UPDATED ANNOUNCEMENT.\color{blue}{\text {Updates in blue.}}
What’s the Who What When Where and Why for this?
◆ WHO — Dopers in \color{blue}{\text {the Texas Hill Country}} + partners / spouses / friends
◆ WHAT — Dope Fest Texas Hill Country. Let’s meet IRL!
◆ WHEN — Saturday April 6, 2024, at \color{blue}{\text {1030am}}
◆ WHERE — \color{blue}{\text {in line at the entrance to: }} \color{blue}{\text { Gristmill River Restaurant & Bar, 1287 Gruene Rd, New Braunfels TX }} \color{blue}{\text { 830-625-0684; https://gristmillrestaurant.com }} \color{blue}{\text { mail@gruenetexas.com }}
\color{blue}{\text { Gristmill opens @1100 but a crowd is expected. }} \color{blue}{\text { Let’s meet up in line and start getting to know each other,}} \color{blue}{\text { then go in and enjoy lunch.}}
◆ WHY — to meet up in real life, in 3D, and get to know some other Dopers who we talk with here; and also so we can fight some ignorance together
Texas Hill Country Dopers, are you interest in meeting up? Let’s have a Texas Hill Country Dope Fest!
Regarding the WHEN — Because of the total eclipse {thread here, ➜ USA TSE, total solar eclipse: three years away for USA (April 2024) - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board}, the date and time for this Dope Fest has already been fixed. FloatyGimpy and I will be in town for this total eclipse. I’ll be coming from San Francisco and have been planning this trip for over a year, and I’ve been discussing a meetup in San Antonio with ThelmaLou for several months. So that’s why the date and time for this Dope Fest is set and inflexible. Apologies to those who would otherwise be interested in meeting but cannot because of the date.
Gristmill opens @1100 but a crowd is expected.
They do not take reservations. Let’s meet up in line and start getting to know each other, then go in and enjoy lunch.
◆ WHY — to meet up in real life, in 3D, and get to know some other Dopers who we talk with here; and also so we can fight some ignorance together
Texas Hill Country Dopers, are you interest in meeting up? Let’s have a Texas Hill Country Dope Fest!
Local Notes: the address of the Grist Mill for GPS and Google Maps is 1287 Gruene Rd, New Braunfels, TX 78130.
Greune Hall is right next door.
On a normal Saturday, the Grist Mill is packed to the rafters (not that it has rafters). We may not be able to get in at all. There is a wait list. So someone save it on your phone and get us on a Waiting List as soon as you arrive. We will need an approximate head count by then.
[BTW, how are we going to recognize each other? One time when I met a group of internet friends for the first time, we identified ourselves by carrying large bags of M&Ms.]
Here are a couple of maps, macro and micro. IH-35 is the road from San Antonio. Note that IH-10 (which goes to California) also goes through San Antonio. Drive time on an ordinary day from the outskirts of San Antonio (Loop 410 & IH-35) to the Grist Mill is about 35 minutes. On that day, who even knows…
I had called the place some time back. They do not take reservations and yes, they expect to be busy. Since we plan to meet at 1030 and the place doesn’t open until 1100 (and I will commit to being there at 1030), anyone else arriving can meet me in line.
Thanks for the info, ThelmaLou.
I don’t foresee difficulty in finding each other. One example, we can say out loud, “Dope Fest?”, and that should grab our attention. It’s usually easy to spot people who are looking for others that haven’t met before.
Let’s post updates in this thread, like, Bullitt is here in line and I’m wearing a blue button-down short sleeve shirt and green shorts, and my wife is in a black t-shirt.
Once we’re admitted in, we’ll figure out how big a table we need based on peoples’ inputs here. Like, Velocity is a tentative and ThelmaLou and FloatyGimpy plan to be there, so with my wife and me we’ll plan to get a table for 6 at this point. As others chime in here in the thread, we’ll revise that number as needed.
We are Dopers! We’ll figure it out. It will work out.
You put your party on the wait list on the Grist Mill website when you get in line. At that time, you need to know how many there are in your party (roughly, i.e., are there two, 10, 20?). So @Bullitt, if you’re the first one in line, you’ll need to know generally how many of us to expect.
Don’t y’all (addressing everyone) use wait/waiting lists on Yelp for busy restaurants at busy times?
One of the nice things about the Texas Hill Country is you’ll have no shortage of regional craft beers to choose from. It’s a legacy of our historical populations of Germans, Czechs and hippies. I’m partial to Real Ale Brewery in Blanco myself.
Hmmm… I might bring my black Stetson cowboy hat. I don’t have too many opportunities to wear it. If I was wearing that while standing in line it would make it easier for us Dopers to gather.
