Baltimore Meetup November 24

Update: The Plan

11:00 brunch at Paper Moon
Afternoon at Book Thing
3:00(?)-4:00 tea at Teavolve?

I'll be attending a conference in Baltimore that ends on November 23, so some of us have talked about doing a meetup on Sunday the 24th. Plans are still pretty vague, but will include lunch and a visit to the Book Thing, which I understand is similar to a bookstore except that the books are free! It's apparently somewhat out of the way, so if you have a car and are willing to drive other people that would be great. Ideas for other activities are also welcome.

Based on conversations at the DC meetup, I think these are the expected attendees so far:
Zoë and Mark
SqueakyChu
Norabelle
DrNeutron and MrsDrNeutron
qebo (maybe)
MDGentleReader (probable)
WildMaggie (possible, possibly with other family members)

I'll update the list as more people confirm :)

Book Thing: http://www.bookthing.org/location.html
location: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=3001+Vineyard+Lane,+Baltimore,+MD&hl=en&l...
bus: http://mta.maryland.gov/local-bus (select Local Bus > Route 8)

I'm a probable attendee.

Thanks for those links!

Does anyone have ideas for lunch or dinner places?

Some options for food:

http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/food-and-dining/2013/03/best-restaurants-2013-t... - dominated by more expensive places, but some very good choices!

http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/cheapeats a bit older, but most of these less expensive places are still around.

I'm partial to Fell's Point for quaint, local places. I've been to Sip N Bite for crab cakes (featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives!) and would go back in a heartbeat. Little Italy's good for (of course!) local Italian. The Inner Harbor is touristy, but some good non-chain places are there. Mt Vernon and Canton also have some good eats.

3: Where will you be? The book store is near Johns Hopkins campus and the sorts of restaurants you'd expect. Also the Baltimore Museum of Art. The main tourist / restaurant / museum area is on the Inner Harbor, about four miles south. The train station is midway between. Seems if the bookstore is key, then a restaurant nearby would be simplest.

I'm a big fan of the Little Italy neighborhood, too. It's walking distance from the inner harbor, but less touristy.

I'll be starting the day at a hotel in the Inner Harbor area, but yes, the book place is a key component of the day, so I'd think that either area would be fine. Maybe we could do lunch in the Inner Harbor/Little Italy/Fell's Point and dinner somewhere farther north.

I'm up for anywhere! It'll be fun to explore my hometown of Baltimore once again. :)

I almost certainly wouldn't be there for dinner. I'm iffy anyway... train is annoyingly indirect (once upon a time there was a bus, but it's long gone) and I'm not comfortable driving there especially at night.

I'm a probable. Everything depends upon my father's health (or lack thereof) right now. I'll hunt up some restaurants. A friend works near the Shot Tower and I am sure he'll have plenty of restaurant suggestions. At the moment, I can only think of a rather pricey one. I've never been to the Book Thing even though I consider Baltimore a perfectly reasonable place to visit from where I live and work (when not furloughed).

Is there a wiki entry for this? I'm a possible maybe with family member(s).

I think the group is small enough that I can just update the original message manually with the list of who's planning to come (hopefully much more promptly than I did this time). But if anyone wants to start a wiki, that's certainly fine with me!

I'll see if I can talk my friend Barbara into joining us as well. She enjoyed our DC LT meet-up. She actually lives nearer to Baltimore than to DC.

Now she knows everyone except DrNeutron, MrsDrNeutron, and Mark. She also knows MrSqueakyChu, but, of course, he'll refuse to come! :D

So, I think the one specific place that was suggested for lunch was Sip & Bite—would everyone be happy with that?

And does anyone want to suggest a specific place for dinner, somewhere closer to the Book Thing maybe?

The Book Thing is in a funky area of Baltimore and not an appropriate neighborhood for dinner for our group.

14: My preference would be lunch nearish Book Thing, so I have only one place to figure out how to get to; already spending a big chunk of the day in transit. Just mentioning; not to dictate if the majority preference is elsewhere.

I'm hoping we'll end up with enough cars between us that we can avoid transit during the day. Jim, are you coming by car? Madeline, your car fits five and you're bringing Nora? How is everyone else getting to Baltimore, and where are the train/bus stations?

16> Will you be traveling via public transport? I'm really not seeing much of interest nearby, and, as SqueakyChu says, it's not a great area.

The only thing I found that looked remotely interesting somewhat nearby was http://papermoondiner24.com/media/PDF/Papermoon_Diner_Menu_2013_08.pdf. My criteria is local versus chain, variety of food, decent reviews and not too pricy. It is .69 miles away from the
Book Thing.

18: Post 5 for orientation. I'd expect to either walk or take public transit to/from any LT meetup spots. Papermoon looks good.

Other restaurants nearish Book Thing (in the Charles Village area near JHU):
http://www.tambersrestaurant.com/about/ (Sunday hours 9am-10pm)
http://www.carmascafe.com/ (Sunday hours 8am-4pm)
http://www.baltimoreorientexpress.com/ (Sunday hours 12noon-10pm)
http://www.niwanarestaurant.com/ (Sunday hours 1pm-9:30pm) - probably opens too late
http://www.johnshields.com/restaurant/rest/gertrudes.html (Sunday hours 10am-8pm - accepts online reservations) – at the Baltimore Museum of Art
http://www.darkerthanbluecafe.com/ (Sunday hours 11am-8pm) - almost across the street from Book Thing (but downside for me is nothing veggie)

Looks like we're not available until 1:30 or so. Best not count on us for lunch. I'll keep an eye on the plans to see if we can catch up.

> 18

I've been to the Paper Moon. It's a cute, very Baltimorean diner. I think you'll like it. Let's go there. Seating might be a problem as it's small, but let's wing it anyway. It's certainly local and not chain.

Nora, are you coming up to Baltimore with me? What time should I meet you at the Twinbrook Metro station? It'll take us about an hour to get up to Baltimore. Zoe, what time should we meet you? Private message me where we should meet you at your hotel and at what time.

For the Book Thing, bring bags to carry your books away. Plan on another Baltimore activity beside The Book Thing because there is no place there just to sit and relax. It's basically a warehouse holding books.

Okay, Paper Moon sounds good. Let's do lunch there.

I'd say the timing depends more on other people, who are coming from farther away. What time does everyone want to do lunch?

And who has ideas for another activity after that?

We could also do something like a 4:00 tea rather than dinner if people want to head out earlier.

>22 SqueakyChu: I do plan to ride to Baltimore with you, if that's okay. The timing is up to you - let me know what time you want to leave and I will plan to be at Twinbrook ~20 minutes before that.

It's up to Zoe. She needs to let me know what time to arrive.

I'm just waiting at a hotel! I think those of you coming from out of town should decide. Especially Katherine, who has the longest trip?

But I think we shouldn't make it too late, since it seems that we'll be ending relatively early. I've been advised that Baltimore isn't safe at night, so I don't think any of us will do dinner. We can have brunch, then Book Thing, then tea instead (maybe at 3?) and be done by 4. So I wouldn't want to start later than 11, but those of you coming from farther away should weigh in on what a reasonable arrival time would be.

Alright, prompted to get my act together... I arrive at 10:41am, depart at 5:10pm, so your time frame has become perfect :-) I'll walk from the train station; if the train's on time, I should get to Paper Moon around 11:15, so go ahead and begin when you want and I'll join you as soon as I can.

That sounds perfect! So let's say 11:00 for brunch, figuring that there's always a bit of time lost at the beginning so you'll basically be there when we're about to order.

Let me check to see if Barbara wants to join us (I'm guessing not if we just visit The Book Thing as the last thing - no pun intended - she wants to do is collect even more books!). Then I'll figure out times. Tea should be in or near your hotel, Zoe.

That time frame works well with me. Not too early - lots of leeway.

Hehe, I can't believe someone wouldn't want more books!

Why do you want to do tea by the hotel? I'd think that would be inconvenient for Katherine at least (although I'm still sort of hoping a second car will materialize). If it's just for getting our stuff, we could always take that with us in the morning. But if it's a specifically good area for tea, we'll figure out some way to get everyone there :D

It's probably worth mentioning to everyone that you can use your DC Metro SmarTrip card on the Baltimore Subway, Light Rail, and local buses. Or if you get the Baltimore CharmCard you can use it on DC public transit.

Ooh, that's convenient!

If I can hitch a ride from the bookstore to Inner Harbor, then I can walk from the Inner Harbor area to the train station (I've done so before); there's also public transit though this may be more trouble than it's worth. Alternatively, if tea ends up being too far afield, I'll do brunch and bookstore and then wander around on my own for awhile.

> 31

It doesn't have to be by the hotel. I thought you'd have to be there to get your things, but I guess you'd be checked out in the morning already.

So, the next question is where exactly do we want to go to tea. Ideas, anyone?

Not really. Finnerteas and Petticoat Tea Room are both closed. Others are too far away or don't have tea on Sunday. Gertrude's at the Baltimore Museum of Art MIGHT have tea on Sundays. I know that they were pricy for dinner, though. Also, it is closed for renovation until the 11th, so it is probably useless to call right now.

Maybe Tealove? http://teavolve.com/index.html 3.66 miles away from bookthing by car.

> 37

That looks nice...plus it has parking.

If I come (and it looks likely), I'll drive and can leave the convertible at home in favor of one of the bigger cars. May have family member(s) in one or more seats, though, but should have car space for at least one person. Have to see if free books from Book Thing are more powerful motivation for a college student than sleeping late.

This is coming up really soon. Is the plan settled?

AFAIK, it’s:

11:00 brunch at Paper Moon
Afternoon at Book Thing
3:00(?)-4:00 tea at Teavolve?

Zoe, can you put this in post 1 (if it's accurate)? Or are you internet-constrained?

Madeline, what time do I need to meet you at the Twinbrook metro?

Okay, post 1 is updated with that schedule. I'm looking forward to seeing you all!

I do have internet here, at least in the evenings.

> 42

How about 9:30?

>44 SqueakyChu: Okay, sounds good.

The high temp tomorrow is 36 degrees Fahrenheit! Make sure you bundle up!

Brrrr!

Brrr indeed. All set to head out the door at 7:10 am tomorrow... predicted temperature 27 degrees.

I suspect that I will not make it. Having trouble getting myself out of bed on my days off, much less out the door.

Have fun!

> 48

I hate cold. We'll be indoors most of the time.

> 49

:(

Eek! I was going to suggest a visit to Poe's grave if we found ourselves with some extra time, but perhaps not.

>49 MDGentleReader: Aww, we'll miss you!

We're really going to need some hot tea in the afternoon!

Zoe, post where you are again on my private message. Did you delete that post? I can't find it.

Never mind. I found it. See you soon.

I had a lovely time yesterday! I'll post my free book haul tomorrow :-)

I've added mine to my library and tagged them "BookThing".

This was such a fun weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone (and meeting the rest of WildMaggie's family).

I just got back from our whirlwind tour of some LFLs in the Maryland/DC area and a pause to refresh at the Politics & Prose bookstore.

I hope that everyone went home with enough books to last him/her until our next meet-up! :D

56: Cool! Looking forward to a report.
I'll probably post photos tonight...

Paper Moon









_Zoe_ and Mark




norabelle414


WildMaggie and SqueakyChu


SqueakyChu and Mr. WildMaggie

Book Thing

Teavolve



_Zoe_ and Mark


Mark and norabelle414


WildMaggie, son & daughter, norabelle414, books


books


my books

Nice pics!

How nice

Here's my haul, minus one book which I've already gotten rid of:



Ignore the toes and old newspaper, please.

Island of the Sequined Love Nun?!? I missed that?!?

Great photos! And such a fun meetup. I'm really glad you brought your family, Maggie.

I'll post my photos in a week or so when I'm home.

*sigh* I'm always hungry for the photos, and these are great ones. Thanks, Katherine. Looks like you all had a fabulous time!

Love the pics...thanks for pointing out the toes, Nora! Looks like a fun time was had by all and the local economy supported by buying lots of books. Yay for LT meet ups!

>67 Donna828: Not exactly . . . . all the books were free. But we did buy a lot of food!

Jeffrey (Mr. WildMaggie) took the pictures so I don't know if I will be able to post anytime soon. He still loves film. But maybe, someday.

Nora, glad you found The Club Dumas for that family member you mentioned who loves Dumas. I really like that author a lot. This may not be his best work. The Fencing Master and Queen of the South are better.

>69 WildMaggie: Unfortunately my brother doesn't actually love Dumas, he just likes things that he thinks make him look important. The Club Dumas is just for me :-)

Looks like this was a lot of fun.

Question: I was trying to look at Book Thing's website, and my system tells me I don't have permission. Anyone know what that might be about? I was looking to see if it was feasible to donate some books from NYC, but couldn't get to even the first page.

71: Huh. I'm not having any trouble...
http://www.bookthing.org/faq.html sez:

Can I ship you books?
We love gifts in the mail, too... You can ship books to

The Book Thing of Baltimore, Inc.
3001 Vineyard Lane
Baltimore, Maryland 21218