# Is an AlbanyDope possible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 22, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187 "2003-04-22T00:21:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/21 "2003-04-22T20:12:28Z")
Tell people there will be punch and pie. More people will come if they think there will be punch and pie. I think a Saratoga Racetrack dope fest would be good. Ok expensive unless we can all stay with **JeffB** but since not that many people are coming we should all be able to crash at his place. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/22 "2003-04-22T20:33:43Z")
How about The Great Escape? Probably much more fun than the hall of dead animals. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/23 "2003-04-22T20:35:03Z")
I may be interested. It’s hard for me to attend, but keep me posted. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/24 "2003-04-22T22:06:08Z")
Ooh! The Great Escape! I haven’t been there since our 8th Grade “Congratulations, You Can Go To High School Now” end-of-year field trip! ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/25 "2003-04-22T22:49:55Z")
Damn racinchikki, I was a bad boy. We were in the Albany area last week (stayed in Guilderland). I was supposed to ringy-dingy you for lunch, but we were hip deep in cousins and such. Sowwy. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/26 "2003-04-22T23:06:44Z")
Dang. The Great Escape. I didn’t think of that. Of course, when I was a kid it was called Storytown, and it didn’t have any good rides. I think Great Adventure bought 'em and upgraded the place. Good idea. That would be a really fun thing to do. The last time I was there I was with a former girlfiend (note the spelling) and her kids, so I never really got a chance to do the really fun things. The “Boomerang” 'coaster was closed that day anyway. You guys have got my enthusiasm for this right back up. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/27 "2003-04-23T00:54:52Z")
The Boomerang is _hell_. It was brand-new when I went, so the line was huge and everybody _had_ to go on it for the novelty factor. I wish I hadn’t. I don’t mind going upside down. I don’t mind going backwards. But I do mind doing both at the same time. I swore incoherently and blasphemously. And when I got off the ride, with my best friend laughing at my incoherent blasphemy, we noticed that we’d been sitting in front of a nun. The Screamin’ Demon was closed when I went, too. I’d like to go on it. I enjoyed the heck out of the Comet, went on it like four times. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/28 "2003-04-23T01:11:02Z")
The Screamin’ Demon is a huge whack of fun. It’s a _very_ short ride, but still a whack of fun. I liked the Comet, too. There’s nothing extreme about it, but an enormous roller coaster built out of wood is hell for cool no matter how you look at it. For a while they were touting it as the largest surviving wooden roller coaster in the world. Does anybody know if that’s true? Oh yeah, back to the OP. Who else is going to be there when **racinchikki** and I are going nuts on the rides? ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/29 "2003-04-23T01:27:06Z")
Albany–that’s the city on the other side of the Thruway, huh? Well, depending on what day it is, I might be able to make it… ---
**Author:** ![Serendipity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Serendipity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serendipity)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/30 "2003-04-23T01:32:36Z")
Oooh… The possibility of going to the Great Escape is tempting; I haven’t been there in years. ( **Exgineer** , I remember when it was Storytown, too, although I was only about three years old at the time.) If you wanted to do something in Saratoga (before the track season tourist rush), there’s always The Parting Glass, a fantastic Irish pub which often has live music and always has an attractive bartender. Oh! What about Howe Caverns? I haven’t been there is ages, either, but I thought I’d suggest something vaguely educational. 😉 To any extent, I’m interested, but slightly unsure because, as **Exgineer** so eloquently put it, “I’m shy. The thought of actually meeting people in the flesh gives me the vapors.” ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/31 "2003-04-23T03:08:13Z")
I can bring smelling salts and delicately embroidered handkerchiefs to soothe the vapors. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/32 "2003-04-23T05:09:35Z")
Speaking from personal experience at several dopefests, a meeting at a place like Great Adventure or the racetrack is probably a bad idea. While we’re all wonderful people, we’re not the most organized operation in mass. A typical meeting consists of one or two people sitting at a table for twenty with random strangers dropping by over the course of an hour or two saying, “excuse me, but I think maybe I’m supposed to be meeting you.” Eventually critical mass is achieved and the dopefest is launched. What you need is a place where people can sit around for a long period with being too bored or looking too much like security should be called. Good visibility is also a must. My recommendation is a coffeehouse or tavern. Maybe the coffee bars at Borders or Barnes & Noble. ---
**Author:** ![tkeana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@tkeana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tkeana)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/33 "2003-04-23T18:29:34Z")
I’m a newbie here–more of an LJer, but I’m an hour outside Albany. I’m down with it. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/34 "2003-04-24T01:00:07Z")
See this, **Rue**? I sucked in a lurker. Maybe It’s not the same as drawing totally new posters, but it’s something. Welcome to the “Kinda-Sorta Maybe Planning to Have an AlbanyDope” thread, **tkeana**. All beings with detectable pulses are welcome. And welcome to the boards too, in case nobody welcomed you yet. To address **Little Nemo** ’s point, I’m just really trolling for interested parties, and possibly soliciting ideas for activities. I thought I’d leave the actual meeting-up part for a later thread. As has been pointed out, we have some time and location restraints. So, **Little Nemo** is willing to come up from “two hours south” of here, which is maybe White Plains, or possibly Yonkers, or Poughkeepsie if he expects a lot of traffic on the Taconic Parkway. **Duke** is evidently willing to come over here from out near Buffalo. These guys want to _travel_ for this, people. The least we could do is give them a proper welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/35 "2003-04-24T03:52:17Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m just really trolling for interested parties, and possibly soliciting ideas for activities. I thought I’d leave the actual meeting-up part for a later thread. As has been pointed out, we have some time and location restraints. One of which is racinchikki’s July departure date. No sense losing an opportunity by spending too much time just talking about a meeting; throw one together and see who shows up. > [@](#): > > So, Little Nemo is willing to come up from “two hours south” of here, which is maybe White Plains, or possibly Yonkers, or Poughkeepsie if he expects a lot of traffic on the Taconic Parkway. North of two, south of one, and west of all three. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/36 "2003-04-25T00:33:11Z")
I’m going to give this one more chance. Are we going to do this, or aren’t we? If so, tell me now. Otherwise I’m going to drop it, and I’ll never take it up again. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Little Nemo_ > **North of two, south of one, and west of all three.** That’s near Ramapo, then. This is a fun game. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/37 "2003-04-25T01:26:30Z")
**Exgineer,** you stress too much. It’s not like anybody’s come in and said “No, I’m not coming, this is a stupid idea.” Folks just need to pick a place and time and I’ll be there. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/38 "2003-04-25T03:10:10Z")
Okay, we’ve got 13 people who express at least an interest in a meeting: Exgineer JeffB bouv racinchikki clayton\_e Eonwe Flymaster Little Nemo Zebra RealityChuck Duke Serendipity tkeana A few time restrictions. Flymaster is leaving the area very soon and racinchikki is also leaving in a few months. Others have indicated they have scheduling issues. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to get organized in time for Flymaster (which would essentially be this week). So let’s aim for a weekend in May. How does Saturday, May 24 sound? At a location in Albany to be determined in the near future? ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/39 "2003-04-25T03:50:00Z")
Saturday, May 24 sounds fine for me, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187/40 "2003-04-25T10:16:39Z")
Fine with me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-albanydope-possible/170187.md?page=3)