Ravenwood Castle - A GWJ Friendly Travel Destination

You left something off your itinerary for Saturday.

WizKid wrote:

You left something off your itinerary for Saturday.

Well, I am getting older.

Nevin73 wrote:
WizKid wrote:

You left something off your itinerary for Saturday.

Well, I am getting older.

We are on the road. PMed some info if you want to coordinate.

As if PenCon, Ravenwood LFG - Zenke Edition, and RavenCon weren't enough (they weren't!), Ravenwood Castle is also going to be host to the Ice and Fire Convention, dedicated to all things George R. R. Martin.

The organizers are planning a number of events, including a potential Skype interview with or personal visit by Mr. Martin himself, his schedule allowing.

While the convention will be held at Ravenwood Castle, it is being planned and conducted by a non-affiliated George R. R. Martin fan group. If you are interested in attending, please visit their website at http://iceandfireconvention.webs.com/ for registration details.

Wow, that's awesome!

Teneman wrote:

As if PenCon, Ravenwood LFG - Zenke Edition, and RavenCon weren't enough (they weren't!), Ravenwood Castle is also going to be host to the Ice and Fire Convention, dedicated to all things George R. R. Martin.

The organizers are planning a number of events, including a potential Skype interview with or personal visit by Mr. Martin himself, his schedule allowing.

While the convention will be held at Ravenwood Castle, it is being planned and conducted by a non-affiliated George R. R. Martin fan group. If you are interested in attending, please visit their website at http://iceandfireconvention.webs.com/ for registration details.

This could grow into something huge over the years. Sweet to have it over there

Teneman wrote:

As if PenCon, Ravenwood LFG - Zenke Edition, and RavenCon weren't enough (they weren't!), Ravenwood Castle is also going to be host to the Ice and Fire Convention, dedicated to all things George R. R. Martin.

The organizers are planning a number of events, including a potential Skype interview with or personal visit by Mr. Martin himself, his schedule allowing.

While the convention will be held at Ravenwood Castle, it is being planned and conducted by a non-affiliated George R. R. Martin fan group. If you are interested in attending, please visit their website at http://iceandfireconvention.webs.com/ for registration details.

You and your castle are too awesome. Every time you post something I want to be irresponsible and spend all my money on a vacation to Ravenwood.

So my wife and I stayed at Ravenwood this past weekend. It was our best B&B experience, ever (granted, we've stayed at a grand total of five B&Bs). The staff, MonoCheli and his wife, were awesome. The grounds and decor were beautiful. The food was excellent. And there was beer.

One note (and this has been mentioned before), for those of you planning to head there, plan ahead in detail what you want to do and print it out to bring with you. Through no fault of Teneman or MonoCheli, there is no wifi or cell access at the castle. My usual way to travel is to make a brief list of things to do and do more digging online through my phone or tablet when we get there. You can't do this this there.

I can't recommend this place enough. I don't have a lot of time at the moment to type more but if you have additonal questions, let me know. It was an incredible time.

Nevin73 wrote:

stayed at a castle and it was cool

Totally agree with everything Nevin73 said. We were also there this past weekend (wife and I) and it was a lot of fun. We also do our traveling by sketching out some things we want to do, then confirming plans by getting coordinates/addresses/details online the night before for the most part. Being totally cut off from the internet and cell service was not an issue for the most part, but coming up with plans on the fly was a bit more challenging.

We were able to hook into wifi by heading over to Old Man's Cave and using the open wifi at the visitor's center. It was about 10 minutes from the castle, and the cave is well worth the visit.

The castle was pretty cool, and now I can say I've played board games in a castle. The food was fantastic, and there's something to be said about waking up to the smell of a home cooked meal downstairs. The restaurants we stopped at in the area were also great. One more word of advice, be prepared for dirt/gravel roads, and steep inclines.

We will be going back.

Also, we got to meet up with Nevin73 and his wife, as well as MonoCheli and his. My wife was skeptical when I told her there would be GWJers there, but when she found out that the forum members here are basically like the rest of our friends it turned out to be great.

mumford wrote:

The restaurants we stopped at in the area were also great. One more word of advice, be prepared for dirt/gravel roads, and steep inclines.

Ahhh, I see you visited the Grouse Nest

Glad you and Nevin both had fun, just wish I could have been there to meet you guys!

It was great to meet you guys and your wifes. Goodjers are just great and I love meeting them whenever I have the opportunity. I enjoyed our talks and the games. I hope you manage to find your way back soon.

Teneman wrote:

Glad you and Nevin both had fun, just wish I could have been there to meet you guys!

You would have gotten beat in Small World by mumford's wife just like the rest of us. I bet she is still gloating about that isn't she.

mumford's wife wrote:

I beat you and your 'professional' gaming friends! I thought you guys would be good at games!

MonoCheli wrote:

You would have gotten beat in Small World by mumford's wife just like the rest of us. I bet she is still gloating about that isn't she.

mumford's wife wrote:

I beat you and your 'professional' gaming friends! I thought you guys would be good at games!

I like to think I won the meta-game.

We are all setup in our booth at Con on the Cob We'll be here all weekend in booth 27 stop by if you are around the Cleveland area.

We had a good weekend at the Con, though it was tiring. We managed to get a few games in as well as talking to people about Ravenwood and RavenCon all weekend. Even managed to introduce my wife to both 4th Edition and Pathfinder - her first and second role playing sessions respectively! She enjoyed them immensely, and we now have a new gaming convert

Oh, and here's a gratuitous shot of MonoCheli setting up the booth. That handsome fellow over his left shoulder is Sam. Those of you coming to PenCon (or the Zenke event, or RavenCon) will meet Sam in Raven's Roost Pub. He's the bouncer/beer guard.

IMAGE(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-B5YUxOkBQ3Y/UHxYmDKyUTI/AAAAAAAADTU/1NQbq8ZzroA/s640/setup.JPG)

I'll just stick this here.

http://www.plaidhatgames.com/news/142

fancy. good get, gents.

My girlfriend and I are settling in at Ravenwood in the lovely Spinster Cottage.
Looking forward to dinner in the castle!

P.S. I even have a little bit of a signal on my (Verizon) cell phone.

mortalgroove wrote:

My girlfriend and I are settling in at Ravenwood in the lovely Spinster Cottage.
Looking forward to dinner in the castle!

P.S. I even have a little bit of a signal on my (Verizon) cell phone.

I am impressed most don't. I may have to add the second floor of Spinster to the list of semi-reception.

Welcome mortalgroove, and enjoy!

I know you started selling Pathfinder products, but do you guys sell dice as well? I just moved and my dice bag is lost in the back of a storage unit so I'm going to need to buy a set for the Pathfinder game at Pencon. I was going to go to my local game store, but if you guys have it at the castle I'd rather just pick a set up there so you guys get the cash. Also, do you guys take debit cards? If not I want to make sure I've got plenty of cash before Pencon.

Radical Ans wrote:

I know you started selling Pathfinder products, but do you guys sell dice as well? I just moved and my dice bag is lost in the back of a storage unit so I'm going to need to buy a set for the Pathfinder game at Pencon. I was going to go to my local game store, but if you guys have it at the castle I'd rather just pick a set up there so you guys get the cash. Also, do you guys take debit cards? If not I want to make sure I've got plenty of cash before Pencon.

We do in fact carry dice, customized with a Ravenwood Castle crest on the d6 in fact!

And as long as the debit card is a Visa/Mastercard, we should be able to take it without problem.

w00t! I should be good to go then. Thanks Teneman!

Radical Ans wrote:

w00t! I should be good to go then. Thanks Teneman!

No problem. And I'd love to sell you a set of Ravenwood dice, but if you just need dice for one game I'm sure I can come up with a set to lend you as well.

Teneman beat me to the punch but...
IMAGE(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-WSHbG3Iqh_g/UIagrhLlngI/AAAAAAAA5MQ/zDEhGzdtb40/s1300/IMG_20121023_094924.jpg)

I can confirm that the dice are beautiful. I had to resist buying more than one set.

Teneman wrote:
Radical Ans wrote:

w00t! I should be good to go then. Thanks Teneman!

No problem. And I'd love to sell you a set of Ravenwood dice, but if you just need dice for one game I'm sure I can come up with a set to lend you as well.

Yeah I would say Teneman and his family have a "problem" with buying dice.

MonoCheli wrote:
Teneman wrote:
Radical Ans wrote:

w00t! I should be good to go then. Thanks Teneman!

No problem. And I'd love to sell you a set of Ravenwood dice, but if you just need dice for one game I'm sure I can come up with a set to lend you as well.

Yeah I would say Teneman and his family have a "problem" with buying dice.

...says the guy who just placed a delivery truck sized order of board games for his personal collection.

Give us some dice pron. Can you set them out, and tell us which they are?
Sad that the D6 wasn't customizable with European/Arabic numerals (I assume).
First row blue, and last row jade look like the winners.

Ghostship wrote:

Give us some dice pron. Can you set them out, and tell us which they are?
Sad that the D6 wasn't customizable with European/Arabic numerals (I assume).
First row blue, and last row jade look like the winners.

I'd have preferred the d6 have numerals instead of pips as well. We're working on that for the next batch, but I don't know if it's possible.

What's in the picture is, in order of left to right:

Nebula Blue, Borealis Blue, Phantom Teal, Borealis Purple, and Borealis Light Green.

The phantom doesn't show well in the picture, but they're completely translucent with a swirl of teal in them. The level of color varies by die, makes an interesting set.

MonoCheli wrote:

Teneman beat me to the punch but...
IMAGE(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-WSHbG3Iqh_g/UIagrhLlngI/AAAAAAAA5MQ/zDEhGzdtb40/s1300/IMG_20121023_094924.jpg)

How much money should I bring with me to PenCon? NVM you will have my credit card on file.