Mittens 2015 planning / discussion

[Grundislav]

Was there any talk of where to hold Mittens 2015? Because I had a brilliant idea yesterday...

[arj0n]

Was there any talk of where to hold Mittens 2015?

As usual, yes.

Because I had a brilliant idea yesterday...

OK, now I'm curious

[Disco]

To answer Grundy's question, I put forth two ideas for next year that were not discussed much, pending more research (Kitty Hawk, North Carolina or somewhere in the Northern-Lower Peninsula of Michigan).

After the group split, Kayla and I were talking about it with Gunnar and he had an even better proposal that would be closer to international airports that I will let him post about.


What did you have in mind, Grundy?

[Snarky]

For Mittens 2015, I have nothing against Disco's proposals, I just added as additional alternatives:

-The Virginia/DC area. Easy to get to, I think there's a fair bit of nice nature around there, and there's lots to see, between Washington, Colonial Williamsburg and all that.
-New England. (I was thinking specifically New Hampshire or Maine. I was up there once about 10 years ago, and really liked the landscape along the coast. We also threw around some other possibilities, like Cape Cod or Vermont.) Shouldn't be too hard to find a place because of all the cabins catering to autumn leaf-color tourists. Probably fly in to Boston, might be possible to get a train from there (depending on where exactly we'd go). In terms of attractions we could take a trip to see Salem, for example.
-I also mentioned renting a plantation house outside of New Orleans, but that was more by way of a joke. (Though I think Louisiana would be a cool place to do a Mittens.)

[Grundislav]

Gunnar has us covered. My idea was New Orleans, if doable.

[m0ds]

That'd be hella cool. And an evening trip to Morgan Freeman's blues club in Clarkdale would be top of my ideas list .. but you also got memphis up there and Oxford..haha! and Houston next door. I'm also v. interested in the prospect of New Orleans. Better start saving

[AGA]

Not to discourage you, but Houston is 350 miles from New Orleans,  Memphis 400, Clarksdale 350.  So roughly five to six hours' drive each, all in completely different directions.

I'm sure New Orleans would have more than enough interesting things to see on its own though.

[Eric]

-New England. (I was thinking specifically New Hampshire or Maine. I was up there once about 10 years ago, and really liked the landscape along the coast. We also threw around some other possibilities, like Cape Cod or Vermont.) Shouldn't be too hard to find a place because of all the cabins catering to autumn leaf-color tourists. Probably fly in to Boston, might be possible to get a train from there (depending on where exactly we'd go). In terms of attractions we could take a trip to see Salem, for example.

If you'd done this last year, I could've made it!

[selmiak]

Isn't there some overlook hotel in the mountains in maine?

[Disco]

New England would be great fun, have good flight connections and short distances to attractions, but would maybe cost a bit more to rent properties. It would be easier for Grundy, Dave and Janet to attend. Eric and Jess? I think Trapezoid also lives in Massachusetts, would be neat if he came.

New Orleans definitely has an exotic appeal to it that I would like to investigate. I could also easily get there by train (over 20 hours though). Violetnotpurple and I were looking up some properties and it looked like there were many good options in all price ranges.

[Darth Mandarb]

I'm still pullin' for North/West Michigan (Traverse City). 

There's a lot of things (perhaps not as exotic as New Orleans) to do and Western Michigan rivals any place I've been for beauty and weather (that time of year particularly).

Also; it's probably the only way, realistically, I'd be able to attend

But New Orleans would be amazing (that I won't deny).  I haven't been in years (since before Katrina).

[Radiant]

Do we have any AGS'ers in South America or in North Africa who could organize a Mittens?

[AGA]

Also; it's probably the only way, realistically, I'd be able to attend

Is Michigan closer to Florida than Louisiana? 

[Darth Mandarb]

Haha no!  But it is vacation time of year and we were going to be in Michigan already. I have NO idea how it's all going to work with baby Darth in the mix though so I was just speculating

[MillsJROSS]

Not to muddy the waters too much, but I'd love to do it here Austin Texas. I was going to push for it while attending this years Mittens, but couldn't make the trip due to the recent knee surgery (I'm doing well, and was just able to walk unaided this week. Still got some time to heal, but things are looking up).

Now I do happen to live in Austin, so, yes, it would make it extremely super convenient for me. That's not why I think it's an ideal choice though. I don't mind traveling back to the east coast.

Pros:

• The food here is simply amazing. It has more restaurants per capita than any other city. It caters to those who like spicy, but it pretty much has everything.
• It's close to schlitterbahn, which was the biggest waterpark in the country (it still may, but i haven't researched it).
• It's beautiful, and has some nice hills, a central park, and a lake that runs through the city.
• Along the same lines, there are beautiful vacation homes.
• Bats - there's a bridge downtown with millions of bats in it, and at dawn they all come out, and it's pretty interesting. You can rent a boat and see it from below, or walk and watch from the top of the bridge.
• A thriving downtown with food trucks.
• Live music in all the bars in the downtown area.
• In general it's a funky place and has a youthful energy.
• It's fairly cheap. The groceries here were much cheaper than what I was seeing when I lived in Florida, especially produce.
• I live here, so you have a built in guide and pre-trip coordinator.

Cons:

• It is in the middle of Texas, so there's a lot of driving should you want to go do any exploring. Although San Antonio is about 1.5 hours away, and you can see the Alamo. Houston/Dallas are about 4ish hours and to get out of Texas completely it's about 8 hours.
• It can get a little hot over here.

-MillsJROSS

[DutchMarco]

I've been to New Orleans pre- Katrina, and I loved it! (even though there were rumours about crime rates there (ie walking outside of the popular (busy/crowded!) main street) late in the evening. NO was more of a late night bar attraction to me.

[DutchMarco]

Jeremy, you are not giong to name the baby Darth, are you? If you are, I might sue you for removal of custody. :-O

[AGA]

Jeremy, you are not giong to name the baby Darth, are you? If you are, I might sue you for removal of custody. :-O

No, it'll be called Anakin.

[Eric]

When is Mittens usually held? The Pop Culture Association is meeting in New Orleans this year in the first week of April, and if any academics are among you, I'm sure they'd love some adventure game related presentations.

[Darth Mandarb]

Jeremy, you are not giong to name the baby Darth, are you? If you are, I might sue you for removal of custody. :-O

No, it'll be called Anakin.

Actually the front-runner name is Luke (Lukas)