2010 Saturday supper options

Steve

Steve

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we call it supper in the south...get over it....:D

It seems the major downside to holding the June fly-in at Gaston's is the Saturday evening meal experience.

There are other options.

I made a quick search of dining facilities in the Mountain Home area and this is a sample of restaurants that indicate they can accommodate a large group that I came up with:


http://www.wellcomemat.com/ar/mountain_home/business-type/the-red-fern/local-business/videos/3CF74B9F42.html

http://www.178club.com/menus.htm

http://www.wellcomemat.com/ar/bull_shoals/business-type/the-178-club/local-business/videos/45A9A4989CAPT.html

http://www.pjslodge.com/dining.html

http://www.bigcreekgolf.com/weddingsbanquets.html

There are a few other local establisments that can seat >100 but do not have individual web sites listed on the arkansas.com website.

A review of a few local restaurants by a local resident:

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/tm.aspx?m=420882&mpage=1#420889

Since the group would need transportation to/from the off-resort location, bus charter service available in the area:

http://www.mtnhomecharter.com/services.nxg


Of course holding the Saturday evening meal would entail establishing a schedule which would have to be adhered to to coordinate transportation and table seating. Also, additional expense could be incurred to secure suitable ground transportation. There is probably a fixed minimum and a weekend overtime fee for a local shuttle such as this. Some of the more "up-scale" establishments are upwards of 20 miles from the resort. For a reasonable seating time the transportation would have to start early and stay late. This would necessarily cut into the evening flight hours on Saturday.


I would be willing to request a list of banquet facilities from the local chamber of commerce if there is enough interest to pursue this. I could be diplomatic and say we would discuss the choices in this thread and arrive at a group consensus or I could just do what I normally do and pick one and tell you to be there or be square.


I prefer some one else look into transportation options that would support allowing a single seating time (no running back and forth to get the entire group to the venue).


The other option is to do nothing different in 2010, including the complaining. Just don't do it around me, ok?
 
I really like the idea of going somewhere else for dinner. Maybe we can charter a bus?
 
sba55 said:
I really like the idea of going somewhere else for dinner. Maybe we can charter a bus?
Click to expand...
Uh. That IS what Steve is saying. And I could go for that.

http://www.mtnhomecharter.com/services.nxg

It would require payment in advance by all the attendees, however, as it is a financial commitment, and if Steve is willing to organize it, I'm in.

But I am not eating another Supper at Gaston's again.... not unless Jim addresses the issue. And he seemed fairly unwilling as it was somehow OUR fault that the service was poor and the food TERRIBLE.
 
Seems to me a group of people who are smart enough to find that place and fly there in our own airplanes should be able to work this puzzle. After thinking about it, I concluded that the salad bar and drink were OK, then it went to hell from there. To me, it's worth whatever that cost to be able so saunter down to the restaurant and sit for a while in the air conditioning before crawling back to the cabin. So if we just brought some good appetizers and plenty of beverages for the pre-dinner social hour, we could show up well-oiled, have our salad and jitterbug-swing dance contest and slip quietly into the night singing the songs of our youth.

A long long time ago . . .

Steve said:
we call it supper in the south...get over it....:D

It seems the major downside to holding the June fly-in at Gaston's is the Saturday evening meal experience.

There are other options.

I made a quick search of dining facilities in the Mountain Home area and this is a sample of restaurants that indicate they can accommodate a large group that I came up with:


http://www.wellcomemat.com/ar/mountain_home/business-type/the-red-fern/local-business/videos/3CF74B9F42.html

http://www.178club.com/menus.htm

http://www.wellcomemat.com/ar/bull_shoals/business-type/the-178-club/local-business/videos/45A9A4989CAPT.html

http://www.pjslodge.com/dining.html

http://www.bigcreekgolf.com/weddingsbanquets.html

There are a few other local establisments that can seat >100 but do not have individual web sites listed on the arkansas.com website.

A review of a few local restaurants by a local resident:

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/tm.aspx?m=420882&mpage=1#420889

Since the group would need transportation to/from the off-resort location, bus charter service available in the area:

http://www.mtnhomecharter.com/services.nxg


Of course holding the Saturday evening meal would entail establishing a schedule which would have to be adhered to to coordinate transportation and table seating. Also, additional expense could be incurred to secure suitable ground transportation. There is probably a fixed minimum and a weekend overtime fee for a local shuttle such as this. Some of the more "up-scale" establishments are upwards of 20 miles from the resort. For a reasonable seating time the transportation would have to start early and stay late. This would necessarily cut into the evening flight hours on Saturday.


I would be willing to request a list of banquet facilities from the local chamber of commerce if there is enough interest to pursue this. I could be diplomatic and say we would discuss the choices in this thread and arrive at a group consensus or I could just do what I normally do and pick one and tell you to be there or be square.


I prefer some one else look into transportation options that would support allowing a single seating time (no running back and forth to get the entire group to the venue).


The other option is to do nothing different in 2010, including the complaining. Just don't do it around me, ok?
Click to expand...
 
I'd probably have a number of recommendations:
1) plan on "dinner" after dark
2) just go with the salad bar for dinner (there was a pretty good selection there)
3) augment with burgers/steaks/brats/dogs/chicken on the flight line later (have the grill(s) heating up during the salad course)
4) have more libations that get broken out after dark (no more flying)

I think that trying to get a large number of people off-site together is just going to be too problematic.

An alternative would be something that our surrogate waitress suggested, whereby we all order from a restricted menu. I think I prefer the salad bar + grilling option, though.
 
Missa said:
Count me out. I'd rather have burgers and dogs at the flight line.
Click to expand...

I like that idea just fine, and I think it's a reasonable option for those who don't want to eat at the restaurant.

Maybe next year I'll actually be around on Saturday night. :)
 
There's always the option of NOT Gaston's. Certainly there has to be another place within 200 miles that could easily substitute for Gastson's for the weekend. It's not like they (the owners) care if we show up or not. Keep it somewhere in the mid-south so it's still accessible for those who don't want to fly more than 2 hours to a fly in, and for those of us that do, another hour of flight time probably isn't a deal breaker. Plus, if there's somewhere cheaper, you just made up your hour of fuel costs in the food and lodging.

I think we've pretty much established it's not WHERE we get together, it is WHO gets together. So why the need to keep patronizing a place that could give a rat's ass whether we show up or not?
 
Here's something just a little farther south.

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KMPJ

The airport is next to/in this state park.

http://www.petitjeanstatepark.com/

FWIW, I know it's not grass........:nonod:

marc


EdFred said:
There's always the option of NOT Gaston's. Certainly there has to be another place within 200 miles that could easily substitute for Gastson's for the weekend. It's not like they (the owners) care if we show up or not. Keep it somewhere in the mid-south so it's still accessible for those who don't want to fly more than 2 hours to a fly in, and for those of us that do, another hour of flight time probably isn't a deal breaker. Plus, if there's somewhere cheaper, you just made up your hour of fuel costs in the food and lodging.

I think we've pretty much established it's not WHERE we get together, it is WHO gets together. So why the need to keep patronizing a place that could give a rat's ass whether we show up or not?
Click to expand...
 
EdFred said:
I think we've pretty much established it's not WHERE we get together, it is WHO gets together. So why the need to keep patronizing a place that could give a rat's ass whether we show up or not?
Click to expand...


This is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO true, you can't tell me that Gaston's is the only fly-in resort in the mid-west!
 
I was actually looking at

http://www.airnav.com/airport/K15

There is a Super8 right across the street (A shorter walk than it is to Cabin 77) and a Comfort Inn which also looks to be less of a walk than it is to Cabin 77. Granted, a paved runway, but IAPs to get in there, runway lights for some night flights, and I am pretty sure that if we brought it 60 people or whatever we had at Gaston's transportation/restaurant accomodations could be taken care of with a couple phone calls. Almost 100 restaurants in the area, I am sure something can be worked out.
 
Mxfarm said:
Here's something just a little farther south.

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KMPJ

The airport is next to/in this state park.

http://www.petitjeanstatepark.com/

FWIW, I know it's not grass........:nonod:

marc
Click to expand...

I have been to Petit Jean, and it has come up in the previous "Gaston's isn't the only option" discussions. It's a nice place! The runway is a nice long(er) paved runway that sits on TOP of the hill instead of BEWEEN the hills. ;) When I was there, we camped at the camground on the airport side of the park, while others opted for the hotel style rooms at the park lodge on the other side of the lake.

The biggest downside of Petit Jean is getting from the airport to the state park itself - it's about a 5-7 minute drive/ride. IIRC, if you are staying at the park, you can call over to the lodge and a Park Ranger will bring a van over to take you back around to the park. When I was there, the group I was tagging along with rented a 15 pax van and had it at the airport for anyone to use to shuttle back-and-forth from the Lodge to the airport. It seemed to work well for the 30-40 ppl that were there that weekend.

There is a decent restaurant at the Lodge that was normal state park lodge price and quality. There are also some interesting hiking trails for the non-flying crowd to entertain themselves with.
 
The Comanche Society has held a few "tribal" conventions at Osage Beach so you may want to ask around about their experiences. It does have the infrastructure to support a large group.

EdFred said:
I was actually looking at

http://www.airnav.com/airport/K15

There is a Super8 right across the street (A shorter walk than it is to Cabin 77) and a Comfort Inn which also looks to be less of a walk than it is to Cabin 77. Granted, a paved runway, but IAPs to get in there, runway lights for some night flights, and I am pretty sure that if we brought it 60 people or whatever we had at Gaston's transportation/restaurant accomodations could be taken care of with a couple phone calls. Almost 100 restaurants in the area, I am sure something can be worked out.
Click to expand...
 
EdFred said:
I was actually looking at

http://www.airnav.com/airport/K15
Click to expand...

Grand Glaize..that brings back memories. I went in there once in the 421. I was not PIC. Note the 3200 foot long runway... Taking off from there was exciting. felt like i was getting launched over the papa johns at the end of the runway. then we were out over the lake and it was completely black.

One nice thing about that airport is that there is tons of stuff within walking distance, for sure.
 
Steve said:
The Comanche Society has held a few "tribal" conventions at Osage Beach so you may want to ask around about their experiences. It does have the infrastructure to support a large group.
Click to expand...


The Cherokee owners used it a couple years back as well. I haven't been in there. I remember them setting something up with Tan-A-Tar, but that's 2 miles away, and since I wasn't going I didn't bother looking too much into it.
 
bbchien said:
But I am not eating another Supper at Gaston's again....
Click to expand...

Not to make light of the experience of some, but if they put in a karaoke bar, I'll be there--maybe not to eat, but to see Kent and Spike sing, and Steve and Jesse do a duet. :rofl::rofl:
 
EdFred said:
I was actually looking at

http://www.airnav.com/airport/K15

There is a Super8 right across the street (A shorter walk than it is to Cabin 77) and a Comfort Inn which also looks to be less of a walk than it is to Cabin 77. Granted, a paved runway, but IAPs to get in there, runway lights for some night flights, and I am pretty sure that if we brought it 60 people or whatever we had at Gaston's transportation/restaurant accomodations could be taken care of with a couple phone calls. Almost 100 restaurants in the area, I am sure something can be worked out.
Click to expand...
I like that idea!

I was planning on a trip there myself once when I was looking for destinations.

Isn't there a Lambert's around there somewhere? I'll look.
 
Mike,

The only Lambert's I know of around here is in Ozark, which is south of Springfield.

marc
 
Let me say one thing about dinner and large groups. The crappyest dinner with the best friends is a beautiful thing. The finest dinner with a bunch of dolts is like living hell.

Ok the philisophical tid bit out of the way. Where ever folks decide to do this a preselected menu may help a lot. Anyone who was at the Saturday dinner at this years Wings FlyBQ knows what a great dinner it was.
Food was served timely and quality was excellent. We limited main course to three choices and there were 2-3 appetizers and two desserts that were served family style. That helps with service and timing but not necessarily quality.
 
I agree, Adam. The way we did dinner at Wings this year was excellent. Food was great as was service.
 
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Trapper John said:
I've been to the ones in Ozark and Sikeston. Very good food, but not exactly waistline-friendly fare. Always a crowd, too.


Trapper John
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Yeah, but when you fly in (to Sikeston), they'll pick you up at the airport and bring you in the back door, so you don't need to wait in line!
 
Having still not been to Gaston's I may be out of line here, but it seems to me that if you are going to have a big group come in for dinner one way to help the kitchen out is to set up a limited selection menu for the group and perhaps pre order. Then when you get in they can have things prepared. Just a thought. Working with Gaston's may be a better solution than abandoning the place since it seems so ideal in every other way.
 
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