nicer time if they don't have to claw their way northward in rush hour traffic!

[Baroquen]

Yes, I make the Baltimore/DC commute daily. No fun to fight through it. I check the two main routes on the traffic site before I leave each morning, and hope one of the two isn't red.

Have fun at the get-together!

[The Meal]

Okay, original plan it is. Thanks for the updates, and we'll try to get closer to others next time around.

Thank you everyone for helping coordinate, and especially to pr0ner for making this happen! See you in a bit.

[pr0ner]

What time works best for you?

I've also just reached out to Freezer-TPF- on Facebook to see if he would be able to join us.

[The Meal]

MHS is done by 4pm, so we can meet at your convenience. Is 6pm to early? You tell us.

[pr0ner]

6 PM works for me, and Freezer-TPF- said that works for him, too, so he'll also be joining us.

If anyone else from the area was planning on joining, let us know!

[Tao]

According to Google Maps I should be there sometime between 5:30 PM and 7:45 PM Kidding aside 6:00 PM works for me as well, I plan to leave work between 4:30 and 5:00 PM so may be there a bit early. Look forward to seeing everyone.

[triggercut]

Ack, just realized that this is happening, like now. Work so busy I'm barely treading water.

And unfortunately, I have two client support sessions tonight at 7pm and customer swarm reaction group at 8:30. (We're bringing on two more people for our department in the next month, but client stuff has to be me.)

[The Meal]

We got together on Monday and it was a lot of fun. On the ride back home I lamented our lack of a photo. Was great seeing Tao again and meeting Freezer and pr0ner for the first time. They were kind enough to let a real life friend tag along (we found out it was his only night in town during our trip). The location was pretty nice as well, though I don't envy anyone driving around in the DC area. We happened to drive up to Baltimore twice during our time there (Tuesday for Maryland Live! and Wednesday to hang out with MHS's friend), and that's the stuff of nightmares.

Still plenty for me to do in the area on my next trip back. And getting around on the Metro was a piece of cake. Hopefully we can catch up with those we missed next time around.