Agreed: My very first pitting of a Doper (not counting my “I disagree with your reason for closing my thread” thread).
(Don’t worry, it’s pretty tame. :))
Misnomer is reying to get folks together, either help or shut up. Quibbling over “is it or is it not” a Dopefest serves noone.
I might be able to make it, but I think District Choir is happening then. (I don’t suppose there’s a way to get from Vienna to Herndon without going on the toll road?)
There’s usually a way around the toll road. 
Just tonight I went from Vienna to Reston without taking 267: I took 123 to Hunter Mill Road, which turns into Sunrise Valley Drive – and I could have turned off 123 at Lawyers or Nutley, had I realized where I was a little sooner. Off the top of my head I can’t think of how to get from Vienna to Herndon without going through Reston, and the toll road would definitely be faster, but there might be a way (maybe 123 to Hunter Mill to Baron Cameron, which turns into Elden? even that kind of goes around Reston…).
When going from Herndon to Oakton or the vicinity north of Fairfax city, I usually take the Hunter Mill Road exit from 267 and take Hunter Mill to 123. Hunter Mill is a scenic route and you need to be an alert driver on that single lane curvy hilly track through the woods. If I were going from the Vienna Metro to Herndon and avoiding the toll road, I would take Blake to 123 to Hunter Mill, and stay on Sunrise Valley all the way to Monroe Street, then turn north and take Monroe to Van Buren to Elden Street. Jimmy’s is then a few blocks west on Elden. But that’s because I know the roads. An easier route for a new visitor would be to turn north from Sunrise Valley onto Wiehle, then left on Baron Cameron, which becomes Elden when it crosses into Herndon, it’s a straight shot over to Jimmy’s. But I usually take the toll road. If you enter or exit the toll road in the middle, it costs only 50 cents instead of $1.25 for traveling its entire length from the toll plaza.
P.S. - A way to totally avoid Reston would be to take 123 south to Route 50, then take 50 west to Route 7100, Fairfax County Parkway. Take 7100 north, exit at Elden street, and go left, then Jimmy’s is about a mile and a half west. This adds several miles to your trip, but it is simpler to find your way. You don’t need to avoid Reston because Sunrise Valley through southern Reston is not heavily traveled.
You’re off my christmas list. 
In fact, brownie55 and I are going to talk about you and point.
::Borrows Dex’s Mod Whistle::
TWEEEEE! (Funny, his always has that trailing ‘T’…)
::Gives the damn thing back::
Let’s just calm down. It’s pretty silly to argue about whether it’s a Dopefest or not, or even what effort at organization is needed to call it a Dopefest. If people want to get together to throw back a couple of beers and not call it a Dopefest, who cares? It’s the beer that’s important.
So, let’s move on and get back to business: planning on getting smashed.
Good directions notes, Johanna. Thanks!
Just another Saturday night…
Quoted for truth. 
I’m a sort-of honorary Roanoke resident. At least that’s where the rest of my family lives, and I seem to end up there for most holidays.
So this thread’s brief detour into the Pit has nicened up and El Moddo shunts us back up here in the fresh clean air. While in the Pit I took the opportunity to say “fucking,” which you can’t here.
Misnomer, I misnomered you but then found out you have a new style in bangs, and it sounds like a good idea, can’t wait to see you F2F now. Actually, I sort of do mine that way too.
Well, that wold be cool, if it can be done. According to the nicely done wmata website, if I depart Foggy Bottom at 1714, I can get to West Falls Church at 1731. Kill a half hour there, and then grab “Fairfax Connector Bus 950” at 1801, which will drop me at Eldon and Monroe at 1841. Not too shabby.
Otherwise, I can definately get to Vienna, and take a cab from there. My only concern is a cab back to Vienna in time to grab the train back to Foggy Bottom.
My other thought was to do the Air and Space Museum (don’t make me spell the proper name) Annex near Dulles, on that day, and cab from there.
Any other suggestions / thoughts?
Four weeks from the date, here’s the tally so far:
Attending:[ul][li]Misnomer[/li][li]QuickSilver[/li][li]brownie55[/li][li]ultrafilter[/li][/ul]
Interested, But Not Sure:[ul][li]BlueKangaroo[/li][li]mcott[/li][li]Hello Again[/li][li]Johanna[/li][li]Roland Orzabal (planned your trip yet? :D)[/li][li]dwalin[/li][/ul]
Enigmatically Noncommittal:[ul][li]Wendell Wagner[/li][/ul]
Any additions/subtractions/other corrections?
I definitely think the annex is worth visiting, but, being part of the Smithsonian, it closes at 5:30pm. If this winds up being your plan and you want to get to Herndon early – to eat dinner or something – let me know. I could probably be persuaded to start drinking at 6pm instead of 7pm. Last time I took a cab home (to Reston) from the airport it cost around $25; I’m not sure if Herndon would be more/less expensive.
I still haven’t given up on the idea of someone picking you up from/driving you back to the Vienna metro (and it might even be me), but that kind of a plan might have to be made much closer to the date in question. When I proposed this idea, I had no idea how loooong a few weeks could feel like!
OK, put me down as Enigmatically Noncommittal too.
Tris
Jenny, put me down as Attending. I’m feeling better these days, I think I’m actually going to make it.
mcott, Jimmy’s is only one block west from Elden and Monroe.
Excellent! 
For a moment there I was worried that Tris’s post might lead to a run on folks wanting to be “Enigmatically Noncommittal.”
There is a certain sort of twisted poetic justice that the SDMB provides a venue wherein Wendell Wagner and I are viewed as possible trend setters, in some mildly nefarious way.
Tris
“Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty.” ~ Erwin Schrodinger ~
Well, one way or the other, I’ll be there, if only for a little while.
I see your email is in your profile. I’ve set up a new one for this trip, thank you, Gmail extra invites, gotta love “use 'em and toss 'em” addys. To contact me about anything to do with DC, send a message to wasnov05 //at// gmail //dot// com.
No kidding. I’ve been planning this trip since I got back from London in June, snagged the flight when it was cheap, and have played three hotels against each other since then. Finally picked the Marriott today.
If anyone wants to do the Annex on Saturday before the drinking, let me know. Be warned, though, that about all things museum / aviation, I’m a bit, shall we say, eccentric. Also, open offer to anyone who’d like to do the zoo on Sunday.
Oh, I’ll find it, don’t worry.
MC
Oh darn!! I am flying into Dulles and staying with my parents in Sterling just four days later. I’m so sorry I can’t make it. Have fun!
Well, upon internet investigation*, I think I’ve come up with an economical, workable plan to get to Jimmy’s (and on my own too!).
On Saturday morning, do the Post Office museum, followed by lunch, the the 1300 shuttle to the Annex. Tool around until it closes, then an (aprox) $8 cab ride to Dulles. Take the Metro bus around 1830 towards downtown to a park and ride lot to switch to a Fairfax Connector bus (FC950) to the aforementioned Eldon and Monroe. Arrive at the bar around 1915.
Would run about $23
*I really do like the wmata web site