Richmond, VA Meet: October 13

[Takumi]

Update from my last post: I've decided to start the meet in Short Pump, as it works better logistically. Better parking and better freeway access (I-64, I-295, and VA 288 are all nearby). Lunch will be at The Halligan Bar & Grill, 2451 Old Brick Road, Glen Allen, VA, 23060. There's a parking deck across the street (to the north) and more parking located in nearby businesses. The John Rolfe Parkway is located a block to the west and the North Gayton Road extension is fairly close as well, so it should make a good starting point.

[jpi]

This works out great for Steph and I! :-)

[jpi]

I now have Friday 10/12 off so Steph and I are definently in! We will be staying in Lynchburg Friday night and Saturday night.

[Takumi]

I did some scouting this morning. North Gayton isn't open yet, but it looked to be close to being done, so it may be open by meet time. I also verified the existence of two VA 6 cutouts in the western reaches of the city. They're not far from each other, so I'll try to fit them in somewhere.

[hbelkins]

Every college in Virginia must be having a home football game on the 13th. Room rates are outrageous. $200 for the Comfort Inn in Lexington. $125 for the Sleep Inn in Staunton. $169 for the Sleep Inn in Lynchburg. Jason, I hope you got a reasonable rate on reservations for Lynchburg.

(I'm looking for a place to stay on the way home. May have to opt for as far west as Covington to be able to afford anything.)

[74/171FAN]

Every college in Virginia must be having a home football game on the 13th. Room rates are outrageous. $200 for the Comfort Inn in Lexington. $125 for the Sleep Inn in Staunton. $169 for the Sleep Inn in Lynchburg. Jason, I hope you got a reasonable rate on reservations for Lynchburg.

(I'm looking for a place to stay on the way home. May have to opt for as far west as Covington to be able to afford anything.)

VT is having homecoming that weekend.  I don't know about other colleges though.

[jpi]

I booked my room at the Lynchburg Super 8 two weeks ago with a discounted rate of 60.00 per night. Glad I booked when I did.

[hbelkins]

I also wonder if that weekend might not be peak leaf-peeping season in the mountains, thus accounting for the high rates. The Covington Quality Inn was in the triple digits unless you booked and paid in advance. Too soon to do that since I never know if something will come up to keep me from attending.

[Alps]

Oddly, no one is mentioning any rates in Short Pump

[hbelkins]

Oddly, no one is mentioning any rates in Short Pump

Best I can tell, they're pretty reasonable. I'm looking for something for Saturday night on the way home.

If my wife goes to NYC, she'll leave Sunday. I'll want to get home early enough to see her off, and give her the EZPass.

Current plans are to arrive Thursday night, then go clinch US 60 in Virginia, then do the CBBT and finish off US 50 in Maryland (I need the section east of Salisbury) and then US 301 back to Richmond. Will probably have to spend Thursday and Friday night in different hotels to take advantage of a Choice Hotels "stay 2 nights, get 1 free" promotion.

[Dougtone]

This is where I tend to go first to find any hotel deals...
http://www.pahighways.com/store/reservations.html

That being said, I haven't looked into hotels around Richmond before this.  I'm seeing plenty of reasonable rates at this time, though.  I'm planning on staying somewhere around Richmond on Saturday night before making my trip back to New York.

[hbelkins]

I think Richmond's rates, from what I've seen, are pretty reasonable. I may just end up back at the Red Roof in Staunton, which is where I stayed for the DC meet back in May.

Edit: I just checked and I have more than enough Choice Privileges points for a free night just about anywhere, so I laugh in the face of the price-gouging.

[wriddle082]

Richmond meet is October 13.  Birmingham meet is October 20.  Then on the weekend of the 27th, we are going to take our 3-year-old up to Great Wolf Lodge in the Charlotte area to play on the waterslides with a little friend of hers.  Since GWL is pretty expensive as it is, I've decided to only go to one of the two meets.  And I've decided that it will be Richmond.  Both cities are probably the same distance from Columbia, but if I go to Richmond, I'll have a weekend to rest before I go out of town again.

H.B., I'm going to use my Choice Privileges points to book a room as well.  If you have 16000 points, you can try the Comfort Suites in Glen Allen.  TripAdvisor ranks it #5 out of 22 hotels in Glen Allen.  I just booked it.

[Takumi]

The Halligan was excellent indeed. I had lunch there today. In addition to their regular menu, they have a $6 express lunch menu ($5 with water), so those who have price concerns should be satisfied. I also checked on a few more points of interest today, namely the white border signs and cutouts on VA 197, and cobblestones downtown. All are present and accounted for, but there are some rough streets near them. In addition, the Halligan staff said the best time to make a reservation is about 2 weeks in advance, so I need a general head count before long. Right now it looks like it'll be at least 12.

[oscar]

Count me in for the meet.  But I'm not yet sure about my pre- or post-meet plans. 

[hbelkins]

Count me in, too, for purposes of your reservations. Better to have too many seats and have a no-show or two, than to not have enough.

Only time I've not RSVP'd for a meet was the last SWPA December meet at Brownsville, which was held the day after Christmas. It was basically a late-the-night-before decision for me to go.

[Dr Frankenstein]

Just bumped my attendance probability to 66.666..%, since my plans for a NC trip have been postponed, leaving no trip for October.

If I do, I'll come down on Friday and perhaps hang out with some other northeasterners that may want to do the same.

[Dougtone]

Booked a room at the Days Inn in Glen Allen for the night on Saturday the 13th.  The hotel rates I have been seeing close to Richmond seem to be on the fairly reasonable side.  I'll be making my way down starting on Friday, October 12th, and will probably stay somewhere about halfway between Albany, NY and Richmond, VA.

[hbelkins]

Glen Allen seems to be a decent-sized ZIP code area. It encompasses everything from the vicinity of Short Pump to the area around the I-95/I-295 interchange.

[Beltway]

Count me 'maybe'.

[Alps]

Count me 'maybe'.

But I just met you! This is crazy.

[Beltway]

Count me 'maybe'.

But I just met you! This is crazy.

OK, then count me out.

[hbelkins]

Count me 'maybe'.

But I just met you! This is crazy.

OK, then count me out.

It's a takeoff on a popular song (that I have never heard, BTW).

[agentsteel53]

I was reminded of the Beatles' "Revolution".

[Takumi]

I'll make the reservation tomorrow. I'm initially going to set it for 20, since it looks like that will be an approximate number, but I'll update it if it goes over.