polarbear22 wrote:One guest suite that was already snatched up. Decent hotels near by at reasonable prices. I have to look and see where we stayed last time. Nice place and just a short drive to d&b.

I just updated the first post. The hotel you stayed in before is now a Best Western Plus. They are running some two & three night promotions for between $70 - $80 per night including breakfast! Not a bad deal! I can't see it getting better than this. Of course, if a few people were to stay at the same place, that would make carpooling easier.

So, ddeuddeg & I were talking about Seabar & Stone Road Grille (where we usually go after our Saturday tastings in Canada). I'm not sure how large a group they can handle at Stone Road. I'll email them to find out. They do a lot of local foods & the chef makes local wine suggestions for each dish--a nice way to continue with Niagara wines. Would we want to do dinner at Seabar on Fri night, in the back room, if we can get it or should we try for Sat night at Seabar? We've really come to like bubbly & sushi a lot. Seabar also has a host of other foods that are none seafood. Would we want to see if Mike is up for doing a special menu for us again? I do worry a little about tasting ice wines & eating all day and then heading into the bubbles! (I hope this makes sense! I only had two small beers several hours ago at a benefit for a local farm in need. Guess what kind of baskets we bought?)

bahwm wrote:So, ddeuddeg & I were talking about Seabar & Stone Road Grille (where we usually go after our Saturday tastings in Canada). I'm not sure how large a group they can handle at Stone Road. I'll email them to find out. They do a lot of local foods & the chef makes local wine suggestions for each dish--a nice way to continue with Niagara wines. Would we want to do dinner at Seabar on Fri night, in the back room, if we can get it or should we try for Sat night at Seabar? We've really come to like bubbly & sushi a lot. Seabar also has a host of other foods that are none seafood. Would we want to see if Mike is up for doing a special menu for us again? I do worry a little about tasting ice wines & eating all day and then heading into the bubbles! (I hope this makes sense! I only had two small beers several hours ago at a benefit for a local farm in need. Guess what kind of baskets we bought?)

In the interest of finances, I feel we should try for one or the other. Can't afford both...

Bubbles after a day of ice wine could actually be very refreshing. Start with something lower end as a palate cleanser and we should be good to go. From what I recall of SRG, I think our bets are better placed on Seabar for space, if we can get the back room. Our group appears to have exploded

Also, HAK is officially in for the weekend, and votes for Seabar on Saturday since he is likely to be arriving on Friday late and does not want to miss Seabar.

Also, given the near-miss at buying passes last year, on my way through, I'll stop at enough wineries to buy passes for everyone - just make sure you have the cash for me on Saturday, or else PayPal me in advance.

Please let me know if you want me to pick up a pass for you. You can purchase them ahead of time online but it is a bit of a pain to do so (and I'm unsure if they'll send them internationally). You can also opt to try to buy them yourself day-of at the wineries. But that could be painful.

Starting to look at Hotel rooms and figure out the budget, and flying up vs driving. And who knows what kind of budget I am going to need for wine purchases! But the less I spend else where the more wine I come home with! :-) Probably will end up driving up, but weather scares me a little so will keep an eye on flights.

Looks like the suggested hotels are in the southern area of Buffalo. The Best Western Plus Galleria Inn & Suites seems to be leading my list right now for arriving Friday and checking out Sunday. Anyone booking a room yet? Not sure how big a draw this festival has and if I should be concerned about being able to find a room closer to time.

holy crap our group has exploded, I really will need to try really hard to make this now. Fishzine, not sure what your driving route is going to be, but if its through Ithaca, I can probably offer carpooling as long as we agree on arrival/leaving time. Is everyone going to buy one pass or are we going to pool passes like last time?

tiger7610 wrote:holy crap our group has exploded, I really will need to try really hard to make this now. Fishzine, not sure what your driving route is going to be, but if its through Ithaca, I can probably offer carpooling as long as we agree on arrival/leaving time. Is everyone going to buy one pass or are we going to pool passes like last time?

Ideally people should be able to buy their own pass. The only reason we ended up pooling passes last time was because there simply weren't enough passes available to buy at Angels Gate for each of us to have our own. That's why I called it a "near miss" and am willing to stop at a winery on the way through to pick them up to make sure we all have them.

I will end up purchasing based on the number of people who say "Yes, Please!" to having me pick it up for them. I would prefer people to send me money for them via PayPal by the weekend before, otherwise, have cash in hand for me

bahwm wrote:Uh, oh. Uncertain job situation? What's going on?

If you want to check some rates in other hotels, feel free to do so. If you want to run them by us, we'll be happy to help.

I just moved to LA (yesterday!) after leaving my San Francisco PhD program with a Masters. I'm still in the process of pinning down my short-term employment until summer when I plan on starting a one-year training program. No need for an "uh oh," I'm just not quite sure exactly what I'll be doing (and making for income) come January.

molarchae wrote:I just moved to LA (yesterday!) after leaving my San Francisco PhD program with a Masters. I'm still in the process of pinning down my short-term employment until summer when I plan on starting a one-year training program. No need for an "uh oh," I'm just not quite sure exactly what I'll be doing (and making for income) come January.

Thanks for the update. Good luck finding some short-term employment. Glad things ae "OK".

Anybody have any idea when they are thinking of arriving? I know it's early, but just thinking ahead a little.

bahwm wrote:Anybody have any idea when they are thinking of arriving? I know it's early, but just thinking ahead a little.

Our flight is due in at 3:45 Friday afternoon. Still trying to decide where to stay.

I will probably arrive early saturday morning, so depending on the start time, will probably just meet everyone at the first winery. And cheron add me to the yes please category. I'm going to really try hard to make this event.

My plan, still subject to spousal approval and weather conditions, is to drive up on Friday. Like to be there mid to late afternoon for dinner in Buffalo. Then head out on Monday.

I'll likely book a hotel soon, as that can be cancelled.

justplainjulie wrote:Our flight is due in at 3:45 Friday afternoon. Still trying to decide where to stay.

jpj, I can't remember where you're coming from? Check the first post for some hotel suggestions that are nearby.

bahwm wrote:jpj, I can't remember where you're coming from? Check the first post for some hotel suggestions that are nearby.

We are coming in from Dallas - via OKC and BWI.

justplainjulie wrote:We are coming in from Dallas - via OKC and BWI.

Wow! You guys will be the first Texans to join us! Yippee!

Just got confirmation from Mike at Seabar: the back room is available & he will create a special menu for us again. Don't have idea of price yet. Not at home to check on prices of our last big event there.

bahwm wrote:Just got confirmation from Mike at Seabar: the back room is available & he will create a special menu for us again. Don't have idea of price yet. Not at home to check on prices of our last big event there.

sweeet.

Looks like the closest airport is buf? Or iag? Was looking on the website but could not find like an actual location :P
What's the closest Amtrak station??
Are y'all woot-caravaning through the wine tour? There is that airbus door to door winery tour on the website...
This is looking more and more interesting...

sukeiasa wrote:Looks like the closest airport is buf? Or iag? Was looking on the website but could not find like an actual location :P
What's the closest Amtrak station??
Are y'all woot-caravaning through the wine tour? There is that airbus door to door winery tour on the website...
This is looking more and more interesting...

Hey sukeiasa! Welcome to our neck of the woods. The closest airport is BUF--Buffalo. Buffalo is where you would want to fly in because ddeuddeg & I live only about a 15 minute drive from the airport. The closest Amtrak station is Buffalo. We have two stations: Depew and Exchange Street. Depew is a better station. It is not a whole lot farther either.

We will be woot-caravaning. We have not set up an itinerary yet. It's still too early. But we do have some people flying in Friday afternoon around 3:45 PM, IIRC. We'll figure out something or someplace to go for dinner Friday night. Saturday morning, we'll get started up to the Festival. It takes about a half hour to 45 minutes to drive up there, depending on the traffic at the bridge into Canada (passport is needed). Sat. dinner is at Seabar for some sushi, where Mike will try out some new recipes on us. We'll find a time for our newbies to the Buffalo area to try some real Buffalo Chicken Wings and we'll even find a way to get in a trip to see NIagara Falls in the winter.

So, basically, we'll be doing things Friday evening through sometime Sunday. Don't know if people will be Ice Wined out by then, or if they'll want to try some more Sunday afternoon.

The soonest ddeuddeg or I can do airport or train station runs would be for 3:30 - 3:45 pick-ups on Friday. Monday morning we'll have to be on our way to school by 7:30 AM. But we can always figure things out later. I think we will easily have 4 - 5 cars for Sat.

Enough for now. Keep us posted. I will put you down on the maybe list!

We went ahead and booked the Best Western Plus Galleria Inn & Suites.

Really looking forward to it!

justplainjulie wrote:We went ahead and booked the Best Western Plus Galleria Inn & Suites.

Really looking forward to it!

Yeah!

bahwm wrote:Just got confirmation from Mike at Seabar: the back room is available & he will create a special menu for us again. Don't have idea of price yet. Not at home to check on prices of our last big event there.

And it is Saturday that you are setting this up for us, right?

I haven't booked my flight yet, but since getting approval to not work that day is iffy I'm probably going to have to plan to fly out after work...hence getting to Buffalo after 8pm on Friday.

HitAnyKey42 wrote:And it is Saturday that you are setting this up for us, right?

I haven't booked my flight yet, but since getting approval to not work that day is iffy I'm probably going to have to plan to fly out after work...hence getting to Buffalo after 8pm on Friday.

If molarchae and I make it it's likely we wouldn't arrive at BUF until around then also. We're still in the definitely maybe category though

Man what a crowd this year, I just don't think I can swing the timing with my work, but will definitely try to work it for 2014.

Haven't started a thread yet, since I'm not 100% sure I will be able to make it, but since you like to plan so far ahead bahwm, just wanted to let you guys know the Scott Harvey dinner in Wooster is scheduled for April 19th this year.

HitAnyKey42 wrote:And it is Saturday that you are setting this up for us, right?

I haven't booked my flight yet, but since getting approval to not work that day is iffy I'm probably going to have to plan to fly out after work...hence getting to Buffalo after 8pm on Friday.

Yep. Saturday it is! The sooner you can get here on Fri the better--that way, it'll be easier to plan something/someplace for dinner. Ya gotta eat! Oh, yeah, and drink!

klezman wrote:If molarchae and I make it it's likely we wouldn't arrive at BUF until around then also. We're still in the definitely maybe category though

Would you guys be flying from LAX?

North316 wrote:Man what a crowd this year, I just don't think I can swing the timing with my work, but will definitely try to work it for 2014.

Haven't started a thread yet, since I'm not 100% sure I will be able to make it, but since you like to plan so far ahead bahwm, just wanted to let you guys know the Scott Harvey dinner in Wooster is scheduled for April 19th this year.

You oughta see if you can make it! Thanks for letting us know about the SH Dinner. We already checked it out! It's three days after my birthday!

bahwm wrote:Would you guys be flying from LAX?

Yup. Fri-Sun currently looks like $380 on the cheap end (Delta) and $420 with United. Ditto for Southwest. Grumble.

klezman wrote:Yup. Fri-Sun currently looks like $380 on the cheap end (Delta) and $420 with United. Ditto for Southwest. Grumble.

I just checked SWA via Ontario, CA for you--it's not that far from LA, about 45 min. It's much more expensive! According to my cousin, they are threatening to close this airport and funnel more air traffic through LAX! I really like the ONT airport. It is easily accessible and not huge, but a decent size. They appear to be raising the cost of flights through that airport to discourage travel through it. We noticed the same in the summer when we were booking our travel. But, $380 from SoCal doesn't seem too bad.

Either of the first two flights out of LAX on SWA look like the way to go and ddeuddeg & I could pick you guys up at the airport, if you want.

Ok, cool...thanks! We'll keep an eye on it. We're partial to UA just because of the status, but depends entirely on the price differences. We'll also keep an eye on seat sales.

What time would everyone be leaving on saturday morning? Obviously I will be driving, but still debating (and will also depend on the weather) if I want to drive saturday morning or friday night.

Hi everyone. I've been MIA from Woot for several months, but am interested in attending this wine fest.

Mark me down as tentative, as we have a ski trip pending that weekend, but that might fall through.

Look forward to catching up with everyone.

We are two months out, and I am still tentative. The way things are going, I just can't commit yet. Would love to make it again, it looks like it will be a good group.

It's officially official and non-cancellable....my JetBlue flight is booked.
I arrive in BUF on Friday 1/25 at 11:06pm on flight 104. I fly home on Sunday at 5:30pm.

bahwm wrote:Lodging close to bahwm & ddeuddeg's house:

Search for Best Western Plus the Inn of Lackawanna, NY Cesare & kttest and the stayed here and were happy with it. The polarbears stayed at what is now the Best Western Plus Galleria Inn & Suites at 601 Dingens Street Cheektowaga, NY 14206.

Actually, we were at the Inn at Lackawanna. It was nice. Not too far from D&B. After 7 hours, the Buffalo Skyway was a little disconcerting. But nice hotel and great location.

HitAnyKey42 wrote:It's officially official and non-cancellable....my JetBlue flight is booked.
I arrive in BUF on Friday 1/25 at 11:06pm on flight 104. I fly home on Sunday at 5:30pm.

Do you get free baggage? May be an opportunity to get the Cyber Pub Blend you have for me.

polarbear22 wrote:Do you get free baggage? May be an opportunity to get the Cyber Pub Blend you have for me.

Or he could send it back to Detroit with Cheron98 and have her bring it. A bit roundabout, to be sure.

ddeuddeg wrote:Or he could send it back to Detroit with Cheron98 and have her bring it. A bit roundabout, to be sure.

How many bottles was it? I could just take it from my own stash if I have enough to cover it since I gotta move them east eventually anyway

Or he can just bring it with him when we drive back to MI after Christmas...