A Madison gathering!

Beth... Beth... you MUST go to the farmer's market. It's a bit latish in the season, but it's the king of farmer's markets. You'll love it.

Saturday morning farmer's market. That might be a nice addition to a road trip.

OK ... I figure I'll stick myself in the Madison vicinity on the evening of Thursday the 9th, and plan to drive back up to Timberland Sunday afternoon the 12th. That RedRoof is a possibility, but there are other options. The 151 Mile Marker exit on 90/94 is swarming with possibilities, and there are also a couple nice campgrounds nearby ... still thinkin' mebbe I'll bring a tent, or maybe my camper trailer. and campgrounds are pleasantly quiet "Off Season". I'll sort things out and update as appropriate here on this thread. Oh Boy! I'm excited!

so you'll be there the week before i am? !

Gee, that was stupid of me ... that's why I figure its a good idea to work it out here first.

I'll correct that ... there's plenty of time to make sure we coincide temporally and geographically. I'll be there the evening of the 16th, and I'll let ya all know here when I figure out exactly where I'll be ... and to work out getting together at some prearranged place and time.

Hey, folks, Don't forget to invite ChicagoJoe. He's one of the new guys with a head on his shoulders.

Hey, Soz ... hope ya don't mind ... I put an update tag on this topic's title, sorta redirecting to Madison.

Um. Kinda would have preferred that you'd asked first. S'OK.

Good point, c.i.

OK, Beth, it looks like you're really really going to do this!! (11 hours!!) I'm so excited! If Craven comes, too, this'll be amazing. (Has anyone actually met Craven yet?)

So that means we're talking about:

Friday, October 17th, 2003
A2K Gathering in Madison, WI!
6-ish?
Monty's Blue Plate Diner?
http://www.foodfightinc.com/mbpd.asp

(Monty's might be too small.)

-and-

Saturday, October 18th, 2003
Guided tour to the Farmer's Market available, courtesy of sozobe
Somewhere between 9:00 AM and noon

(Farmer's market is 6:30 AM to 2:00 PM.)

http://www.madisonfarmersmarket.com

The group so far:

-patiodog
-patiogal(?)
-timber
-Mrs. timber(?)
-ehBeth
-Swimpy
-Mr. Swimpy (?)
-sozobe
-E.G. (?)
-sozlet (?)*
-Craven?
-Joefromchicago? (will send a PM)

*E.G. will probably hang out elsewhere with the sozlet and then bring her by for introductions at some point -- she'll be with me for the farmer's market.

Restaurant suggestions welcomed.

IMPORTANT NOTE -- E.G. and I have agreed that it would be great to go to Madison but we don't yet know if we can do it that weekend. I'll talk to him tonight.

The Madison Super 8 allows pets in smoking rooms for an additional $10/day. http://www.the.super8.com/madison03354 Super 8 is how we got across the vast waste of the country, though smoking rooms kinda, you know, stink...

And if you've got dogs that are going to be going crazy at this point -- or who might be iffy at a Farmer's Market (mine would be) at this point -- there are a number of good dog parks around that hopefully won't be too boggy yet (though I haven't been in this town in October, or most other months, yet)...

(my input on restaurants at this point is moot as I am still eating Top Ramen until my loan check comes through...)

don't forget Setanta!

if the doggies are along, we'll probably take turns tending to them on Saturday.

no extra charge for dogs at the Red Roof - and I'm almost at the 1 free night point on my Red Card. <sigh> I miss Martin Mull as their spokesmodel.

Setanta might come too!?

Ohboyohboyohboy...

This is gettin' GOOD!

Thanks for bumping me from the party, Soz. Oh well, I'm used to it. I'll just erase the calendar. I guess I can just walk around that weekend. A little stroll in the country never hurt anyone.

Ack, Gus!

I am very very very impaired in the sensing-irony-from-Guswards department... if you really are in the vicinity (or not... see ehBeth) and wanna come, would love to meet you!

gusta, GO! That's an order, and don't let anybody give you a hard time, or they'll be answerable to me. Besides, you'll love it; there hasn't been one A2K Gathering that people has not raved about, and I guarantee this is going to be another show-stopper!

I can hardly stop jumping up and down! Friday, the 17th will work for me.

Soz, I think you're right. Monty's is pretty small.

10 hours and 41 minutes from my house to Monty's - though don't think booths would work well. I know when we did adjoining booths in Tucson, it wasn't the best for talking. Then again, we're going to eat, not talk, right?

The Blue Plate (which is what I usually call it, actually, not Monty's, lil brain fart) has individual tables, too, that can be squooshed together. Still, I thought we were talking about something like 6 people when we first started planning, and this is getting BIG!

I'll think about something larger. My info is 6 years out of date (gasp) so may be leaning on patiodog for something more current. But seems like most of my old faves are still around.

Right, ehBeth, it's all about the grub.