A Southern California meet-up.

[Kerrytravelers]

This is not in anyway to take away from the idea of an entire CA meet-up. But, since it is hard for all of us in the So Cal area to go as far north as Berkely, I'm proposing possibly a time for those of us in Southern California to get together.

Please vote for the area that would work for you. Also, please post below how far you'd be willing to go based on the choices here. If you ahve other ideas, please add them also!



kerrytravelers

[Beaverhausen]

1. Every place in LA is half an hour from any other place, right?

I would be willing to drive a bit north or south for a meet up with other DUers. I voted westside even though I'm in Glendale. I think it might be easier for people to get to the westside - or the beach- if they are coming from a distance.

I hope we can get this together. We keep trying and sone' seem able to make it work.

:hi:

[Megahurtz]

2. O.C. North for me,

but I'll do what I can if necessary.

[cascadiance]

3. North San Diego might be a good strategic location as well...

With so many issues affecting us happening here in San Diego now (I see now that it has the most votes at this point):

1) Special election next week for mayor where Donna Frye looks well positioned to win, but might also still be not decided until November.
2) Duke Cunningham's "retirement" and potentially a resignation which might demand action for a special election soon.
3) Strategizing bringing down "Orange-glazed chicken" Duncan Hunter.
4) Replacing of two Dems just taken off of City council with convictions over the weekend with others in November's special election. This election could also be replacing a third member if Donna Frye also is made mayor after next week's election.
5) the "counter" minute-men that are currently active near the border here now and have made news just the last few days.
6) Helping to settle the city's pension board mess (especially if Donna gets put in charge next week) so that we can build the image of the party nationally as one that is the party to call to "fix things" when they get messed up by Republicans. That will be useful in helping us to campaign in other elections to come.

A lot of stuff here to work on to build and maintain Dems influence here in this city in the next few months. A meetup here would bring a lot of local participation from here to help make this happen. We could also use help from those in L.A. that might attend too.

[Taverner]

4. How about Pismo Beach?

Nothing finer than a sunny morning along Pismo Beach....

[YvonneCa]

5. A nice winery in Temecula ? ? n/t

[maveric]

6. Ocean Beach, San Diego.

We can meet on the Pier cafe to eat lobster tacos and discuss our agenda.
OB is the coolest area in San Diego county. A VERY Blue area.

[cascadiance]

7. Sounds good to me...

I think that around that area is where Donna first kicked off and announced her candidacy for the special election too.

Encinitas would work fine for me too. There's a lot of good coastal restaurants there in what's called a very blue area by many in another thread too. I like going to the Bird House there (a Turkish restaurant) which is right off highway 1.

[lazarus]

8. San Diego!

Old Town, OB, lots of neat places. If we do Old Town, the LA contingent can take the Coaster down.

[Kerrytravelers]

9. If we want to do Sd, what is the bluest area closet to the very northern

part of the county?

Someone who knows SD better than me want to take over from here?

[cascadiance]

10. I would venture to say Encinitas...

For those driving down from L.A. and I think is about the closest in North County beach areas to Santa Cruz culture-wise. A lot of good restaurants in Encinitas along the coast to meet at too.

Oceanside is probably the closest to L.A. proximity-wise and is kind of blue, but it is also probably more of a military and older town and close by to a pocket more inland that is a bit more religious right than other parts around here. On the other hand, some were thinking mass transit might get to some of the southern areas closer to San Diego from L.A. like Ocean Beach a bit better too. I'm open to either one, though I'm more partial to north county area myself, living and working closer to there. Temecula is more of an artsy town and wouldn't be bad if people are coming down more along the 15, but it is really a bit farther for San Diego folks to get to, especially during commute hours.

[xxqqqzme]

11. OC beach person

voted for NSD - I'm sick of driving N2 LA - it stinks; its hot; & it's ugly - not enough green - sorry!

[lazarus]

12. Okay, here's the deal

If we do it in San Diego (the city), I'll be willing to set up reservations, pick a place, that sort of thing. I know nothing about north San Diego; it's too far away.

I'd like to have it in Old Town. We had a dinner there a while back, and had a good turnout. There are a lot of nice places, and we can always migrate over to the beach if we want. It's also right by the Coaster station for folks who want to take the train down from LA.

[lwin]

13. San Diego isn't convenient

You're going to lose most of LA and Ventura County. SD isn't centrally located for most in SoCal. Just my two cents.

[Juneboarder]

14. For all of Southern CA...

Downtown LA seems to be most centrally located if you are keeping in mind Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties... this way there is some equality to travel times.

[Kerrytravelers]

16. Personally, I'm leaning towards LA for the same reasons...

The location is more central for a wider area (not because it's closer to me, I swear!)

Let's look at where everyone who would like to attend lives.


I'm in Pasadena.

[cascadiance]

17. Normally, I would side with centrally locating it closer to L.A.

... but like I noted earlier. There is so much going on now in San Diego where we need to get a lot of activism going here not only for us locals but to help put forth a message nationally should we be successful in doing things like voting Frye in as mayor, finding a way to force Cunningham to resign before February so we can have a special election where we could get a Dem in through that, etc.

Additionally, the local organization set up to get a proposition on "clean elections" is using this time to heavily promote this to get on November 2006 ballot too (http://www.sdace.org/home.htm). That is something San Diego dems SORELY need and we need to plan how to help that. Maybe if we're successful down here with that in 2006, we could shoot for getting that passed in L.A. in 2008 too.

If there was one specific time that San Diego made more sense as a location, it would be now. Let's use that opportunity for southern Calfornians to see life down here in the San Diego area, and at the same time help out Dems a lot here who need it now. If you want to have another a year from now, I'm more than happy to hike up to L.A. then. I'm guessing that right before the governor's race in 2006, that L.A. would be a primo place to meet then.

I'm open to either downtown San Diego or up the coast some. I think the big question is for those out of town up in L.A. or other places if mass transit and other things would make downtown more attractive for outsiders to attend, or if the closer proximity to L.A. would make something further up the coastline like Encinitas more attractive. One would be more of a beach town atmosphere, the other a more urban atmosphere. I personally think either would be fun for me.

[Pithy Cherub]

15. Laguna or South OC, North SD or North OC

Hey, its all nice :shrug:

[Beaverhausen]

18. Everyone will have to do a little driving for this to work

we all don't live in the same neighborhood. But we can also carpool. I can take people from the Glendale area to wherever it is if anyone needs a ride.

We need to pick a place and whoever can come, comes.

[Kerrytravelers]

19. Sounds fine to me.

Would a SD person like to take over from here?

[Oerdin]

20. PIZZA PORT IN SOLANA BEACH!

Great pizza and better beer in a central beach front location. Who could ask for more?

[Oerdin]

21. As long as people are 21 and up

Then Pizza Port is the ideal location to hold a meet. It's been named the best brewpub in America several times so if you haven't been there before then you're in for a treat.

http://www.pizzaport.com/history.html

[Beaverhausen]

22. how about one of the more northern ones? just to be more midway

for the LA people? How about the San Clemente location?

[cascadiance]

23. I guess I'd like to see it to maximize possible San Diego Dem

participation... Not that I have anything against L.A.'ers mind you. But I really think we need to get a lot of San Diego bodies out on the streets in the coming months to work on a lot of issues that will need our efforts here.

(I'm just hearing a conversation over my shoulder of someone who bumped into John McCain at a restaurant here over the weekend. Wonder what he was doing here? I'm going to try and find out... I wonder if the Clean Elections folks are asking him to help here. I just had a call over the weekend from the San Diego Clean Elections folks looking to get more people to start coming to their meetings in the coming months.)

I am open for suggestion if we can agree on some scope of areas that would maximize San Diego participants on where it would be most convenient to allow L.A. folks to come down here. Perhaps someplace just south of Orange County like San Clemente would work, though once you get north of Encinitas, it's hard to find many "blue" places until you get further into L.A. I could be flexible to go there, but not much north of there with my dearth of free time these days. It would be good to hear how other San Diego folks feel though.

I would commit to voting for whereever you folks in L.A. want to have it in a subsequent meetup as a trade for getting a lot of San Diego folks at this one.

I will be out of town for the weekend of August 12th though, so if you want to have it then, then don't count my vote at that time.

[Beaverhausen]

24. Well - does anyone know someplace in Encinitas to meet?

San Clemente is too red, huh? Cause that's only 70 miles from LA as opposed to over 100 for Encinitas.

We have to be able to agree on this at some point people. If everyone can give in a little it would really help. :hi:

[Oerdin]

25. San Clemente, Oceanside, or Solana Beach.

One of those three places seem to fit the bill for the way people have voted. San clemente is in southern Orange County while the other two are in northern San Diego county. Oceanside is kind of a run down little surf town/military town so I'd prefer one of the other two. I won't lie Solana Beach is closer for me but San Clemente isn't much further and it is a little closer for the LA folks.

To be fair tough north county San Diego has won the vote unless we get a bunch of last minute votes in.

[cascadiance]

26. I think Oceanside shouldn't be really considered...

You and I are the only one that mention it, and we both have really dismissed it as not really being the right atmosphere. Going a bit further south to Encinitas or Solana Beach wouldn't be that much more of a penalty (5-10 extra minutes of driving for those from the north). There were a few recommendations for Ocean Beach up the page (not the same place) that perhaps we want to consider?

Either Solana Beach or Encinitas in my mind are about the same, as they aren't that far from each other, and they both have some pretty nice places to meet there. The Birdhouse, where I eat a lot in Encinitas probably isn't equipped for a big crowd though. But we could meet at the El Callejon just down Highway 1 about a block from the Birdhouse which has a big outdoor area and has a lot of great Mexican food and margaritas, etc. The Solana Beach place recommended here also sounds excellent. I propose a new thread with a poll with a narrowed down set of choices to help us pin down where people really want to go (Solana Beach, Encinitas, or San Clemente). If someone has a better recommendation for Encinitas, or has other locations they think we should keep in this list, please speak up. I've certainly not eaten at enough of the other places in Encinitas to judge what is best, though I can personally vouch for El Callejon being great.

Maybe we can run it like our mayoral election, and if no site gets a greater than 50% vote, we have another poll between the top two! :)

[Megahurtz]

27. Anyone up for coming to Huntington Beach?

:shrug:
Beach Blvd.(39) is a straight shot off of the (405) and (5) Freeways and goes straight down to the beach, and it has a great Brewpub!

Just a suggestion......

[Oerdin]

28. I agree.

Encinitas is a nice place but Solana Beach and San Clemente are both right off of the 5 freeway so it would likely be more convient for everyone. I'd say let's go with that three choice poll and use that to make the final decision. Most votes wins.

I think everyone knows I'll be voting for Pizza Port just because there beers are so vastly superior to every other brew pub I've ever been to (In North America or Europe) and I make a point of hitting up brew pubs.

[cascadiance]

29. Actually all three are off the 5 freeway...

Note here that Encinitas is actually closer to 5 than Solana Beach is, but for me, either would do just fine! Even Cardiff by the Sea in the middle has the Charthouse (a nice seafood place, but that would be expensive and I don't think we need to add yet another choice). I'm pretty flexible myself over either Encinitas or Solana Beach. They are about equivalent to me (Solana Beach is actually closer for me).

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/print.adp?mapdata=OE4WNszgW9zlavpuHCz7t9tZHN0SkT%2fvYDvxFK1lmo5tmX8IT2i7lA0Q0OdmkMgNf9ebi5tGVGVdIyer6ysTaBlaPsQ0ECxUibLFRhMg00HvaBXNwlDJ7RUCAQEuhNeOY%2bAy49vlWZxmaKFzebPwaF%2blX9Ug03wRj4KtVM6%2fv7HeuixhYCDp82oDX3c6I2ZybcjSmnbiJS%2b0sam5Y1xDad%2ffBEb0vTVZ2cuSKJJwe5HxKzrzeCyPcnew2fJHinkTCAMMNFoZ3HRLqm06vuLhXSXyogtBfNrh5JFsqENKvCajWcSE05PIO6%2fXouDzJpLHZJbfr0Q%2bJRf7eifKCyPm1JgY4BAC1XKKQ1wof2uQcsX9uO1md514j%2bGmQU9yOLDvC3pXjbs1%2fB%2fViDnBTN3m4GKA8we3yHerWnslh3Z13HSMEP9aXG%2biaxZlH9GFvTgo

[Oerdin]

30. Sorry.

You are totally correct. I got confused between Vista and Encinitas for some stupid reason. <Oerdin smacks head on table>

I had to drive up to Carson, CA today and traffic was bad heading back south (it was Friday and everyone was fleeing LA for the weekend) so I stopped off at Pizza Port in Solana Beach. The beer and pizza are as good as I remembered though the Solana Beach branch was a bit smaller then I remembered. It would fit a large party of 20-30 people but it is clearly a blue collar joint with tables the owners made themselves out of lumber from the Home Depot and a college age crowd looking for a place with good food, cheap prices, and a location close to the beach. San Clemente is a much larger location so it might be better or we could choose a different restaurant.

I don't really know what else there is to do in San Clemente so I'll defer to someone who lives in Orange County. Ideally, I'd like to go to a slightly fancy restaurant which is close to other entertainment venues so we can do something after we eat and have a couple of beers. The Gas Lamp would be ideal but since we voted for North San Diego County/Southern Orange County...

[Misskittycat]

32. Encinitas is right on I-5. I'm looking at the freeway now from my patio.

Go, Encinitas.

[devilgrrl]

31. I'd prefer L.A. but I'm down where ever it is :-)

:toast:

[Oerdin]

33. Is anyone going to take this the next step?

We need to decid on a date and time now that we know north county San Diego has won.