Text 17264, 82 rader
Skriven 2008-12-03 21:31:56 av Carol Shenkenberger (23693.cooks)
  Kommentar till text 16992 av Dale Shipp (1:261/1466.0)
Ärende: Re: picnic stuff
========================
    
 >  CS> still.  Fact is as we can see from one another's posts, most of us just
 >  CS> arent that flush anymore.
 > 
 > Actually, the nice thing about fidonet and echos is that the medium
 > lends itself to creating a level playing field for people from all walks
 > of life.  It is good to try to plan the picnics with that in mind.

Absolutely.  I think it's much more interesting to have our group be mixed
from all walks of life and such.

 >  CS> Ruth, Steve, and I face major job changes (mine may work out to more
 > 
 > When is it that you muster out / convert to civvy or whatever you are
 > going to call it?

Should be retirement ceremony right about 17 March.  Exact day not yet set.
Simpler ceremony as i have asked to not make a huge production.  I want it in
daytime, at the auditorium.  Skipping the flag passing ceremony, I am
inserting one on folding the flag and 2 of my guys will fold it for me while
we read what each fold represents.  Local secretary wil do my lay-reading (in
place of a chaplin I dont even know).  Uniform to be our daily working one
for all (Khakis and utilities, not dressing up in blues).

I'll probably be back at work next day or so in regular clothes ;-)

 >  CS> As I contemplate a picnic here, I am looking closely at how many may
 >  CS> want to stay here for free and how many I can put up.  In the right
 > 
 > Glad to hear your train of thought.  Do you have a time period in mind?

I wish I could obligate right now but until work is settled (apt not to be
til Feb or so) I cant arrange a set time when I can be off.  I am thinking
beast season for _here_ is late April or early May but can stretch to early
June.  Any later and the northern flowers will wilt.  Fall is possible but
hurricane city here just about when the temps fall back in line and before it
gets too cold for us southern critters ;-)

The reason for the temps being critical is that my house isnt that big,
though I think of it as big.  The only really usable way to do it here, is on
the screened porch.  It's right off the kitchen and outside is the
smoker/grill.  Backyard *well lit* with 6 floodlights.

 >  CS> Decent but not fancy hotel still running at 60$ for non-military ID,
 >  CS> and 49.99$ for those with ID.  So close, 5$ will get you to my place by
 >  CS> cab. (avoid Bow Creek Inn please, they rent by the 1/4 hour).
 > 
 > That last warning is always a good one, and can only come from those
 > with boots on the ground locally.

Yeah, I did a little web crawling on the local offerings as one would see
them from far away, and there are some really bad places that look good. 
That local lodge is not perfect.  It's clean but careworn and not all the
WiFi reaches all the rooms yet (web will not tell you that).  I noted last
time many people just wanted a decent clean bed and some sort of TV, which
this place has.  It also has a small fridge and microwave (but no dishes I
noticed) in each room.  Some have a true kitchenette?  Web shows some
complaints about broken door locks etc, but they are really old posts and I
think the persons making them were looking for 4-5 star at 50$ prices.

Most B-n-B places here are not well located to get to my place, being 20 or
more miles away.  I am still looking though.  Lots of local reports on
rampant price gouging for terrible places that look nice on a web search. 
There's one that calls itself a B-n-B and puts you in a communal 20 bed attic
for example for 110$ a night.  It actually isnt a terrible choice for a
college student with buddies as it's walking distance to the prime area of
the beach, but it's not anything any of us would want to stay at and it's not
as nice as the local econolodge private rooms at 60$ non-military rate.

Grin, my area is a vacation spot along the shoreline.  For retired military,
there are some really nice options at Fort Story (all non-smoking) but it's a
bit of a hop to get to me (15 miles at least).

When the time comes, I'll scout the beach for the nice hotels and some of
the 4 star ones tht are closer in.  There's a very *nice* one along Bonney
road, about 7 miles from me for those who want close and upscale at the same
time.  I seem to recall it's off season price is not bad at all.  We'd be
hitting off-season prices too with my dates ;-)

           xxcarol
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