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Post by Bucky on Mar 7, 2014 20:01:25 GMT
I wanted to open up the discussion. I know it’s a little early, but ….
As Mags posted a thread about her anticipated trip to Niagara Falls, a few of us have been discussing Niagara Falls and how there is a lot to do there.
And it would be a nice place to hold a convention. Lot of historical things to see (Fort Niagara and Fort George, etc.), as well as nautical (Buffalo Naval Park, Hornblower Cruise, Falls/Niagara River-related activities). Also mentioned is Niagara-on-the-Lake – a wonderful little enclave with shops, dining and wineries.
Not to mention the yummy local food – authentic chicken wings and beef on weck! A visit to the birthplace of wings is a must.
A bonus is that there are two airports close to the area – Buffalo Int’l Airport and the Niagara Airport. However, while Niagara Airport is closer, only Allegiant and Spirit fly there. BUF is serviced by many more airlines.
The only caveat is that it could not be held too late in the Fall due to the usual weather in that area. I would say September to maybe early October would be ideal.
Anyone else have ideas for locations for the next con or were thinking of putting forward a location?
Just thought I’d put it out there and open up the floor. There are several locations that would be great to have a convention, so let's hear some suggestions.
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Post by QueueMistressMags on Mar 7, 2014 20:47:28 GMT
I would still like to do Erie if it works out there are things to do (and we can get on the Flagship Niagara), but that can be another year. It looks like there's plenty to keep us busy for a full con at Niagara Falls.
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Post by Bucky on Mar 7, 2014 20:55:18 GMT
You know, I have only driven through Erie on my way to Ohio so that is a location that I would like to check out.
Somewhere on the North Carolina coast or possibly Savannah would be fun locations too.
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LizMc
Lieutenant
There is nothing a good pint can't fix
Posts: 452
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Post by LizMc on Mar 7, 2014 22:11:58 GMT
Plus it is easily drivable from Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo, which increases the airport options (there is now a GO Bus from Toronto to Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side) ......the wine harvest goes into October in Niagara-On-The-Lake, as does the Shaw Festival, which is great theatre......... Funny, I was just thinking about future conventions today.......Another location we could think about is Quebec City..........and in Europe, St Malo in France, which is the new home on the Grand Turk....... Cheers |
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Post by QueueMistressMags on Mar 7, 2014 22:15:26 GMT
Yeah, wait--are we doing something in Europe in 2015 for Waterloo? I know there was some discussion about just getting a tour group together and foregoing movie viewings, etc.
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Post by shipoftheline on Mar 7, 2014 22:39:18 GMT
I thought people had been talking about Waterloo in 2015, which would be awesome. That being said, the main reason I like going to the cons for is getting together with you guys, the rest is just the gravy. So I am up for whatever everybody wants to do.
Pros about Waterloo would be our European sistahs being able to join us. Cons would be not all our US members would be able to swing it.
All the locations mentioned above sound great.
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Post by Bucky on Mar 8, 2014 0:15:29 GMT
Oh yeah -- I totally forgot about Waterloo! I would say IMO that gets first dibs as far as pecking order.
I'd like to keep Niagara Falls in the running for HH2016 then.
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Post by Ensign Sandra on Mar 8, 2014 5:17:16 GMT
We haven't discussed it in any depth, although I'm pretty sure we did agree to discuss it, so don't get all excited yet, but Anne Elliot and I have tiptoed around the idea of working on a Waterloo expedition for 2015. Would people rather go in June for the actual anniversary, or would a different time be better? We would most likely work with an established tour company for this, as there's no real way for us to suss out the locations ahead of time. I know that a number of British companies are offering such things. Would you guys mind terribly if we--HERESY ALERT--maybe didn't watch the movies for this? Of course there is AV equipment in Europe, but it's usually very expensive to rent, we'd have to be sure we had the right region DVDs or a player that could handle different ones. And, of course, there will be a ton of things to see and do, so we might want to be a bit more strategic with our time.
Discuss:
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Post by Bucky on Mar 8, 2014 13:09:19 GMT
We didn't watch too many movies in Charleston and I do not think anyone missed the ones we didn't watch. Amiright? Not to say that the movies aren't a part of the convention experience anymore, but I think at this point we've watched them so many times that people prefer to do activities and explore the wonderful cities that the cons are held in instead.
As for Waterloo, that would be something that I would have to start saving for as I assume that it'll cost a chunk of money. The more notice the better. And moving it to another time of the year I do not think would not be a problem, but again -- giving people advance notice, especially if it is moved up a couple of months from when a con is normally held.
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HMSCody
Lieutenant
Happy to be of service, as ever.
Posts: 427
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Post by HMSCody on Mar 8, 2014 14:03:43 GMT
Because I usually can't make it to cons, I don't feel like I'm in a position to comment; that said, if you do the Waterloo event and hold it between mid-May and mid-August, I'd sure try to go!
As for watching the movies... it would be profoundly ironic to fly all the way to Europe and then meet to watch movies about the Napoleonic Wars, surrounded by the actual locations. I think I can safely say that while we all do love the movies and that's what brought us together in the first place, most of us get a charge out of the historical background for our stories, and a trip together to celebrate a significant anniversary would be welcome. Imagine taking that trip with a bunch of people who don't say "what?"
HMSCody
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Post by captsueb on Mar 8, 2014 17:37:49 GMT
I actually goggled Waterloo 2015. Also found a few companies doing tours. Some were bare bones ( cheap, a few hundred pounds) that just cover the basics and others included transportation from London via Eurostar, included hotels, some meals etc. Some last a whole 7 or 8 days or there was one that just cover the 3-4 day weekend. The longer trip covered more sightseeing outside Waterloo but both were there for the actual re-enactment that's going on. Both offered by the same company. And I believe the dates were in June. The full tour was about 1995 pounds and the weekend 1045 pounds. At today's exchange rate that's about $3337 and $1748 respectively. That doesn't even include airfare over the UK. So it's a bit pricey. I'd love to go if I could manage it. I guess the decision where HH 2015 will be will come from the person who wants to volunteer to do it. SInce we did UK in 2005, 2015 would be a 10 year anniversary of sorts to go back to the UK. Any of our UK girls interested? Then we could kill 2 birds with one stone. First get together in London then move on out to Waterloo. Wouldn't that be a dream?  Still all the other locations sound good. I actually considered Savannah along with St Augustine. But since we did Charleston, I thought St Augustine would be a bit different. Charleston and Savannah are pretty close. Still I'd love to go there. CaptSueb |
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Post by shipoftheline on Mar 8, 2014 19:07:40 GMT
From our very preliminary discussions about Waterloo, I got the feeling that it would not be a 'traditional' con. Meaning we wouldn't necessarily have t-shirts, goodie bags, watch movies, etc. I personally am ok with that. My understanding was that it was more of a chance to be part of a very special event, just like the Trafalgar celebrations in 2005. We might have to wait another 100 years for the chance. And since we are discussing future cons, maybe we can discuss whether we really need to have t-shirts, goodie bags, etc. in future cons. We have also been talking about perhaps renting a house, like Mayhem did in Charleston. How do people feel about all this? |
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Post by Bucky on Mar 8, 2014 19:32:59 GMT
And since we are discussing future cons, maybe we can discuss whether we really need to have t-shirts, goodie bags, etc. in future cons. We have also been talking about perhaps renting a house, like Mayhem did in Charleston. How do people feel about all this? That is a good point. While the goodie bags are fun to get and see all the neat stuff, I think I would rather forego that and either do more activities or do the house rental. I've always said that a house rental is a great way to go. You can find all sorts of rentals (even lodges and cabins in non-coastal locations) that have enough bedrooms and bathrooms to accommodate 10, 20+ people. I will admit that the cost of Waterloo may not be in my budget according to what Sue posted! Yikes. I priced flights to London for about that same time this year and it was almost $1400 from Orlando. So with that and the tour fees, I think I may be out on that one.  |
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Post by Sharpiefan on Mar 8, 2014 20:45:23 GMT
We haven't discussed it in any depth, although I'm pretty sure we did agree to discuss it, so don't get all excited yet, but Anne Elliot and I have tiptoed around the idea of working on a Waterloo expedition for 2015. Would people rather go in June for the actual anniversary, or would a different time be better? We would most likely work with an established tour company for this, as there's no real way for us to suss out the locations ahead of time. I know that a number of British companies are offering such things. Would you guys mind terribly if we--HERESY ALERT--maybe didn't watch the movies for this? Of course there is AV equipment in Europe, but it's usually very expensive to rent, we'd have to be sure we had the right region DVDs or a player that could handle different ones. And, of course, there will be a ton of things to see and do, so we might want to be a bit more strategic with our time. Discuss: and others: if people want to do Europe in 2015, could I ask that you please don't go for the actual weekend/anniversary of Waterloo itself, as those of us who re-enact won't be able to make that weekend as we're planning on taking part in the re-enactment? I mean, if you want to watch that, cool, but we'd have issues being able to join you when we've got responsibilities to the folks we're primarily there with. SF |
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Post by shipoftheline on Mar 8, 2014 21:00:36 GMT
Boy, that is a tough one. Part of the reason of doing it around the anniversary would be to see some of the re-enactments. :(
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