Finally, we have details for the Sunday Delmarva Meet!
Date: Sunday, March 23
Time: 11:30 am
Location: Evolution Craft Brewing Company, 201 E Vine St, Salisbury, MD 21804 (US 13 Business)
Tour highlights: Old shield, weird BGSs, green shields, odd signs, unusual traffic calming, and drawbridges in Salisbury; The Upper Ferry just west of Salisbury; MD/DE 54, including the highball signal, mason-dixon stone; DE 26 widening construction; Indian River Bridge; short stubs in Bishopville, MD; MD 707 old alignments in Berlin, MD.
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1442067346028373
Please invite yourself and any other roadgeeks you know on facebook that would be interested! (I decided to make a fb page since there are roadgeeks there who aren't on here.)
I may just want to lodge myself in the tasting room for awhile :P
Quote from: Alps on February 23, 2014, 11:43:33 PM
I may just want to lodge myself in the tasting room for awhile :P
Mmmmm....beer
The date's an automatic deal-breaker for me; there's a strong chance that I'll be in MA for that entire weekend (family-related); and, generally, Saturday meets usually work better for me.
As of now, my intent is to attend. In general, my plan is to stay in the Hampton Roads area Saturday night after Froggie's meet, drive up to Salisbury on Sunday, and then drive back down to Hampton Roads Sunday after the meet. Those plans may change, but right now that's what I expect to do. Not sure if I will make it all the way to Hampton Roads on Friday, or if I'll stop a bit short and finish up the drive Saturday morning.
Doesn't the CBBT offer a fare discount if you drive it in both directions within a certain period of time?
I'm on board for this, as well as Norfolk the day before. I'll work out details about traveling from one to the other after I'm back from the St. Louis meet, other than I'll try to snag several US 13 business routes along the way since I've covered that part of the US 13 mainline already.
This is one I have to skip out on, along with Norfolk. Budget prohibits.
Have fun. This one and Norfolk would be fun, but I will not be able to go. I'm already going to St Louis (week before) and Nashville (week after).
Quote from: hbelkins on February 24, 2014, 11:32:52 AM
In general, my plan is to stay in the Hampton Roads area Saturday night after Froggie's meet, drive up to Salisbury on Sunday, and then drive back down to Hampton Roads Sunday after the meet.
Why the backtrack to Hampton Roads, rather than heading home through the D.C. area? D.C. is worth a bit of a detour to avoid, even on weekends, but going back through Norfolk seems pretty far out of your way.
Heading west from the Eastern Shore takes you over the toll bridge carrying US 50/301 over the bay near Annapolis. But tolls are collected only eastbound on that bridge, so for you the crossing would be a freebie.
Quote from: oscar on February 24, 2014, 02:16:40 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on February 24, 2014, 11:32:52 AM
In general, my plan is to stay in the Hampton Roads area Saturday night after Froggie's meet, drive up to Salisbury on Sunday, and then drive back down to Hampton Roads Sunday after the meet.
Why the backtrack to Hampton Roads, rather than heading home through the D.C. area? D.C. is worth a bit of a detour to avoid, even on weekends, but going back through Norfolk seems pretty far out of your way.
Heading west from the Eastern Shore takes you over the toll bridge carrying US 50/301 over the bay near Annapolis. But tolls are collected only eastbound on that bridge, so for you the crossing would be a freebie.
The way things currently stand, I want to drive both US 58 and US 460. If not for the Delmarva meet, that would have been my plan. I guess I could compromise and do US 301 and I-95 to Richmond, then US 360 and that Virginia state route shortcut over to 460 on my way back.
QuoteDoesn't the CBBT offer a fare discount if you drive it in both directions within a certain period of time?
Yes they do, but you must make the return trip within 24 hours and you must have an EZPass in order to get the discount. The latter became a requirement on New Year's.
I'd love to go, but I don't see it working out unless I could carpool with someone. It also depends on when NY assigns me to take the civil service exam, which I won't find out until March 19.
Quote from: froggie on February 24, 2014, 05:05:32 PM
Yes they do, but you must make the return trip within 24 hours and you must have an EZPass in order to get the discount. The latter became a requirement on New Year's.
Affirmative on both counts. I'd be going back south that same day, and hopefully I will remember to get the EZPass out of my wife's vehicle and put it in mine before I make the trip.
If by chance any of the central Virginia contingent is interested in going/carpooling, I'll offer to drive from Norfolk.
Might take you up on that if I'm staying in the area Sunday night. The weekend is again looking a bit doubtful, however, after I looked at my checkbook today.
My Vue goes in the shop tonight. Some minor maintenance stuff (spark plugs and brake pads) but also something that may end up being more costly. Just how costly will play a big role in whether or not I'm able to attend.
Any ideas yet on when the tour would be wrapping up? I'm trying to get a handle on my post-meet travels.
I had originally thought about returning to Hampton Roads Sunday evening and heading out from there, but I'm rethinking my plans. I drove US 50 between Salisbury and the Bay Bridge fall before last and don't really want to do it again, but I'm not crazy about dealing with Hampton Roads traffic on a Monday morning when I head west. I can drive US 50 west and then I-95 south to Richmond, since I need most of I-95 between the Springfield Interchange and Fredericksburg as well, and I know most major traffic issues with that stretch are northbound instead of southbound on Sunday evenings. I could stay in the Richmond area on Sunday night, then take US 360 west to VA 307 to US 460, then take US 221 between Lynchburg and Bedford before getting back on 460, then I-81 south to Christiansburg, then 460 again back into Kentucky.
As I said in the Hampton Roads meet thread, I won't make it with my current car.
As I said in the Hampton Roads meet, unless something unforeseen happens this week, I'm there.
Current plans are for me to stay in Chesapeake Friday and Saturday nights and head out Sunday morning up US 13. Unless I've already gotten the pieces of 13 that I need for a clinch, I'll be taking it all the way up (obviously).
I will want to head out no later than 4, so I may end up missing the latter portion of the meet tour. The plan is to take US 50 and I-95 to somewhere between Richmond and Petersburg, where I plan to get a room for the night. That will give me a clinch of I-95 in Virginia and a clinch of all the state's interstates except I-395.
Monday morning I'm going to take US 360, VA 307 and US 460 west to Lynchburg, then US 221 to Bedford and then back on US 460 to Roanoke. Depending on what time I make Roanoke, I may do some exploring, most likely on US 221 south to Hillsville, which would give me a clinch of that route, then VA 100 up to Pearisburg to hit US 460 again. If not, I'll take I-81 to Christiansburg and then hit US 460 there. I want to explore Bluefield again and go on a cutout/weird shield hunt. I don't have to be home until Tuesday so I can spend a night somewhere along the route if I want.
I'll be waiting to see if some kind of tour itinerary is made available so I'll know at what point I'll need to bail to make my overnight stop before it gets too dark.
which old shield is this? Maryland US 13?
Quote from: agentsteel53 on March 17, 2014, 12:58:07 PM
which old shield is this? Maryland US 13?
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alpsroads.net%2Froads%2Fmd%2Fmd_991%2Fe13.jpg&hash=bba61cd34c452778a4ffc5ec3ccbe671fdd34b6e)
Sorry for the delay in itinerary on my end - I'll post it sometime tonight. Then i can also give an approximate end time for the meet. The plus side is that once it is posted, it's final, so no last minute changes.
iPhone
QuoteThe plus side is that once it is posted, it's final, so no last minute changes.
In my experience, it's never "final" until the end of the meet. It's always good to plan for potential on-the-spot contingencies....the St. Louis meet being an excellent example.
Quote from: froggie on March 19, 2014, 11:25:15 AM
QuoteThe plus side is that once it is posted, it's final, so no last minute changes.
In my experience, it's never "final" until the end of the meet. It's always good to plan for potential on-the-spot contingencies....the St. Louis meet being an excellent example.
True. Things could change as the meet goes on for various reasons. At the ICC meet I hosted, we had to change the restaurant on the fly because they were closed due to a private party.
I was referring to the basic details of the meet changing over and over.
At St. Louis, the car I was in had no idea that the itinerary changed AGAIN the day before on 3/14. It had changed several times, including four days prior to the meet on 3/11. The 3/11 itinerary was the one we all had downloaded and had with us instead of the 3/14 one. This would have been fine if just the directions were modified due to the one-way street changes, but the stops changed to a different order, which caused huge issues.
iPhone
I'm 50% yay, 50% nay. If I come, I'm stopping by Newport and picking Tim up.
Quote from: froggie on March 19, 2014, 11:25:15 AM
QuoteThe plus side is that once it is posted, it's final, so no last minute changes.
In my experience, it's never "final" until the end of the meet. It's always good to plan for potential on-the-spot contingencies....the St. Louis meet being an excellent example.
We added a stop at Ashland, but it was right on the tour route.
Quote from: Laura on March 19, 2014, 11:46:06 AM
True. Things could change as the meet goes on for various reasons. At the ICC meet I hosted, we had to change the restaurant on the fly because they were closed due to a private party.
It's reassuring to know that the Youngstown meet a few years ago wasn't the only time something like that has happened.
Quote from: froggie on March 19, 2014, 11:25:15 AM
QuoteThe plus side is that once it is posted, it's final, so no last minute changes.
In my experience, it's never "final" until the end of the meet. It's always good to plan for potential on-the-spot contingencies....the St. Louis meet being an excellent example.
Yep, almost every (if not every; only possible exception is Brick/Wall) meet I've been to has had some change the day of the meet.
QuoteQuoteTrue. Things could change as the meet goes on for various reasons. At the ICC meet I hosted, we had to change the restaurant on the fly because they were closed due to a private party.
It's reassuring to know that the Youngstown meet a few years ago wasn't the only time something like that has happened.
You people need to stop picking classy restaurants. I ain't wearing a suit on this roadmeet!
Quote from: vdeane on March 19, 2014, 02:02:09 PM
Quote from: froggie on March 19, 2014, 11:25:15 AM
QuoteThe plus side is that once it is posted, it's final, so no last minute changes.
In my experience, it's never "final" until the end of the meet. It's always good to plan for potential on-the-spot contingencies....the St. Louis meet being an excellent example.
Yep, almost every (if not every; only possible exception is Brick/Wall) meet I've been to has had some change the day of the meet.
I admit, I was being a bit ambitious with my statement. However, whatever I type tonight and print tomorrow is going to be what is typed on the handouts because I have a crazy busy next couple of days! Everything else will have to be fixed by pen on the papers or by word of mouth the day of the meet.
iPhone
Quote from: vdeane on March 19, 2014, 02:02:09 PM
Quote from: froggie on March 19, 2014, 11:25:15 AM
QuoteThe plus side is that once it is posted, it's final, so no last minute changes.
In my experience, it's never "final" until the end of the meet. It's always good to plan for potential on-the-spot contingencies....the St. Louis meet being an excellent example.
Yep, almost every (if not every; only possible exception is Brick/Wall) meet I've been to has had some change the day of the meet.
Heh... I actually remember having to write something in pen on all the Brick/Wall handouts.
As has happened frequently in the past with prior meets, veterinary issues may impact my attendance.
One of our senior felines has been in declining health and seemed to deteriorate quickly the past couple of days. We took her to the vet this afternoon, where she got IV fluids because of dehydration and a decreased appetite. She has to go back tomorrow night for more fluids and hopefully the vet will be able to draw enough blood to do some tests to see if she has kidney failure going on.
At the very least, I'll be altering my travel plans significantly. If I do come, I won't be leaving until Friday morning, which means I'll have to adjust my route to Hampton Roads. Worst case, I have to cancel my trip and keep my fingers crossed for Tennessee next weekend.
I should know for sure this time tomorrow evening. The bad part is the money I'd save by not coming will probably go for vet bills.
So sorry to hear about your cat, HB. We have a senior kitty as well, and we get nervous about his health, too, when he isn't as hungry or active as usual.
I accidentally fell asleep early last night (9 pm) so I didn't finish the direction portion, so I will have to try and squeeze it in at some point today/the wee hours of the morning...
iPhone
Quote from: Laura on March 20, 2014, 11:11:19 AM
So sorry to hear about your cat, HB. We have a senior kitty as well, and we get nervous about his health, too, when he isn't as hungry or active as usual.
I accidentally fell asleep early last night (9 pm) so I didn't finish the direction portion, so I will have to try and squeeze it in at some point today/the wee hours of the morning...
I'm off today. Had a dental appointment scheduled (no cavities!) and was going to use this afternoon as my getaway on the trip. Instead, we'll be back at the vet for another round of IV fluids this evening. She perked up a bit and her appetite picked up during the night, but Im going to wait and see what the vet says before I start traveling. My biggest hesitance in taking a trip is leaving my wife with her on the chance that something happens to her.
This same kitty had an issue last year which affected my travel plans to the Monticello, NY meet. She must not like me planning on going to springtime meets.
Quote from: hbelkins on March 20, 2014, 01:09:48 PM
Quote from: Laura on March 20, 2014, 11:11:19 AM
So sorry to hear about your cat, HB. We have a senior kitty as well, and we get nervous about his health, too, when he isn't as hungry or active as usual.
I accidentally fell asleep early last night (9 pm) so I didn't finish the direction portion, so I will have to try and squeeze it in at some point today/the wee hours of the morning...
I'm off today. Had a dental appointment scheduled (no cavities!) and was going to use this afternoon as my getaway on the trip. Instead, we'll be back at the vet for another round of IV fluids this evening. She perked up a bit and her appetite picked up during the night, but Im going to wait and see what the vet says before I start traveling. My biggest hesitance in taking a trip is leaving my wife with her on the chance that something happens to her.
This same kitty had an issue last year which affected my travel plans to the Monticello, NY meet. She must not like me planning on going to springtime meets.
We have a 10 year old dog (black pug) that in January last year was very lethargic, to the point where after she was in the vet for a few days we thought we were going to have to put her down. On what we thought would be our last visit to the vet, she perked up and was very excited to see us. The short story: Her gall bladder was leaking. So we had to take her to a speciialist to have it taken out, which for a dog was a very risky and expensive surgery, espeically knowing her other handicaps (has trouble walking). Approaching 14 months later, she's still with us. And costing me lots of money a month in medicenes and specialized food!!! LOL
I feel your heartache Belkins. Hope the kitty gets better quickly!
Those of you who attended Pikeville last fall remember that we were dealing with a sick elderly canine who eventually died a few weeks after that meet. I got knocked out of one of the Baltimore meets a few years ago because we had a cat who was in the last stages of kidney cancer. There have been other instances when veterinary situations have knocked me out of meets or planned travel.
Quote from: sammi on March 20, 2014, 01:46:00 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 20, 2014, 01:23:34 PM
Belkins
Our first cat was named Annabelle. We called her Annabella sometimes, or Annabelkins (short for Annabelle Elkins :-D ).
When I give my email address verbally, I always say it like I pronounce my name and add "no periods." Invariably when it's read back to me, they say "h belkins." I guess because of the popularity of Belkin brand computer peripherals and iPhone accessory items.
Quote from: hbelkins on March 20, 2014, 02:33:38 PM
When I give my email address verbally, I always say it like I pronounce my name and add "no periods." Invariably when it's read back to me, they say "h belkins." I guess because of the popularity of Belkin brand computer peripherals and iPhone accessory items.
Funny. Ever since I began reading this forum so many years ago I has always read your name as HB Elkins. Never once did I assume it was H Belkins. (Obviously my initial interperetation was correct.)
Hopefully she will pull through HB, I know what you mean, my oldest cat turned 15 earlier this month and is still going strong, Steph and I had to put his sister to sleep a couple years ago. Hope you can make it and if so have fun, I will be there in spirit and hope to see you at my meet next weekend! :-)
If anyone's in a location and still interested in either carpooling from Norfolk or interested in breakfast Sunday morning before leaving (this directed maily at HBE if vet issues allow), jut let me know.
Itinerary and directions are posted!
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_ke0pB4iMdUWDZHNGJZRUpYTUE&usp=sharing
Kudos to my awesome husband Mike for writing these while I was at the movies for the opening night of Divergent :)
Having been on that ferry a few times, I see a potential problem there, especially if we have more than 2 tour cars (since you can usually figure on at least one or two "locals" waiting for the ferry).
Also, if folks want all of MD 367 on that part of the tour, we'll need to continue across US 113 and down to the railroad crossing.
My apologies if I'm missing it, but where is the meeting place and what time?
Laura edited the original post (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=11693.0) with it...looks like the Evolution Craft Brewing Company in Salisbury at 11:30.
Ah, OK, Thanks!
I'm in the Hampton Roads area tonight, so obviously things got better on the feline front. I'll have to look at the itinerary to see how much of it I will be able to do and still make my intended destination for the evening before it gets dark.
Quote from: froggie on March 21, 2014, 04:52:19 AM
Having been on that ferry a few times, I see a potential problem there, especially if we have more than 2 tour cars (since you can usually figure on at least one or two "locals" waiting for the ferry).
Also, if folks want all of MD 367 on that part of the tour, we'll need to continue across US 113 and down to the railroad crossing.
Thanks for catching the MD 367 stub! We intended to include it. I added it to the itinerary on google docs. As for the ferry, we will have to vote on it as a group on Sunday whether or not it is worth doing.
iPhone
Laura and Mike, thanks for organizing this meet. Informative and fun, in spite of the nasty-type weather.
Wish I could have stayed for the tour, but I knew I needed to get as far west as possible Sunday evening. Our sick kitty's condition had deteriorated, much more than any of us realized. She died while I was on the way home today.
Sorry to hear that, H.B.
The tour got off to a bit of a messy start since the printed directions were misleading. A couple stops in, we started contending with rain. But overall it was a fun trip. Thanks to Mike and Laura for organizing!
I had a few sprinkles hit me while I was on US 50, and a few more when I was on the I-95 portion of the Washington beltway, but nothing really steady. It had rained in the Ashland/Richmond/Chesterfield area before I got there, but the pavement had mostly dried by the time I was on it.
HB...you have my deepest condolences on your loss.
It was a great meet. One of the coolest things - which I recommend to anyone who may be in the area - is to take the small 2 or 3 car ferry across the small river down there. Very cool indeed!
Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 25, 2014, 12:30:18 PM
One of the coolest things - which I recommend to anyone who may be in the area - is to take the small 2 or 3 car ferry across the small river down there. Very cool indeed!
Agreed, as a bit of an auto ferry geek (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=5046.msg110119#msg110119) who was one of the people who asked it be kept on our itinerary. The ferry vessel comfortably fit all three of our cars and the passengers therein, plus several other foot passengers.
The design of the ferry vessel (cable-guided barge, with a crew member in a small control room) was very familiar to me. I've been on smaller such barges, across wider rivers, as well as similar but larger barges without cable guides so the captain had to steer them somewhat upstream to stay on course.
^^ That makes two weeks in a row that auto ferries have played a part in a road meet. We wound up taking both the Brussels Ferry and the Golden Eagle Ferry through Calhoun County, Illinois at the St Louis meet.
Here are my two group photos from the Delmarva meet, both taken at the north end (inland side) of the DE 1 Indian River bridge. Froggie took both photos with my camera (we were in a hurry, to take advantage of a break in the drizzle), but there may have been other group shots that include him but not someone else. H.B. Elkins met us for lunch, but had to skip the tour to start heading back home.
(//www.alaskaroads.com/delmarva-meet-group-photo-SENDHELP_DSC2193.jpg)
(//www.alaskaroads.com/delmarva-meet-group-photo_noSENDHELP_DSC2194.jpg)
From left to right:
Jeff Taylor [jeffandnicole], Mike Tantillo [mtantillo], Anthony Costanzo [Duke87], Daniel Greenstein, Keith Thomas (behind Laura), Laura Bianca-Pruett [Laura], Mike Pruett [MDRoads], Michael Temme-Solfer [mts83], Oscar Voss [oscar], C.P. Zilliacus [cpzilliacus]
Did any of you walk on the pedestrian path of the bridge? I wanted to check that out when I stopped by with my sister two years ago, but with her MD tags it was twice the amount to pay at the adjacent lot. So I took photos and we headed out.
The four blanks are, left to right, Anthony Costanzo (Duke87), Daniel Greenstein, Keith Thomas (behind Laura), and Michael Temme-Soifer (mts83).
Ahem, there are four blanks... I'm the dude holding the send help sign in photo 1 and being a goofball in photo 2. :sombrero:
Name's Anthony Costanzo.
Oops, fixed.
Are you sure you want the Nimbyans to have your real names?
Quote from: Takumi on March 27, 2014, 07:06:29 PM
The four blanks are, left to right, Anthony Costanzo (Duke87), Daniel Greenstein, Keith Thomas (behind Laura), and Michael Temme-Soifer (mts83).
Thanx. I usually miss a few (senior moments and all that), but the rain gear also threw me off.
A quick followup on my pre- and post-meet touring:
I stayed in Pocomoke City MD the evening before. So while many other participants were making their bleary-eyed drives up the Eastern Shore from the Norfolk area, I clinched MD 366 east of Poc. City (boring, but the number was irresistible), MD 756, MD 413 down to Crisfield, and MD 675 (Princess Anne segment), as well as parts of MD 12 and MD 667. After the meet, mostly before nightfall, I snagged MD 349 to the Nanticoke area, MD 352, and MD 347. Not gonna catch up to MDRoads on that state's highways, but at least I can fill in some of the holes in my southeastern MD map.
Quote from: NE2 on March 27, 2014, 07:46:15 PM
Are you sure you want the Nimbyans to have your real names?
Dan, they can find out from other means. Thus, a yawn is rather appropriate, IMHO.
To answer Alex's question: we didn't have time to walk the bridge.
thank you all so much for attending the meet! It was such a pleasure, and it was awesome that most of the people who came to Saturday's Hampton Roads meet stuck around for Delmarva.
There were lessons learned on my end (have one Pruett write the itinerary, and only write directions one way; don't forget potty breaks; remember that lunch can go over two hours long, especially when everyone is leaving directly after dinner; learn all of the local MD stub routes along the route) but I had a lot of fun and am glad you all did, too!
I wanted to come, but simply couldn't fit both meets in financially, with one car due for inspection and my dog's annual checkup this paycheck.
Here is a quick assortment of photos that I put online from my trip. It's publicly accessible.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152305390341469.1073741826.275641381468&type=1
I missed this as well, but here are a few photos of the Indian River Inlet Bridge (https://www.dropbox.com/sc/lihrbp53904nvjj/7aCNLoAMq5)