TB meet @ The Jade Bar
My second TB meet. We all met at The Jade Bar (downstairs). Really dark, really loud, kinda small. It was great.
There is some kind of common-bond between TB'ers that, when you meet, you're instant friends. You spend time msg-ing back and forth with people you've never met. You've only seen them in their pictures. But when you meet them, it's like you've known them for years. I'm only here on the west coast for three more months and when I leave to go back to the east coast I sure am going to miss my west coast buddies.
But enough about that.
I flew from
I arrive at the airport and catch a taxi to my hotel, The Travelodge (north airport). I found a room for $50 online. I arrived a half-hour before check-in but the owner/operators checked me in and gave me my room key anyways.
When it was time to go to the meet-up I went to the front desk and they called a taxi for me. Yellow cab I think it was. There was crazy traffic on the 101 north, I am so glad I didn't drive. The cab ride was $40 and, after I provided the cross street, dropped me off right in front of Jade Bar.
There were about a bajillion people there that night. If you didn't/couldn't make it, you missed out on a great time. But no worries, there's another meet-up in
I have no idea who all showed up but I bet Mark does (travelman727). He takes roll. I wonder if there's an award for perfect attendance?
As soon as I walked in I saw X-Drive and Mrs. X-Drive (hummingbird, I think). I said hello to them and looked up and saw travelman727. Man that dude is everywhere. Mark is truly a TB Ambassador. I little while later another familiar face comes in, Lauri (travelbugg). Tall six-foot blonde, you can't miss her. Being fashionably late was the duo of Erin (poohstanggt) and Scott (not a TB'er yet, but
For brand new friends, I met portia (david's mom. yes, "the" david's mom). I also met Lynn (lynnc) and Julz (mzjulz85). You make a friend at every meet-up. I also met Amit, Jay, another Will, and Catalina. We all thought Mark traveled the farthest until we found out Catalina came up from
After a while the party broke up into its little groups. The foodies went out to grab their obligatory bites to eat. The partyers went in search of another bar. And the flew-in-from-vegas'er went back to his hotel.
At the hotel, actually attached to it, is a 24-hr Ihop. Like a moth to a flame I went in through the front doors and grabbed a menu. The good people have take-away and I ordered some kind of ultimate steak and everything-else-in-the-kitchen combination omelet. With extra salsa. This is not an omelet you want to eat if you're concerned about cholestorol. I could feel my arteries hardening while carrying it back to my room. Eating this, this late at night, I know I'm going to pay for it in the morning. But I just got back from a good time, I've got food, and I'm watching some pretty cool cartoons on the t.v. Man, this is living.
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The place is kinda run down. But for $50 it's bearable.
My room had a king size bed and sleeper-couch. Also, a microwave and mini-fridge. There was an old-style wall air conditioning unit and since it's mid-January, I had it on low heat. It put out some heat. My room was toasty.
There is an Ihop restaurant connected to the hotel. They don't deliver but the restaurant is only two buildings away. And they have take-away.
For those who like having their food delivered, there were several menus in the room for just that.
The hotel is located just north of the airport. A taxi from the airport to the hotel ran me $15 (including tip). If you take a taxi and say "The Travelodge-Airport" the driver will say "WHICH Travelodge-Airport?" Apparantly there are a handful of Travelodges thrown around the area. You want the one on South Airport Blvd, which is actaully north of the airport. Don't ask.
A taxi ride from the hotel to downtown San Francisco was $40.
And, lastly, the hotel has a shuttle (which is shared by the other hotels nearby) that makes runs to the airport every 30 minutes.
All-in-all, not a bad deal for what you pay.
