« Washington, DC | Main | JBoss Rules (Drools)... »
20060627 Tuesday June 27, 2006

Tech Meetup near Washington, DC In the comments of my last post, a few folks mentioned they'd be interested in doing a "tech meetup" this week. We're staying at the Sheraton Reston Hotel. We'd prefer to stay "close to home", but that's only because we get lost easily. ;-) In reality, we're open to anything as long as it's not raining cats and dogs like it has been.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) night looks like the best night. 7:00 is probably a good time - where do you want to meet? Posted in Java at Jun 27 2006, 05:22:04 AM MDT 20 Comments

Comments:

On wednesday nights at the Rock Bottom Brewery in Ballston they have $1 pints until 9pm. It's close to the Ballston Metro stop as well.

Posted by Paul Barry on June 27, 2006 at 07:43 AM MDT #

Dude, you're staying in my old stompin' grounds. The hotel is less than a mile from my high school, alma mater of Grant Hill and Avail. Have fun. NoVa is the shiznit. D.C. ain't bad either.

Posted by little burke on June 27, 2006 at 07:55 AM MDT #

American Tap Room is close by, pretty decent place. Carpool is a little less "commercial" and also pretty close to where you're staying.

Posted by Mark Helmstetter on June 27, 2006 at 10:06 AM MDT #

Carpool is your best bet

Posted by Tom on June 27, 2006 at 12:45 PM MDT #

Champps is a choice for watching the World Cup http://www.champps.com/restaurants/champps_reston

Posted by Tom on June 27, 2006 at 01:02 PM MDT #

The first step is to decide whereabouts you want to hang out. Downtown D.C., Ballston and Reston might as well be in different countries when you are talking about the D.C. area because of the oh so fun traffic and the lack of a decent transportation system. If you are staying in Reston, you could just hit the Reston Town Center (I will warn you though, it has that uppity feel to it). If you pick a place in D.C. like RFD, or even Ballston, then a lot of us could use the metro. It is really up to you though, how far you want to venture.

Posted by Dan Allen on June 27, 2006 at 02:28 PM MDT #

Why not meet at the bar at your hotel. It's pretty big and has lots of space!

Posted by John Mark on June 27, 2006 at 06:44 PM MDT #

"only because we get lost easily" A GPS might help (evil grin)

Posted by Sanjiv Jivan on June 27, 2006 at 08:16 PM MDT #

Anything near a metro stop is easier for me.

Posted by Paul Barry on June 28, 2006 at 06:19 AM MDT #

We were going to cancel if the rain didn't quite, but it looks like it might be a nice day. If the weather changes back to what it's been like, we should probably just do a rain check.

While it'd be nice to be close to home, we're also thinking about grabbing a taxi/town car/whatever and getting a ride into DC. We're open to anything - let us know where a good joint next to a metro is (so more folks can go).

Posted by Matt Raible on June 28, 2006 at 06:37 AM MDT #

Unfortunately tonight is the only night I cannot make it, so please keep us posted if you decide to do this again while you're here this summer.

Posted by Mark Johnson on June 28, 2006 at 06:51 AM MDT #

I'll throw out a few of suggestions:

Chadwick's in Georgetown
RFD
The Fox & Hounds

Posted by Paul Barry on June 28, 2006 at 08:31 AM MDT #

I would second Paul's recommendation: Rock Bottom Brewery in Ballston, which is close to the Ballston Metro stop.

Posted by Tom on June 28, 2006 at 08:35 AM MDT #

I'm probably not going, but if asked to reccomend places I would second the idea of Brickseller or The Fox & Hounds. Ballston is nice but feels kinda fake and isn't even in D.C. ;)

Posted by Jesse Kuhnert on June 28, 2006 at 09:55 AM MDT #

We have a Rock Bottom in Denver, so we're familiar with it and like it. However, it'd be cool to go some place a little more Washington, DC-esque. I like the idea of Brickseller, but don't know if it's close to any metro stops. How far is Brickseller from our hotel? What about Rock Bottom? Does either one exclude people from going?

Posted by Matt Raible on June 28, 2006 at 10:15 AM MDT #

You can walk to the Brickskeller from the DuPont Circle Metro stop. Since your hotel is in Reston, the Brickskeller is probably a half hour away. Rock Botton is in Ballston and is a little bit closer to your hotel, probably like 15-20 minutes. It is also close to a Metro. I can make it to either place.

Posted by Paul Barry on June 28, 2006 at 10:37 AM MDT #

good luck wading through the drunk frat boys getting to the bar at Rock Bottom on a Wednesday night. To add more suggestions to the list, You might want to try Dr. Dremos in Arlington (Courthouse metro). Large beer selection, and plenty of more room (unfortunately the LARGE outdoor area is only open Thurs-Sat.)

Posted by brian on June 28, 2006 at 11:17 AM MDT #

I talked to a couple of guys at work that are interesting in coming and here are there statements, which might help you decide.

"Rock Bottom is a nightmare on Wednesday nights because of the $1 special"

"RFD is a bit yuppie, I prefer Brickskeller"

I think going back to the start and selecting Brickskeller is the best choice. It has just a hoard of beer selections and you haven't experienced Washington unless you have gone there. Finally, it is right on the metro line (Dupont Circle (red line) at Connecticut Ave & Q St, NW). And if that isn't convincing enough, there are a ton of places to grab munchies afterwards.

Posted by Dan Allen on June 28, 2006 at 11:41 AM MDT #

See...I get the impression that you enjoy your beer. And you enjoy good company with your beer. You aren't out there to get the cheapest bud light that you can - but you aren't out to spend a fortune on a pint just to be seen somewhere. The place should be chill, relaxed, and have a damn good selection of beers. And you didn't come all this way to be in the typical 'burbs of America either. While Ballston may be more convienent, Rock Bottom is boring. The vote for Dremos is much better if you must stay out that way, but really the Brickskeller is the way to go for a decent sized crowd.

Posted by david on June 28, 2006 at 12:30 PM MDT #

Brickskeller sounds like the preferred location for everyone. We'll see y'all there at 7:00!

Posted by Matt Raible on June 28, 2006 at 12:49 PM MDT #

Post a Comment:
  • HTML Syntax: Allowed
Click me to subscribe
Matt Raible is a Web Architecture Consultant specializing in open source frameworks.
« May 2012
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
  
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
  
       
Today

Recent Entries

Tag Cloud

abbie appfuse denver flex grails gwt hibernate jack java jsf linkedin maven myfaces rails roller skiing softwaresummit spring springmvc struts2 tapestry travel vacation webframeworks wicket