I know I’m not the best person to suggest this, since I’ve only lived in Chicago for 2 months. I absolutely love it here and I think a Dopefest would be fun. I’ve attended Dallas and Phoenix dopefests in the past.
So, what do you think? I’ll show my North side bias by suggesting the Lincoln Park area as a possible meeting place, although I"m open to anyplace within CTA access.
I’m open to pretty much any Saturday afternoon/evening weekend during the summer or early fall.
I like the idea of having it at a restaurant or a bar that serves food. Ideally a place with good beer on tap.
I’ll second your Lincoln Park recommendation, as I live there. But I’d attend wherever it was, if I could. How about Goose Island Brewery? There was a gathering there a few months ago, but unfortunately I was out of town.
Anyone suggesting a place should make sure of several things:
That the location can handle a large group.
That the location can offer seperate checks.
That the location will seat the group where full meals are available to those that desire them.
This is based on the last Chicago Dopefest I attended, where the choice was a rooftop bar where only appetizers were served (presumably to make the tables turn over faster). The separate check are needed because some Chicago Dopers ducked out early on their bill, leaving the rest of up to foot the bill. I tossed in $80 to keep our host from having the eat the whole thing.
I love The Dope, but I no longer necessarily trust Dopers.
Dear lord, I thought this was about dope… as in pot, weed, grass, MJ, ganga and reefer. But instead it’s some kind of hippie face to face meeting. Either one works okay.
While meeting a restaurant is one thing, having a picnic out on the beach is an entirely different deal. Bring your Own Everything/Pot Luck takes the sting of feeling cheated out cash and being outside opens the possibility of lighting up, if anyone happens to smoke.
I keep looking for an excuse to head back up to Chicago, this might be a good reason. No preference on location, but I do know my way around the North side so that would be a plus.
Wow, ducking out on your bill is a serious no no. Yeah, separate checks are a must. I always tip a bit more since I know large parties with separate checks are a pain.
Sounds like a good idea to me. We live in Lincoln Park so LP sounds good. There’s a nice pub called the Galway Arms on Clark that has good food and drink and is multi-check friendly.
I’ll be back in Ireland in late July but otherwise would love to attend.
I’ll actually be at Galway Arms on July 14 as I’m going to a Chicago Fire game that night and the bus picks up there. I can report back as to how well it works for a potential dopefest.
Outside of July 14 and Labor Day weekend, I’m good for any Saturday. Sundays don’t work nearly as well, I work overnight on Sunday starting at 1130 PM, so I’m usually heading back to bed on Sunday afternoons.
I’m close friends with the owner of the Arms so I can get us sorted out with a private or semi-private area no problem. Parking in the super market on Coark isnt terrible Let’s throw out some dates?
Not for the dead man, jckaz. Not for the dead man.
Actually, I was coming in to ask who the pikers that gaffa keeps mentioning in this anecdote are, because I was present at a rooftop get together in Greektown that I’m pretty sure is the same one he attended. And, while it’s an outside possibility that I was so sloshed I forgot to toss in my $20 or whatever, I doubt it, but at this point it’s worth it to me to put an $80 check in the damn mail just to never have to read The Ballad of the Sad Greek Islands again.
If someone could be bothered to figure out the details, I could be bothered to go, so long as it’s CTA accessible and not taking up prime real estate on my calendar, like Saturday night or something.
Let me know when and where!