though not easy fly-ins
For me (and I suspect many others), that's a deal-breaker for a weekend trip. Period.
I want to spend my time with people, not negotiating transportation. I have a limited number of vacation days, and I don't want to use up two of them on frustrating travel logistics. If I make it to the F2F this year, chances are I will want to fly in early Friday to spend time with people Friday afternoon and evening, and get a Sunday afternoon flight home so I can get to bed at a decent enough hour to make Monday bearable.
Yeah, if it's not an easy fly-in, then it would be a questionable proposition. But I often forget to think that way, since living in Jacksonville, everything's a pain in the ass to fly into.
"Not an easy fly-in" translates into "losing an entire day to travel" for people like me. And Anne.
Right. For me, too. I recognize that leaving off the more remote locales is a bummer, 'cause indeed they would be fun, especially with this group. But it's just a weekend, so it's a timecrunch as is.
More remote locales can be good for smaller mini-F2Fs, but to accomodate as many people as possible, who want to have as much Buffista time as possible in a short amount of time, bigger cities with proximity to airports, and booking hotels with accessibility, really is the way to go for the Big Official F2F.
Fort Lauderdale and Miami are easy enough to get to and I could coordinate things, but honestly it is way too hot at the time of year we do the F2F. I have visions of burnt to a crisp Buffistas. A mid winter event, sure. But then we have seasonal issues, but perhaps still workable for a group.
Do we have anyone on the ground in SC near Myrtle Beach?
I think the NC Trianglistas are closest, which is to say 4 hours away.
I have family there who might be corralled into helping out.
Also, Matt! I've been meaning to e you for two weeks now with apologies for being a sucky friend. My Memphis trip turned into a)super fast and b)capital D drama. But the very little I saw of Memphis (mostly the EconoLodge and Central Station) made me think I'd really like to come back sometime when I have actual time.
