goose island, friday the 13th. who's in?

what time? i can be there early. i don't usually stay up too late, but for you guys, maybe i will be able to. i will see if we can get a room.
should i post this through meetup.com?

I work in Itasca till after 6 so I probably wouldnt be getting there till after 8.

would anyone want to be there before 6?

We are looking at it seriously.


Laura

you can get to it from a lot of places easily. especially downtown. there is probably a good weekend package out there.

Only need one night--the Friday night (if that is indeed the night of the gathering!)

We are booked for Sat (night of the wedding) into the place where they are having the reception and it is out by O'Hare--thus it's not suitable for any type of drive after sitting in a bar with you guys. Rumor has it that the Chicago DU gang can get pretty "festive" and cabbing it seems to be the best solution...

I have looked online and I'm working to ID a cheap place to stay that will allow parking the car along with affordable cab fare to the gathering. Frankly, I'm not much of a hotel snob as long as I can have a bathroom without going into the hallway and maybe room to take a shower. (Trust me when I say I have stayed in places that were so bad they needed to give BACK the guidebook star and probably pay fines for claiming to be motels!)



Laura

the blue/o'hare line will get you within a short cab or bus ride, or even a decent walk. it's a fairly long train ride, but you should have a seat. so, you wouldn't even have to move.
i would expect deep discounts downtown for a friday night, tho. you might be able get a $100 room through hotels.com or something. that train ride is a few stops, depending on where you are exactly.

Take the blue line in from ohare to Washington
Transfer to the red line.
Take that to north and clyborn.
Cab from there.

you might catch a cab there, but you will probably get less wet to just walk it.

I'm going to a dinner and then have to put my son to bed, so I probably wouldn't be able to be there until at least 9:00.

I may take the train...

We have a previous engagement earlier in the evening, but might be able to swing by around 9, maybe.

But we'd like to go!

I can bring the wireless laptop, and we can tell all the other DUers what a good time they are missing.

ok, i am truly psyched now.

Where on earth is "goose island" and why does everyone want to be there on the 13th???

How long will it last, how much does it cost, where on "g island" would we meet, can I bring my so, WHAT ( ! ) would be the main activities? ;)

Meeting other DUers is just a real hoot. Take it from one who knows--DU gatherings (while I've never made up to a Chicago gathering yet, I'm sure this one will be no exception) usually feature a lot of political discussion, but they also are pretty cool because you do have a sense of a lot of the people before you ever meet them. It is a LOT like meeting up with old friends for a festive night out. There is a short period of adjustment because you have a face to put with that name, but after a very brief time it is just a wonderful experience.

SO's who are not bothered by a lot of lively political discussion are ALWAYS welcome, and may even be surprised by what a great time they have. I hosted the first DU meetup EVER at my house a couple of years ago. Kevsand was not a DUer at that time (Yet--He is one now!!) but he was a great sport about opening our house up to a bunch of people he didn't know. I think he had every bit as good of a time as I did because he found that these were people he had a lot in common with.

He sat and talked to Kephra for a long time about SF and movies and a bunch of other stuff along with politics They became good friends as a result. (On a sad note, I mis hell out of Scott. We lost him about a year ago. I've been thinking about him a bunch hear at the anniversary of his death.)

We also got to know 5thGenDem from Michigan at that gathering. Kev and I have both traveled up to Michigan to see him a couple of times since then. He throws one hell of a party in June called FunDay. It has become somewhat of a "thing" for DUers to try and go to.

I am especially excited about this Chicago gathering because these are ILLINOIS DUers. These are folks who understand what I'm talking about when I talk about Mike Madigan and Emil Jones. These are folks who deal with the same local and statewide elections that I do, and they understand the issues. There are a lot of people that I am hoping I get to finally meet face to face. THAT is why I'm so excited.

:hi:


Laura

And staggering. And stammering.

I grew up in a tavern - it was the family biz - and so do not have any desire to drink to excess.

i was worried about you with that long drive.

really delicious root beer, and orange cream soda. mmm.

BTW, the location of Goose Island is 1800 N. Clybourn in Chicago. That's between North Avenue and Armitage near Sheffield Ave.

it is the home of america's best beer. seriously.
dinner for 2, with a few beers runs about $40-45. beers are $3.50/4.50, although they do do pitchers, and if we have enough people, they may give us a room, and a mini-keg.
it is very accessible to public transportation, which is an extremely good thing.


http://www.gooseisland.com/pubs/clybourn.asp

Paging wndycty! I do hope you can be there too! We have been hoping for a chance to meet you, especially since we never made it to Chicago for any of the Clark stuff in the last primary...

I'm still looking for my black and white striped shirt and whistle, but Kev and I promise not to let Mo beat up on you TOO much.

:evilgrin:

The same goes for any and ALL of the Chicago folks--it would be WAY cool to see you guys turn out!

Has anyone started a Lounge thread about this? Should we?



Laura

but please go to the lounge and kick it.
i would be happy to see windy again. i promise not to throw the first punch.

if not we`ll see you in the spring

i will buy you dinner. please.

. . .I went to a meaningless football game. . .LOL, I'll be back tonight.

I have two other events that week, let's see how it goes over at home.

if you need to make it an early night, you could bring the kiddo for a while.
it would be good to see you.

around 7'ish.:party:

I have to stay home and watch the US Figure Skating Championships on ESPN.

I know it's a lame excuse, but I'm the ultimate figure skating geek and I haven't missed watching US Nationals coverage since ABC began showing them in 1962. My sister even taped them for me in 1998, when Mr. Wonderful and I were living in Ireland.

I hope everyone has a great time at Goose Island. I'll be thinking of you next Friday night during the commercial breaks!!!

:loveya: :loveya:

jeez, don't you know anyone who has tivo? maybe my daughter will tivo it for you. then you can watch it without the commercials.
LAME

I am just wondering because there was this young American woman the other year who turned in a totally perfect performance that even I, a not a figure skating fan, thought was amazing, and I have been trying to find a video of it ever since!

If I'm reading the map right, it looks like the red line has a stop at North and Clybourn, while the brown and purple both have stops at Armitage. Which one is closest to Goose Island?

north and clybourn is the closest stop, but it is on the red line. from o'hare, you are on the blue line. you can transfer from the blue to the red, but you have to go a little farther downtown, and double back. or you can take a north avenue bus or a cab from the blue line stop. it is about a mile and a half. buses are about 4 an hour, til after 9. the north and damen blue line stop is in a busy neighborhood, and you shouldn't have too much trouble catching a cab. it should cost about $5.

and transfer to one of the northbound lines. We can grab the red at Washington.

and it is not that far out of downtown. it is just a matter of down the stairs, through the tunnel, and up again. they are a block apart.

I've gone to several dem meet ups there and would like to come to this one.

see you there

Count me in.

Just look for all the ultra left wing radical hippies. Don't we all look alike anyway?

You might even see somebody hugging a tree.

:evilgrin:

Sorry, I just couldn't resist playing with the stereotypes.

We will probably not make it into the hotel before four in the afternoon, so I really don't expect Kev and I to hit the bar until about 7. I thought about wearing a political T shirt, but I seriously have no idea what the usual mode of dress is in a Lincoln Park area bar.

I'll be in black jeans and a green shirt, if that helps any. (I didn't find a referee shirt, BTW. I did look for one. The only whistle in the house is an old slide whistle of my daughter's and trust me--you do NOT want that in a bar!) I'm trusting Mo and Windy to keep it under control without them.

I wondered if somebody should make up a small DU sign to put on a table simply to ease the worry about spotting each other, but then I decided that a bunch of drunk liberals screaming stuff like "Impeach the asshole" and "Cheney sucks" probably would be tough to miss.

We'll see you all there!


Laura

if i hang out there, you do not have to dress, trust me.
see my reply below about spotting the group.

... add one rabble rouser to the list

we are supposed to be in one of the private party rooms. i think the "bier garden". most of the people there could tell you where to look if you tell them you are looking for mo. but they have new people all the time, so..
but they will know that the party is for democratic underground.

Not the Wrigley one? And what time? 7 PM still OK?

they do have wifi, and i will bring my camera. do you have a flash card slot? or should i bring my usb reader?
i have a laptop, but it is sick.

Nothing that does the memory sticks. though.

The laptop is an old Mac running OS9, BTW

can't beat a mac. too bad i am surrounded by pc heads.

lol

I just tested it and it still all works.

but damnit, i'm too far away!

:(

just want to say hi to all my hometown homies. take a lot of pics. drink a brew for me.

and i'll come on down and pick you up.

I'M IN!!

Who the hell drinks orange cream soda?!?!! Eewwww!!

is keeping me away...will definitely make the next one...Have fun!

Well, two good reasons why I missed this:
1. I moved and did not have internet access for 4 weeks. Long story.
2. I have a 4-month-old baby who is quite a handful.

Next time, dammit! Thanks for contacting me, mo.