New England (Give It Up! lol)

I'll throw out a suggestion to get the ball rolling, the Someday Cafe in Davis Sq. Somerville. Right next to T station, acceptable parking, and every kind of restaurant or pub you could want if people had other ideas afterwards. 7-ish?

http://local.google.com/local?q=someday+cafe+davis+square+somerville+ma&ll=42.396709,-71.122485&spn=0.110999,0.198956&iwloc=B&hl=en

Anyone recommend a hotel nearby? That'd be a long drive home to Vermont after consuming beverages all evening. Also, do we want to include an in-SL component as well (is there a cybercafe nearby?)? Just tossing out further ideas.

Wouldn't Cambridge or Boston be easier to get to? Say, Harvard Square or the Back Bay maybe?

Just sayin'

I supppose it depends on where you're coming from!

Ok a few ideas

1) Harvard Sq. is fairly easy to get to from Mass. Pike

2) Davis Sq. is easy from rt 93

(Davis SQ. is a 5 min train ride from Harvard Sq, Harvard Sq is 13 mins from Park St in Boston.)

3) Back Bay is easy from, wait it'll come to me, uh, well Back bay.

4) Some may find Brookline/Colidge Corner more central to parts West of Boston.

5) From South, there did seem to be a healthy interest from Big Rhodie also, so maybe getting a small function room at one the hotels south of Boston might do. I know a few will simply tack on 20% to restaurant menu items in lieu of a rental fee. Mansfield(Mass) Holiday Inn used to do this, tho I have no idea about Connectivity. Its also close to rt 495, and is 30 mins South of Boston by 95.

All Massachusetts restaurants and bars are non-smoking now, so it really is no longer a question.

Boston here too ! hehe I have hung out in the Somewhere Cafe, great suggestion but agree it mite be a hard spot to find for out -of - towners. What about the 1369 on Mass ave in Central Sq Cambridge? Parking lots are on both streets running parrallel to Mass Ave and Mass Ave is easy to get to but Central Square is not as bad on parking as Harvard is.

oh and !369 is a cyber cafe with great coffee !

This link was posted earlier...
http://www.frappr.com/secondlife

If people are interested, add your location and we can start making informed decisions.

A bit of a heads-up on using Zip Code as marker, you may notice two places for me on Frappr. When I added my actual Zip Code it centered it and was thus considerably out of whack w/ reality. tho it won't really matter to someone viewing from a global perspective. I thought i had edited my entry when I discovered the dislocation and wound up creating a second.

Woody, I can delete one of those if you want. I'm the administrator of SL Frappr. Send me an email: [email]Satchmo.Prototype@gmail.com[/email]

I think as far as meeting places go.. this is a good idea.. The ride and parking scenario in Cambridge is a little friendlier.. I think especially to those not familiar with the area. Plus, we can always head down into Harvard square later and cause havok... we can all invade the COOP..or catch a non mainstream movie at the Brattle or even hit the music & comic book shops.. tons to do!

a list of some top related hang out places..Harvard style: http://www.thecrimson.harvard.edu/printerfriendly.aspx?ref=254528

as for places to stay... yahoo list: http://travel.yahoo.com/p-hotel-476504-cambridge_hotels

this inn looks cute and is very nearby and has DSL in all rooms! : http://www.afinow.com/afi/

End of December is fine... really anything with at least some notice would probably work. I am about an hour drive in from the south but love that area.. count me in!

I agree!

Leilany

I live in Methuen Mass, I could prolly make it, if theres a set date and time, so i can take the day off of work.
Honestly boston seems like a good middle ground to meet. So keep me posted on anything. Even if you sneeze !!! Hahaha jk

Love 1 Noula Portocarrero

Been getting some feedback in-game about attendence.

Want to try an in-game meet up to see who's coming?

Any Baystaters or New Englanders have a club or meeting area?

Noula... I just sneezed

Woodstock, an in-game meeting sounds great!

Leilany

If we want to throw a meeting together sometime, I have a private island we can use. Nice and quiet, pretty lag-free. We can throw up some simple benches or sit around the skating rink.

Just need to know when and I'll post an event notice. Leave me a repy here or via email to [email]cutter.rubio@gmail.com[/email]. In-game IM will get to me in RL too.

Cutter

Hey, i thought I was the only mainer in SL i see one more so far, lets talk Mainers

/wave

maine here too

Looks like we've got some solid suggestions for places to congregate. Anyone familiar with these places wanna pick one? We should solidify the plans a bit for folks coming longer distances. =D

Also, I checked the SL Frapper map, and there are only two blips in the entire state of Vermont. That's either sad or funny. Ha!

It is relatively easy to work out where it is assuming you are taking the T. If you are driving and are not familiar with the area, well, you are pretty much screw no matter where you are going.

There are a couple of couches that are more or less facing each other. It would not seem an extremely bad place to sit with a reasonablely large size group.


This 1369 is, however, an impressively bad place to go with any group larger than two. Long and narrow with small tables and always very crowded. The original 1369 would be a decent size, but that is neither easy to find nor near access to public transportation.

Davis Square:

Davis Square is likely to be the best spot for people driving into the area. It is only one stop down the red line from the giant easily found parking lot that is Alewife. So you don't have to wander through the middle of Boston or Cambridge in a car.

There is also a parking lot in Davis Square but trying to get there is not at all worth it unless you already know where it is. Alewife is easy to get to from Route 95 and/or 2 and is only, if I am not mistaken $5 for the day. (plus $2.50 for the fare there and back)

It is significantly less good if most of the people are local but not from the Somerville/Cambridge area. Or at least not along the red line. However, assuming that not to be the case, on with Davis Square:

Red Line T Stop
The map is unclear but there are actually two exits. If you exit, turn to your right and see a movie theater walk just past the theater and you will see the Someday Cafe on your right at the corner.
If you do not see a movie theater on your right, turn left, take note of a movie theater roughly diagonally across a few streets. Make your way across these streets until you are just to the left of the theater. The Someday Cafe is on that corner.

Someday Cafe
51 Davis sq
Somerville, MA 02144
Couches. Tea, coffee. Reasonable sized space. Perhaps eight people being able to squeeze together before some people start having to sit apart from the group.

Diesel Cafe
257 Elm St
Somerville, MA 02144
Tables, pool tables. Tea, coffee. Somewhat smaller than the Someday mostly because of the lack of couches. Six people at the tables perhaps? More you stand against the wall and play pool.

The Burren
247 Elm St
Somerville, MA 02144
Benches. Alchohol.
Bars are typically empty during the day. If it isn't chances are you won't be able to talk to anyone else. Mostly standing to talk to a group though.

Sacco's Bowl-Haven
45 Day St
Somerville, MA 02144
Candlepin bowling. Pool. Usually very empty so large groups are unlikely to get in anyone's way and, well, bowling alleys an impressive number of seats. Everyone will be facing the same direction though.

Harvard Square:

Don't drive there. Just don't. It has an impressive number of one way streets. Even one or two that either change which way they allow you to go in the middle, or just become one way fairly suddenly. There is no parking to speak of. The parking we don't speak of is on those one way streets and you will end up in Boston, Central or Porter before you end up in a parking spot.

Red Line Stop
The T is pretty easy. It is the red line again and you will end up coming up in a little peninsula in the middle of the square. (Unless you are unlucky and come up in one of the two other exits.)

There really are not any good meeting places right in Harvard Square. Most are a five to ten minute walk from the T stop.

Darwin's Ltd.
148 Mount Auburn St
Cambridge, MA 02138
Couches. Coffee, tea, sandwiches. Six people. Decent walk. Good chance of getting lost.

Cafe Paradiso
1 Eliot St
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tables. Coffee, desert items, sandwiches. Six or seven people. Much closer, three to five minutes from the T.

That's pretty much it for Harvard I think. (And both are really closer to Brattle Square than Harvard.) I have seen another coffee shop or two in the area but I have never been and none of them look very large. Unless you want to try to hang out on Harvard's campus for a while there really is much that is nearby, can cope with a decent number of people and won't kick you out after a while.

Central Square:

There is a parking lot or two tucked away near here. Nothing very big or obvious though. Driving through the area isn't so bad but the only way you got there if you don't live in the area was by trying through either Boston or Harvard Square. Friends really don't let friends drive in the Boston area. Even less often in the winter.

Still along the red line. You might come up on one of four corners of the major intersection.
I can only think of two options in the Central Square area as well. Again, both five to ten minutes from the stop.

Red Line Stop
You will be walking east or west along Massachusetts Ave.

1369 Coffee House
757 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02139
Two person tables against a wall. Coffe, tea. Long, narrow. Really, completely hellish even for two people. Much nicer in the spring when you can sit outside.

Toscanini's Ice Cream
899 Main St
Cambridge, MA 02139
One big table in the center. Some other chairs. Coffee, tea, ice cream. Table should fit eight with plenty of room to spare. If it has that many chairs. Perhaps ten minutes from the T stop.

Carberry's Bakery & Coffee
74 Prospect St
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tables. Coffee, tea, baked goods, sandwiches. Six to eight. Not on Mass Ave although far closer than Toscanini's.

Ok. Three, not two. I would say that Carberry's is the best bet for Central. There is parking and it might even have a spot free in the middle of the day. Ten cars total and while there is a large lot right across the street I really have no idea how that one works.

Directions from Rt 95/128 to Alewife station (More or less)

Yet another Bostonian here!! Look me up, I'm up tp a get together!

I live in Central Square, and parking isn't that bad unless you want the cheap public lots. There are several large parking garages just off the main road that are usually open. Of course, it would be better, if driving, to park at the burbs and take the Red Line in, Mass Ave can get nightmarish at times.

As for places in Central, depends on the size of the crowd and time of day. One place not mentioned that could support a larger group is the Enormous Room over Central Kitchen. Middlesex could as well, but both places get busy later on weekend nights. I LOOOVE Miracle of Science, but they really don't have the space for it. Asgard has a fair amount of space though never been a big fan of it, and is probably the closest to a large garage.