July 1 - 4, 2005
Columbus, Ohio
Donate to the E2 Gathering Travel Assistance Fund
http://www.gnarfle.com/noder/
Why?
Let's face it, except for those wacky
english noders, gatherings have become a little stale. After a few years of looooong weekends and endless driving, I think many of us
old timers got a little worn out. And who can blame us? Well, we've had a nice rest, and
karma debt and I have realized that, hell, we miss our friends! We want to see
people again, so we're bucking the trend and hosting our very own gathering.
When?
4th of July Weekend baby
Where?
Beautiful Columbus, Ohio. Well, more accurately a West-side suburb of Columbus.
Mapquest/Mapblast/Yahoo maps all know how to get you there.
Who?
Primarily, there is a group of people we haven't seen in a while that we'd like to see. Most of you probably know who you are. But hey, we can make new friends too, so don't be discouraged from attending even if you are a complete stranger!
69 confirmed, 83 possible
Note to self: make sure homeowner's policy is up to date
Those who will almost certainly be there (now in alphabetical order!):
Andrew Aguecheek
Andromache01
Apatrix
Auron
avalyn
Bill Dauterive
borgette
borgo
brainwave
brassmule can give rides from the Charlotte, NC area
Braunbeck
BrooksMarlin
cahla
ccunning
Chris-O
Cletus the Foetus
dann
DataJunkie
dizzy
eien_meru
enth
evadyne
greth
gwenllian + 2
iconoplast
indigoe
Indra363 will be there 3 TIMES!
izubachi is back in
Jurph + Erica
karma debt
katyana
LadySun is renting a van from NYC, contact if interested
LaggedyAnne
Lucy-S
magicmanzach
mcc
Mitzi
mock style
ModernAngel
mordel
Myrkabah
NinjaPenguin - can give rides from boston area
nocte
panamaus
Pint
RoguePoet
ryanmm
Swap
swish girl
tandex
Templeton
thefez
Tiefling
Timeshredder
Transitional Man
Two Sheds (who probably only has one shed anyway)
Void_Ptr & Kendall
Walter
Wiccanpiper
witchiepoo
Wuukiee
Those who may make it, or need rides:
Albert Herring is contemplating attending if he can get wife approval
Augustine may be in the vicinity
Diabolic needs encouragement to come, msg him.
golFUR needs some west coast peeps to represent in tha carpool
Gorgonzola - Maybe
mcd
Wntrmute
What?
The tentative schedule, which is subject to change at any time, is as follows:
Friday, July 1
Noders who make it early enough (by 8 PM or so) can accompany us to the roof of my office bulding to experience Red, White & Boom. Not for those with a fear of heights. I figure I can take 20 people MAX, since technically I don't think I'm supposed to be on the roof and I have no idea how much it is rated to hold. Now, there are two roofs so I guess if we split up 40 could do it, but the back roof doesn't have as good of a view. Please note that this involves climbing a roughly 20 foot rusty ladder to the roof, but the roof itself has 4-5 ft walls all around so you will not be peering over an edge.
Those crazy enough to desire being surrounded by 500,000 people in a 4 block area could, of course, go downtown to view the fireworks, but you'd have to get there fairly early to find a spot (fireworks start at 10 pm).
During this time our house will be unlocked, so anyone who arrives while we are out can go on in. We will probably have a stock of burgers and weiners on hand for anyone who may arrive.
Saturday, July 2
Start off with a fine breakfast of huevos mexicanos courtesy of avalyn!
During the day, you can expect either hanging out, or possibly some exciting field trips such as a visit our fine Columbus Zoo, the overpriced COSI, or possibly a rollerblading excursion. Also expect to kill plenty of time with time honored gathering activities such as:
- random amateur guitar breaks (bring your instruments)
- speculating about who is hooking up with whom
- consumption of mass quantities of alcohol
- hanging out with the neighbors
- gaming and other fun (we have PS2 and GameCube)
- enjoy my collection of bad B Grade horror flicks
- setting things on fire with Jurph
- music hour, featuring tunes played on the outdoor speakers I have yet to install on the beautiful pergola we have yet to build
- the ever popular nap time
Lunch on Saturday is largely up to everyone to fend for themselves, with the exception of the fact that there may be leftover hamburgers and weiners.
Dinner will be a big ordeal and will hopefully be ready for eating at 6 PM. We are currently planning:
- Pulled Pork Sandwiches (Carolina style)
- Beer Can Chicken
- London Broil
- Blue Cheese Potato Salad
- Baked Beans
- Salad
- jalapeno fire grilled corn courtesy enth
- cornbread if you are lucky
- grilled portabellas and tofu pups for the vegans!
After dinner, there may or may not be a group departing for the legendary gallery hop which runs from 6-10 PM. The gallery hop is in our 'diverse' area of town, and feature all sorts of art galleries and unique shops open late with hundreds of people wandering around having a good time. If you like to show off your punk gear, your goth garb, your rainbow flag, whatever, this is a great time to do it.
Sunday, July 3
The only planned feature of Sunday is the now legendary trip to the Starliner Diner, where we somehow year after year manage to convince these poor people to essentially close down and let us take over. Please bring a kind wallet and plan on tipping well. Meals are probably $8-15, but plan to tip above standard amounts to ensure they welcome us back again.
Other than that, the day is open for exploration or departing. We will probably arrange a trip to a local community fireworks show on this night. Lunch and dinner, unless we have any volunteers, will be up to everyone to fend for. A trip to the all you can each chinese buffet might be a good idea...
HOT NEWS!
On sunday night enth will be making huge vats (seriously, he is using vats) of spaghetti complete with both meaty and vegan friendly sauces. Word.
Monday, July 4
For those still around, I will probably do some pancakes in the morning. At 1 PM a group will probably be back down in the Short North to witness the 22nd annual Doo Dah Parade, a parade so wacky that I dare not try to describe it here. Food is pretty much up to everyone on this day.
Dining Options
For times when no food is planned, you have several options to feed thyself. We have a grocery store in walking distance, so you can go and pick up whatever you want to eat there. The only other thing in walking distance is a moderately good all you can eat asian buffet ($10). Within a short drive (5 minutes) you have almost anything you could want (Italian, Outback, Texas Roadhouse, Bob Evans, Applebees, Buffalo Wild Wings, Culver's, Steak & Shake, Wendy's, McDonald's, White Castle, etc., etc., etc.).
The aforementioned grocery is a state
liquor store, so anything you may desire can be purchased there. We are currently planning a cooler full of
margaritas, some
stars and bars margaritas and perhaps a keg if we are feeling
crazy.
What to Bring
The following items may be a good idea:
- chairs - we have a lot of people. Folding lawn chairs would probably be a good idea if you like to sit
- tent - if you plan to sleep out of doors
- air mattress/sleeping bag - we have lots of hard floor space
- a towel - never forget your towel
- money - for eating out and tipping the strippers
- KY - nobody likes a KY hog
Accommodations
We have a living room, a loft and a basement that are open for sleeping. Only one spare bed is available (twin) but there is room for many air mattresses. Not recommended if you are allergic or unhappy with dogs around. We also have a pretty good-sized tent along with a fairly typically sized suburban plot of land, so those who desire can camp. Other local noders will probably offer accommodations, so far we have:
Like hotels? Ok, try these, all a short 5 minute drive to our crib.
Country Inns & Suites - $77
1155 Evans Way Ct
Columbus, OH 43228
614-853-1257
Hampton Inn Columbus West - $85
5625 Trabue Rd
Columbus, OH 43228
Best Value Inn - $50
1313 St James Lutheran Ln
Columbus, OH 43228
(Not terribly familiar with this place but it looks cleanish and it's the cheapest place close to us...)
Red Roof Inn Columubus West - $70
5001 Renner Rd
Columbus, OH 43228
Hometown Inn - $55
4601 W Broad St
Columbus, OH 43228
(this place seems a bit sketchy to me, but you can get a jacuzzi suite for less than $100 and there is a waffle house and chinese place in walking distance...)
Activities
The following are potential outings. We don't intend to plan too much, or try to fill every moment with activities, so the big plan is to mostly hang out. These items are side trips for those interested.
Fireworks!
Zoo Trip - our world class zoo was founded by the famous Jungle Jack Hanna
Drinking beer
Conversation
Starliner Diner - no columbus gathering is complete without a mass noder trip
Rollerblading - tandex will take any who desire out for a skating tour, bring your blades
COSI - possibly a trip to our fine, but expensive center for science
Yankee Trader - We will amost certainly have to schedule a trip to this legendary place. If you've ever wondered where you can get 100 plastic ninjas, bizarre stuffed animals or amazing crap you never even dreamed of (bathtub action baby anyone?) then you'll have the answer after our trip here.
Hot Tubbin' - our neighbor claims he will have his hot tub set up and running by our gathering. We can hope, but he's been saying that for 2 years now so who knows. Bring a suit just in case. Or go nekkid'.
Warnings
We may or may not have small children with us. I think we're going to try and send them up to Grandma's for the weekend, but should that fail us we may have to be respectful of small sleeping kids at night. In addition, children appropriate behavior may be required when they are around. In other words, this is a casual hanging out gathering and not a wild drunkfest.
We probably won't have planned food for the entire weekend, so plan on having some money to shop or dine with. If anyone wants to volunteer to make a meal, let me know. We will try to keep some weenies and burgers and the like around, but who knows how far that will go...
People are going to have to park at Kroger, because there is no way we can fit all these cars in our court. Our neighbors have a gate in the fence you can go through to get to our house. We will have signs on the fence pointing to our house and the gate. You can't miss the kroger, but feel free to drive by our house first before parking. If you pull into the kroger parking lot off of Galloway Rd, you'll be driving along the fence seperating the houses from the parking lot. Look for the signs or the mass of other cars for an idea where to park.
If you sleep in our house, due to children and/or dogs, don't expect to sleep past 8 am. If you sleep outside, you may have better luck depending on how curious our dogs get about tents...
Fireworks are illegal in the state of Ohio
Ok, more accurately, setting them off is. It is perfectly legal to purchase and possess fireworks. Stupid. If you stop by one of our fine fireworks stores on the way into town, they will probably make you sign a form saying you will set them off in West Virginia or something... On the plus side, this law is rarely enforced during the 4th of July. Cops will usually only come out if they get a noise complaint, and even then they are perfectly kind and just ask you to stop. We are in a dense residential area, so make up your own mind as to whether you want to set things off. And please, keep anything explosive away from Jurph.
That's all folks!