20023 Tue May 28 13:08:46 -0700 2002 24 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 68303 I can't remember who I sent an email to a while back about our next chowhound picnic's location... So here is the thing, I emailed somebody and suggested that the East 14 location in GG is an excellent place to have our next chowhound picnic. (I throw an annual bbq/picnic there for my friends) It's a large private area, not sharing with anybody else. If we want to set up a volleyball game, it's got enough room for that and anything else we feel like. It's also got a restroom off to the corner. BUT, I forgot to mention that that location only has one picnic table, so if whoever is planning this decide on this location we would need volunteer chowhounds to bring folding tables to the picnic. So are we having one this year? Tue May 28 13:08:46 -0700 2002 0 Wendy Lai 1 68309 Hey Wendy, Count me in. It will only be about the 25th Chowhound event I will have attended by that time. I'll probably be divorced by then, so I might be flying solo. Unless my wife becomes addicted to Chowhound like I am. We're going to our first outing, the "Kirin" LimsterFest dinner this Thursday. Really pumped up about that. What date is the inaugural Baker Group meeting in June? I'm losing track of all of my Chowhound commitments. Thanks. Tue May 28 13:52:01 -0700 2002 68303 0 Ciaohound 2 68313 baker meeting is June 9th. don't worry, I will send out a reminder email. Tue May 28 14:26:41 -0700 2002 68309 0 Wendy Lai 1 68316 Does anyone else find GG Park picnics to be kind of depressing? It's always so windy and cold and clouded-over in the summer--not exactly fun picnic weather! Tue May 28 14:47:14 -0700 2002 68303 0 dixieday 2 68322 Some call it cold, windy, and depressing. We who live in the Richmond call it 'normal'. ;-) Oh, and count me in for another picnic--the last one was great! Tue May 28 16:15:50 -0700 2002 68316 0 Tom Hilton 3 68323 Those of us who have lived in San Francisco call it our normally depressing summer weather. For over 20 years of marriage, my wife has wanted to move out of San Francisco come June 1st. We're still here for some reason. Can't leave the city we love and call home. What about the Marina Green where the weather is warmer or another part of town that might be sunny? Lots of parks around. Tue May 28 16:26:45 -0700 2002 68322 0 Ciaohound 4 68324 That's also why we had it in October last year - during SF's "real" summer! Tue May 28 16:48:05 -0700 2002 68323 0 Celery 5 68327 Yeah, there's a good reason SF Shakespeare spends the summer in Oakland and comes to GG park in September... I spent the weekend with a bunch of city folks bundled up and huddled around the Memorial Day barbecue for warmth. We were all relieved when our host let us come inside and warm up. Tue May 28 17:28:24 -0700 2002 68324 0 Windy 4 68338 How about lovely Dolores Park? There's a reason I've spent my 12 years in SF living in the Mission--it's always much warmer and sunnier there! Dolores Park has lots of picnic tables and barbecue grills-plus playground equipment for the kids and lots of trees for shade. Tue May 28 18:12:15 -0700 2002 68323 0 dixieday 5 68347 I like that suggestion, and I also like Ruth Lafler's (Live Oak Park in Berkeley)...maybe we should start a new thread soliciting ideas for location, and when the picnic becomes a little more concrete (i.e., we have organizers and maybe some tentative dates) someone could check out the logistics of the various sites (facilities, reservation cost, transit access, date availability, general red tape). One more location: El Pollin Spring in the Presidio. Not much sunnier than GG Park, but sheltered from wind, and more isolated than the other locations (very little chance of interlopers). Tue May 28 20:21:15 -0700 2002 68338 0 Tom Hilton 2 68331 The obvious solution is to hold it somewhere else. How about Live Oak Park in Berkeley -- appropriately ajacent to the Gourmet Ghetto? Tue May 28 17:34:18 -0700 2002 68316 0 Ruth Lafler 3 68469 China Camp on the bayside of San Rafael has milder weather than any other waterfront park I know of. It's beautiful, free parking, set up for picnics, and you can go swimming. (No volleyball, though.) Thu May 30 03:43:56 -0700 2002 68331 0 Sharuf 4 68481 I went to a fabulous picnic at China Camp hosted by people that I now realize are definitely chowhounds. We were told to come dressed as "Italians". When we arrived we it was like the wedding scene from La Dolce Vida, white table clothes on the picnic tables & glass wine glasses, cases of lovely red wines. They had gone to a Italian bakery to get breads, Molinari to get the meats, gone to three different organic grocery stores to find the best tomatoes, etc., etc. It was the best Italian picnic / nosh-fest I've every been to. Plus, they had an accordian player who played all the '50s classics (& he brought his girlfriend who spent the entire time go-go dancing to his tunes). Anyway, China Camp is a great location for a picnic. Thu May 30 10:43:34 -0700 2002 68469 0 Rochelle McCune 2 68357 I know I'll never get you guys to the Other Side of the Caldecott Tunnel (although Ruth did promise to return to Postino in Lafayette so she could sit on the patio and pretend she was in Italy) but you sure don't have to worry about fog or cold weather. (One of the main reasons I moved out here is to grow tomatoes!) We have some great parks--Lafayette Rez, Heather Farms in Walnut Creek, Mt. Diablo... How about a compromise? Tilden Park in Berkeley? Tue May 28 22:45:33 -0700 2002 68316 0 jenniferfishwilson 3 68402 Hi Ms. Fish or is it Ms. FishWilson? I'm on your wavelenth. Other than most of my 50 years living in San Francisco I went to UC and spent many a day/night in Tilden Park and Strawberry Canyon. After college, marriage #1 was spent in Walnut Creek and Concord. I have fond memories of Heather Farms. Nice spot. I can still visualize my 6 year old daughter jumping off the high diving boards and almost giving wife #2 a heart attack. I've been to picnics everywhere in San Francisco and outside of the City. Personally, for picnics IMHO the best spots are OUTSIDE of the city. I'll go anywhere however; just name the place and date and if we're in town we'll be there. Wed May 29 14:20:12 -0700 2002 68357 0 Ciaohound 4 68423 Tilden has some great picnic sites, but it's not very transit-friendly. The 67 is the only bus that goes there, and then only once every hour. Wed May 29 18:45:19 -0700 2002 68402 0 Tom Hilton 5 68437 Someone (wink wink, nudge nudge) might be willing to undertake a shuttle initiative from a local BART station, assuming the shindig was held anywhere to which a BART station was local. A mini-van can move lots of food and people. But I suspect most 'hounds will be driving. BTW, my choice would be Redwood Bowl in the Oakland Hills. A little off the beaten track, but that's a good thing. Wed May 29 21:22:56 -0700 2002 68423 0 Shepherd B. Goode 2 68362 There's also Central Park in San Mateo to consider. There's also probably places with possibilities in Marin. (North of the fog zone). Would love to join a Chowhound picnic. Wed May 29 00:46:09 -0700 2002 68316 0 Kim Cooper 1 68318 I am interested depending on the date. Thanks Tue May 28 15:41:35 -0700 2002 68303 0 Lambert Yim 1 68333 Last year's was great! Please, let's have another picnic! Tue May 28 17:49:30 -0700 2002 68303 0 Pia 1 68433 okay, i see the need to jump in here as celery and jennifer are the only ones from last year's committe to have done so yet. last year we gave very careful thought to both the time of year and the venue for the picnic. we, as celery mentioned, decided on the date we ended up with in october because of the beatiful weather we are almost guaranteed to have at that time of year as well as the super convenient public transport. there may be, as wendy said, better areas to be in, but it happened that the weekend we chose was a very popular one and we got what we could. it was a very cosy area, and we had plenty of room for volleyball (which only brandon and tanya were interested in), barbequeing, cheese tasting AND eating until we could eat no more. the only real drawback was the distance to the restroom. those of us on the committee felt that golden gate park was the most central location and easiest to get to which would then draw more people. we were delighted when we had chowhounds from as far away as sacramento attend. i don't mean to take a brisk attitude, but it sounded rather like there were some people unhappy with our choices and i thought you should know why they were made. i'm totally happy to be involved in whatever planning we'd like to do this year, no matter where the picnic takes place. one thing to remember is that it takes many, many, many people to organize and pull it off, so if anyone is willing to sit on a committee please speak up. i'm glad to begin organizing if no one else feels like it. i think tom made a great list to start with, so i see no reason we shouldn't just go full steam ahead. as far as dates are concerned, one thing to keep in mind is that the summer, irregardless of the weather, is generally a time when people travel, thus making our "summer" in sept. or oct. a better time to include more chowhounds, IMHO. i'd be more than happy to start the organizing if there's no one else whose interested in taking on the job. i'll watch this thread to see where we're all going and if no one else wants to step in i'll post an invite to sit on committees sometime next week. if there is someone who's interested i'm more than happy to share info from last year, as i'm sure everyone else on the committee would be as well. we had a spectacular time last year, and as our community has grown so much over that time i'm sure it'll be even more interesting to put names to faces and reacquaint ourselves with each other, especially after the remarkable number of dinners we've had this year. Wed May 29 20:45:44 -0700 2002 68303 0 Rochelle 2 68448 ...it sounded rather like there were some people unhappy with our choices..." Rochelle! How could anyone who attended be unhappy with the Perfect Picnic?!? I'm glad you pointed out how much work was involved. And bravo to you for volunteering to organize another one! You did such a great job on the last one. You're right--we have loads more people now and I'm sure that will translate into lots of volunteers. Is it possible we have enough enthusiasm AND organizers that we could have a summer picnic in July in the East Bay AND a SF summer picnic in Golden Gate in October? Thu May 30 00:39:48 -0700 2002 68433 0 jenniferfishwilson 3 68484 jennifer, dahling! i wouldn't put anything over on this incredible group, but both?! certainly anything is open for discussion, i just remember how many months of planning last years took, so i wonder if by having two we're spinning our wheels a little more than is necessary, although on the other hand it would definitely allow more people to attend, and at the venue of their choice. as i said before, i'm willing to go with general consesus. will keep watching to see where we're headed here. Thu May 30 11:00:20 -0700 2002 68448 0 Rochelle 2 68456 I'm willing to do what I can! We had a great time last year and are looking forward to the next picnic. Thu May 30 02:05:39 -0700 2002 68433 0 Pia 2 68486 Count me in for the committee. I do a lot of this type of planning for work and for my own personal enjoyment, would be glad to share my ideas. By the way Rochelle, I liked Golden Gate Park, I don't mind the weather (sunshine or not). Besides, this being the "San Francisco Bay Area" board, GG is more symblic of SF, isn't it? Thu May 30 11:32:24 -0700 2002 68433 0 Wendy Lai