Meeting Place for APUG group for MidAt

[Christopher Walrath]

I beleive Flauvius was wanting to set up a meeting place for us to get together and form an actual, physical Mid Atlantic APUG group. Any ideas would be welcome. Thank you.

 

[Drew B.]

What would be nice is for you mid-atlantic people to have one "Eastern" weekend conference/workshop that all of us are invited to participate in!

 

[Christopher Walrath]

No exclusions here. Any and all are welcome to participate. Thank you.

 

[mtnbkr]

How about DC or Baltimore?

Chris

 

[SteveH]

I was rather fond of the idea of a traveling meeting place. This way, we all get to explore different locations at different times of the year. We need to get a list of everyone's closest major 'hometown', that way we can always have personal guides who know all the good beer joints . But for now, Im thinking something along the lines of:

Reading
Trenton
Philly
Wilmington (perhaps to be grouped in with Philly ?)
Harve de Grace
Baltimore
DC

Anymore north, and we would be in the NYC area, and any further south I don't think many people from North/Central NJ/PA would realistically make the trip. I added Harve de Grace because it is a very easy stop on '95 down to B-more, etc., and one can easily make a full day of shooting there. In addition, they tend to have various festivals throughout the year.

Thoughts ?

 

[c6h6o3]

Reading
Trenton
Philly
Wilmington (perhaps to be grouped in with Philly ?)
Harve de Grace
Baltimore
DC

Anymore north, and we would be in the NYC area, and any further south I don't think many people from North/Central NJ/PA would realistically make the trip. I added Harve de Grace because it is a very easy stop on '95 down to B-more, etc., and one can easily make a full day of shooting there. In addition, they tend to have various festivals throughout the year.

The meeting place should be somwehere between Baltimore and the Deleware Memorial Bridge. Even that makes it a little tough for the people between DC and Richmond. Havre de Grace is just about perfect.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

The meeting place should be somwehere between Baltimore and the Deleware Memorial Bridge. Even that makes it a little tough for the people between DC and Richmond. Havre de Grace is just about perfect.

I'm quite partial to the travelling spot notion. That way nobody feels permanently slighted by the location being out of their travel range all the time. If we want to do a social type thing, a bring-prints-and-share-them-over-coffee/lunch/whatever, either B'more or Philly. Both cities have a fairly decent downtown artsy area with places that don't mind if you spread out and take over a corner of their shop for a couple hours, and both places have a lot of neat shooting locations as well.

 

[c6h6o3]

I'm quite partial to the travelling spot notion.

I am too. However, I believe it should travel around the middle and stay away from either end. Anything north of Philadelphia is really closer to New York than DC and they have their own regional group.

Richmond also has a thriving arts community, but it would hardly be fair to ask people living in south Jersey to drive there. By the same token, someone living in Fredericksburg is probably not going to make the trek to Philly. Baltimore, maybe.

 

[SteveH]

Well, we're never going to make everyone happy. That's what you get when you have such a large area to cover. We don't have the luxury of just calling ourselves by a city name . In hindsight, Reading is abit too far off the map - its just an awesome area to shoot that no one else wanted to claim.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

How about HDG for meeting number one? Whaddya think?

 

[wfe]

I like the idea of a rotating meeting place but lets decicde on the first location and go from there. The first meeting I believe is an important one to get the momentum going.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I vote for Balmer... I mean Baltimore. It's a great town, lots of cool stuff, and fun places to eat. We could do the Conservatory in Druid Hill Park, take a wander down through Bolton Hill and along Mount Royal Avenue, and end up around Mount Vernon where there are lots of places to eat or take in a cold one while sharing prints.

 

[mtnbkr]

I vote for Balmer

That sounds like a winner to me. I haven't been to any of those places.

Chris

 

[SteveH]

Beer ? Balta-mo is my vote.

 

[Travis Nunn]

Baltimore would be ok with me.

 

[jgjbowen]

Baltimore is 3 hours away (if traffic is good) so Baltimore or someplace south of Baltimore would be OK for this Richmonder.

Thanks for organizing this

 

[Christopher Walrath]

OK. Where in Balmah is there enough parking and little enough crime that we won't lose our wittle camuwahs? Just jokes. Where do we hitch up and meet? I live south of Dover De so anywhere is just about good enough for me.

 

[c6h6o3]

Sounds like we've got a valid 'where'. Now we need a 'when'.

 

[c6h6o3]

Scott, where is Druid Hill Park?

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Scott, where is Druid Hill Park?

Druid Hill Park is a little ways north of the harbor, going up I-83. If you get off I-83 at 28th Street, it is a short hop to the west. Another way to get there is if you come in to town on MLK Jr Blvd, and get on Mount Royal Avenue down by the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, you can follow Mt Royal Avenue all the way up the hill through Bolton Hill, then hang a left on North Avenue, then go Right on Park, or continue a couple blocks to Eutaw Place and turn right. At the top of the hill, you'll emerge from the residential neighborhood to face Druid Park Lake, and the 19th century folly made to look like a medieval castle tower that disguises a pumphouse for the reservoir. Also facing the lake and the park at the top of Madison (I believe), is the Gate that looks like something you'd drive under in Rome or Paris or London. The Gate faces the park and serves as an entryway from the city, although it is separated from the park itself by Druid Park Lake Drive.

In the park there is the Conservatory, a late 19th century glass and iron multi-story greenhouse, and the Chinese Pavillion. The Druid Park Mansion is now home to the Druid Park Zoo headquarters. Also in the vicinity of the park is one of the oldest continuously operating synagogues in Baltimore. Down the hill from the park, on Eutaw Street is a massive synagogue, now owned by Prince Hall Masons.

 

[wfe]

Baltimore is a long ride for me so if we plan it in advance and make a day out it I'm in. SteveH and I could also probably hook up and car pool.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

How about either the weekend of the 8th/9th or the 15/16th of April? Which works better for folks, Saturday or Sunday? We could meet up around the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall somewhere (there is a parking garage in that area IIRC), and hit the streets with the cameras. We could carpool up to Druid Hill Park, so the parking problem en route through the city is less of an issue. That would also put us within striking distance of dining options in Mount Vernon at mid-day when the light sucks. Then we could wander around Mount Vernon in the afternoon, and adjourn to the Inner Harbor or Fells Point for dinner or go our merry ways as traffic and schedules require.

 

[wfe]

April 1st and 8th are the two dates I currently have other committments.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

I may not be able to be there in April. Work 8th and 15th and begged away for the Cape on the 29th. Might be pushin it a bit with the wifey. But don't hold up for me. There will be others.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I may not be able to be there in April. Work 8th and 15th and begged away for the Cape on the 29th. Might be pushin it a bit with the wifey. But don't hold up for me. There will be others.

I just realized that the 16th is Easter Sunday. Maybe we should shoot for either the 22nd or go for the first weekend in May.