Is there a Philly RS travel group - or would you be interested in joining?

Have never traveled with a Rick tours but have used all of his books and also his videos. Would be interested.

Hi Craig, I hope you find some people in your area interested in meeting. We have been meeting in Sacramento (Northern CA, not SoCal) for over two years now. We have a great time at our meetings. Good luck!

As a Philadelphia ex-pat, can I make a suggestion/plea? With all the hoagie and cheese steak joints you can choose from, PLEASE make a statement of Philly pride and don't follow the herd by choosing a bland national chain like Panera to host your events.

Tom--you've been away too long. Why would anyone in Philly go to Panera for a cheesesteak?

Tom, 'The Herd' go to Panera for the free wifi and ease of seating a large group without dealing with servers and feeling like we are staying too long at the table. It's not for the food...

Craig You will probably have to start one like I did in Kansas City. It took me until the 3rd month to actually get some one else to attend. No take that back somebody came to the second one about an hour after the scheduled start time. I had left to attend a wedding so i didn't wait long enough.
The third month we had a total of five and this month we had 7. A great way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday morning. It has been a fun time. And by the way there will be NO October meeting in KC. Next meeting November 17th 10 AM Panera on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City.

I suspect Eileen is the driving force behind choosing Panera. With no servers hovering about, it makes it easy for her to use her personal flask to spike her coffee.

"Tomyou've been away too long. Why would anyone in Philly go to Panera for a cheesesteak?" They wouldn't and they shouldn't. My plea wasn't based on a fear that anyone from SE Pennsylvania or South Jersey would mistake Panera as a good place to get cheesesteaks, sandwiches, or food in general, but the fear that with so many other unique local options, they would do as all the other travel groups and choose a generic, bland national chain to host their meetings. I've only made sporadic trips back to Philadelphia over the last several years, but I'm at least proud that the region's restaurant and food scene has so far mostly resisted the descent into chain restaurant mediocrity that has afflicted large parts of the US.

Tom, Thanks for the shout out for the Philly food scene - oops, I almost neglested our FABULOUS beer scene, too. In fact, one of my not-so-transparent ideas behind joining or starting a RS Travel Group in Philly was to patronize our local establishments (i.e., Mugshots, Firinji, Kraftworks, to name but a few). It should be a good time to meet fellow travelers and posters in-person ... and, since your Philly ex-Pat, give us a shout when you return for some insider suggestions.
CraigSC

Now wait a minute, Tom! We don't even HAVE a Panera in the Moscow/Pullman or Lewiston/Clarkston region. We meet at One World Cafe which is definitely unique and managed by Robin who is definitely one in a million! So, no generalizations, please!

Tom, Thanks for the shout out for the Philly food scene - oops, I almost neglested our FABULOUS beer scene, too. In fact, one of my not-so-transparent ideas behind joining or starting a RS Travel Group in Philly was to patronize our local establishments (i.e., Mugshots, Firinji, Kraftworks, to name but a few). It should be a good time to meet fellow travelers and posters in-person ... and, since your Philly ex-Pat, give us a shout when you return for some insider suggestions.
CraigSC

Not to denigrate any town's special food or drink, but IMO where you meet is a function of when you meet and your agenda. The Denver area (actually it's in the south 'burbs) group meets at 10 AM, one Saturday a month. For that, Panera's fine. Plenty of parking, you can have food if you want, but no server gets stiffed if a bunch of people sit around for more than an hour just drinking coffee, and it's no hassle for latecomers to pull up a chair and join in. It's a pleasant bit of socializing and chatting about travel, and fairly easy to fit into a Saturday schedule. Of course, if you want to emphasize fine local dining and fine beverages, you'd choose a different venue, at another time of day.

OMG. We are going to have a food fight, which is better, Tony Luke's or Gino's. How about we meet at Melrose Diner?????? I am in wherever we go.

Nah, we go to Panera's - in Denver

Beer?!? I'm going to start attending the PA meetings ;-) Bingo! to what Suz and Andrea said. And FWIW, I find the food tasty. 'Tis tasty...(heh-heh...from the Ocean Spray commercial?...tap-tap...is this thing on???) Besides, there IS such a thing as an 'after party', if you need to spice up your day after 'being subjected to' a morning at Panera's...just sayin'. Methinks Tom refers to 'The Herd' 'cause he's jealous that he's not been invited to a join a herd... And once again, Karen's got my number...there's a lot of yummies one can put in their coffee 8^D

Gail - is that Geno's in South Phila, or Gino'a (home of the Gino Giant) in King of Prussia? lol ... Either one is fine with me. Definitely no Panera's please, but count me in! Come on you other Philly area readers? I know you're out there!!

Laura, as soon as I posted my reply I knew I had spelled Gino's wrong. Never been to Melrose diner but is there still a diner on City Line avenue just across from West Chester Pike in DH, that would be great too. There are so many cool places in the area that are not generic like the bread place. Anyone else have any ideas?

Ah, Gail, that would be the Llanarch Diner .... truly a classic .... and visible in the new Bradley Cooper movie I understand ( filmed around here last summer ). Let's face it, the greater Phila area is ripe with great food; so somebody pick a place ... I'm hungry !

"that would be the Llanarch Diner" Great place to hold your meetings, especially after midnight. There's nothing quite like pancakes, scrapel and eggs after getting off from work really late at night.

Ok, it is the Llanerch diner, someone pick a date and time, sorry previous poster you have been away too long as can't spell scrapple correctly. It is the one food I can't eat. LOL

That's OK ... I spelled "Llanerch " wrong. You would think I could have gotten it right, considering I've probably driven by the sign about 20,000 times!

OK Philly folks, since I started up this plan to get together, and thanks to everyone for your interest, I'll take a shot at coordinating the initial meeting, then the group can set a direction for future events. With no disrespect to the Llanerch Diner, I'm going to plan on more of a Back Door and community focused venue: Firinji54 E. Lancaster Ave Ardmore, PA 19003 610.658.6246 www.firinji.com Sat. Oct. 6, 2012 at 10:30 am. It's easy to find, right on Route 30, approx. 2 miles off I-476 (the Blue Route)
The food has an international flair (sorry, Gail, no scrapple <g>), the owner, Budo, is from Turkey. We'll snag the large "community table" and take all the time we'd like to swap Back Door travel experiences.

Congratulations Craig on getting a group started! We've made wonderful friends in our Atlanta group - we've just passed our two-year anniversary and have shared many travel itineraries and stories. Best wishes!