6th or 7th Santa Rosa BBQ (Bay Area, CA) - Sat. 08/18 2 pm

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

As mentioned in this thread that was a follow up to this thread, Demo and I will be hosting a BBQ/Dopefest at our home next month. As the thread title implies, I can’t remember if it’s our 6th or 7th, but I do know we always have a pretty good time.

The basics:
Santa Rosa is a little less than an hour north of San Francisco. Unfortunately no bart or train up this way, but there is Golden Gate bus service and in the past Dopers have coordinated carpooling/rideshares, I’ll leave that to you all. We’re in a condo with a nice sized back deck (no yard.) We don’t have kids in the home anymore, and we have no pets other than fish, so if you’re allergy prone you should be safe.

Saturday, August 18th.
2 PM seems like a good time to get things rolling.

In the past we’ve done both culinary themes (Italian, Mexican, All-American, Souther/Cajun, etc.) and just straight up, hang out and grill stuff. Not sure what we’ll do food wise this year, although we’ve been thinking maybe Caribbean - Jamaican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican (my specialty :wink: .) We usually offer at least a couple of options for vegetarians as well as ‘fish and fowl’ folks. But we’re definitely open to suggestions. We’ll have beer and wine, water and soft drinks. We don’t ask anyone to bring anything, but if you have something you just have to have, feel free to bring it. The coals will be hot and the ice chest cold.

Some have already expressed interest in one of the other threads. Anyone else interested, let me know - IM/PM me, email, post, whatever, and I 'll get more info and our address to you.

We’re really looking forward to seeing the Dopers we met on Saturday again, as well as some new faces.

Come join us! Oh, and don’t forget to read the SDMB Disclaimer. :wink:

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I’m planning on attending right now, and will be driving up from Mountain View, so I’d be willing to pick anyone up who is along the way and is interested in carpooling.

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We’re planning to attend, and will drive in from Sac. Most likely we’ll stay over, so if you have hotel/motel suggestions nearby, let us know.

4

Awesome. We do have room in our place for at least a few guests to stay. 2 spare bedrooms, a couple of air mattresses, 2 futons (although one is in the smoky garage), and at least half a dozen sleeping bags and floor space. And guests are always more than welcome to stay over. We realize we’re up here a bit and actually encourage it. Not to mention these things often go on to the wee hours. Not everyone is comfortable with that, so here’s a website with a list of hotels/motels:

Hotels, Motels

For proximity to our place I’d suggest the first 2 listed - Americas Best Value and Best Western Garden Inn. They are about half a mile from our house. The area is safe, but a tiny bit seedy (a little prostitution and the occasional drug deal at the corner convenience store nearby), although those 2 places seem nice enough. I often see tourist types walking to the Denny’s across the street from them. Santa Rosa is a great town, we just happen to live on the edge of kind of a suburban ghetto-like area. Our condo complex is nice enough though, honest. It’s the stuff around it that’s less than impressive. :expressionless:

For proximity to downtown and a nicer area, the Courtyard by Marriott would be your best bet.

Or our place, it’s free and you can’t get any closer, but I can’t guarantee everyone will have an actual bed. If you’re OK with an almost slumber party type atmosphere, our house is your house.

5

We’re totally Ok, with the slumber party thing. Thanks. Count us in! It would be lots of fun!

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I’m interested. psycat90, I just sent you a private message.

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Bumping in case people missed it originally, and for ideas of other stuff to do if I’m spending the weekend up in Napa-country. :smiley:

8

Hello again!

So, 10 days away. Any more victims? :wink:

I think I sent directions/our address to everyone that PMed me. If you still need them, send me a message, I’ll get the address to you ASAP.

Dunawake, as for other things to do. Wine tasting obviously if you like that kind of thing. Armstrong Woods in Guerneville (Redwoods) is nice, but that’s heading away from Napa and towards the coast. (and if you do go that way, Bodega Bay is also cute, and the Point Reyes Lighthouse is a nice stop heading further down the coast.)

If you’re going to head out to Napa, the drive through the town of Sonoma is nice. Stop in the town and check out the mission and the shops, it really is a cute little plaza/downtown area.

Or you could take the more northerly route (through Calistoga) and check out the (kinda cheesy) Petrified Forest and then the Calistoga ‘Old Faithful’ Geyser.

If you like beer, a stop into Russian River Brewing is an absolute must. It’s downtown Santa Rosa, about 2 miles from our place.
We’re looking forward to seeing everyone again and meeting new people. See you all then!

9

Just a bump for anyone who missed it. The festivities are still going on as planned for Saturday.

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I’ll be there. Which panda do you guys want this time? Keep in mind Fester’s still a bit worn out.

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Damn, why didn’t you guys have these things while I was in the Bay Area! I’m so jealous :slight_smile:

Have fun! Let us know how it goes.

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I really wish i could make it. Unfortunately, my friend is leaving the Bay Area, so I have to go visit him. Have fun!