Daily Kos meetups are one of my favorite things about this community. Meeting with members in person has deepened my connection to Daily Kos, and I've made many friends talking politics over brunch and happy hour.
Some of you may remember my initial information & interest diary from back in early August. Also, if you frequent the New Day diary series, you'll see it has been posted each day.
Our Philly/NJ/NYC Mega Meetup is this upcoming Sunday, October 20th!
If this is the first time you are hearing about this planned Mega Meetup, follow below the fold for the details.
For logistical purposes, a MEGA meetup location for Philly/NJ/NYC people has to be equidistant from Philadelphia and NYC, easily accessible by public transportation, and big enough to host a potentially large group of people. After some discussions with sidnora and belinda ridgewood, and using my own knowledge, I think we've found the perfect spot. Here's the details:
Where: New Brunswick, NJ. A bar/restaurant called Stuff Yer Face.
When: Sunday, October 20th. 12:00pm - 4:00pm (guaranteed room upstairs for first two hours, shouldn't be a problem staying extra especially if we keep ordering food/drinks)
Who: Any and all local (or traveling!) Kossacks who want to get together over "Boli's and Beer!"
Important Update - Please Read! Especially #3
There are three things of note:
1) Everyone in attendance needs to order something off the menu. I said this likely won't be a problem (since all the Philly and NYC events have pretty much everyone ordering some food), but just a fair warning to attendees. They said that if a few people are just ordering drinks it's probably ok, but to be safe we should all come with an empty stomach. The boli's are amazing, so this is the easy part. :)
2) They will only guarantee the room upstairs for 2 hours. So we'll make that 12:00-2:00pm. I've been to Stuff on Sundays and most people are in the bottom room with all the TVs for NFL games, but another fair warning here. As long as it's not too busy and we're ordering food, we should be able to stay up there to 4-5pm, but have to see how many people are in the restaurant.
3) - most important thing: For this large a group, they will only take cash or one credit card. So have cash available and potentially be ready to cover for some of your friends. There is an ATM on site. Even though I love you all, I do not want to be in the position of having to cover people that leave early with a big credit card bill or cash. So bring cash, and small bills too to break things up easily.
Why Stuff Yer Face? First, it's a fantastic restaurant of Rutgers University fame. Second, Food Network star chef Mario Batali had his first cooking job at Stuff Yer Face many years ago. It's located in a college town, so there are certain idiosyncrasies that come along with that, but by going on a Sunday afternoon we should be able to avoid this type of crowd (trust me, as someone who went to Rutgers University for undergrad, we're too hungover to be up that early on a Sunday!). Third, they have 75 beers. And last, it's really easy to get to via public transportation (or otherwise).
Public Transportation Directions:
From Philadelphia: From 30th Street Station (or Suburban or Market East for Center City residents), take the SEPTA R7 Trenton regional rail line to Trenton. Switch to the NJ Transit North East Corridor line and go to New Brunswick. Sunday SEPTA R7 trains leave every hour on Sundays from 30th St. Station. Total travel time on train is about 95 minutes (does not count time needed to get to 30th St. Station).
I will be taking the 9:49am R7 at 30th Street Station. This will arrive in New Brunswick at 11:29am. It's a little early, but the next one arrives at 12:29pm and I want to be there by noon. Trains back to Philly leave New Brunswick on the elevens each hour.
From NYC: From NY Penn Station, take the NJ Transit Northeast Corridor line to New Brunswick, NJ. Trains leave every hour in the morning and every 30 minutes in the afternoon. Total travel time on train is about 55 minutes (does not count time needed to get to NY Penn Station). You can leave Penn Station at 11:14am and get to New Brunswick at 12:11pm. Trains leave NYC every hour.
From the New Brunswick, NJ train station, Stuff Yer Face is a quick five minute walk away.
If you need a ride or are willing to provide rides, please announce that in the diary. I believe we have some Kossacks in both categories, but since I forget I won't list names in case I have forgotten incorrectly. Basically, just talk out the details in the diary.
Also, if you plan to drive, take a look at the New Brunswick Parking Authority website for parking lots. The closest public lot is the Gateway Garage (which is in the huge 30 story building by the train station, called The Vue. You can't miss it). It's $10 for 4-5 hours. You could try to find street parking as well, but you may have to drive around. Beware of Rutgers Parking lots, only cars with a Rutgers Parking Pass can park there. They WILL ticket you on weekends.
Here's our current RSVP list:
RSVPs:
1. mconvente
2. belinda ridgewood
3. thankgodforairamerica
4. gchaucer2
5. sidnora
6. rubyr
7. mattc129
8. hayden
9. mallyroyal
10. Avilyn
11. blue jersey mom
12. ericlewis0
13. Rogneid + husband
14. aoeu
15. kathny
16. isabelle hayes + husband
Maybees:
aravir and son
ask
Cinnamon
No Exit
andgarden
asterkitty
pfiore8
joanneleon
renzo capetti
MRA NY
agkhalil123
Christin + S.O.
Lastly, I want to mention two things.
One - the reserved space is on the second floor, and there is only a staircase. I forgot to mention this much earlier, and I apologize for this. Hopefully this won't be problematic, but we'll try and accommodate if it's an issue.
And two - if you don't want any photos of you taken at the meetup, plus let us know when you arrive. That is totally cool, we just need to know to make sure we don't get you in a picture by accident.
Hope to see you all there!