Jason ([info]aubieturtle) wrote in [info]vancouver,
@ 2008-08-12 16:24:00
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Current location:Atlanta, GA, USA
Current mood: excited
Entry tags:fun times: event promos

Skytrain Pub Crawl
Greetings all! I will be in Vancouver this weekend and would like to bring an Atlanta tradition with me: a pub crawl using mass transit.

In Atlanta, the MARTA Pub Crawl (MARTA is our heavy rail and bus system) started off with less than a dozen mass transit advocates and has grown over the years into a roving party in excess of a hundred people from all over the metro area. I started this event to get people over their fear of mass transit and give first time riders a fun experience while also catering to the everyday riders.

I've been reading the Vancouver community for a while now and would love to get to meet some of y'all (had to throw in a Southernism there).

The plan is to start the pub crawl at the Steamworks Brewing Company on Water Street near Waterfront Station at 6:30pm this Saturday (August 16th). We'll have a couple of drinks and then head off to take the train to the next station where we will exit the train, walk to another pub, have a drink, walk back to the station, and repeat, repeat, repeat, until we get to our goal station, which is Broadway Station. There is no cost to attend other than paying for your own drinks and SkyTrain fare. Of course there are always a few who are about to flirt their way to free drinks ;)

In Atlanta I keep the route and the particular bars a secret so everyone gets to have surprises throughout the evening, but in the case of the SkyTrain it's obvious what route we're taking but I'll keep the choice of bars and pubs a surprise for you guys. We are going to skip Main Street station since the only place to drink nearby that I could find was the Ivanhoe, which I couldn't find any positive information about.

You can RSVP through meetup or if you don't want to sign up there, just reply to this post to let me know to expect you. If you have questions, feel free to post them here too.

There are a few more details, along with a map to the starting point on my website The Sun Republic. Click the [More Info] button under the SkyTrain Pub Crawl. The website just had a redesign so it is a bit bare bones right now but the SkyTrain page is complete.

Feel free to pass this information on to anyone else you think would be interested. Hopefully one of the attendees will decide this is a great way to get people out of their cars and into mass transit and decide to continue this event in Vancouver. I'd certainly be willing to help you grow the event through advice from my years of experience of planning events here in Atlanta. Though the MARTA Pub Crawl has grown to over 120 attendees, I'd consider a dozen attendees to be a good crowd for a first time event like this one.

Hope to see some of you there! I'm bringing a limited selection of beers from the Atlanta Brewing Company so a couple of lucky people will get a chance to give them a try. You're already stuck watching Peachtree TV instead of TBS so you might as well take a chance on getting to try a bottle of Peachtree Pale Ale.

P.S. I'll let the host at the door know that there is an event meeting there so they can point you to the right crowd in case you don't see our sign.

P.P.S. Don't be shy... you need to get out of the house and try something new!


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[info]contrasoma
2008-08-12 08:57 pm UTC (link)
Hey now, the Ivanhoe's come a long way! Although, given its origins, that still isn't saying much for it. If you do want to include Main St. station, The Brickhouse would be ideal. Lots of the younger folks who live in Strathcona use it as a watering hole, it's got a nice, low-key atmosphere, and is not even a quarter as sketchy as the majority of the spots in the area. It's a bit further away from the station, though, not sure what sort of proximity limitations you want to impose...

Wish I was in town for this! I'm not usually into pub crawls, but the public transit aficionado in me is impressed. Good luck with it!

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[info]aubieturtle
2008-08-12 09:10 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for the tip! I'd be up for trying to Ivanhoe myself (divey bars have a place in my heart) but since I don't know Vancouver very well, I didn't want to lead the crowd into someplace too crazy. I'll check out the info on The Brickhouse. Planning an event from a couple thousand miles away has made me dependent on dinehere.ca and the telephone so I'm sure I've missed some of the good possibilities for stops. In general I try to keep walking down to five minutes from the station.

Sorry you won't be in town to attend but if you know other public transit friendly folks, feel free to pass along the info. I'm going to try to take lots of photos and even some video of the evening but I've discovered from doing the MARTA Pub Crawl that after a couple of stops, I forget to take pictures. Luckily there are usually a couple of attendees who are camera crazy to make up for it.

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[info]frankie23
2008-08-12 09:28 pm UTC (link)
I second the Ivanhoe. It's a bit dodgy looking, but I've never had an issue there, and I consider going into dive bars to be a favourite hobby. :)

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[info]aubieturtle
2008-08-12 09:46 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for the inside info. I might put it back into the line up as a "if we have time" station. If the train frequency published on the SkyTrain's website is anywhere close to accurate, we might have the extra time. I do like the idea of having a variety of different types of bars and it sounds like Ivanhoe would fill the dive portion of the drinking spectrum and help balance out the Irish pubs and martini bars that are represented on the other stops.

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[info]cloud_atlas
2008-08-12 09:54 pm UTC (link)
the train frequency is accurate, it's pretty much under 5 minutes on that line, all the time (unless there is some sort of random problem, jumper, etc.)

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[info]aubieturtle
2008-08-12 10:03 pm UTC (link)
That will be a great change. Public transportation here in the Southern US is thought of as communist evil so the state gives the transit system absolutely no money. As a result, the train frequency can be very unpredictable. Saturday night it us usually 15 to 20 minutes between trains.

Thanks for the info

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[info]palmer_kun
2008-08-13 08:05 am UTC (link)
We get crap all for funding up here too. Our system is understaffed, overcrowded and yet promoted beyond it's capacity.

One advantage the skytrain has is that the trains are unmanned - everything is handled by computer from the control center, and even then most of that is automated. This means you only need a handful of crew to run the whole system - definite cost savings.

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[info]frankie23
2008-08-12 11:33 pm UTC (link)
The skytrain runs very regularly; the advantage of a single-line monorail, I suppose. :)

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[info]aubieturtle
2008-08-12 11:46 pm UTC (link)
It seems like the number one reason for the trains in Atlanta getting off schedule is due to people getting sick or passing out on the train. Just earlier this week a woman in the car I was in passed out and didn't regain consciousness. Until they could get a doctor to the scene they didn't want to move the train out of the station. Guess it's a combination of our transit system serving mostly the poor and the fact that most of the poor can't afford medical insurance so they tend to have more incidents like that.

So far no one on one of my pub crawls has passed out... at least not until after the last stop.

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[info]palmer_kun
2008-08-13 08:07 am UTC (link)
That stuff happens, but they'll remove them from the train. With the system being automated, it is actually hard to stop the trains, as control needs to be contacted, and then decide to stop them.

When the trains stop, it's typically a death, a jumper or both.

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[info]aubieturtle
2008-08-13 08:37 am UTC (link)
Yeah, I don't know why they don't do that here. Probably fear of being sued if they move the person and it somehow makes their condition worse.

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[info]palmer_kun
2008-08-13 09:50 am UTC (link)
One of the many advantages of living in a society that doesn't sue everything that moves :)

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[info]cloud_atlas
2008-08-12 09:55 pm UTC (link)
Oh dude this sounds so awesome and so amazing and I would so like to attend but I leave for europe the next day and will probably be super busy....

if you're ever back! I'd love to join...

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[info]aubieturtle
2008-08-12 10:06 pm UTC (link)
Part of the reason for visiting is Vancouver is to see if it is a good place to relocate to some day. But hopefully someone else will get inspired by the event and continue it long before I make any decision about moving.

Have a great trip to Europe.

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[info]rzep
2008-08-12 10:02 pm UTC (link)
This is a cool idea! Best of luck and keep us posted on the next one :) (I have plans already for this saturday or else I would probably join in)

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[info]aubieturtle
2008-08-12 10:09 pm UTC (link)
Unfortunately I slacked off on announcing this so there are probably lots of people like you who would have been able to go if they knew about it earlier. But if I get a dozen or so people to attend or inspire someone to plan future SkyTrain pub crawls, it'll be worth it. Hopefuly you'll get to attend one of those. :)

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weird
[info]destroythegirl
2008-08-12 10:16 pm UTC (link)
Wow... I just moved to Vancouver from Atlanta a month ago. I remember seeing something about the pub crawl while I lived there and wanting to do it, but never getting around to it. I'll have to keep this in mind.

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Re: weird
[info]aubieturtle
2008-08-12 10:37 pm UTC (link)
You went to Tech? That's just down the street from me. Small world.

If you decide to attend, you'll have to give me your first impressions of Vancouver since you're still settling it.

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[info]retro_rider55
2008-08-13 01:55 am UTC (link)
Damn; I'll do it out of solidarity for my friends & LJ contacts in Atlanta (sadly, none of whom you share). I've even dined at Lewis Grizzard's fave burger joint.

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[info]aubieturtle
2008-08-13 08:34 am UTC (link)
Great! See you there.

I'd bring some food from The Varsity but I doubt it'd last until Saturday. You'll just have to wait until your next trip to Atlanta to get your fix of Lewis Grizzard's favorites.

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[info]retro_rider55
2008-08-14 12:37 am UTC (link)
I think there's still a greasy spoon on west tenth, The Varsity Grill..

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[info]cow
2008-08-13 03:06 am UTC (link)
I misplaced my bus pass during last Saturday's pub crawl, but if I can get it replaced by then I'll join. :D Sounds like an excellent idea!

Steamworks is a wonderful place. (And it was the first pub I went to in Vancouver, so it has a special place in my mind.) I have a favorite near Granville and one near Broadway, so I'll be curious to see which places you pick near those routes.

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[info]aubieturtle
2008-08-13 08:36 am UTC (link)
Great! Hope to see you there :)

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[info]onix86
2008-08-13 05:52 am UTC (link)
dude, the Ivanhoe should be the sole reason for doing a pub crawl.

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[info]aubieturtle
2008-08-13 08:35 am UTC (link)
It's starting to sound like it. Just goes to show how little one can truly know about a place through just Google. Local knowledge is always the best way.

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[info]starra74
2008-08-13 10:55 pm UTC (link)
If I can convince the Aymercun I'm married to to go, we'll be there.

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