Buffalo, NY Road & Travel Enthusiasts Meeting - July 29, 2023

[Alps]

It's a *remote* possibility for me.

Are you planning to enter Canada during this meetup?  I have a passport, BUT I would need to notify my security office of any planned foreign travel at least 30 days ahead of the trip.

It's a nice thought to do a Sunday Morning West Coast outing on that side tho.

[roadwaywiz95]

Couple of quick comments:

The official meet tour and all other events taking place on the day of the meet (7/29) will take place entirely within the United States of America and will not require cross-border travel. Folks are welcome to explore the Canadian side of the Niagara River on their own time while in the area but for the benefit of everyone involved in the meet, I won't be taking the official tour across the river at any point.

The luxury suite for the ballgame in the evening has been reserved, so we're good to go there. The suite comes with 25 tickets, but there's an option to add more tickets to our package should we sell out of the initial allotment. (I'll work out pricing for folks at a future date.) Hope y'all will stick around after the meet for this special post-meet event!

[roadwaywiz95]

UPDATE ON THE MEET:

I wanted to post a quick update here since its been about a month since my last post. All is well on the planning side. I'll be spending a weekend in early June in the Buffalo area to complete a few scouting/documentation items before I start to sit down and write out the itinerary for the day. The mix of road-related landmarks and industrial/historical landmarks along the course of the day is something I'm excited about showcasing and hopefully it's the kind of thing you folks will find intriguing!

UPDATE ON THE GAME, TICKETS, AND MENU OPTIONS:

The tickets for the game are in hand and will be stored in an "undisclosed location" between now and meet weekend. This suite comes with a set of 25 tickets and folks can claim theirs for themselves & their guests on a first come-first served basis. In addition to the base package of 25 tickets, we have the option to purchase additional tickets for a flat rate per ticket, though I won't consider doing so until we exhaust the initial set of 25.

There are two reasons I'd like to have a pretty good head count for this as much as 7 days prior to the game. The first is that the deadline to purchase those additional tickets described above is 5 days prior to gameday. The second is that the deadline to order catering for our suite and reserve any items for us is also 5 days before gameday. The 2023 Suite Menu was released recently and can be viewed at the link below.

There's no need to rush into reserving anything on the menu front at this point, but just know that the menu and ticket options both exist and we'll have to figure out the particulars of them in the next couple months. Thank you in advance for your consideration. If anyone has any questions about either of these topics, feel free to drop them below; I'm in contact with a Bisons representative who I  can relay them to if I don't have the answer already.

Link to Suite Menu:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zhrz2zwxjq2hc3h/2023%20Bisons%20Suite%20Menu.pdf?dl=0

[jeffandnicole]

UPDATE ON THE MEET:

I wanted to post a quick update here since its been about a month since my last post. All is well on the planning side. I'll be spending a weekend in early June in the Buffalo area to complete a few scouting/documentation items before I start to sit down and write out the itinerary for the day. The mix of road-related landmarks and industrial/historical landmarks along the course of the day is something I'm excited about showcasing and hopefully it's the kind of thing you folks will find intriguing!

UPDATE ON THE GAME, TICKETS, AND MENU OPTIONS:

The tickets for the game are in hand and will be stored in an "undisclosed location" between now and meet weekend. This suite comes with a set of 25 tickets and folks can claim theirs for themselves & their guests on a first come-first served basis. In addition to the base package of 25 tickets, we have the option to purchase additional tickets for a flat rate per ticket, though I won't consider doing so until we exhaust the initial set of 25.

There are two reasons I'd like to have a pretty good head count for this as much as 7 days prior to the game. The first is that the deadline to purchase those additional tickets described above is 5 days prior to gameday. The second is that the deadline to order catering for our suite and reserve any items for us is also 5 days before gameday. The 2023 Suite Menu was released recently and can be viewed at the link below.

There's no need to rush into reserving anything on the menu front at this point, but just know that the menu and ticket options both exist and we'll have to figure out the particulars of them in the next couple months. Thank you in advance for your consideration. If anyone has any questions about either of these topics, feel free to drop them below; I'm in contact with a Bisons representative who I  can relay them to if I don't have the answer already.

Link to Suite Menu:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zhrz2zwxjq2hc3h/2023%20Bisons%20Suite%20Menu.pdf?dl=0

And depending on what is ultimately chosen, we can buy food at the regular concession stands and bring it into the suite as well, correct?

[baugh17]

And depending on what is ultimately chosen, we can buy food at the regular concession stands and bring it into the suite as well, correct?

Speaking from experience on this one, yes.

[Alps]

And depending on what is ultimately chosen, we can buy food at the regular concession stands and bring it into the suite as well, correct?

Speaking from experience on this one, yes.

Right, but then you're not eating what other people are bringing to the suite. So let's confirm these can be separate (you can choose to be part of the food separately from the suite).

[roadwaywiz95]

And depending on what is ultimately chosen, we can buy food at the regular concession stands and bring it into the suite as well, correct?

Yeah, just to clarify: everyone who attends WILL have access to the rest of the ballpark and the other concessions/shops that the park has to offer. It just may be easier to some extent to agree to have some stuff in the suite so we can limit the amount of people coming/going just to grab food during the course of the game.

I also want to add that for those of you who would be looking for gluten-free menu options, I received the following response from the Bisons representative I've been working with. Hopefully this is helpful for those with that limitation:

"We don't have a gluten free menu, but we do have gluten free rolls for all items listed, which can be noted when the order is placed.  None of our beer options are gluten free, but we do have the black cherry seltzers that are.  Things like pizzas, pretzels, etc would need to be avoided.  We can avoid croutons on salads or have them on the sides."

The tickets for the suite will be available starting now at a price of $25 per ticket (obviously this does not include any food/catering options you wish to add later). I would prefer to see people pay me directly via Venmo (reach out to me privately and I'll send you my contact info for that) but will also accept cash if that's not an option. Please do your best to claim your spot as soon as possible as they will be taken first come, first served. (If you have not RSVPed on the Facebook event for the game (the link to which is above on the thread) or contacted me otherwise to confirm your attendance, I'm not going to be including you in the count for the game.) Looking forward to seeing you folks at the after-party - should be a fun cap to the day!

[roadwaywiz95]

It was wonderful to be back in western New York for a good part of last weekend. The tour route for the day was finalized and I'm now at work writing up the final itinerary for the day. Be prepared for there to be two different documents worth possessing on the day of the meet - one will be a standard itinerary with directions and other information while the other will be a supplemental guide that will deal more with Buffalo's industrial heritage and associated landmarks we'll be passing by on the driving tour. We did something similar in concept to this on the 2nd day of the Philadelphia National Meet one year ago and it worked really well, so I think we should apply something similar for this day as well.

I continue to take RSVPs for each of the main events of the day, either the meet tour itself, or the after-party ballgame. I think we'll have a nice crowd and hopefully the weather will be just as nice. (But let's not worry too much about things that are out of our control  )

[Rothman]

Hoping to make it to some extent.  I'll know for sure later this month.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I'm having to downgrade myself from going to possible. Have to spend money on brakes (f-ed up my parking brake during the C-bus meet), and then had the unpleasant surprise of another medical bill, 10 months after the fact, showing up yesterday. 
Still not fun being an adult. 

[Alps]

I'm having to downgrade myself from going to possible. Have to spend money on brakes (f-ed up my parking brake during the C-bus meet), and then had the unpleasant surprise of another medical bill, 10 months after the fact, showing up yesterday. 
Still not fun being an adult. 

I could come by you a day or two after the meet and say hi

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I'm having to downgrade myself from going to possible. Have to spend money on brakes (f-ed up my parking brake during the C-bus meet), and then had the unpleasant surprise of another medical bill, 10 months after the fact, showing up yesterday. 
Still not fun being an adult. 

I could come by you a day or two after the meet and say hi

My original plans (before money intervened) was to come to your place, 4 days after the meet.

[Alps]

I'm having to downgrade myself from going to possible. Have to spend money on brakes (f-ed up my parking brake during the C-bus meet), and then had the unpleasant surprise of another medical bill, 10 months after the fact, showing up yesterday. 
Still not fun being an adult. 

I could come by you a day or two after the meet and say hi

My original plans (before money intervened) was to come to your place, 4 days after the meet.

I would not have been here, so I think we're onto something.

[roadwaywiz95]

This weekend will feature a special "Meet Preview" *live* webinar that will profile the Buffalo, NY metro area in preparation for the meet that will be held there on July 29. This presentation will be hosted by yours truly and will feature contributions from folks across the AARoads Forum spectrum, many of whom will be in attendance for portions/all of the meet itself.

This presentation will be broadcast *live* on the 'roadwaywiz' YouTube channel on Saturday 6/17 at 6 PM ET. Whether you're on the fence about attending the meet, or are already looking forward to it, we hope that this will give you folks a good idea of what to expect and what to look for during your visit. We may also have some time for a *live* Q&A session regarding the meet itself if there is demand for it.

Lastly, during the opening of this program, I'll be taking the opportunity to reveal the host city & dates for the 2024 Meet I'll be putting together for you folks so if that bit of news appeals to you folks out there, we'll be taking care of that item of business during the show as well.

Link to YouTube Webinar:

[roadwaywiz95]

We're down to the last month before the big day and with that I have a few topics I'd like to address:

First things first — the itineraries are now complete and available at the links below. The only thing that remains incomplete at this time is the industrial Heritage Supplemental Guide, which I'll continue working on through July and will be made available at least 7 days before the meet. A "˜teaser' sample of this document is included in the links below so you can get an idea of how the document will be formatted and what landmarks it will cover.

Pre-Meet Itinerary:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pxob520cjw3gy2u/Buffalo%20Road%20Meet%20Pre-Meet.docx?dl=0

Pre-Meet Itinerary (Printer-Friendly Version):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2voxvccyeovhb1t/Buffalo%20Road%20Meet%20Pre-Meet%20-%20Printer%20Friendly.docx?dl=0

Road Meet Itinerary:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rpv1e0wbixoc3qy/Buffalo%20Road%20Meet%20-%20FINAL.docx?dl=0

Road Meet Itinerary (Printer-Friendly Version):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/know2cy3jssdhd0/Buffalo%20Road%20Meet%20-%20Printer%20Friendly.docx?dl=0

Industrial Heritage Supplemental Guide Teaser:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ee1v46r9t5ki8an/Buffalo%20Road%20Meet%20-%20Appendix%20-%20DRAFT.docx?dl=0

Please feel free to print out your own copies ahead of the meet; I'll have some supply on the day of, but not enough for everyone. (The copies I do bring will be prioritized and given to navigators who don't already have them.)

On a side note, I recorded a podcast episode with Gribblenation's Doug this week about western New York and it also serves as an official "preview"  episode for the meet itself. That episode has now been published and you can listen to it at the link below. If you have not already done so, please also feel free to check out the webinar I put together earlier this month on the Buffalo metro area (available at the link in the post above), as these two pieces are good ways to get yourself prepared for the trip to town next month!

Link to "Gribblenation Roadcast"  Podcast episode:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1QTOxyxF0gtpa6bO87K7lY?si=v3F4TGRqRKan0wSeIFQJ9A

On the subject of the post-meet: I've been putting a list together of people who will be attending the post-meet ballgame; if you have not let me know that you're coming (either by RSVPing the Facebook event or by some other means), I do not have you on the list! Deadline for RSVPs and catering orders for the suite is July 21. (The Bisons require a minimum of 5 business days advance notice for both of these items.) Refer to the Facebook event page for the ballgame for more information (so I can avoid repeating myself too much). REMEMBER that in addition to the 25 seats that come with the suite, we have the ability to purchase additional tickets to supplement the base package — this is why I need to have a pretty firm count of who's coming by July 21.

Lastly, I will be out of town starting on 6/30 and won't be back home until 7/10. (Will be visiting Alaska — my 50th State). In the meantime, I'd like to see the attendance number for the meet and the game start to firm up during that time I'll be away. (You have a variety of ways to let me know you're coming, between this thread, the Facebook event pages, or other private means.) As of now, there are a lot of you who are officially still on the fence and while I'm not a big fan of prodding people into making decisions, I do think you'll see me start to do that starting next month if people can't make up their minds. I've done all the shameless self-promoting of this event that I can, so all of that ought to be enough for you people to decide if you're going or not. Having a pretty good head count for the meet and the game will be very helpful as I coordinate with the Pearl Street Grill and the Buffalo Bisons in the weeks ahead. If anyone has any questions about any of the topics I've covered above, please feel free to ask. Your cooperation and attention are greatly appreciated — thank you in advance and see you next month!

[andrepoiy]

I will be confirmed to attend with my friend. It will be my first roadgeek meet and I am excited to learn a little bit more about Buffalo!

[roadwaywiz95]

We're now down to two weeks away, so let's reset some things that need to be addressed with the group:

I'll start with the easy one — the final reservation for lunch at the Pearl Street Grill has been made, so we are good to go on that front. They open at 11:30 and I expect us to be going in at that time.

The remainder of this post concerns the after-party/ballgame so if you are not attending this, please disregard what follows:

Please REMEMBER that the deadline to RSVP for the game is one week from today — Friday the 21st! There are still tickets available if you have not already claimed any. You can RSVP here on this thread, or on the Facebook page for the after-party, or you can contact me directly. If I have not heard from you on this specific topic, I'm assuming you are not joining us.

Another topic I want to address is the matter of what we're doing with the catering order for the suite itself. The deadline to place the order is also one week from today — Friday the 21st! I've already agreed with several folks on ordering the following items:

(2) bottles of red wine - $47 per bottle = $94 total (*** I will be covering the cost of this 100% ***)
(1) "Field of Dreams"  Suite Package (serves around 15-20 people) - $468 total ($39 times a base of 12 people; in our case we can divide the 468 by however many people want to share in the cost.)
The above includes:
40 medium wings w/ celery/carrots/bleu cheese
2 large pepperoni pizzas
18 beef on weck sandwiches
1 case of assorted coke products
1 case of assorted potato chips/pretzels

If anyone else would like to add something to the above order for me to reserve for the suite, you have until July 21 to let me know so I can add it. Please note that by adding something to the order, the person/persons making the addition shall be responsible for coming up with the necessary funds to reimburse either myself or your fellow suite mates if you plan to share. Please also note that while you have the option to add something to this catering order, you also will have access to the other stands downstairs from the suite level so you can order whatever you want individually and opt out taking part in the catering order if you prefer the individual option instead.

I know a couple you have indicated already that you'll be opting out and going your own way, and that's fine, but I'd also like to verify how many others will be opting out and whatever other additions to the catering order there will be. Should I not hear from you, I'll assume that nothing else will be added to the order and that you are opting IN to share in the catering order.

That's all I have for now, thanks for your attention and I'll have another update for you next week.

[AsphaltPlanet]

This meet is close enough that I'm thinking that it might be worth the drive down to Buffalo to attend.

[roadwaywiz95]

As we're closing in on one week to go, I have another set of updates for everyone.

I'll start off again with the easy one. The full version and printer-friendly version of the Supplemental Guide are complete and available at the links below. As a reminder, possession of them is optional for the meet, but you may find them useful if you're interested in learning more about the prominent industrial landmarks the driving tour will be passing by.

Supplemental Guide, Full Version:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/152q76k6125slnl/Buffalo%20Road%20Meet%20-%20Appendix.docx?dl=0

Supplemental Guide, Printer-Friendly Version:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vfujb8abrna4oqx/Buffalo%20Road%20Meet%20-%20Appendix%20-%20Printer%20Friendly.docx?dl=0

That makes six total documents you should be aware of when it comes to this event. The two versions of the Pre-Meet notes and the two versions of the Meet Itinerary were all posted about three weeks ago. On the day of the meet, I plan to bring about 5 copies of each of these six documents — possibly enough for everyone who would need one for navigation purposes. In order to ensure that we have enough for everyone, please do your part and bring copies of whatever pieces you want to the meet, if that's something you're interested in.

The next subject I'd like to touch on is the downtown parking situation. The streets in the vicinity of the Pearl Street Grill are all metered — some are metered Mon-Sat, others are metered Mon-Fri. From my experience and from looking around a bit when I was last in town, you're more likely to find free street parking on the blocks north of the restaurant. (If you're looking at downtown on a map, anywhere along or north of Swan Street would be a good place to look.) Parking lots in the area vary widely in price and also keep in mind that the lot belonging to PSG is *not* free to park in. With all of that laid out for you, it's up to you what you want to do parking-wise. Just make sure everyone knows where they parked, especially at the end of the day when we're trying to reunite people with cars in that interval between the end of the drive and the start of the game in the evening.

Speaking of the game, the following items deal with the after-party/game itself so if you're not taking part in this, please disregard what follows:

The RSVP deadline for the game came and went, so I finalized the catering order for the suite. It did not change from what was listed above the other day. I also purchased (5) additional suite tickets that will be added to our roster. It is *likely* that there will be a couple left over by the day of the meet (I won't make any promises), so I will do my best to accommodate everyone I can, even any last-minute folks that we get. If you're at the game, be sure to keep an eye on the Jumbotron, as a special message geared towards us will be shown on the screen. (I'll clarify exactly when that will display early next week.)

That's all for now. I'll be back with one final update in the Wed-Thurs time frame with some final tips and reminders. Until then, I can address any questions that come up and I look forward to seeing everyone next weekend!

[andrepoiy]

By the way, how long do you expect the road tour to last for?

[Brandon]

By the way, how long do you expect the road tour to last for?

Game time is 6:05 pm.

[Dougtone]

By the way, how long do you expect the road tour to last for?

I'd expect the tour to wrap up by 5. After the lunch, most of the meet tours usually take a few hours, and this one is not taking up a huge geographical footprint.

[Dougtone]

Let's talk weather for the meet for a moment. Early forecasts in Buffalo for Saturday from the National Weather Service is calling for a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 80°F. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.89563000000004&lon=-78.88274999999999

[Rothman]

Let's talk weather for the meet for a moment. Early forecasts in Buffalo for Saturday from the National Weather Service is calling for a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 80°F. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.89563000000004&lon=-78.88274999999999

Makes me wonder if we've ever had a meet in a blizzard.

So...what are we to make of this weather report?

[Dougtone]

Let's talk weather for the meet for a moment. Early forecasts in Buffalo for Saturday from the National Weather Service is calling for a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 80°F. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.89563000000004&lon=-78.88274999999999

Makes me wonder if we've ever had a meet in a blizzard.

So...what are we to make of this weather report?

Blizzard? No, I don't think we've stopped at a Dairy Queen during a road meet.