Southeast Meetup 2024

[higgins]

I thought I'd start a new topic for a 2024 Southeast meetup.

I'm in whenever/wherever it is. Hiawassee was a good central location last year, but one member had to rent the house for a few days to make it happen.

What do those who are interested think about this idea:

• Pick a decent motel that we could each drive to in 8 hrs or less (might be easier to centralize the location).
• Each of us reserve a room, or double up with someone to save bux.
• Once we all arrive, start our gathering in one of our rooms, sampling that person's wares.
• Then proceed to each person's room in turn sampling their product (kind of like a pub crawl). All you have to carry is your glass.
• Spend as long as we want to sharing our libations and stories.
• At some point we could call out for a pizza delivery, or something that we could all agree on.
• Afterward just a short walk to your room for the night.
• Drive home the next day.

I think with 8 or fewer people this could work well. It would take 2 days out of your schedule, but would not require any driving after drinking.

[Steve Broady]

I like the idea. A lot of hotels also have meeting space available for groups of various sizes, if we wanted to organize any larger gathering for a portion of the time. I definitely like the idea of one member not having to pay for the venue individually.

[Stags]

Just tossing it out there- if y’all wanted to do this somewhere fun it might entice more members to show- e.g. Nashville is centrally located and there’s no shortage of debauchery to be had. Someplace with a casino might be fun too.

[Steve Broady]

While casinos hold no appeal for me personally, the point is well made. Since it’s likely that people will be traveling, it makes sense to find a location that had plenty to offer.

I know that a few folks here have personal or professional connections with some distilleries. Is there any chance that we might be able to arrange some kind of tasting or tour at a distillery?

[Steve Broady]

As far as locations go, Chattanooga is pretty accessible from a lot of places in the southeast, as is Atlanta (wouldn’t be my first choice, but it’s certainly got a lot going on). Nashville isn’t too bad, either. I would also suggest Asheville, NC. There is of course plenty of “hobby distilling” history in the area, plenty of food and drink and entertainment options, and for those that want to gamble, Cherokee is not far away. Granted, I’m in NC, so I automatically tend to think of places that I’m familiar with.

As for a date, I’m wide open. We did spring last year, and the weather was beautiful. Summer in the NC/TN mountains is still very pleasant. I had to pick a date on my own, I’d shoot for mid May.

[higgins]

Trying to keep this plan going since at least one person needs to schedule next year's vacation in the next month or so. I think it is important to get dates figured out first - location can come later.

As for my suggestion of a motel, I was just trying to think of a way that we could gather in an inconspicuous location (remember, what we do is illegal) without someone having to rent a house for multiple days, and without worrying about driving afterward. It could be almost anywhere, making it easy to select a really central location.

There is a Harrah's casino/hotel in Murphy NC, which is about 90 miles east of Chattanooga, 110 miles west of Asheville, 120 miles north of Atlanta.

Mondays thru Thursdays in April are $63 (May is double that):

Or there's one in Cherokee NC too. A bit more than Murphy in April, a bit less in May.

We only had 4 at last year's event - one had to bow out at the last minute - and it would be nice to have more, but I sure wouldn't expect more than 8 or 10 folks total. It was still a great time, and totally worth it to me. I will go again even if it is just 4 people.

[jessespa]

I would be interested in participating in this meetup.
I can schedule my vacation anytime so I will be following this thread.
So to get involved do I need to PM someone?
I like the hotel idea, casino is not a bad touch either. I know my better half would like that idea.
It would be nice to put faces to all you guys that post here and try to help fellow distillers out.
I'll bring some of my best stuff and see where i can improve and get better at this craft.
I appreciate you guys trying to bring all this together.

[Steve Broady]

So to get involved do I need to PM someone?

For now, I think just saying that is sufficient. Last year, we started a group PM to work out the details once we had an idea of who wanted to attend.

I’ve already committed to chasing the eclipse next April, and visiting some family in the Midwest at the same time. But I could easily take a couple weeks, and we could shoot for mid April if that works for everyone else. Something around the 15th-20th, perhaps.

I would be surprised if I’m the only one with any scheduling issues, but that would certainly be convenient if so! If there’s anyone even casually interested in attending and who has any specific dates that would work better or worse, I’d appreciate hearing about it.

I didn’t know about the casino in Murphy, but that’s not a bad deal. I like the idea of a hotel of some sort, for all the reasons you mentioned, higgins. Hopefully we can get a slightly larger group together going forward. I enjoyed meeting you guys, and hope to make it a regular thing.

[Dougmatt]

I’m good with Murphy or Cherokee. I had to cancel last year do to a last minute job change, but hoping to make it this year. Right now in April I cannot do 4/13-4/21 )I will be out of the country), and in May I cannot do the 4th - 12th unless we do it in Nashville which is where I will be for a business commitment.

The idea of a casino doesn’t matter to me personally and I expect to only join for a day (with an overnight recovery). The chance to meet, share and learn is what I care about, other than that it’s all good so whatever works best for others trying to double it into a vacation.

As for hotel or Airbnb / rental home. I travel a lot for work and spend a lot of time in different hotels around the world. In many areas I have found it can be illegal / not allowed to bring your own alcoholic beverages into any public or common area in a hotel. We can room hop, but for more than 3 or 4 people that feels like it gets tight. Not sure about the Harrahs’ acceptance of alcohol in public spaces…. Maybe a residence inn or other “extended stay” hotel where someone can book a room with a living room might make sense to provide a gathering area?

If we want to go back to the same cabin or another abnb, we can always split the cost.

[jonnys_spirit]

I'd suggest an off-site email thread instead of a group DM on the forum for the bulk of comms. I think we're limited to 100 msg's stored on the forum and the bandwidth eats that up pretty quick which then requires deleting msg's to allow new ones to flow.

Happy to trade emails in PM and I would like to tentatively plan to attend - I was not able to last yr due to work

Cheers,
jonny

[Steve Broady]

Thanks for those dates, Dougmatt. That helps.

In general, do people scheduling around work prefer weekdays or weekends? I may be the odd man out here, but weekends are slightly more challenging for me. That said, I intend to make it work if at all possible.

PM sent, jonny. Great idea.

[Steve Broady]

Regarding alcohol and hotels:
I have a good friend who is a manager at a Holiday Inn, and I ran the subject by her. Her advice was that for a group our size, she’d have one person book a parlor room (same price as any other, she said) which has enough room for a moderate group. She said they have a few groups that do that, because they want to drink liberally among themselves. Basically, their attitude is that they don’t really care as long as the room is paid for and there are no damages or noise complaints.

But as mentioned above, public spaces, meeting rooms, etc. are a different subject. They would have to see a liquor license in order to allow us to serve alcohol in any public spaces.

As for using my contact to get a good room rate, it might be possible, but I doubt that Roanoke, VA is where folks want to meet. If we do, I’ll talk to her.

[higgins]

...
The chance to meet, share and learn is what I care about
That's it in a nutshell for me too
...
If we want to go back to the same cabin or another abnb, we can always split the cost.
That cabin was a great place for the small group we had last year, but I think we should all plan on staying overnight. I made the 3 hour drive home after our gathering, so I limited myself on drinking to be sure I would be able to do so safely. I didn't have any issues, but the reason I suggested a hotel is that NO ONE should be driving home immediately after our gathering.

I'd suggest an off-site email thread instead of a group DM on the forum for the bulk of comms. I think we're limited to 100 msg's stored on the forum and the bandwidth eats that up pretty quick which then requires deleting msg's to allow new ones to flow.
...
I think we also ran into a limit on the number of recipients on a PM, somewhere around 5 or 6. A Google group would work well.

I'm very flexible (retired) and can probably meet any day that is good for the whole group. Going by the hotel room rates (other hotels may be different), anything other than Friday and Saturday is fine with me. If it was on a weekend, the $399 rate would keep me at home.

More advantages for Harrah's Murphy ... their rooms are half the price of other hotels in the area, and they have on-site dining choices. I don't want to come off as a cheapskate - obviously since I'm a home distiller I spend way too much making booze than I should - but the price difference can cover a great dinner for my wife and I.

I have inquired about rooms with extra meeting space. Will post when I hear back.

[higgins]

I got a response back from Harrah's customer service. They do not have parlor rooms.

[Steve Broady]

I suppose we could just gamble that the regular rooms at Harrah’s would be large enough to accommodate our small group.

I propose that we tentatively plan for Tuesday, April 23, in Murphy, NC. That seems to fit as well as practical with the schedules which have been mentioned, and is more or less central to those of us who have mentioned an interest. Any thoughts?

[higgins]

That works for me.
I've put it on my calendar (tentative, of course).

[Dougmatt]

Put it on mine as well. Midweek could b create a problem for me given work issues, but won’t know until we are closer. Keeping fingers crossed no looking forward to it.

[FirstMountainMakers]

I know I'm new but I'm still gonna pencil this in and try to attend, maybe even have some stuff I'm not too embarrassed to share by then. It's not really much further to get there than Atlanta and will probably be a lot more fun. Show up a day or two early and play some poker and make a vacation out of it.

[Steve Broady]

Put it on mine as well. Midweek could b create a problem for me given work issues, but won’t know until we are closer. Keeping fingers crossed no looking forward to it.

I was/am hoping that you’d be able to transition from your trip out of the country straight into a few days off. I’d really like to meet you this year.

[higgins]

That goes for me as well. After all, you are the one who got this thing started.

[venkman]

Hey all, I've tentatively added the Tuesday date in April to my calendar as well. I'm excited about the prospect of meeting some of the forum members here and having some fellowship. I'll plan to bring some of the Jimbo's Wheated bourbon I'm about to run this weekend. Four months probably isn't enough time for it to be nice, but I'm new and don't have a lot to offer yet besides a smiling face and enthusiasm.

[Steve Broady]

Well, my vacation has finally been assigned, and I got that week off. So hopefully I’ll be able to see you guys in April. I don’t know how much I’ll have that’s worth sharing, but I look forward to meeting people at the very least.

[higgins]

I decided to go ahead and book a room at Harrah's Murphy for 2 days beginning April 23rd - $158. It's been quite some time since I last booked a hotel for under $80 per night.

My wife will be joining me and we'll stay an extra day to play.

I will have several products to share, a few over 3 yrs old.

[Steve Broady]

I just booked mine as well. I’ve got a few things to bring and share. One work in progress, and a few that are a year or two old at this point. Mostly, I’m looking forward to putting faces with names, and just enjoying the community.

[Saltbush Bill]

Just for us uneducated Aussies , what do you guys call the "South East".....I'm guessing Florida , South and North Carolina, that kind of area ?
Edit : Did some snooping around courtesy of google, Wow.......that looks like a beautiful part of the world....wish I could be there.

[Chauncey]

Hey guys, let's do a NOLA one

[Steve Broady]

Just for us uneducated Aussies , what do you guys call the "South East".....I'm guessing Florida , South and North Carolina, that kind of area ?
Edit : Did some snooping around courtesy of google, Wow.......that looks like a beautiful part of the world....wish I could be there.

It is a beautiful area. Backwards at times, but I suppose that’s true of most places. If you ever find your way over here, let me know. I’d love meet you, Bill. I’ve got a couple BadMo’s of rum I can share!

[Steve Broady]

Hey guys, let's do a NOLA one

I’d love to! My wife and I were talking about NOLA the other day. It’s been on our list of places to go for years, but someone never made it to the top. Hopefully once our son is older, we’ll get down there.

[Saltbush Bill]

If you ever find your way over here, let me know.

Been there once and met a lot of good people from this hobby ,and from this and another forum ,...more good people than I could have ever imagined,... hopefully will get back there sooner or later , and will keep you in mind.
Same applies if your ever heading this way.

[higgins]

I know it is still almost 3 months away, but I'm getting stoked!

I've created a private google group named SoutheastMeetup to use for our communications about this gathering. I've set it so only members can view or post - now I just need members to add.

I created a new name and email account so that I could use it for creating this group and for these communications, yet keep me 'anonymous' and keep the account isolated from my 'real' account. If you want to be added to the google group, send me a PM with the name/email you want to use. After adding you to the group I will delete the PM.

By the way, the reservation I made can be cancelled up until 48 hours before, so I felt good about reserving the room.